(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors held a public hearing this (Wednesday) morning on the County’s Proposed Fiscal Year 2025 Property Tax Levy. The Board was asked by a member of the audience attending the hearing, why the taxing entity breakdown for which was sent to property owners in the County, was needed. Board Chair Jerry Walker and Auditor Mandy Berg offered these reasons, which basically boils down to: the State ordered it to be done that way.

It’s an unfunded mandate that cost the County. Supervisor Jodie Hoadley….

After the Public Hearing was adjourned, the Adair County Board of Supervisors held their regular, weekly meeting, during which they set the date/time for a Public Hearing on the FY 25 Budget, as 9:15-a.m., April 17^th, as part of the regular Board meeting. They also approved a 28-E (Cost sharing) Agreement to join the Heart of Iowa Mental Health Region. Supervisor Jodie Hoadley was not in favor of the arrangement, but voted for it in the end.

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ proposal would consolidate the state’s 32 mental health and substance abuse regions into seven unified behavioral health districts. Rachel Cecil, with Heart of Iowa Community Services said a bill consolidating Mental Health regions has not yet come before the Governor to sign, because there are still many unanswered questions.

The Adair County Supervisors approved the Secondary Roads Dept. DOT budget and five-year Construction Program, beginning in FY25. They awarded: a Farm-to-Market (FM) rock contract to Schildberg Construction, in the amount of $249,862.80, which was slightly under the Engineer’s estimate; a granular surfacing contract to Gus Construction in the amount of $464,046, for FY24 FM road(s), and an N-36 Lee (Township) Reinforced Concrete Box (RCB) Project.

The Board also passed a resolution setting a Public Hearing to vacate a portion of Gibbon Avenue, as 9:30-a.m. Tuesday, April 2^nd. Adair County Engineer Nick Kauffman then presented a report on Secondary Roads Dept. Maintenance and activities.

DES MOINES — U.S. Republican Representative Zach Nunn (IA-03) has announced the start of the 2024 Congressional Art Competition. Each year, the U.S. House of Representatives hosts a nation-wide high school art competition with each member showcasing art from their district.  Nunn said Tuesday, “I can’t wait to showcase the talent of Iowa’s high school students. This is a long-standing tradition that I am proud and honored to take part in. Iowa has so much to offer, and I look forward to seeing all the creativity that Iowa students have to share as they showcase our state, culture, and talent.” The competition is open to those residing in the Iowa Third Congressional District and currently in high school.

Each artwork submission will be reviewed by a panel of judges and selections will be made for a winner. The winner will have their artwork placed on display at the U.S. Capitol for the next year. The winner will also be flown to Washington, D.C. to attend the official art show opening. In addition, three winning art pieces will be selected to receive the People’s Choice Award and placed on display in Rep. Nunn’s offices.

Important Dates:
April 26 – Final Day for Student Submissions
April 29- May 3 – Public Popular Vote Period
May 3 – Judge’s Panel Private Showing
May 8 – Winner Publicly Announced

For additional questions, please visit nunn.house.gov/artcompetition or contact Rep. Nunn’s office at (515) 400-8180.

(Radio Iowa) – Clear Lake High School is one of four school districts to receive a national U-S-D-A award for its efforts to improve the nutritional quality of meals for students. Clear Lake reduced sodium in menu items by using spices, more fresh local foods and some low- or no-sodium products. U-S Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack visited the Clear Lake district to deliver its award.  “I’m happy to be in one of the school districts that’s ‘top of the class,'” Vilsack says.

Vilsack says Clear Lake overcame challenges to improve menu options. “It’s difficult for schools with tight budgets,” Vilsack says. “Oftentimes because of the pandemic, there were supply chain and continue to be supply chain challenges, so the nutrition folks at school do an amazing job.” Vilsack says the U-S-D-A has provided several billion dollars of assistance over the last several years to help U-S school districts improve the nutrition of school lunches and the department’s “Healthy Meals Incentives Recognization Awards” are designed to showcase schools like Clear Lake that have made big gains with that support.

“We’ve provided the school district a little extra resource and that, in turn, was used by the school district to expand their storage capacity, refrigeration capacity, so they are in a position to do a little bit more with fruits and vegetables and get more direct connection with the community, which every school district is interested in doing,” Vilsack says. Clear Lake Community School District food service director Julie Udelhofen says the school got a Healthy Meals Incentive grant in August of 2023.

“We installed a walk-in freezer in our middle school,” she says. “We updated our serving line so that we could serve salad items every day and we purchased a food processor for each of our three kitchens so we could slice, dice, grate and all the things we needed to do to make processing local foods easier.” Udelhofen says her food service team created custom blended salt-free seasonings to bring out the flavor of a wide array of vegetables as one way to reduce sodium consumption among students in the lunchroom.

(Radio Iowa) – Authorities in eastern Iowa say they’ve caught a hit-and-run driver who was allegedly texting behind the wheel when he ran over a woman two weeks ago. Davenport police say they’ve arrested a tow truck driver who’s charged with hitting and critically injuring a pedestrian the morning of March 13th. Police says the truck had two cameras, one facing forward, the other, at the driver.

Fifty-two-year-old Granvell Ramey of Davenport faces a total of ten charges, including serious injury hit-and-run, reckless driving, running five stop signs, and reckless use of an electronic device. Police say the 43-year-old woman who was hit was in the crosswalk. The Quad City Times says Dana Oswalt Evans was hospitalized with injuries including multiple broken bones and a collapsed lung.

Granvell Ramey (Scott County Jail photo)

NEWTON, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Corrections reports an inmate at the Newton Correctional Facility who was serving a life sentence, has died. 73-year-old Pete Michael Alspach was pronounced dead Saturday afternoon, as the result of an unexpected medical emergency. Foul play was not suspected. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death.

Alspach had been serving his life sentence for the crime of Kidnapping 1st Degree out of Wright County. His sentence began on July 9, 1993.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports a woman from Afton was arrested Tuesday night. 18-year-old Kelsey Jo Aldrich Pope was taken into custody at around 9:07-p.m. at  the Creston/Union County Law Enforcement Center, and charged with Operating While Under the Influence/1st Offense. Pope was taken to Union County Jail and later released after posting a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

(Iowa Capital Dispatch) – An Iowa dentist with a history of alleged sexual misconduct with multiple patients has agreed to surrender his license. In December, the Iowa Dental Board declared that 65-year-old Dr. Calvin Weber, of Glenwood, posed “an imminent threat to public safety” and suspended his license on an emergency basis. The action came four months after Weber was criminally charged with assaulting a female outside his office. The board accused Weber of improper sexual contact with a patient or making lewd, lascivious or improper remarks or advances to a patient, and with violating Iowa law with regard to the practice of dentistry.

Police records related to the incident show that in July 2023, a woman came to the Glenwood Police Department and complained that she while she was in Weber’s dental office, he made comments on how sexy she was and grabbed her buttocks. As a result of the allegations, police charged Weber with assault, a simple misdemeanor, in August 2023. In December, a judge found Weber guilty of assault and fined him $855. Recently, Weber agreed to surrender his license.

Weber was first licensed by the state in 1983 and has a history of alleged misconduct with female patients. In July 1993, he was charged with unprofessional conduct in the practice of dentistry and accused of inappropriately touching two female patients during their dental appointments. One month after those charges were filed, Weber was accused of misconduct with two additional patients.

The board suspended Weber’s license indefinitely while ordering him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation within 60 days before being considered for reinstatement. Four months later, in April 1994, the board accused Weber of failing to submit to an evaluation and Weber agreed to surrender his license. After surrendering his Iowa license, Weber moved to Florida where he was employed as a golf professional, board records show.

In December 2006, after Weber submitted to an evaluation and agreed to undergo ongoing therapy, the board agreed to reinstate his dental license.

(Audubon Co) The Audubon County Auditor’s Office has released the names of candidates who filed nomination papers by last Friday’s deadline, for the June 4th Primary Election in Audubon County. (I=Incumbent)

Names to appear on Republican party ballots include:

Board of Supervisors (2 Seats)
Donald Mosinski
Kent Grabill

Sheriff
Todd Johnson (I)

Auditor
Lisa Frederiksen (I)

Those whose names will appear on the Democrat voting ballot in Audubon County, include:

Board of Supervisors (2 Seats)
Nathan Wahlert

Sheriff
No Candidates

Auditor
No Candidates

*There were no nomination papers filed by persons from the Libertarian party in Audubon County.

Audubon County Courthouse

Audubon County voters interested in voting absentee for the June 4 Primary Election may file requests for absentee ballots with the Audubon County Auditor’s Office. Voters have 20 days to vote absentee either by mail or in-person rather than 29 days. Voters are reminded that due to recent legislation the ballot must be returned to the County Auditor’s Office before polls close at 8 p.m. on June 4, in order to be counted.

Absentee voters are reminded that since this is a Primary Election the voter must choose which party’s ballot they would like to vote. The Primary Election in Iowa is a nominating process for the Libertarian, Democratic and Republican parties to determine who will appear on the General Election ballot in November.

In-person early voting in the Auditor’s Office and mailing of ballots will begin May 15th.