The Iowa Freedom of Information Council and two others will be paid 175-thousand dollars to settle two lawsuits that accused Governor Reynolds and her staff of violating open records laws. The settlements were approved by the state treasurer and the director of the Iowa Department of Management, who are members of the State Appeal Board. The only no came from State Auditor Rob Sand, who is the only Democrat in statewide elected office.

The lawsuits stemmed from public records requests made to state agencies over a year and a half, starting back in April 2020. Attorneys for the governor argued in court that there is no specific deadline in state law for fulfilling public records requests. In April of this year, the Iowa Supreme Court called the delayed responses unreasonable.

Sand says the governor’s office failed to reply to some public records requests for up to a year.

Kollin Crompton, deputy communications director for Governor Reynolds, says the COVID-19 response put unprecedented demands on the governor’s team to meet the immediate needs of Iowans and public records requests were unintentionally delayed. Crompton says those delays were not acceptable and the governor’s office continues to reevaluate the process to improve timeliness.

For a world that sometimes seems filled with war, hatred and violence, a dozen Iowa State University faculty members have come together to write about the topic of peace. The book, “Building Positive Peace,” is a collection of essays created by a diverse group of I-S-U experts. Professor Simon Cordery, who chairs the I-S-U Department of History, co-edited the book and contributed the chapter called “History and Positive Peace.”

Each contribution offers suggestions on how to shift away from our current road, he says, and find the path to peace instead. Cordery says the goal of creating the book was to share expertise and contribute something that would be useful for people interested in more than just peace studies.

He says the target audience for the book is peace activists, environmentalists, climate scientists, and academics with an interest in peace. The authors, Cordery says, see positive peace as a way to encourage people to actively create a peace-filled world.

Cordery says I-S-U now has an honors course on sustainable peace, and he adds, the Ames campus will host the annual meeting of the Peace and Justice Studies Association in September. The 275-page book is available through Amazon and the publisher, Cambridge Scholars.
https://www.cambridgescholars.com/

The Environmental Protection Agency has released its final rule for biofuel blending requirements over the next three years, with ethanol production targets that are not as high as initially proposed in December. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig says this latest E-P-A decision fails to meet the intent of the Renewable Fuels Standard.

The rule does increase production requirements for biodiesel and renewable diesel, but Naig says those levels are below current usage. The state ag secretary is also accusing the E-P-A of pitting one sector of the renewable fuels industry against another by lowering the ethanol numbers.

Naig says the Biden Administration has failed to support the benefits of renewable fuel production.

Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from New Hartford, says for an administration obsessed with reducing carbon emissions, this rule makes absolutely no sense. Senator Joni Enrst, a Republican from Red Oak, says the Biden Administration is refusing to recognize that biodiesel and ethanol are homegrown cleaner fuel solutions that are available today. The president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association says the proposal fails on all fronts and the head of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says the E-P-A has set up a lose-lose situation for ethanol and biodiesel producers. Critics say the Renewable Fuels Standard diverts too much prime farmland to produce fuel rather than food.

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach in Adair and Cass County is offering the Iowa Master Conservationist Program as a joint program between the two county Extension Offices this summer and fall. Classes will take place at local outdoor parks and public areas, providing participants with hands-on interaction with the diversity of the state’s natural resources. The program teaches about Iowa’s natural ecosystems and the diversity of conservation challenges and opportunities that exist in the region. Graduates of the course learn to make informed choices for leading and educating others to improve conservation in Iowa.

The program consists of approximately 12 hours of online curriculum and six face-to-face meetings. The online modules will include lessons and resources by Iowa State subject-matter experts to be reviewed at the participants’ own pace at home or at their local County Extension office. Module topics include conservation history and science, understanding Iowa ecosystems, implementing conservation practices in human dominated landscapes and developing skills to help implement and educate others about conservation practices.

The first hands-on learning program will be a partnership program with Harrison County Extension on Thursday evening June 29^th at 5:30 PM. This meeting will take place at Willow Lake Recreational Area, near Woodbine where participants will learn about the different landforms of Iowa, specifically the Loess Hills of Western Iowa and what makes them unique to Iowa and the world! Subsequent meetings will be held at different locations in Adair and Cass County one Tuesday evening per month from July-October of 2023. All local meetings will begin at 6 PM and last from 2-3 hours depending on the topic. Each face-to-face meeting will be led by local subject-matter experts to demonstrate how the principles covered in the online curriculum play out locally.

Registration for the course is $50 per person and is due at the time of registration. To register or with questions, contact the ISU Extension and Outreach office in Adair County at 515-231-2741 or Cass County at 712-243-1132 or visit www.extension.iastate.edu/cass or www.extension.iastate.edu/adair for registration forms and details. The deadline to register is Wednesday, June 28^th.

Photo: Katelyn Johnson

The City of Stuart is experiencing a growth spurt and a new water tower built in town caused a grammatical stir this week. As the water tower was being painted the town name appeared correctly on one side but not on the other. One side of the tower spelled out “START” and had a bit of a clip on part of the first T. Photos and videos of the misspelling went viral on social media in the area. The contractor later explained that the name wasn’t centered properly on that side of the tower initially and was going to be repainted. It has since been fixed up.

The town is expecting the construction of around 150 new homes and that is why the new water tower was going up. Current residents mostly got a chuckle out of the temporary snafu.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports Cass County (Iowa) man was sentenced Tuesday, for conspiring to distribute fentanyl causing serious bodily injury or death. 19-year-old Mason Blaine Loudermilk was sentenced in Council Bluffs US District Court, to 192 months (16-years) in prison. Loudermilk must serve a six-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

According to court documents, Loudermilk plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. The investigation revealed that between August 2020 and May 2022, Loudermilk obtained fentanyl, in pill form, from a source in Omaha, Nebraska. In turn, Loudermilk distributed the pills containing fentanyl in and around Cass County (Iowa) causing several fentanyl overdoses, each overdose requiring medical attention to prevent death.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. Agencies involved in the investigation include the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Atlantic Police Department, Cass County (Iowa) Sheriff’s Office, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force (SWINE), Council Bluffs Police Department, Iowa Division of Intelligence, Iowa State Patrol, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Crime Lab, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Omaha Police Department.

Fentanyl has become the leading cause of drug overdose deaths in the United States. Counterfeit, fentanyl-laced pills often resemble pharmaceutical pill, but contain potentially lethal doses of fentanyl. Visit the Drug Enforcement Administration’s website to learn more about One Pill Can Kill.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Rescue crews and law enforcement responded to the scene of a single-vehicle accident Wednesday evening, south of Atlantic. The page about the SUV accident at 620th (S. Olive St.) and Jasper Road, went out at around 7:13-p.m.  Two people were injured, one suffered from a head laceration. The other arm pain. A helicopter was dispatched out of Des Moines was asked to land at the Cass County Hospital. The vehicle license plate came back as being registered to a 2004 Jeep Liberty.

Atlantic Police, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies, Atlantic Fire & Rescue along with Cass EMS. Additional information was not immediately available.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Cass County, Wednesday, released information with regard to recent arrests.

On Wednesday, June 21st, deputies arrested 33-year-old Jeffrey Rowland, of Council Bluffs, on a warrant for Violation of Probation.  Rowland was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held.

On June 18th, Cass County deputies arrested: 44-year-old Daniel Anderson, of Adair, on a valid arrest warrant; and, 32-year-old Charles Masmar, of Waterloo, was arrested for OWI 1st Offense.  Both men were transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending release on their own recognizance.

On June 17th, 28-year-old St Raed, of Council Bluffs, for Driving While Barred.  Raed was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on bond.

On June 15th, 59-year-old Connie Nichols, of Atlantic, was arrested on a warrant for Possession of a Controlled Substance.  Nichols was transported to the Cass County Jail where she was booked and held pending her later release on her own recognizance.

And, on June 13th, 43-year-old Nathan Hobbie, of Shenandoah, was arrested in Cass County for OWI 1st Offense.  Hobbie was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release.

(Rural Carroll County, Iowa) – The Iowa State Patrol, Wednesday evening, released details about a fatal UTV accident that took place Tuesday afternoon, southeast of Carroll. The Patrol reports a 2017 Chevy Express van driven by 60-year-old Paul Heuton, of Carroll, was traveling north on Olympic Avenue at around 2:26-p.m., at the same time a 2022 John Deere Gator UTV operated by 62-year-old Randy Daniel, of Glidden, was traveling east on 230th.

When Daniel failed to stop at the posted stop sign prior to entering the intersection, Heuton took evasive action, but was unable to avoid striking the UTV on its passenger side.

The UTV rolled and entered the northeast ditch, along with the Express van. Randy Daniel was transported  by ambulance to the Carroll County Hospital, where he died from his injuries. He was not wearing a seat belt. Another person was injured, but the Patrol’s report did not indicate that person’s name or age. It’s also not clear which vehicle that person was a passenger in.

Carroll County EMS and Carroll County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene.

The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office reports no one was injured during a single vehicle accident on Tuesday afternoon. Deputies responded to the accident on Wagon Road at 2:26 p.m.

After investigation it was determined that a 2007 Buick Lucerne driven by 70-year-old Vernon Arthur Pote of Stuart was southbound on Wagon Road and went off the road onto the west shoulder and lost control. The car went into the cable barrier causing damage to the car and barrier before coming to a stop.

Pote was not injured in the accident and following a field sobriety test was charged with OWI First Offense and Failure to Maintain Control.

Damage to the car was estimated at $1,500 and damage to the cable barrier was estimated at $6,000.