Sheriff’s officials in Fremont County say foul play is not suspected in connection with the death of a Shenandoah man, whose body was found in a ditch Monday. Authorities received a report about a person lying in a ditch in the 39-hundred block of 180th Street. When deputies arrived, they found the body of 58-year old Ronald Gene Nelson, of rural Shenandoah. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death. Deputies were assisted at the scene, by Shenandoah Rescue, and the Fremont County Coroner’s Office.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey today (Tuesday), announced that the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship will be awarding $244,000 in grants to Iowa organizations to help enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops grown in Iowa. Among the recipients is: The Southern Iowa RC&D in Creston – which received $23,928 to gather economic and social impact data in rural southwest Iowa to support specialty crop production; and, the Golden Hills RC&D in Oakland –  which received $24,000 to support creating, marketing and promoting the Iowa Loess Hill AVA Wine Trail.

The IA Dept. of Ag and Land Stewardship received $271,296.81 through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service to support the program. Iowa agricultural non-profit organizations, cooperatives, specialty crop industry associations or organizations, and producer groups were eligible to apply for funding to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops.

“Specialty Crops”  eligible under the program are fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits and horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture.  The funds not passed through to Iowa organizations will be used by the Department to administer the grant. The maximum grant award from the Department to sub-grantees is $24,000 and administrative and indirect costs are not allowed. The Department received 29 proposals requesting assistance and the 11 chosen were selected by an independent review committee of nine industry stakeholders.

Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey said “Specialty crops are a very important part of Iowa agriculture as they allow farmers to diversify and give customers access to locally grown products. ” Northey says “These federal funds will support a variety of efforts that will make these Iowa grown crops more available and encourage Iowans to choose fruits, vegetables, nuts and flowers that are produced right here in our state.”

w/ Ric Hanson

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The Cass County Republican Party has announced the opening of the county Republican headquarters, located at 319 Chestnut St. in downtown Atlantic (formerly the U.S. Army Recruiting Office).  The headquarters will be open beginning on Wednesday, October 3rd.  Its hours of operation will be from noon to 4:30 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays, and from 9:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. on Saturdays through Election Day.

Yard signs for the candidates will be available for pick-up at the headquarters, in addition to other materials that detail information about the candidates.  A grand opening event is pending.  Contact Party Chairman David Wiederstein at 712-249-8417 for inquiries about the headquarters and for other volunteer opportunities.  The County Party extends a special thanks to the former party chairman, Jim Field, for his assistance in securing the location of the headquarters.

Two people from Missouri Valley were injured early Monday morning during a rear-end collision on DeSoto Avenue, in Pottawattamie County. Pott. Co. Sheriff’s officials say the accident happened after an animal darted in front of a vehicle driven by 43-year old Teresa Powley, and she slowed to avoid a collision. In the process, her 2011 Chevy SUV was hit from behind by a 2008 Dodge pickup, driven by 57-year old Timothy Thares. The accident happened at around 4:45-a.m., near the bridge over Interstate 29, on DeSoto Avenue. Authorities say the impact spun Powley’s SUV around, and resulted in her being trapped inside the vehicle. The woman was flown by helicopter to the Nebraska Medical Center. A report on her condition is not available. Thares was treated at Mercy Hospital, and released.

Campaign officials say Democrat Vice President Joe Biden will make a campaign stop in Council Bluffs, Thursday. The Council Bluffs office of Obama for America (at 1851 Madison Ave., Suite 200) will make tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis for the event, beginning today (Tuesday), at 8-a.m. Only one ticket per person is allowed, and a ticket is necessary for the free event, which will be held at the Mid-America Center. Doors open at 11-a.m. Thursday.

w/ Ric Hanson

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Meetings are planned this month in more than 100 Iowa towns where the U.S. Postal Service plans to reduce hours at post offices. Peter Hass, a spokesperson for the U-S-P-S in Iowa, says window hours could be reduced to 2, 4 or 6 hours a day depending on the location. “We want to hear our customers’ feedback on what their preferences are and we’re going to be doing community meetings in every community where we have a proposed change in the retail hours for a post office,” Hass said.

The USPS originally proposed closing 3,700 rural post offices around the country to cut costs, but altered the plan to simply reduce retail hours. Hass notes access to a post office’s P.O. Boxes would remain the same under the plan – only access to a clerk to buy stamps or mail a package would be limited.

The meetings happening in Iowa begin next week. Hass said Iowans who can’t attend a meeting in their community can still provide feedback. “Prior to the meetings, we’re sending out notifications to our customers in those communities with a survey, so they can provide their input in that way as well,” Hass said. The USPS is searching for ways to cut costs in response to a 25% drop in mail volume in the past five years. The plan to reduce rural post office hours is projected to save the Postal Service $500 million a year.

Here is a partial schedule of the meetings set to occur at Post Offices or other locations in southwest Iowa:

Oct. 9^th: 6-p.m. at the Braddyville City Hall.

Oct. 15^th: Orient Post Office, 2:15-p.m.; Fontanelle Post Office, 4-p.m; Cumberland Post Office- 5:15-p.m.; Grant Post Office, 6:30-p.m.

Oct. 16^th: Prescott Post Office, 2-p.m.

Oct. 17^th: De Soto Post Office, 1-pm.; Macksburg Post Office, 2:30-p.m.

Other location and meeting times can be found here: http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/our-future-network/post-plan.htm#toggle_oct2012

(Radio Iowa/Ric Hanson)

Deputies in Montgomery County are investigating a residential burglary in Villisca. Officials say sometime between 3:30-p.m. Sunday and 9-a.m. Monday, someone entered the bedroom of a home in the 100-block of West 5th Street, in Villisca. Entry was gained through a screen window. Inside, the person or persons responsible for the theft, took $260 in cash bills and a mason jar with an estimated $35 in change. Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office’ Crime Stoppers line at 1-800-432-1001.

DENVER (AP) — CenturyLink workers in 13 states in the West and Midwest are authorizing a strike, if union leaders and the telecommunications company can’t reach a contract agreement. The Communications Workers of America said Monday that more than 88 percent of those voting backed the action. The union and Monroe, La.-based CenturyLink are trying to reach a new contract for 13,000 employees before the current contract expires Saturday night. The employees include customer service agents, network technicians and Internet support workers. The union approved a strike during contract talks in 2008 but a work stoppage wasn’t ordered. CWA spokesman Al Kogler said the union opposes a proposed increase in health care premiums and wants to bring more jobs back to the U.S. CenturyLink workers in Montana are negotiating a separate contract.