(Radio Iowa) – The Nestle Purina Plant in Clinton is running at increased capacity after a 156 million dollar expansion of its production lines that upped its capacity for dog and cat food by roughly 80-thousand tons. Plant manager, Justin Wilkinson says another key addition was a technical training center for employees.  “As we continue to grow, and we continue to bring in newer associates, new members to our team, we needed to do a better job of teaching them how do we make pet food,” Wilkinson says. He says the nearly 575 employees are able to go to the center and use an ipad to call up a video to learn new information.

“They watch the video on how to how to do a certain set of tasks and so that area is blocked off and left open 24/7 for that, self learning time,” he says. Wilkinson the plant isn’t like the old days where workers stand shoulder to shoulder on an assembly line, as technology is a big part of the process. “Every operator has an iPad and they use that iPad to show how well we’re running, they’ve got a dashboard and so we can see hey, we’re running well or not running well,” he explains. “There’s still some manual pieces where we have to set things up, there’s still some manual pieces where we have to adjust things,but the extruder itself is very much you type in the settings and the control valves change if you want to put the right amount of water or different amount of steam or however, those things automatically do it.”

He says they do use some robots to stack the material on pallets as it is prepared for shipping. Wilkinson says some of the employees have been around long enough to remember when the process involved more manual labor. “They tell stories about having to hand stack 55 pounds of bags of dog Chow, onto a rail car, packing it to the roof, and we don’t do that anymore. And the robots we do have are to help stack those into pallets and get those to where we can automatically put those away,” he says. Wilkinson says they have used some Cobots that work closely with people in a few different areas — and that is one area they are interested in as they look at continuing to evolve and improve. The pet industry itself has evolved to where they also produce a lot of nutrition products for pets.

“An example of that is a product called Live Clear. We produce that here in Clinton, one of our specialties and the only spot we make it,” Wilkinson says. “So if you have an allergy to a cat, there is a product that you can feed the cat which helps reduce the dander which helps reduce your allergies.” He says it’s part of the changing way we look at pets. They were once animals that stayed outside, but are now welcomed into our homes.

“We have the culture that is rightfully, and it’s great to watch, treat them as a family member that is in the house and in the bed. And…we still have those products for those that have the farm dogs and throw the bag on the ground in the barn,” he says. The Clinton plant produces animal treats along with the dry food. Nestle Purina has another dry food factory in Davenport, and a plant that makes wet food in Fort Dodge.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A Montgomery County man was arrested on a Pottawattamie County warrant, Monday evening. Police in Red Oak say 27-year-old Dylan Elwood Taylor, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 6:15-p.m. near S. 2nd and Short Streets, in Red Oak. He was wanted for Domestic Abuse Assault w/injury or mental illness – 1st Offense. Taylor was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

BLOOMFIELD, Iowa – On July 26, 2023, at the request of Bloomfield Police Chief Zach Dunlavy, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Iowa State Patrol began an investigation into a non-fatal officer-involved shooting that occurred in Bloomfield that evening.

On July 26, at 9:32 p.m., Bloomfield Police Officer Jared Wittmaack, an officer with three years of law enforcement experience, stopped an erratic driver in the 400 block of East Arkansas Avenue. While Officer Wittmaack was speaking with the driver, a 17-year-old male approached the traffic stop from a nearby home. During a verbal and physical confrontation, Officer Wittmaack fired his duty weapon, striking the male.

The male was transported to a local hospital and then airlifted to a Des Moines hospital for further treatment. He is expected to make a full recovery. Officer Wittmaack was treated at a local hospital and released. He remains on critical incident leave.

This is an ongoing investigation. A complete report will be filed with the Davis County Attorney for review and determination.

(Radio Iowa) – A new report has found 33 Iowa counties are considered maternity care deserts. The report from the March of Dimes defines a maternity care desert as a county with no OB/GYNs and no hospital with a maternity ward. Jessica Dill, a manager with the March of Dimes, says Medicaid reimbursement rates play a big part in why many rural hospitals are closing their labor and delivery units.

“Hospitals can’t afford to stay open in places where the majority of families are coming to them with just Medicaid and not private care insurance,” Dill says. The state’s Medicaid program covered more than 40 percent of the births in Iowa in 2021. Mothers and babies in maternal care deserts face higher risk of poor health outcomes according to the March of Dimes report.

“Issues related to birth, maternal morbidity rates go up when families have to drive more than 30 minutes to get to a care provider,” Dill says. Dill says increased access to telehealth services could help give people in maternity care deserts more options to access care. The March of Dimes has found the number of babies born prematurely has increased over the past decade in Iowa.

According to the American Medical Association, the maternal death rate in Iowa more than doubled between 1999 and 2019.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Police in Council Bluffs are asking for the public’s help in identifying and/or locating a suspect involved in the robbery early Monday morning, of a motel Authorities say at approximately 1:07 am, Council Bluffs police officers were dispatched to 3032 South Expressway, Motel 6, for a Robbery. The investigation revealed that a male who was wearing a black ski mask entered the hotel lobby and took money from behind the front counter. The male was armed with a handgun during the incident but no employees or customers were injured. Officers searched the area but were unable to locate the suspect.

The suspect is described as a white male who was wearing a black ski mask, gray shirt, black pants and dark colored New Balance brand shoes. Surveillance camera photos are shown below.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call Council Bluffs detectives at 712-328-4728 or to remain anonymous, they may call CrimeStoppers at 712-328-7867.

(Radio Iowa) – Six presidential candidates have met the polling and fundraising thresholds to qualify for the first televised debate in August and other candidates are scrambling to get invited. Just five of the 13 presidential candidates on stage at the Iowa G-O-P’s Friday night banquet have gotten donations from 40-thousand different people and had at least one percent support in public opinion polls the Republican National Committee is recognizing.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has only met that fundraising mark. Suarez sought to build his name recognition among the 12-hundred or so Iowa Republicans at Friday’s event — with a little dig at frontrunners Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump. “I don’t have a fancy bus. I don’t have a private plane, but we do have these amazing towels with my name on them for the Miami heat that I brought up here and the humidity,” Suarez said, to laughter.

Suarez entered the presidential race in June. “I think we have big problems in this country and I think we need a personality of someone who is a solver of problems, of someone who can bring people together,” Suarez said. Suarez touts Miami as a prosperous, flourishing city and a national model for how to get to a balanced FEDERAL budget. Suarez says the next president will have to deal with a global financial meltdown.

Francis Suarez (From his campaign Facebook page)

“We have to do with our federal government what we have to do every single day in America where we balance our checkbooks and where we now if we put something on the credit card, we’re eventually going to have to pay for it,” Suarez says. “It’s not that complicated.”

In 1985, Suarez’s father, Xavier, became the first Cuban-born mayor of Miami. In 2017, Francis Suarez was elected mayor with nearly 86 percent of the vote. He was re-elected in 2021 with 80 percent support.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Transportation is pulling its motor vehicle offices out of malls across the state. Customer Services Bureau director, Darcy Doty, says some of the 18 offices where people get driver’s licenses were unreachable in closed shopping malls during the pandemic.

“We don’t want state government to stop. So we wanted to be able to be operational at all times,” she says, “so we made the strategic decision to say, you know, we need to have a direct door access for our customers to be able to enter so we can continue services at any time whether a mall is open or not.” This year locations in Iowa City and Muscatine are moving.

“We decided that as leases were coming up in those particular areas that we would make the decision to leave those particular areas where we don’t have a direct outside door for the customer to come into,” she says. The offices in Waterloo and Council Bluffs will move once their lease is up. The D-O-T is shifting the Iowa City mall office location to Coralville.

(Ottumwa, Iowa) –  The Iowa Department of Corrections reports 29-year old Jordan Marcus Simon, who was convicted of Intimidation With a Dangerous Weapon and Dominion/Control of a Firearm by Felon in Des Moines County, failed to report back to the Ottumwa Residential Facility as required, Saturday.

Simon is a black male, height 5’10”, and weighs 272 pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on June 15, 2023.

Jordan Simon (IDOC photo)

Persons with information on Simon’s whereabouts should contact local police.

(Cass County, Iowa) – Atlantic and Massena are hosting mobile food pantries this month on Wednesday afternoon, August 9th. A mobile pantry is a traveling food pantry that delivers food directly to families in need for a one-day distribution. People from surrounding towns and communities are welcome. Mobile food pantries are available free of charge. Anyone in need is welcome, and no documentation is required.

Each car can take food for up to two households at a time. Both Atlantic and Massena will be distributing the same food products. If supplies run low in Massena, families will be directed to Atlantic. Full details about the August 9 Mobile Pantries, as well as dates for upcoming mobile pantries in 2023 are listed below:

August 9 Mobile Food Pantries:

Atlantic: Atlantic High School front parking lot, from 4-6 p.m. Enter from 14th Street and follow signs. For questions, call 712-243-1132.
Massena: Southwest Iowa Egg, 74877 Clark Avenue, Massena, Iowa – Enter from the west and drive across the scale for pick up. Time: 4:30-5:00 p.m. (NOTE: No registration required)

Upcoming Atlantic 2023 Mobile Food Pantries

Please note: Atlantic 2023 Mobile Food Pantries are being held at different locations during the school year (Cass County Community Center) and summer months (Atlantic High School).

Time: 4-6 p.m.

Cass County Community Center (805 W. 10th St., Atlantic, IA 50022): October 11

Upcoming Massena 2023 Mobile Food Pantries

Where: Southwest Iowa Egg Coop (74877 Clarke Ave. Massena, IA 50853)

Remaining 2023 Dates: October 11 (NOTE: No registration required)

Box pick-up time: 4:30-5:00 p.m.

Mobile pantry dates, times, and locations are subject to change. For the latest information on mobile pantries in Anita and Atlantic, visit https://foodbankheartland.org/food-resources/find-food/. For the latest information on Massena pantries, call (712) 779-3447. For information on upcoming events and local food, farmers markets, and food access activities, follow the Cass County Local Food Policy Council’s Facebook page @CassCountyLocalFood.