(Radio Iowa) An Iowa company that plans to make boards out of the leftover stalks and leaves from corn known as stover, finally plans to open. Cornboard founder and C-E-O Lane Segestrom, says the original start up was delayed by the supply chain and other issues.

He says they will make pallets out of the corn-based boards.

Segestrom says it is great to finally see things move forward.

Segestrom talked about the plant’s start up Wednesday at a U-S-D-A forum on bio-based products.

(Radio Iowa) Governor Kim Reynolds has named an eastern Iowa native who’s been a leader in the national school choice movement to be the next director of the Iowa Department of Education.

Chad Aldis is a 1990 graduate of Clinton High School. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he worked for Florida legislators, then as an administrator in the Florida Department of Education. Aldis then moved to Ohio and was executive director of School Choice Ohio for nearly four years. For the past nine-and-a-half years, he’s been with a national think tank that advocates for charter schools and the kind of state funded savings accounts for private school expenses that Iowa’s governor recently signed into law.

Governor Reynolds says this is a pivotal time for Iowa’s education system and Aldis will help lead reform efforts. Aldis says he shares the governor’s vision and will focus on ensuring all students leave high school with the knowledge and skills to prepare them for college or a career.

Aldis earned a degree in economics from the University of Mississippi and a law degree from Florida State University. Aldis is replacing Ann Lebo who announced recently she was resigning as Iowa Department of Education director after nearly three years in the position. His first day on the job is March 15th.

(Radio Iowa) After a nearly two and a half hour debate, the Iowa House has given final approval to a bill that would ban Iowa doctors and therapists from providing gender transition care to minors. All Senate Republicans voted for the bill Tuesday night and on Wednesday, 58 of the 64 Republicans in the House backed it. Republican Representative Steven Holt of Denison says there are grave doubts about having children undergo these life-altering procedures.

Holt says children are unable to give informed consent to these kind of procedures.

Representative Jeff Shipley of Fairfield, a Republican who voted for the bill, says the expectation should be health not harm.

Five Republicans and all House Democrats voted against the bill. Representative Ross Wilburn, a Democrat from Ames, told his colleagues he’s the father of a son who completed his gender transition at the age of 21.

Representative Chad Ingels of Randalia was one of the Republicans who voted against the bill says choosing to focus on one extremely small group in the state with this and other bills is not what the majority of Iowans want.

Representative Brian Lohse (LOH-see) of Bondurant, another Republican opponent of the bill, says parents should be free to make these decisions for their kids.

A similar law passed in Arkansas in 2021 was immediately challenged in court and has never taken effect as the case has not been resolved.

(Radio Iowa) – Volunteers are needed this weekend to help restore a state park that was heavily damaged in a tornado just over a year ago. One camper was killed when the powerful E-F-3 twister cut across southern Iowa’s Lucas County on March 5th of 2022, destroying much of the infrastructure and foliage at Red Haw State Park near Chariton. Park manager Riley Henry says the clean-up project involves picking up metal debris that was scattered across the 649-acre park.

Given the amount of damage, Henry says volunteers and D-N-R crews have already done an amazing job in making repairs and restoring the park’s many amenities, though the campground remains closed. Hundreds of trees were lost in the storm and about a thousand new trees have been planted in the past year. The volunteer event is Sunday from 2 to 4 P-M. Henry says to dress for the weather and bring work gloves, hiking boots and a water bottle.

(Radio Iowa) – The 38-hundred nurses and other healthcare professionals at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics have overwhelmingly approved a new contract. They are members of S-E-I-U Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa and had reached a tentative agreement the last week of February.

Information from S-E-I-U says the contract includes a six percent increase across the board for existing employees and three percent each year.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Police in Glenwood report the arrest on Tuesday, of 52-year-old Shantel Baker, of Glenwood. Baker was charged with possession of controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. She has since posted a $1,300 bond.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office has issued a report on arrests.

On March 6th, 2023, deputies arrested Amanda Arnold, 32, of Omaha, NE, on a warrant for Violation of Probation.  Arnold was transported to the Cass County Jail where she was booked in and held. She was later released on her own recognizance.

On March 4th, 2023, Joel Lary, 51, of Massena, was arrested on the charges of Driving While Revoked, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, OWI 2nd Offense and Felon in Control of Firearms.  Lary was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on bond.

On February 24th, Cass County Deputies arrested Matthew Paulsen, 27, of Adair, for Contempt of Court – Violation of a No Contact Order.  Paulsen was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on bond.

On February 23rd, Cody Baker, 31, of Atlantic, was arrested for Sex Offender Registry Violation(s).  Baker was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held.

On February 22nd, 2023, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested Anthony Karns, 44, of Wiota, for Contempt of Court – Violation of a No Contact Order.  Karns was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on his own recognizance.

On February 21st, 2023, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office arrested Isaiah Carpenter, 20, of Griswold, for littering.  This stems from an investigation regarding the dumping of household furniture over a bridge in rural Griswold.  Carpenter was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was seen by a Magistrate Judge and released.

(Radio Iowa) – MidAmerican Energy says it is the first utility company in the state to try all-electric utility trucks. Company spokesman, Geoff Greenwood, says these are the large bucket trucks that allow them to get up in the air and work on power lines. “These trucks have two different batteries on board — one powers the vehicle and allows it to travel — and then the other battery allows the crews to do their work when they get to that location,” Greenwood says. He says the Des Moines-based company has purchased three trucks and they to put them through their paces in the field before buying more. “Our goal is to see how they work, see how they operate in real world conditions, all kinds of weather conditions, all kinds of terrain. And let’s test them out, let’s see how they work,”Greenwood says. “And if they work as well as we expect them to work, then we’ll be making a lot more purchases.”

Greenwood says the trucks have a 135-mile range. “We’ve’ve assigned one to Sioux City, we’ve assigned one to the Des Moines area, and then we’ve assigned one to the Quad Cities. So we’ve got them spread across the state,” he says. “We are putting them to work as we speak, and our crews will run them through everything that they do day in and day out and see how they work.” He says they have fast charges at their facilities where the trucks and be charged overnight. Greenwood says they don’t make much noise — which will make it easier for crews to communicate in the field. He says they will put out no emissions, which allows crews train on them using an indoor facility.
Greenwood says the cost of operating the trucks is something they are also reviewing.

“An electric vehicle is more expensive, however, we’re not paying for fuel. And there’s a lot of maintenance that you would have to do using a combustion engine that you don’t need for an electric vehicle,” he says. “For example, no oil change, these don’t need oil changes. So they are more expensive up-front, but we’re eager to see what kind of maintenance savings we get as we progress.” Greenwood says the trucks are charging up with renewable energy from their own wind farms — which brings things full circle.

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans in the Iowa Senate have voted to put new limits on documents and information Democratic State Auditor Rob Sand’s office may access as it investigates state government operations and whistleblower complaints. Republican Senator Mike Bousselot, of Ankeny, says individual income tax returns, crime reports and things that aren’t relevant to auditor’s office investigations should be off limits. “Iowans trust that that information is going to be kept safe not only from inappropriate disclosure,” Bousselot said, “but also from the wrong eyes seeing it that are unrelated to what they’re doing.” Sand is the only Democrat holding a state executive office.

Senator Janice Weinerer), a Democrat from Iowa City, says the bill essentially requires Republican Governor Kim Reynolds to O-K any investigation of an executive branch agency. “This is now a waste, fraud and abuse promotion bill…This bill doesn’t protect privacy,” Weiner said. “It only undermines independent oversight.” Senate Democratic Leader Zach Wahls says the bill is written to prevent the auditor from investigating the new program giving state funded savings accounts to the parents of private school students. “The taxpayer watchdog is the auditor of state,” Wahls said. “This bill…is not just shortening the leash on the watchdog, it’s putting them in the crate and locking the door.”

Senate Republicans passed the bill a day after Sand voted against using taxpayer dollars to pay a legal settlement to former University of Iowa players who alleged the football program was a racially hostile environment. Republican Senator Jason Schultz of Schleswig says the bill was drafted in response to a recent Supreme Court ruling that there are no limits on what the state auditor may investigate. “That does seem just a bit drastic,” Schultz said. “There should be some protections by the state, in Iowa Code, for Iowa citizens.” Schultz says he was creeped out by Democrats’ complaints and suspects the bill would limit something the state auditor is planning to investigate.

Sand sent an email to senators a few hours before the late night debate, saying the bill would have a catastrophic impact on the ability of the auditor’s office to conduct oversight of state government.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors today (Wednesday), acted on approving a handful of administrative matters, including Homestead & Military Disallowances, an FY22 Cost Allocation Plan Certification, and the re-appointment of Township Clerks & Trustees. Auditor Mandy Berg said Washington Township should be ready to appoint someone soon for an opening, while Grove Township has been without an appointee for quite some time.

The Board also approved a Resolution to withdraw from the Articles of Agreement which formed the Workforce Development Chief Elected Official Consortium for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014. Board Chair Jerry Walker…

The decision follows a lack of action by Iowa Workforce on using the funds they’ve been allotted.

Eighteen counties in western Iowa have already withdrawn, for a state total to date of 42 that have pulled out of the agreement. In other business, the Adair County Supervisors approved the appointment of Todd Olsen to the Southern Iowa Rural Housing Authority Board.

Chris Roberts, EMS Manager from the Adair County Memorial Hospital, spoke with the Board about taking a Medical Death Investigator class at the request of Adair County Medical Examiner Dr. Timothy Piearson. The Doctor would like Roberts certified as a Backup Medical Examiner, for when the Piearson is in clinic or otherwise unavailable. The MDI class takes place May 1^st through the 3^rd at DMACC (Des Moines Area Communtiy College), at a cost of $500. Roberts was asked about his background that would prepare him to take on the role of Medical Examiner, should it become necessary.

Roberts lives nearby in Madison County line and is in Greenfield Monday through Friday, with additional on-call hours as needed. The Board unanimously agreed to pay for the class. After he passes the class, Roberts would be the official Assistant Medical Examiner in Adair County.

And, Sawyer Hansen, Assistant to County Engineer Nick Kauffman, presented the Board Chair with contracts and a bond to sign for various rock and culvert projects. Hansen also updated the Board on Secondary Roads Department maintenance and activities.

He said they’ve requested material bids for the West 13/Jefferson Bridge, which are due back by March 13^th, with a letting set as soon as they get the price for materials. The North 25 Grand River culvert project is set for letting on March 20^th, and North 33 Orient Bridge is set for March 27^th.