Shelby County Emergency Manager Bob Seivert says the Fire Danger level is in the “HIGH” category through Monday, Oct. 8th. The index was lowered from the “Extreme” category due to the cool and damp conditions. Even so, controlled Burns should only be conducted with the knowledge of the local Fire Chief. The next update from Shelby County with regard to the Fire Danger Index, is expected to be released on Monday.  Seivert had said earlier, he expects the Fire Danger to remain High, throughout the month of October.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will hold a public meeting in Atlantic later this month, to discuss outdoor recreation. The 2-hour meeting takes place at 6:30 p.m., Oct. 18th, in the Atlantic Chamber of Commerce Rock Island Depot meeting room.  The Atlantic meeting is one of a series being held across the state to gather information to develop a new 5-year outdoor recreation plan for Iowa.  The draft plan will be available for public comment in December before it is submitted to the National Park Service.

Michelle Wilson, project leader for the State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan, says “We want Iowans with an interest in outdoor recreation or who participate in outdoor recreation to attend this meeting and help set a course for the future of outdoor recreation.” Wilson says they want residents to tell the DNR what recreational activities they would like to participate in, what amenities or conveniences would help you participate more often and what should the state focus on when it comes to outdoor recreation.

The plan will serve as a guide for future projects developed by the Iowa DNR.

The U-S Army Corps of Engineers plans to hold a half-dozen public meetings in the Missouri River basin in the coming weeks to talk about its operating plans for 2013. Corps spokeswoman Monique Farmer says they want to hear from people who were affected by the Corps’ management of the Missouri River.  “It’s been a year that looked quite different than what we saw last year,” Farmer says. “The conditions changed and we’ve gone into some level of drought conservation. Looking forward, toward the spring of 2013, we see that we will be starting below the base of that annual flood control pool which will mean that we will likely reduce some levels of service.”

Long-range forecasts point to below-normal snowfall in the region for the winter ahead. Farmer says it looks like releases from Gavins Point Dam near Yankton will also be below-normal all winter. Releases during the winter months, December through February, will be at the minimum level of 12,000 cubic feet per second as a drought conservation measure. Farmer says they are working with cities and power plants on several stretches of the Missouri River. “Right now, we are coordinating with municipalities downstream and folks who have industrial interests, to try and determine what areas caused the most problems for them with releases so we can keep an eye out and adjust releases as necessary throughout the winter to try and take heed of some of those areas of concern.”

Farmer says the draft operating plan will be released early next year. One of the meetings is scheduled for 11 A-M on October 31st at the Stoney Creek Inn & Conference Center in Sioux City. Other meetings are planned in: Fort Peck, Montana; Bismarck, North Dakota; Pierre, South Dakota; and in St. Joseph and Columbia, Missouri.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with the Rural Iowans for Obama campaign have announced a rural roundtable will be held in Clarinda, Friday. The event is being held to talk about issues facing rural communities, and will be hosted by Jennifer Herrington, member of the Rural Iowans for Obama Steering Committee and the Page County Democratic Chair.

Participants at the meeting will discuss the need for Congress to pass a farm bill, and matters pertaining to wind energy. The meeting takes place at Down Right Delicious in Clarinda (120 S. 15th St.), beginning at 8:30-a.m., Friday, Oct. 5th.

The DNR reports public meetings will be held across the state to gather input on proposed water quality standards designated use changes for a fourth batch of select rivers and streams. Officials say the changes help protect aquatic life and recreational uses.

For a list of stream designations being revised in the water quality standards, please refer to the list posted at: www.iowadnr.gov/InsideDNR/RegulatoryWater/WaterQualityStandards/DesignatedUses/UseAssessments.aspx

Locally, a meeting will be held in Atlantic, on Nov. 13th, from 3 to 6 p.m., at the Atlantic Rock Island Depot, 102 Chestnut St.

Those not able to attend the meetings may submit written comments or questions through Dec. 10th, to: Rochelle Cardinale, DNR, 502 East Ninth St., Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0034; by fax to 515-281-8895; or by email to rochelle.cardinale@dnr.iowa.gov.

w/ Dr. Keith Leonard

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ST. LOUIS (AP) – A weekly drought report shows that conditions have worsened in some key Midwest farming states where the corn harvest is more than halfway completed. The U.S. Drought Monitor map released Thursday shows that 75 percent of Iowa, the nation’s biggest corn producer, is enduring extreme or exceptional drought, which are the two worst classifications. That’s up roughly 10 percentage points from the previous week.

The worse conditions won’t make much difference to Iowa’s already withered corn crop but it could affect crops such as winter wheat. Nearly 98 percent of neighboring Nebraska still falls into the two most severe drought categories.  Overall drought conditions in the lower 48 states remained relatively unchanged.

The Atlantic City Council took no action Wednesday on a proposal by Syngenta Crop Products, to develop an advertising campaign with the City, , to promote its “Agrisure Viptera” corn seeds, for local farmers. City Administrator Doug Harris said the company wanted to place advertisements in store front windows, on street lamps, park benches and other such locations. As part of the company’s public relations campaign, Syngenta would have included Atlantic in advertisements targeting local farming communities. The City would have worked with the company to promote town events, living and other attractions, as part of the campaign.

Harris said because the company wants the signs put in-place beginning October 16^th (prior to the Council’s next meeting), he said the next meeting would be too late to take action on the proposal, meaning the council would have had to have acted on the request immediately. Harris said the company didn’t come right out and say it would make any donations to the City or local charitable organizations in exchange for the deal. Because of that, and because the City has no policy in place for such an arrangement, he said the Council needed to decide if they should “Shoot from the hip,” and approve the proposal without more information, or politely decline the offer.

Mayor Dave Jones said the “last second,” two-day notice about the offer is not enough time for the council to discuss the matter. Councilman Steve Livengood agreed. Councilperson Kathy Somers said they had received an e-mail from a Syngenta competitor, requesting the Council oppose the offer. Mayor Jones said Chamber Director Megan Roberts informed him the company is looking at four cities in Iowa for its advertising campaign, none of which have offered any kind of response thus far. A couple of those communities, he said, may have been waiting to see what Atlantic’s response would be.

In addition to the Council’s opposition to the short notice of the proposal, City Attorney David Wiederstein recommended they take no action on the offer.

Info on animals available for adoption at the Atlantic Animal Shelter.

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w/ Dave York

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