DES MOINES, Iowa (Jan 12, 2023) – The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship today announced that the November 10 order cancelling all live bird exhibitions at fairs and other gatherings of birds due to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been lifted. The order also prohibited live birds from being sold or transferred at livestock auction markets, swap meets, and exotic sales.

It has been 30 days since the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed a new infection of HPAI in domestic poultry in Iowa. The last confirmed case of HPAI in Iowa was announced on December 12.

“Commercial poultry producers and those with backyard birds should continue to be vigilant with their biosecurity because this destructive disease still poses a serious ongoing risk,” said Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig. “We are continually monitoring highly pathogenic avian influenza case counts worldwide and we remain ready to quickly respond should spring migration bring us another enhanced level of threat.”

Commercial and backyard flock owners should prevent contact between their birds and wild birds. Sick birds or unusual deaths among birds should be immediately reported to state or federal officials. Biosecurity resources and best practices are available on the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship website. If producers suspect signs of HPAI in their flocks, they should contact their veterinarian immediately. Possible cases must also be reported to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship at (515) 281-5305.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the recent HPAI detections in birds do not present a public health concern. It remains safe to eat poultry products. As a reminder, consumers should always utilize the proper handling and cooking of eggs and poultry products. An internal temperature of 165˚F kills bacteria and viruses.

For additional information on HPAI, please visit the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s website.

(Hamburg, Iowa, January 11, 2023) – Golden Hills RC&D, Friends of Waubonsie State Park, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources have announced the opening of the latest round of an innovative artist in residence program at Waubonsie State Park. This is the fourth season that the park will host artists for the program, which was the first of its kind in the state. Artists will receive living and studio space in the park, with time to focus on their work and seek inspiration from the southern Loess Hills.

This program is modeled after similar artist residencies at national parks and state parks outside of Iowa, and was the first of its kind at an Iowa state park. Following Waubonsie State Park’s Artist in Residence program’s successful inaugural year, the Iowa DNR launched their “20 Artists, 20 Parks”, a similar program with faculty and graduate students from the Iowa State University. This year, the Waubonsie State Park Artist in Residence program will award up to two residencies, ranging from 2 to 4 weeks long during the month of March. Artists may work in a variety of media.

The program was designed to allow artists a respite from their typical distractions so that they could intensively focus on their work in the quiet seclusion of Waubonsie State Park, while finding inspiration in the beauty of their natural surroundings. In exchange for the facility use during the residency, artists are required to deliver at least one public program and to donate one piece of art to the park at the conclusion of their stay.

Applications are being accepted now through February 3rd. Artists will be selected through a competitive application process and notified by February 10th. The program is open to artists of multiple disciplines and from any location. For more details about the timeline and how to apply, visit www.goldenhillsrcd.org/artist-in-residence.

Waubonsie State Park is a 2,000-acre preserve in the scenic and unique Loess Hills landform. The park offers many miles of hiking, equestrian, and bike trails through woodlands, prairies, and oak savanna. Waubonsie is located on the Loess Hills National Scenic Byway™ near Hamburg, IA, about an hour’s drive from Omaha and Lincoln, NE; two hours from Kansas City, and two and a half hours from Des Moines.

Golden Hills RC&D is a non-profit whose mission is to collaboratively develop and lead community, conservation, and cultural initiatives to improve our quality of life in rural western Iowa. Golden Hills supports southwest Iowa in the program areas of Land Stewardship, Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, Water Resources, Local Foods, Arts & Culture, and Community Partnerships.

(Radio Iowa) – The wife of a Woodbury County Supervisor has been arrested and charged with more than 50 counts of voter fraud. Jeremy Taylor of Sioux City lost a Republican primary for Iowa’s fourth district congressional seat in June of 2020. In November of 2020, Taylor won back a seat on the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors. He’d resigned from the board in early 2020 after the county auditor ruled Taylor did not live at the address listed on his voter registration.

Now, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice, 49-year-old Kim Taylor of Sioux City is accused of submitting or having others submit dozens of voter registration and absentee ballot request forms in the 2020 Republican Primary and 2020 General Election. She’s also accused of submitting absentee ballots that contained false information in both of the elections when her husband’s name was on the ballot.

Court documents indicate Kim Taylor signed forms without voters permission and told others that they could sign on behalf of relatives. She’s charged with 23 counts of fraudulent voting and 26 counts of providing false information when voting or registering to vote. She’s also charged with three counts of voter registration fraud.

In the spring of 2020, Taylor lost to Randy Feenstra in the G-O-P Primary for Iowa’s 4th district congressional seat.

(Radio Iowa) – Northern Iowa is a long way from the sea, but the so-called seawall in downtown Clear Lake is being placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service. The seawall was built in 1936 as a Works Progress Administration project and received its first major renovation last year. Mayor Nelson Crabb says town leaders and the Clear Lake Historical Society are happy to see the iconic gathering place win national recognition.

“People will go down there and sit and stare out at the lake, but they have to go to the seawall to do that,” Crabb says. “Pictures are taken there, graduation pictures, wedding pictures, you name it, they all occur right at that what we call a seawall.” The seawall was also placed on the state’s list of historical places last June. The mayor commends the meticulous work by T-N-T Tuckpointing & Building Restoration of Stockton, Iowa, which finished the project under budget and ahead of schedule.

Clear Lake seawall (Via City of Clear Lake Facebook page)

“Actually finding field granite that came from this area and then going into the actual mortar of years ago, testing that somehow, and using mortar that was almost identical, if not identical, to that which was used back in 1936,” he says. “It really is quite an authentic restoration.” The seawall replaced the former White Pier, which was destroyed by a tornado in 1931.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa National Guard Adjutant General Benjamin Corell says it’s increasingly difficult to recruit new soldiers and airmen — and less than 30 percent of young Americans meet the physical and medical requirements for membership. “We open the door and want lots of young men and women from Iowa to join our ranks, but not everybody wants to serve,” Corell says. “There are other opportunities…There’s a lot of competition out there for young men and women of Iowa to do things that are less physically demanding and less requirements driven.” In a typical year, Corell says about 700 recruits apply for an Iowa National Guard Service Scholarship, but this past year that’s increased to 900 — and he says reducing the amount of each scholarship would hurt recruiting efforts.

“We’re able to recruit young people not only because we have recruiters, but because we have young people who joined the organization and had the opportunity to have their college education paid for,” Corell says. “If come back and say: ‘Well, we can’t fund you at 100% because we’ve expended the money that we have within budget,’ I don’t think they’re going to go tell their friends and their neighbors: ‘Hey, you should join the Iowa National Guard. They said they were going to fund me at 100% and I only got 60%.”

Iowa National Guard Adjutant General Benjamin Corell

The governor’s budget calls for a one-and-a-half million dollar increase for Iowa National Guard Service Scholarships — for a total of over six MILLION dollars in scholarship money for recruits. “It’s critical for us to keep that program going, keep it funded,” Corell says. “It’s important for Iowa, it’s important for our communities to get these people with a college education and then we’ve got to balance their requirements in the Iowa National Guard with their ability to go to school.” Corell cites recent studies indicating 2022 was the worst year for military recruiting since 1973 as the military began the transition to an all-volunteer force. Corell estimates the latest batch of new Iowa National Guard recruits is about 60 percent of his target. He has about 98 percent of the soldiers the Pentagon has authorized for the Iowa Army National Guard and 97 percent of the airmen for the Iowa Air National Guard.

“It’s not a crisis today,” Corell says. “My role is to ensure we have the people, they’re trained and their ready to respond and to do that, we’ve got to reach out. We’ve got to get more men and women from Iowa who say: ‘Tell me more about this Iowa Guard.'” Corell spoke with reporters after he delivered the annual “Condition of the Guard” address to legislators.

Atlantic, Iowa – This year, local community non-profits are more in need of support than in any other time in the recent years’ past. Now shoppers can give back to the local community and help to reduce single-use plastics by purchasing a special reusable bag at Hy-Vee. Kate Olson, Cass County Relay for Life member, reports the American Cancer Society, and the Relay For Life of Cass County has been selected by local Hy-Vee store leadership as the benefiting non-profit in the Hy-Vee Reusable Bag Program for the month of January!

The Hy-Vee Reusable Bag Program is designed to give back to the local community with every reusable bag purchased. Every $2.50 reusable Red “My Heart” Bag sold supports a non-profit local to the store in which it was purchased. This program offers a way for shoppers to give back as part of the regular weekly routine.

Every month, at every Hy-Vee location, a different local non-profit is selected to benefit from the sale of these special reusable Red “My Heart” Bags, The American Cancer Society and Relay For Life of Cass County was selected as the January beneficiary by local store leadership at the Atlantic Hy-Vee store located at 1630 East 7th St. Atlantic, IA. The American Cancer Society and the Relay For Life of Cass County will receive a $1 donation for every $2.50 reusable Red “My Heart” Bag purchased at this location in January.

“The last few years have brought so many changes and difficulties for non-profits at the local level,” said Suzie Mages, Senior Community Development Manager for the American Cancer Society. “We are thrilled to be participating in this innovative program that makes it possible for shoppers to give back to local non-profits while reducing single-use plastic in the environment. We appreciate the community support in this important initiative to make a difference.”

The American Cancer Society is a non-profit based in communities across the country. The American Cancer Society focuses on “Every Cancer. Every Life”. as the leading cancer-fighting organization with a vision to end cancer as we know it, for everyone. We are improving the lives of people with cancer and their families as the only organization combating cancer through Advocacy, Research, and patient support, to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer. Learn more about The American Cancer Society by visiting cancer.org.

For more information about the Hy-Vee Reusable Bag Program, please visit hy-vee.bags4mycause.com.

(Radio Iowa) – The four Iowa Republicans serving in the U.S. House have voted to create a new committee focused on China. Second district Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion notes it passed with the support of all Republicans and nearly 70 percent of the Democrats in the House.  “The beginning of our efforts to hold China accountable for their wide range of malicious activity and, of course, to protect our national security,” Hinson says. “These are efforts that I believe will continue to be bipartisan this congress.”

Hinson says the House Select Committee on China should move to forbid Chinese citizens and companies from buying American farmland. Iowa law forbids foreign ownership of agricultural land, but according to the U-S-D-A, China owns about 190-thousand acres of farm ground in the United States. “China poses the largest threat our national and global security,” Hinson says, “from posturing against Taiwan to buying up U.S. farmland at alarming rates.”

The governor of North Dakota has asked federal officials to review a Chinese food company’s recent purchase of 300 acres of land in his state. The property is about 12 miles from the Grand Forks U.S. Air Force Base. Hinson says the federal government needs to track the purchase of land around U.S. military installations and other key infrastructure. “We don’t want to completely block international land ownership. That’s not what we want to see happen,” Hinson says. “We have a lot of international investment in Iowa, in our district, but we need to be very clear that the Chinese Communist Party is the greatest threat to this country and we cannot allow them to buy another acre.”

Hinson made her comments this (Thursday) morning during a telephone news conference with Iowa reporters. She expressed reservations about G-O-P colleague George Santos, the New York congressman who admits he has lied about his past, including where he’s worked and his family background. “I am very troubled by the allegations against Mr. Santos,” Hinson said. “I do think we need to let the ethics investigation play out.”

Two Democratic congressmen from New York filed an ethics complaint against Santos this week, questioning whether he lied on the financial disclosures he filed with the House.

(Radio Iowa) – Cow manure from local dairy farms will be run through digesters to generate natural gas that will run through a pipeline to the northwest Iowa town of Sioux Center. Aaron Maassen owns one of the three dairy farms involved in the project. He says it will not only expand the town’s capacity for natural gas, it will also capture methane emissions from livestock waste. “Capturing value out of it that would have been lost as a greenhouse gas,” Maassen says. “So, it allows us to capture that without changing the value of the resource that we have for our own operation, and add value to just our local community.”

Maassen says the greenhouse gas emissions eliminated will be equivalent to around 88-hundred cars. Sioux Center utilities assistant manager Adam Fedders says the community needs more natural gas capacity. “For a growing community, like Sioux Center, taking advantage of opportunities to receive additional capacity and other locations is something that’s advantageous,” Fedders says, “and then to find an opportunity right in your backyard is even greater.”

The farm digesters are expected to bring in around 350 M-M-B-T-Us a day, or around a third of the natural gas typically used in Sioux Center on a summer day. Construction on the pipeline is expected to begin as early as April.

(reporting by Kendall Crawford, Iowa Public Radio)

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Board of Supervisors in Adair County, Friday, are expecting to receive FY 2024 Budget requests from five County Department heads:

• Sheriff Jeff Vandewater will present his request at 9-a.m., and discuss Office Cleaning.
• Adair County Attorney Melissa Larson is scheduled to present her request for funding, at 9:30-a.m.
• Conservation Director Dominic Johnson will make his FY 24 Budget request at 9:50-a.m., Friday,
• and at 10:20-a.m., the Supervisors will hear from Mindy Norwood, with the DHS, and County Auditor Mandy Berg, with regard to their respective FY 24 Budget requests.

The Board will take the requests under consideration, but no action will be taken at this time on any of the requests.