(Radio Iowa) – A celebration is planned Saturday morning to name the Jasper County bridge over the Skunk River on Highway 117 the Staff Sergeant Herschel F. “Pete” Briles Memorial Bridge.

Colfax city administrator Wade Wagoner, says Briles was a Colfax native and World War Two Medal of Honor recipient.
“His grandson — a guy by the name of Brian Briles who was the former mayor of Monroe — presented me with this idea to rename the bridge in Colfax which is just north of our downtown in honor of his grandfather,” Wagoner says.

Sergeant Briles braved German gunfire in 1944 to rescue men from a tank destroyer in his platoon that had been hit and set on fire. The next morning, Briles used his machine gun to pour fire into the enemy ranks — which led to 55 Germans surrendering and the opening up of a junction between American units which had been held up for two days. Later the same day, when another of his destroyers was hit by a concealed enemy tank, he again with the help of another soldier, evacuated two wounded under heavy fire and, braved death from exploding ammunition to put out the flames.

Sgt. Herschel “Pete” Briles. (photo from City of Colfax)

Wagoner says there is another honor for Briles as well. “In addition to the bridge, we’ll be raising a flag in his honor kind of on our cell tower. It’s quite a large flag. We’ve had a flag up before but it’s been down for quite a while and we were able to get another flag,” he says.

Wagoner says Briles survived the war and returned to his hometown. “He was presented his Medal of Honor by President Truman and he decided to make his life here in Jasper County. And he, I believe raised three boys and a lot of them are still in the area,” Wagoner says.

Briles didn’t talk about the things he did in the war with even his own family. “By all accounts, he was a very humble man and very rarely spoke of the war or his medal or his accomplish

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic resident Kathy Somers, Friday (today), officially filed her nomination papers to run for Cass County Auditor in the November General Election. On Monday, the Cass County Republican party held a special nominating convention, and elected Somers to be the party’s candidate to be placed on the ballot for the November election.

Somers has local government experience, having served on the Atlantic City Council for 12 years.  She has served on the Atlantic Personnel & Finance Committee, the Landfill Board, and the Cass County Public Safety Commission. She has experience with human resources, labor laws, payroll, employee benefits, and insurance.  She has been an active volunteer in the community and the Republican party.

Somers has been employed as the HR & EEO Officer/Safety Coordinator at A.M. Cohron & Son, Inc. for 13 years. In April, 2022, the Cass County Board of Supervisors appointed Sara Harris to the post, following the resignation of long-time Auditor Dale Sunderman.

Harris’ term expires at the end of the year.

DES MOINES – Today, Rep. Cindy Axne (IA-03) applauded two new grants to update and replace Iowa’s aging statewide bus fleet. Currently, nearly 63% of the state’s public buses exceed the federal standard for use of life, according to the Iowa Public Transit Association.

The $27.8 million provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation includes a $12M grant for the Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) to purchase 90 new buses, cutaways, and vans for 26 of the state’s transit systems. The project is intended to improve transit system conditions, service reliability, and lower maintenance costs for providers across the state.

The new funding also includes a $15.8 million grant to IDOT for local transit agencies to purchase battery electric buses and charging equipment, as well as transit facilities construction and workforce development activities.

That $15.8 million grant will support the following agencies in the Third District:

5 replacement buses for Heart of Iowa Regional Transit Agency (HIRTA)
1 replacement and 2 expansions for Southwest Iowa Transit Agency (SWITA)

“Many Iowans rely on dependable and safe bus systems to be connected to jobs and services and to contribute to our economy,” said Rep. Axne. “Our state’s transit agencies serve all 99 counties, providing millions of rides to Iowans across the state. I’m glad to see this investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law come to Iowa and I look forward to seeing how this project will connect our communities. I will continue working across the aisle to secure additional investments to bring our state’s infrastructure into the 21st century.”

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $375.7 million in FY22 funding for the bus and bus facilities grant program that awarded these funds. Rep. Axne was the only member of the Iowa House Delegation to vote for the landmark infrastructure legislation that will provide at least $5 billion in critical infrastructure investments to the State of Iowa.

(Griswold, Iowa) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports a Montgomery County man was injured during a rollover accident early Wednesday morning (Aug. 17). Rescue personnel responded at around 2:28-a.m. to the area “North of the Fish Farm” on 550th Street, for a single vehicle accident.  An investigation by the Cass County Sheriff’s Office concluded that a 2003 Buick Lesabre being operated by John Mullenix, of Red Oak, was traveling South on 550th Street.

The vehicle entered the west ditch and rolled approximately 4 or 5 times. Mullenix was ejected as the car rolled. Due the extentof his injuries, Lifelight was called to the scene of the accident for direct patient care and rapid transport to a medical facility.  The accident remains under investigation at this time.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by Griswold Fire and Rescue, Cass County EMS and Lifelight 1.

(Radio Iowa) – U-S Trade Representative Katherine Tai joined Congresswoman Cindy Axne, and U-S Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack Thursday at farm near Woodward to talk about global trade opportunities and the Inflation Reduction Act. Tai says the Inflation Reduction Act pushed through by Democrats will be important to the agricultural industry in terms of our trade tools and the design of the way that goods flow in the global economy.  “And we see that there are short term stresses that we’re under that we are responding to. But we also know that there is a medium to long term realignment and transition that we need to go through in order to focus on and build out our resilience as an entire economy,” Tai says.

Ag Dept. via Twitter

They also discussed the high cost of farm inputs, specifically fertilizer. Secretary Vilsack says one issue is making sure that farm income is high enough to be able to help farmers withstand these difficult times. He says prices today are better than they were a year ago.  “And one of the reasons is because we are on par for a record year in exports. So as we continue to look for ways in which we can continue to market now, what are we doing, or we’re maintaining and expanding our presence in these markets, we have more trade missions, we have more assistance efforts underway to try to build existing markets. We’re opening up new opportunities,” Vilsack says. Tai says it’s also reasonable to take a look at the health and functioning of the market here domestically.

“In light of changes that have happened in the international context, and how healthy the competition is here. And what our options are also for creating more supply, creating more resilience, and thinking about how our trade tools can complement that,” she says. Secretary Vilsack was asked about the impact on the Farm Bill. He says it does not impact the decision making for the Farm Bill — it simply allows money through the process to be used on existing programs. “So it’s not like we have to write a whole bunch of rules, we don’t have to write a single rule,” Vilsack says. “We have a backlog of conservation projects that we haven’t been able to fund, not because we don’t have the staff, but because we don’t have the resources, the money.” Vilsack was asked if he sees carbon capture pipelines as essential to “climate smart agriculture.”

“The legislation that’s been passed and by the administration has been supportive of tax credits and basically encouraged this as a mechanism,” Vilsack says. “You know, the reality is, we need a variety of options here, a variety of options. Carbon capture and sequestration is one option, it is by no means the only option, and it is by no means the sole solution.” Vilsack is a Democrat and the former governor of Iowa who is serving his second stint as U-S Ag Secretary after serving in the Obama administration.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office is reminding persons interested in hunting during the upcoming seasons, that hunter safety classes are being offered in Cass County next month (September). There are limited number of classes. Anyone born after January 1, 1972 needs to be certified in order to purchase a license. 11 years and older may attend hunter safety. Youth under the age of 16 can get a license without hunter education but must be hunting with a licensed adult.

If you have any questions regarding hunter safety, please go to the Iowa department of natural resources’ (DNR) website.

(Radio Iowa) – Deere & Company, Iowa’s largest manufacturing employer, is releasing its third quarter earnings report today (Friday) in an online conference call. Deere officials say the company is continuing to grow and thrive in the face of economic setbacks in the global marketplace. Rachel Bach is Deere’s manager of investor communications. Bach says, “John Deere achieved higher production rates in the third quarter resulting in a 25% increase in net sales, despite ongoing supply challenges.” The Quad Cities-based Deere reports net income of $1.88 billion for the third quarter, compared with net income of $1.66 billion in the third quarter last year.  “Financial results for the quarter included an 18% margin for the equipment operations,” Bach says. “Ag fundamentals remain solid with our order books beginning to fill for model year ’23 products reflecting continued healthy demand as we look ahead.”

For the first nine months of the company’s fiscal year, net income reached $4.88 billion, also an increase from $4.68 billion for the same period last year. The production and precision agriculture division reports sales increased for the quarter, which officials say was due to higher shipment volumes and price realization. “The construction forestry markets also continue to benefit from demand contributing to the division’s strong performance in the quarter,” Bach says. “Similarly, order books are now extending into 2023 providing visibility into the new year.”

With one quarter remaining in the company’s fiscal year, net income attributable to Deere is forecast to be in a range of seven to seven-point-two billion dollars. “Net sales and revenues were up 22% to $14.1 billion, while net sales for the equipment operations were up 25% to $13-billion,” Bach says. “Net income attributable to Deere & Company was $1.884 billion or $6.16 per diluted share.”

In a news release, Deere chairman and C-E-O John May said: “We’re proud of the extraordinary efforts by our employees to increase factory output and get products to customers under challenging circumstances. At the same time, our results reflected higher costs and production inefficiencies driven by the difficult supply-chain situation.”

(Allamakee County, Iowa) – An investigation into the May 9, 2022 death of a northeastern Iowa man has resulted in an arrest. The Lansing/New Albin Police Departments along with the Iowa DCI announced today (Friday), 67-year-old Andrew Raymond Karvel is charged with Murder in the 1st Degree, in connection with the death of 83-year-old Daniel William Lundy, in the Lansing/New Albin area. Police responding to a medical call where a man was unconscious and not breathing, determined Lundy was deceased.

Karvel remains in the Allamakee County Jail, where he is being held without bond. The investigation remains active. Authorities say no further information will be released at this time.

The Lansing/New Albin Police Department is being assisted by the Iowa DCI’s Major Crimes Unit, Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office, and the Iowa Medical Examiner’s Office.

Police in Glenwood report the arrest on Thursday, of 37-year-old Jacob Jones, from Glenwood. Jones was taken into custody on a Mills County warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault. He was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail, until seen by a magistrate judge.

(Radio Iowa) – August has been a busy month for an 18-year-old from northern Iowa who is the 2022 Iowa State Fair Queen. Mary Ann Fox of Osage was crowned the queen of the Mitchell County Fair on August 3rd and 10 days later she won this year’s State Fair Queen contest. “It was quick, it was exciting and I like to say that it didn’t give me a chance to get my nerves running. I just got thrown into it,” Fox says, with a laugh. She does not consider herself a pageant person. “Not at all!” she says. “This definitely wasn’t anything that I had specifically wanted to accomplish.. I was just here to promote my county and promote my background and promote agriculture.”

Fox graduated from Osage High School this spring. As state fair queen, she has been awarded eight-thousand dollars in scholarship money. “Starting on Monday, I will be a freshman at Iowa State University,” Fox says, “and I will be majoring in ag engineering.” Fox was recently elected as a regional officer in the Future Farmers of America officer. Her dad raises corn and cattle. “I like to say that my future plans within the 10 or so years are to find an answer to a problem going on in agriculture and just to make farmers like my dad — make their lives easier,” Fox says. “…I love looking out at a field of corn, so I just hope to end up there again.”

Mary Ann Fox. (Iowa State Fair photo)

The job of State Fair Queen means Fox is spending a fair amount of time in the livestock rings, handing out ribbons to exhibitors showing all sorts of animals. “I’ve had some people tell me to be careful so one of them doesn’t step on my foot,” Fox says, ” but I know my way around the animals and I’m just there to see the smiles on the 4-H and FFA members’ faces as I hand them their purple ribbon.” Fox has attended the state fair all her life, but has never been an exhibitor. Fox was crowned State Fair Queen last Saturday night and she says there was a bit of a mad dash soon after. “Growing up on the farm, I have three times as many jeans as dresses, so I definitely had to go shopping for dresses on Sunday morning,” Fox says, with a laugh. “Since then I’ve loved just being able to be at the Fair every single day and being able to watch the sun rise in the morning and the sun set at night. I just love it here.”

The final day of the 2022 Iowa State Fair is Sunday, but Fox will continue in her role through the opening weekend of the 2023 State Fair. She’s planning to visit as many county fairs and events next summer as she can.