(UPDATED) – The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports an accident that occurred at around 12:38-p.m. Tuesday (June 14, 2022), claimed the life of a Sheriff’s Deputy. Authorites say Deputy Austin “Melvin”Wayne Richardson, age 37, of Sidney, was traveling northbound on Highway 275 near 260th Street in a 2020 Chevy Tahoe.

A southbound John Deere S770 combine with dual front tires, being driven by James Gregory Groff, age 64, of Rock Port, MO., was traveling southbound in the same area. The combine was wider than the width of the southbound lane, according to the Iowa State Patrol.

The Tahoe driven by Deputy Richardson, collided with the front dual tire of the combine. Following the collision, the Tahoe skidded sideways and rolled several times before coming to rest on it left (Driver’s) side.

Deputy Richardson died at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt. The accident remains under investigation.

ATLANTIC, IA – Produce in the Park June 16 will offer all sorts of activities and delicious food. This Thursday, the Nishna Valley Family YMCA will be at the park with two bounce houses for kids and adultsized tricycles for teens and adults. But the YMCA won’t be the only organization offering bicycling fun at the farmers market.

The Atlantic Elks will be hosting a Bike Rodeo for kids at Produce in the Park June 16. The bike rodeo will offer kids the chance to participate in bike obstacle courses and win small prizes. Kids are encouraged to bring their bikes, trikes, and helmets to the park. Don’t have a bike? The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department will be at Produce in the Park with a few rental bikes and helmets for kids to use for free (not to mention lots of fun yard games for both kids and adults).

Lastly, Nishna Valley Trails will be at the market sharing Cass County trails maps and other information on biking in Cass County. In addition to the bike activities, yard games, and bounce houses, this week visitors to Produce in the Park will enjoy Hungry Spartan Pizza food truck and lots of rhubarb. The Guest Chef will be offering free taste tests of fresh rhubarb and rhubarb cobbler, and vendors will be selling rhubarb jams, pastries, crisps, and more.

Other products expected at the June 16 market include popcorn and lemonade, early season produce such as green onions, asparagus, spinach, and other greens, lots of local meats (beef, pork, and lamb), farm-fresh eggs, honey, soaps, candles, jewelry, wood crafts, greeting cards, and plants for your home  garden.

DETAILS….Produce in the Park June 16:
Time: 4:30-6:30 PM
Location: Atlantic City Park (10 W. 7th Street, Atlantic, IA 50022)

Food Truck: Hungry Spartan Pizza
Free Live Music: Sarah Selders
Products: Produce, meats, eggs, honey, baked goods and desserts, popcorn and lemonade, soaps,
candles, greeting cards, wood crafts, and more.
Featured Food: Rhubarb! Fresh rhubarb, rhubarb jams, rhubarb pastries, free samples of rhubarb
cobbler from the Guest Chef, and more.
Activities: Bounce houses and bike rodeo for kids; yard games for all!
Visiting organizations: Atlantic Parks and Recreation, Cass County Master Gardeners, Cass County Chapter of the American Cancer Society, Nishna Valley Trails, Nishna Valley Family YMCA.
Self-Care Summer Organization: Zion Integrated Behavioral Health Services
Free drawing: 1 dozen farm-fresh eggs from Brun Ko Farm. (Sponsored by the Cass County Local Food Policy Council.)

Payment methods accepted: All vendors accept cash. Many accept credit card and Venmo. All qualifying food vendors accept SNAP/EBT (also known as food stamps). All fresh produce vendors both accept and distribute Double Up Food Bucks (coupons given for SNAP/EBT purchases of fresh produce).

Produce in the Park June 2022 farmers markets are sponsored by the Atlantic Community Promotion Commission, the Nishna Valley Family YMCA, Cass County Tourism, Cass Health, First Whitney Bank and Trust, the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, and Deter Motor Co. For updates on Produce in the Park, follow Produce in the Park on Facebook
(www.facebook.com/ProduceInThePark) or Instagram (www.instagram.com/produceintheparkatlanticia/), or visit the Produce in the Park website to sign up for the e-newsletter at www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday morning, canvassed the votes from the Tuesday, June 7th Primary Election. And, while some of the vote numbers changed, the end result was the same. (The following, and all other Cass County results can be found here)

Here are the vote canvassed numbers (left) and the unofficial tallies (right) on election night:

Board of Supervisors District 3 – Republican

John P. Hartkopf           231             232

Wendy Richter              254             255            (WINNER)

Write-in 3 Undervotes 15

Board of Supervisors District 2 – Republican

Mark O’Brien                227             229

Write-In 8 Undervotes 41

County Attorney – Republican

Robert J. Engler           451              452

Jay W. Mez                  428              430

Vanessa E. Strazdas     621              625           (WINNER) – Incumbent

Write-In 2 Undervotes 100

County Recorder – Republican

Mary Ward               1,372             1,379

Write-In 8 Undervotes 222

County Treasurer

Tracey J. Marshall   1,188              1,193          (WINNER) – Incumbent

Ashley McDermott 33 N/A

Write-In 43 Undervotes 337

(Radio Iowa) – This is expected to be the hottest day of the year so far, with an Extreme Heat Warning posted for eastern Iowa, and Mother Nature should offer Iowans something of a post-heat treat tonight (Tuesday). Peter Geiger, editor of the Farmer’s Almanac, says June’s Strawberry Supermoon is set to appear in the night sky this evening.

“When it’s a supermoon, it’s maybe 13% bigger than a regular full moon,” Geiger says, “but what’s kind of interesting is that the full moons were named by Native American tribes way, way back maybe 300 years ago and it related to what was going on around them.” According to the Almanac, the name was given because June marks the beginning of summer in North America when the strawberries begin to bloom.

“Strawberry season tends to be very short and it tends to be during the month of June and early July,” Geiger says, “and so the Algonquin tribe is the one that named this particular moon the Strawberry Full Moon.” This will be the first of three “supermoons” to appear over the summer months.

(Thanks to the Minnesota News Network!)

(Radio Iowa/UPDATED) –  Governor Kim Reynolds is directing 100 million dollars in federal pandemic relief to school safety measures.  “Across the country, there’s a sense of
urgency just with the acts of violence that we see taking place every single day,” Reynolds says. The state is buying software to monitor school threats online and will provide an app, website and phone number that lets people anonymously report concerns. And 50-thousand dollars will be distributed for each school building in the state, to cover security measures. Nine people are being hired for a School Safety Bureau being established in the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

“Every family should be able to confidently send their children to school knowing that they will be safe,” Reynold says, “and as the governor of Iowa and a grandmother of school-aged children, I want to assure parents that your childrens’ safety at school is just as important to me.” Reynolds had asked legislators to create an Iowa School Safety Bureau a few years ago and she’s now using federal funds to set it up. Every public school district and private school in Iowa will be offered an emergency radio for every school building, to communicate directly with law enforcement if there’s a security threat. Public Safety Commissioner Stephan Bayens says the goal is to identify concerning behaviors early.

“Unfortunately we live in a time when we can no longer simply assume that our sheltered havens of schools will remain safe,” Bayens says. “Rather, we must be intentional about providing concrete training, tools and assistance so that every school, regardless of its size, can provide the environment needed to feed these hungry minds.” Bayens says his agency will provide active shooter training to anyone who requests it. “The governor’s School Safety Bureau will facilitate training, free of charge, to law enforcement, first responder, schools, houses of worship and civilians,” Bayans says. And 50-thousand dollars will be distributed for each school building in the state, to cover security measures.

None of the 100 million dollars in spending announced today (Tuesday) will be directed to mental health programs. The governor says school safety, though, requires addressing the mental health needs of students and state spending on the mental health system will increase by nearly three-and-a- half million dollars over the next 12 months.  “The debate on guns will continue,” Reynolds said, “but until we consider the lethal weapon in these events is the person who picks up the gun and turns it against another, we risk overlooking other solutions that directly address the cause.” Reynolds cites a recent survey which found 24 percent of Iowa 11th graders had thought about killing themselves in the past year. University of Minnesota research indicates many teenage mass shooters had contemplated suicide and ultimately redirected their self-loathing into hatred of others.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday morning, heard a request from Dave Highfill, with the Atlantic Hawks Remote Control (R/C) Club, with regard to ARPA Funding.

(He explained they need the funds to purchase a mower to mow about three-acres south of Atlantic, where they meet weekly and also teach people how to fly r/c aircraft.)

Dave Highfill (2nd row of pews& on the left) makes ARPA request for the Atlantic Hawks R/C Club

It was thought the funds could come from the General Fund for “Outdoor recreation,” but the Board was of the consensus that the request did not fall under the AARP criteria Supervisor Steve Green…

Supervisor Mark O’Brien also pointed out the current round of ARPA Funds the County received, are already spoken for.

The request was tabled for the time being. In other news, the Supervisors approved by a vote of 3-to 2, a contract for the upcoming Fiscal Year, with Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoege. The vote included a $1,000 increase in the County’s share, for a total of $7,000. The position is a 28E between four organizations; Cass County, ISU Extension, Cass Health and the YMCA. This will be the third year for the Wellness Coordinator’s position.

The Board also passed a Resolution allowing $29,500 in ARPA funds to be used for the Cass County Drone Team, for the purposes previously mentioned. And, they passed a Resolution distributing ARPA funds to the Cass County Fire Departments, with the exception of Anita, which has already received a share of funds. The remaining Fire Departments in the County will receive $25,000 per year for the next three-years, effective July 1st, as requested by the respective Fire Chiefs.

They passed a Resolution setting a Standard Agreement for the disbursement of ARPA Funds, to ensure uniformity and fulfillment of requests follows government rules, especially with regard to fire departments and other such entities. The Supervisors approved continuing with the Zoom meetings, and included the possibility of a phone attendance system like Adair County has. Regardless, the Board agreed they want a way to identify persons who use the dial-in and Zoom system, instead of just being identified as a “guest.”

The Board officially approved the hiring of two people for the Treasurer’s Office, but denied a request to suspend the abatement of taxes (amounting to $495) through a petition Treasurer Tracey J. Marshall had received. Their contention was the petition should have come directly to the Board first, according to Iowa Code. The Board had discussed having General Relief Coordinator Deb Schuler provide the necessary funds to get the petitioner caught-up, but she informed them the law does not allow her to use General Relief funds for the purposes of taxes and the like.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s waiting for details before saying whether he’ll support or oppose a bipartisan group’s response to recent mass shootings. Grassley says he’s “encouraged” by the progress on the subject so far in Washington. Grassley says, “What I’ve seen going on here in the last couple of weeks in the Congress, with the work of a bipartisan group that the leaders have put together in an effort to make schools safer, make it more easy to keep guns away from people that shouldn’t have them.” Rallies in six Iowa cities last weekend called on Grassley and Iowa’s other Republican Senator, Joni Ernst, to back gun restrictions.

Ten Republicans and ten Democrats announced Sunday they’d agreed on a package that includes making criminal records of juveniles available for background checks when a prospective gun buyer is under the age of 21. “I’m going to have to wait for the statutory language before I would take a position on it, but I’m encouraged by what they’re trying to put together,” Grassley says, “and I think that that’s a good thing and I’m glad to hear from Iowans who want to do it.” Grassley says he’s looking for two basic principles which he says are musts in the legislation. “One, to protect the constitutional rights that come from the Second Amendment,” Grassley says, “and make sure that anybody that’s deprived of those constitutional rights, that there’s a due process in place to protect their constitutional rights.”

Senator Joni Ernst is also withholding judgment on the package until she reads the text of the legislation. “The devil will be in the details…and making sure that they’re getting to the root causes of the issue of gun violence…and not infringing on the rights of law-abiding citizens,” Ernst says. The Des Moines City Council is urging both Grassley and Ernst to support the bill when it comes up for a vote in the Senate. Iowa’s capital city has the state’s highest murder rate. Nine people have been victim of homicide in Des Moines so far this year. Seven of those cases were fatal shootings.

A Spencer man has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison on a gun charge. 41-year-old Demetrius Wright was not allowed to have a gun after a conviction on a domestic abuse charge in 2017 and judges in Iowa and Florida had issued protective orders against him. According to the U-S Attorney’s Office, Wright had someone else buy him a pistol last year and he displayed the gun in a video, to send a threat to someone. Then, last August, authorities say Wright took a semi-automatic handgun that someone else had used in a shooting, to try to keep police from finding the weapon.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Police in Glenwood report a man from Omaha, 47-year-old Charles Mitchell, was arrested this (Tuesday) morning, for OWI/1st offense, and Possession of a Controlled Substance. Mitchell’s cash or surety bond was set at $2,000.

(Mt. Ayr, Iowa) – The Ringgold County Sheriff’s Office reports a call about a sex offender being inside the pool area at the Judge Lewis Aquatic Center, in Mount Ayr, resulted in an arrest. Authorities say when a Deputy entered the pool area, he was able to identify the suspect as 27-year-old Spencer Andrew Fisk, of Mount Ayr. Fisk was escorted out the park and after further questioning, was placed under arrested for non-compliance with Sex Offender Registry requirements.

Spencer Andrew Fisk

*Disclaimer: Any potential criminal charges identified above are merely allegations, and any defendant [is] presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.*