(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Deputy Auditor Sheri Karns today (Tuesday), released an updated list of candidates who have filed to run for county offices in Cass County. Sue Riggs has filed to run for one of four seats on the Cass County Ag Extension Council, in advance of the November 5th 2024 General Election.  The last day to file is Wednesday, Aug,, 21st.

County Office candidates (I= Incumbent, R= Republican, D= Democrat)

Supervisor – District 1

Stephen S. Green (I); R – from Atlantic

Supervisor – District 4

Steve Baier (I); R – Griswold

Supervisor – District 5

Bernard Pettinger (I); R – Anita

Phyllis Stakey (D) – Massena

County Auditor

Kathy Somers (I); R – Atlantic

County Sheriff (vote for 1)

John Westering (R) – Atlantic

Non-Party Political Organization (NPPO)

Cass County Ag Extension Council (Vote for 4)

Marcy J. Dorsey (R) – Atlantic

Sue Riggs

Soil & Water Conservation District (Vote for 3)

Terry Langan (R) – Griswold

Hospital Board (Vote for 3)

Leanne Pellet (I) (R) – Atlantic

Linda L. Pelzer (I) (R) – Griswold

Ned Brown (I) (R) – Atlantic

Union Township Trustee

Delmar South (R) – Cumberland

PUBLIC MEASURE A: EMS FUNDING via Local Option Income Surtax & Assessed property valuation tax

Shall the Cass County Board of Supervisors, upon recommendation by the Cass County EMS Advisory Council, for the purpose of funding emergency medical services in Cass County, including, but not limited to, ambulance service, personnel, and equipment, be authorized, for a period of 15 years, to 1) levy and impose a local option income surtax of one percent upon the state individual income tax of each individual taxpaper who is a resident of Cass County on December 31 for each calendar year commencing with the calendar year 2025, and 2) levy and impose an ad valorem tax not exceeding seventy-five cents per one thousand dollars of assessed valuation on all taxable property within Cass County commencing with the levy of property taxes for collection in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026?

PUBLIC MEASURE B: CAM CSD General Obligation Bond issuance

Shall the Board of Directors of the CAM Community School District in the Counties of Adair, Adams, Audubon, and Cass, State of Iowa, be authorized to contract indebtedness and issue General Obligation Bonds in an amount not to exceed $22,500,000 to provide funds to construct, furnish and equip a classroom addition to the High School building; to remodel, repair, improve, furnish and equip exterior and interior portions of the existing High School building, including mechanical, electrical, and fire systems improvements, secure entry improvements, and technology and security improvements; and improve the site?

Due to recent legislation and House File 718 public notice is required for any question of issuing bonds or other indebtedness.  The Cass County Auditor’s office will be sending out these notices on Public Measure B to all registered voters in the CAM School District.  The notice will have the full text of the public measure and will be sent out in October (10-20 days before the election).

Both Public Measures need 60% to pass.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Glenwood Police Department reports 45-year-old William Jensen, of Glenwood, was arrested Monday on a charge of Theft in the  5th Degree, and Trespassing. His bond was set at $600.

Atlantic, Iowa – Cass Health is hosting “Glow & Grow: A Women’s Health Retreat” during the first week of September at Bluebird Hill Event Venue in Atlantic. The goal of the retreat is to empower women to prioritize their well-being, embrace self-care, and create healthy futures by connecting them to local professionals from Cass Health. Held over three days, each evening’s focus will be geared to a different age group.

Cass Health Director of Marketing and Communications Ann McCurdy says this is a first-ever event.

McCurdy says each of the evenings programs will be different and focus on different stages of life.

Each evening is scheduled from 5 pm to approximately 9 pm, and the agenda includes keynote speakers, dinner and dessert, vendor booths, information on skincare, nutrition, pelvic floor health, and postural strength training. Vendors include Homebody, Meadow & Charm, Revel Salon & Boutique, Nishna Valley YMCA, and Cass Health Med Spa.

Free childcare is available for Tuesday and Wednesday evening thanks to a partnership with the YMCA and the Ann W. Wickman Childcare Center. Attendees needing childcare must register by August 28th.

Tickets for each evening are only $15 and available online at casshealth.org/glowandgrow. Tickets can also be purchased at the Cass Health Gift Shop. A limited number of discounted tickets are available through Cass County Public Health; call 712-243-7546 for details. Questions about the event can be directed to the Marketing & Communications Department at 712-243-7405.

Four Women Managing Farmland Forums and Annie’s Project 20th Anniversary Celebrations will be offered across the state the first week of September. Cass County Extension will host the Southwest Iowa location on Sept. 3 in Atlantic. Other dates and locations include Sept. 4 in Iowa City, Sept. 5 in West Union and Sept. 6 in Storm Lake. All events are FREE to attend and feature a complimentary meal and full day of education. Pre-registration is required for meals and materials.

Targeted to any women involved in the agriculture industry, these one-day regional forums are a valuable opportunity to refresh your conservation, leasing and estate management skills while networking with other women in agriculture. Topics will include soil erosion and water management, landowner responsibilities and the economics of farmland, as well as trusts, taxes and succession planning.

Women of all ages make important decisions about land leasing, conservation practices and transition and estate plans. The forums are designed to help attendees meet their long-term farmland management goals. By combining strategies, women can create equitable farmland leasing, adoption of conservation practices and efficiencies in transitions to next generation farmers.

Well over 3,000 Iowa women have completed Annie’s Project or Annie’s Inspired multi-session farm management courses since 2004. Nearly 1,000 women participated in Women in Ag Leadership conferences since 2017. The changes these women made not only benefited their families, farms, and agribusinesses, but also contributed to a stronger Iowa agricultural system through financially stable businesses, improved conservation practices and closer community networks.

The forums are a thank-you to all those who made Annie’s Project a successful program in Iowa and a welcome to all those who haven’t yet participated. Over the noon hour, there will be a pictorial slide show celebrating and honoring the contributions and milestones of Iowa women in agriculture over the past twenty years.

Did you know …

• The number of Iowa women farmers counted in the USDA Census of Agriculture increased from 27,258 in 2002, to 50,263 in 2022?
• The percentage of women enrolled in Iowa State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences increased from 43% in Fall 2003, to 59% in Fall 2023?

Each regional forum will be slightly different. Doors for the Cass County event on September 3 open at 9:30 AM. We will start our morning with refreshments, time for networking, and resource tables for participants to visit while they connect. Over the lunch hour we will celebrate 20 years of Annie’s Project and Women in Ag programming in Iowa. Wrap up the day with fun door prize giveaways and leave refreshed with new information and new connections in ag!

Registration is free and required so that everyone has a chair and a lunch. Local agendas and online registration can be found at https://www.extension.iastate.edu/womeninag.  Sign up today and save your seat at this fun and informational event to celebrate and connect local women in ag!

This program is financially supported by a USDA NIFA Critical Agriculture Research and Education grant (2021-68008-34180) and a Farm Credit Services of America gift through the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Women in Ag program.

(Radio Iowa) – Emergency repairs are underway to stabilize a flood-damaged pedestrian trail in the Sioux City metro area. Jessica Felix, an engineer with the Iowa Department of Transportation, says the agency plans to spend about eight-million dollars to make repairs to the trail along the Big Sioux River and Interstate 29.

She estimates flooding caused 22-million dollars damage to the primary roadway system in northwest Iowa, which doesn’t include county or city costs. Felix says the rugged terrain makes work on this project very challenging.

The emergency repairs are expected to be finished this fall, and Felix says part of the trail could reopen for pedestrians next year. With flooding throughout northwest Iowa, she says people need to stay out of construction zones and not go around barricades. Violators could face a $10,000 fine and jail time.

(Radio Iowa) – The co-founder of the company operating a baby formula factory in southern Iowa says there’s an opportunity for significant growth in production capacity and the workforce at the plant in Allerton. Ron Belldegrun is C-E-O of ByHeart, which bought the DairiConcepts plant in Allerton after using the facility in 2019 during trials of its new recipe for baby formula.

Baby formula recalls and subsequent shortages in 2022 highlighted the fact that three companies controlled 90 percent of the market. ByHeart’s production of baby formula began in March of 2022. It bought the Allerton plant in 2023.

ByHeart uses whole milk from grass-fed cows and other ingredients in the powder that’s currently produced in Allerton, but canned and packaged at a facility in Pennsylvania. Belldegrun says ByHeart invested very heavily in the Allerton plant to make it a state of the art baby formula factory and there are now 100 people employed at the facility.

ByHeart, which owns plants in Pennsylvania and Oregon as well, currently produces enough formula to feed half a million babies a year. Belldegrun says the company has a big vision for what’s next in Allerton.

ByHeart engineers are drawing up plans to add packaging and canning to the Allerton plant and Belldegrun says he’s had productive discussions with government officials, university researchers, farmers and other ingredient suppliers about creating what he describes as an ecosystem around the southern Iowa facility.

(Radio Iowa) – State Treasurer Roby Smith says it’s not just individuals who may find money in the “Great Iowa Treasure Hunt” managed by his office. By law, unclaimed assets in Iowa are to be turned over to the State Treasurer’s office.

Smith went to the Des Moines Community Playhouse Monday afternoon to present some unclaimed property to the non-profit.

David Kilpatrick, executive director of the Des Moines Community Playhouse, accepted the 316 dollars.

Kilpatrick says the unclaimed funds came from a school district that set aside money for students to attend a performance at the Playhouse, but somehow never paid for the tickets.

Smith says the state treasurer’s office returned 34 million dollars in unclaimed property last year.

Smith says about one in 10 Iowans has some unclaimed property in the state treasurer’s office.

(Radio Iowa) – One of the Iowa delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago says her friends in other countries are paying close attention to the presidential race. Janice Weiner, a state senator from Iowa City, joined the U-S State Department in 1987 and had assignments in seven foreign countries.

Weiner says one reason she wanted to be a delegate at this week’s convention was because of President Biden’s foreign policy initiatives.

Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart says for the past two weeks she’s been thinking about Biden’s convention speech and how it would solidify his legacy.

Iowa delegates on the floor of the Democratic National Convention on August 19, 2024. (Iowa Democratic Party photo)

(Woodbine, Iowa) – Officials with Woodbine Fire & Rescue, Monday evening, asked residents and others to stay away from part of  downtown Woodbine, as multiple firefighting agencies worked to battle a structure fire at the Food Land Grocery Store, located at 62 W. 5th Street.  The fire was reported through 9-1-1 at 3:47-p.m.

The first crews and authorities to arrive on the scene, found fire and heavy smoke coming from the building. Multiple agencies, including 11 additional fire departments, responded to the scene. Woodbine Police and Harrison County Conservation officials established traffic control. Crews were still on the scene late Monday night. The cause of the fire was unknown as of the last report. Additional information was not available.

Woodbine Fire & Rescue Association Facebook page photo

A little over 10-years ago (Oct. 2013), the Woodbine Food Land Store helped local business in their recovery effort, when a fire devastated several downtown businesses, following a fire that started in a flower shop.