(Menlo, Iowa) – The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported following what was described as a “slow-speed” collision Sunday afternoon between two Harley Davidson motorcycles, near Menlo. Authorities say a 2014 Harley being operated by 45-year-old Andrea Lee Goins, of DeSoto, and a 2021 Harley operated by 52-year-old Jeffrey Lane Ockerman, of Adel, were traveling west on White Pole Road and coming into Menlo at around 3:20-p.m.

Goins said when she saw Ockerman’s cycle, it appeared that it was going to turn north onto McPherson Street, and that it then looked like Ockerman changed his mind. Goins pulled-up behind the other motorcycle because she thought it was going straight, but then the other Harley proceeded to turn north onto McPherson. The right front side of the cycle struck the left rear side of Goins’ cycle.

Ockerman’s motorcycle then tipped over onto its right side and slid on the road. When a Guthrie County Deputy arrived on the scene, he observed both cycles were off on the shoulder of the road. Both machines had sustained damage amounting to $3,500 altogether.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – This week, April 9-15, 2023 is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. It’s a time to pay recognition to the men and women who staff not only the Cass County Communications Center, but those who are the First “First Responders”. April is 911 Education Month, in Iowa. When you call 9-1-1, dispatchers guide you through the steps to take to ensure your safety before help arrives. They also provide lifesaving instructions over the phone in instances of cardiac arrest and other critical EMS calls.

Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon spoke about the dispatchers at the Comm Center.

Combined, the dispatchers have over 100-years of experience. Kennon said there’s always someone on-duty to take calls.

Not everyone is qualified to handle the stress when you’re dealing with multiple calls or events.

Kennon says it can also be rewarding, when the dispatcher is able to assist in saving lives, such as in the case of someone having a heart attack, by providing the caller with instructions on how to conduct CPR, etc. In addition to handling 9-1-1 calls, operators in most counties are capable of receiving 911 Text messages.

He says if there’s a situation where you question if you should call 9-1-1 instead of an Administration or Non-Emergency line, call 9-1-1. They can determine if help should be sent. Just don’t abuse the service.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s lone prairie chicken population appears to be struggling to sustain itself. The Iowa D-N-R and Missouri officials brought in about 500 birds from Nebraska between 2011 and 2015 to bolster a small, existing flock. The chickens were released in the Kellerton Grasslands Conservation Area in Ringgold County and a nearby natural area in Missouri. Iowa D-N-R biologist Chad Paup says there are now fewer than 50 birds in the area. “We cannot really put our finger on it,” Paup says. “Do we still not quite have the habitat they need? Do we not have the size that they need? Do we not have the large enough expanse of grasslands that they really need?”

Kellerton is a roughly four-thousand acre grassland area, and Paup says the birds might need a larger, contiguous area to sustain a bigger flock. Paup says the species’ future in Iowa doesn’t look bright. “There’s not going to be a lot of support, quite frankly, for going out and spending tens of thousands of dollars to transport more chickens back here,” Paup says.

When European settlers first arrived in Iowa, the prairie chicken was everywhere, and unlike almost every other wild creature, its numbers increased during the early years of the settlement movement. After a few decades though, they were overharvested by the millions for meat and nearly wiped out. Paup made his comments on IPR’s Talk of Iowa program.

(reporting by Michael Leland, Iowa Public Radio)

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports two recent arrests. Saturday afternoon, 23-year-old Garrett Breann Abel, of Creston, was arrested at her home on an Animal At Large charge. Abel was cited and released at the scene. And, at around 5:47-p.m. Friday, 28-year-old Patrick Riley Iiams, of Creston, was arrested at the intersection of Commerce and Adams. Iiams was charged with Driving while Suspended and OWI 1st Offense.He was transported to the Union County Jail and later released on bond.

Creston Police said also, a man residing at 1501 W. Townline reported late Thursday morning, that someone damaged his clothes and electronic equipment in his dorm room. The loss was estimated at $1,500.

(Harlan, Iowa) – A Special Meeting of the Shelby County Board of Supervisors will take place 9-a.m. Tuesday (April 11), in the Supervisor’s Board Room at the Courthouse in Harlan. On their agenda is “Consideration of changing [the] effective date of the 28E Law Enforcement Agreement, to April 15, 2023.”

There will also be information with regard to a Secondary Roads Amendment, and related discussion.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors will hold their regular weekly meeting beginning at 9-a.m., Tuesday (April 11). The meeting is held in the Supervisor’s Board Room in the Cass County Courthouse. Here are the action and/or discussion items on their agenda:

1. Call to order
2. Approve Agenda
3. Approve minutes from the April 4, 2023 meeting
4. Public Comments
5. Declare April as Child Abuse Awareness month as encouraged by the Cass County Child Abuse Prevention Council
6. Proclamation of National Public Safety Telecommunications Week April 9 through 15, 2023
7. Update from Griswold housing development nonprofit organization on infrastructure and stormwater management projects and request for ARPA funds
8. Public Hearing on Proposed Maximum Property Tax Levy
9. Approve Resolution 2023-09 Setting Maximum Property Tax Dollars for Fiscal Year 2024
10. Set date of public hearing on proposed Fiscal Year 2024 budget for Tuesday, April 25, 2023
11. Discuss/Approve Resolution 2023-10 Amending Cass County’s Official Publication to Atlantic News Telegraph and use Anita Tribune and Griswold American as Information Sources for Constituents
12. Discuss/Approve Resolution 2023-11 to Support the Present Local Option Sales and Service Tax
13. Quarterly Report from Micah Lee, Cass County Conservation
14. Report from County Engineer, Trent Wolken
15. Appointments:
• Southwest Iowa Housing – Norma Hemphill

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors will meet in a regular session beginning at 8:30-a.m. Tuesday (April 11), in their Courthouse Meeting Room. Here’s a look at their agenda, under New Business:

a. Approve Engineer Contract
b. Approve Sheriff’s Report of Fees in the amount of $5,161.34 for the month of March
a. Approve Recorder’s Report of Fees in the amount of $21,550.34 for the month of March
b. Approve claims payable for Wednesday, April 12, 2023
c. Approve Amendment to Class F Retail Alcohol License (LF) License # LF0000308 for the Red Oak Country Club
d. Approve Agreement for Assignment of Montgomery County Tax Sale Certificate No. 2021-00279 parcel 641227251014000 to Apple Grove Investments, Inc

*Please note, this is a public meeting; however, it may be conducted via ZOOM
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Meeting ID: 861 8514 1628
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(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop at around 1:30 this (Monday) morning, south of Red Oak, resulted in a woman’s arrest on a drug charge. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 29-year-old Ashley Nicole King, of Red Oak, was arrested for Possession of Methamphetamine/1st offense – a serious misdemeanor. King was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – The D-N-R expert who keeps tabs of waterflow levels in the state says March was dry, but overall we are heading into spring in good shape. Tim Hall says snow and rain have help cut down some dry areas. “It sets us in a much better position than we thought we might be coming out of last fall. Typically, we don’t see a lot of moisture in the wintertime, but we had a lot of moisture in December, January, February,” he says. “We were a little bit short for March, but it doesn’t put us in too bad of shape going into the growing season.”

Iowa’s new Drought Plan lists the state in a “Drought Watch,” which Hall says is a signal to keep a close eye on what’s happening.  “And what that really means is could have a wet April and the watch could go away and we could go back to normal,” Hall says. “We can have a dry April, and then we’d have to look at what would happen to those conditions. So it kind of puts us on the edge.” He says there are still some dry areas in the state, but things are much better thanks to those wetter months. “And what we have to watch carefully is the supply side of water. And hopefully, if we get normal to just slightly above normal rainfall in April, I think we’ll be okay,” he says. But if March was the start of a string of dry months, then we could be in a more challenging situation.”

Hall says the improvement is not a signal we have enough water not to worry about it. “There’s a difference between being smart about how we use water and sort of these extreme conservation measures. And as we’re into normal conditions across much of the state –that’s not a that’s not a call to start wasting water,” Hall says. “Be careful with what you do. And, and, you know, certainly people like their green lawns, but let’s just not get carried away. Fix your faucets that leak, fix your toilets that leak, you know, those are just generally responsible things to do with water.”

He says we should try to not waster water whether we are in a drought situation, or have normal levels.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans have seen several unseasonable snowstorms this spring, but none of them compare to what’s known as the Blizzard of ’73. It was 50 years ago on Sunday that a monster winter weather system blasted into Iowa. The storm hit on a Monday, April 9th, 1973. Meteorologist Craig Cogil, at the National Weather Service, says the powerful winds whipped up massive drifts that were so deep, they completely covered houses.  “Quite a massive storm that moved across the state, burying many locations across Iowa with a foot or more of snowfall,” Cogil says. “A few locations had the most snow ever, including Dubuque that had almost 20 inches of snow at 19.2.”

School was cancelled for several days in districts practically statewide. Many stores were closed and traffic was at a standstill due to the high drifts. State highways were littered with hundreds of stranded cars. “Around the Des Moines area, a foot of snow was pretty common and heading down to the southwest,” Cogil says. “There were even some drifts that got up to 15 feet, so for April, just an outstanding snowstorm for that time of year.” Cogil says the snow persisted for several days, but disappeared by the end of the week.

“It warms up this time of year pretty quickly, so the snow didn’t stick around too much, but unfortunately, when it was here, it sure caused a mess, shutting down a lot of highways,” Cogil says. “We had reports of at least seven people dying from heart attacks primarily from scooping the snow.” The Friday before the storm, temperatures were in the 70s, as golfers took advantage of the courses in the Des Moines area. The day of the storm, the high only made it to 29. Two weeks after the storm, temperatures returned to the 70s.