(Mitchell County, Iowa) – One person died and two others were injured Thursday, during a collision between two trucks in northern Iowa. The Iowa State Patrol says a 2024 Mack truck was traveling south on Kirkwood Avenue west of Staceyville (in Mitchell County). A 2012 Peterbilt semi was traveling east on 465th Street. The Patrol says the driver of the Mack truck, 43-year-old Senika Range, of McDonough, GA, failed to yield the right of way from the stop sign and entered the intersection, where the truck was struck on the passenger side by the semi. The Peterbilt rolled over and spilled a load of corn as a result to the crash, which happened at around 12:35-p.m., Thursday.

A passenger in the Mack truck – 60-year-old Eric Mitchell, of Atlanta, GA – was ejected from the vehicle following the impact and died from his injuries after being flown to a hospital in Minnesota . He was not wearing a seat belt. Senika Range, and the driver of the semi, 24-year-old Christo Vander Linde, of Staceyville, were injured. Both were transported to a local hospital.

The Patrol was assisted at the scene by crews with the Staceyville Fire Dept., St. Ansgar Fire & EMS, and the Mitchell County Ambulance service.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa is the first stop this weekend on the national tour of what’s known as the Banned Wagon, as publishing giant Penguin Random House offers free books that are the focus of court battles and controversy. Jan Danielson Kaiser, spokeswoman for Beaverdale Books in Des Moines, says they have a long list of speakers who will use the vehicle as a backdrop for addressing censorship, and the importance of protecting the freedom to read. “It is a 20-foot bookmobile and it’s going to be parked right smack in front of the store,” Danielson Kaiser says, “and they are going to be giving away 20 different titles of banned books.” The Banned Wagon is scheduled to make stops in multiple cities and states that are being impacted by book banning, and they chose Iowa to start the venture.

“We’re just happy to be able to help them spread the word, spread some great titles,” she says, “some wonderful books that you might even know, like, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” “The Color Purple,” “The Fault in Our Stars,” “The Outsiders,” even “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” Danielson Kaiser says the American Library Association tracked instances of book banning during the first half of the 2023-24 school year, and reached the highest level ever documented.  “There were 4,240 unique book titles that were targeted for censorship in the last year, and there’s been 1,247 demands to censor library books,” Danielson Kaiser says, “so there’s a lot of pressure on libraries, a lot of pressure on schools.”

Penguin-Random House image

Sunday’s event will run from noon to 4 P-M, while a Banned Book Fair is planned for September 29th at the Franklin Events Center in Des Moines. Other cities the Banned Wagon will visit include: Milwaukee; Chicago; Indianapolis; Cleveland; Richmond, Virginia; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Gainesville, Florida and Austin, Texas — all places with a high volume of book bans and challenges.

(Radio Iowa) – A report from the state auditor’s office has identified a costly error in a small northeast Iowa town’s utility billing system. About 500 people live in the town of Elma. Staff in the state auditor’s office reviewed the city’s financial records for the 2022 fiscal year and found the city had deficits of over 441-thousand dollars in its Enterprise, Sewer and Water Funds. The review by auditors discovered the sewer and water bills for Elma residents and businesses hadn’t been raised, as required by a city ordinance.

Starting in 2019, the utility rates were to go up three percent every July 1st.

The state auditor’s report says the rates in the billing system have not increased as required. The report did not indicate whether the error was made in just one year or over several years.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston arrested a man Thursday night, for Failure to Appear on a Probation Violation charge. 43-year-old David Junior Richman, of Creston, was arrested at around 8:15-p.m. at a residence in the 500 block of W. Montgomery Street. Richman was taken to Union County Jail and held without bond until he makes an initial appearance before the magistrate.

(Radio Iowa) – Artists from communities across southwest Iowa will be featured in a multi-city showcase this weekend, starting this (Friday) afternoon. The Southwest Iowa Art Tour is in its 11th year with displays in Page, Fremont, Montgomery, Mills, Pottawattamie, and Shelby counties. Tour coordinator Rebecca Castle Laughlin says there’s a wide range of art, including: painting, sculpture, photography, pottery, wood carving, jewelry and more. “It seems like every year there’s at least one art form that I didn’t know about,” Laughlin says. “For example, we’ve got up in Council Bluffs, there’s an artist who combines fiber art with her painting. So, she does quilting but she paints on the fabric also.”

Laughlin says the event allows artists to spotlight their work while also providing an economic development opportunity for the participating communities. “It was very grassroots-oriented and we tried to get some excitement around the local arts venues and artists that are in our area,” she says. “We want to get them some more sales, obviously, but also bring awareness to the fact that you can make a viable living off the arts in southwest Iowa.” Laughlin says they’ve been handing out brochures with maps at various locations, and they’re also available online for the self-guided tour.

“You can really just plan out your route,” Laughlin explained. “You might say, ‘I’ve got a youth football game tomorrow in Oakland, so I can hit Avoca, Neola, and Macedonia real quick.’ So, really just building it around your schedule. And hit as many spots as you can, because there are some really great artists.” A sneak peak of the tour runs from 4 to 7 p.m. today (Friday), while the main tour is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

The art will be on display at 20 locations in 13 communities on this year’s tour, including: Harlan, Avoca, Neola, Council Bluffs, Macedonia, Glenwood, Malvern, Red Oak, Essex, Clarinda, Shenandoah, Sidney, and Thurman.

(More on the web at swiarttour.com)

(Radio Iowa) – The final public meeting on the expansion of the Summit Carbon Solutions carbon capture pipeline expansion project is today (Friday). Farmer Dave Balder (bald-er) plans to attend the meeting in Buena Vista County and opposes the project. “This is a dangerous, profit-driven project, and I see that it will be obsolete before it even gets completed.” Balder, who lives a mile north of the Valero Renewable Fuels plant in Albert City already granted easements on his property for two natural gas pipelines. He says those pipelines are projects that benefit the public, but the carbon pipeline is not.

“I do not agree with someone coming in and with eminent domain and taking over, especially since this is a private situation,” Balder says. Summit Carbon Solutions scheduled public meetings in 23 counties as required by the Iowa Utilities Commission as it seeks to increase its nearly 700-mile carbon capture pipeline by 340 miles.

Several property owners, lawmakers, and the Sierra Club have filed lawsuits opposing the use of eminent domain to build the pipeline connecting about 60 ethanol plants across five states.

CRESTON, Iowa — A former Greater Regional Health employee in Creston is charged with stealing medications. KCCI-TV reports 47-year-old Brian Gutmann, of Creston, worked at the Greater Regional Health center as a nurse anesthetist. Court records show Gutmann is accused of stealing Fentanyl, Dilaudid and Morphine.

According to investigators, he pulled the medications in a patient’s name, administered some of them, and kept the rest for himself. Kayla Hoffman, director of marketing communications for Greater Regional Health, said in a statement to KCCI:

“Greater Regional Health is aware of the charges. These are the unfortunate actions of a former employee. As an organization, we cooperated with investigating agencies to ensure patient care and safety were never at risk. The agencies validated no patients were harmed or at risk from the findings of this investigation. Actions moving forward are under the direction of charging agencies.”

(Radio Iowa) – U-S Senator Joni Ernst says it’s been difficult for Iowans trying to recover from this year’s floods and tornadoes to navigate federal disaster programs. “FEMA and SBA did quickly set up recovery centers and I want to thank them for that,” Ernst says, “but business owners were left frustrated by the two agencies’ lack of coordination and incompetence.” Ernst, a Republican from Red Oak, says some Iowans initially got bad information about whether they were eligible for Small Business Administration loans.

“In Shelby County, which was hit by tornadoes in the spring, SBA provided outdated and completely wrong information including sending disaster victims to a dead website,” Ernst says. “They didn’t even realize this until my staff members brought this to their attention.” Ernst says she’s heard from small business owners in rural Iowa hit by this year’s severe weather that they got better loans from their local community bank than were offered by the S-B-A.

“Small business owners who lose their livelihoods in a natural disaster have no time to spare,” Ernst said. “It’s incredibly frustrating to repeatedly hear from those seeking SBA assistance that they thought it was a waste of time, so much so that many walked away and didn’t complete applications.” S-B-A Economic Injury Disaster Loans were made available to Iowans hit by historic flooding and devastating tornadoes in counties that have been declared presidential disaster areas. The loans have an interest rate of four percent for businesses.

U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Red Oak) speaks at Senate Committee on Small Business hearing on Sept. 18, 2024.

Ernst has accused the S-B-A of misusing its loan authority, picking winners and losers with investments in firms working with artificial intelligence or “green” companies focused on environmental projects. She’s also critical of the agency’s TOTAL loan portfolio. “SBA’s lending in rural areas is abysmal, at just around 15% in the agency’s two main programs,” Ernst says.

Nearly 18 percent of U-S residents live in rural areas. Ernst suggests if S-B-A lending were in line with the population, another one-point-three BILLION dollars worth of loans would be made to rural entrepreneurs.

The Griswold Football Team will face a tough test on Friday when the Fremont Mills Knights visit the Tigers. Despite coming off a 20-point loss to the Sidney Cowboys last week, the game was closer than the final score implied. The Tigers put up a season-high 24 points and were only down by six points heading into the fourth quarter. Head Coach Seth Lembke appreciated his team’s intensity to start the ballgame.

Senior Wyatt Peterson has been a marque player for the Tigers’ defense this season. Peterson plays with a physicality that tows the line and more times than not it helps his team. He currently leads the Corner conference with 20 solo tackles and ranks second in total tackles with 29.  Lembke says he doesn’t need much guidance to be the leader of the defense.

Offensively, the Tigers are led by senior quarterback Bode Wyman and the senior receiver trio of Auden Wilson, Holden Jensen, and Connor Bowers. Wyman is second in the conference in completions and third in passing yards. As far as receivers, Wilson, Jensen, and Bowers all rank in the top ten in receptions and are in the top 12 in receiving yards. Lembke knows and appreciates the importance of having senior leaders that are capable of running the offense.

Fremont Mills will be a tough opponent for the Tigers as they look to pick up their first win of the season. Knights’ quarterback Sawyer Forney is second in the conference in both passing yards and passing touchdowns. Fremont Mills also has two rushers with over 220 yards in Jonathan Epkai and JW Linkenhoker. Lembke says the key for the Tigers will be to play responsible football and limit their explosive plays.

Kickoff in Griswold will be at 7 pm.