(Iowa News Service) –  The U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering new rules, seeking to level the playing field for independent farmers in Iowa and across the country. Food price gouging has become a campaign issue in the Midwest, where the election could be won or lost. Berleen Wobeter and her husband Pete raise cattle on about 300 in central Iowa. She said family farmers want Congress to strengthen the century-old Packers and Stockyards Act, address alleged food price gouging and fix the lack of competition in the beef industry, where four companies control 85% of the market.

“That’s not going to happen the more consolidated it is,” Wobeter pointed out. “Then if there isn’t a market for all of our beef, then I guess some of us need to get out. But it needs to be fair.”
The Biden administration has proposed a new rule designed to update the Packers and Stockyards Act, which was signed in 1921. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is taking public comment through Sept. 11.

Congress is considering restoring mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef in the next Farm Bill, which would allow domestic producers to charge higher prices for beef grown in the U.S. Wobeter said despite being in a highly consolidated industry among large corporate ag producers, she and Pete have continued to succeed on their 300 acres near Toledo. “I think that has been my husband’s approach to things,” Wobeter explained. “In the ’80s, when it was ‘go big or get out’ he said no, that’s not the way he was raised. You just kind of stay steady, stay within your budget, don’t overspend, and it’s worked for us.”

The 2023 Farm Bill, which has already been extended until the end of this month, remains on hold in Washington.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) — Officials with the Pottawattamie County Republican Party are holding an event September 21, 2024, they are calling “Crisis at the Border: Discussion on Crisis and Consequences: From Border to Heartland.” The event takes place at the New Horizon Presbyterian Church (30 Valley View Drive) in Council Bluffs, beginning at 9-a.m. Officials say during the event, pressing issues surrounding the southern border crisis and its direct impact on our local communities will be explored. Attendees will hear from distinguished speakers with an array of experience, be it firsthand experience fighting the immigration at the southern border or fighting and prosecuting the crisis as it impacts residents in the heartland.

Featured speakers include:

• Dan Dawson, Iowa State Senator
• Aaron Hanson, Douglas County, NE, Sheriff
• Matt Wilber, Pottawattamie County Attorney

Those individuals will provide insight into what the GOP says are the challenges Midwesterner’s face right now, and offer a “Comprehensive understanding of the consequences of the border crisis as it extends into the heartland.” A light breakfast will be offered with a freewill donation welcome at the door. No reservations are needed.

For more information, please contact Starlyn Perdue at pottcountygop@gmail.com or visit pottawattamiegop.com.

(West Des Moines, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC) have announced Shelby County Unified Law Enforcement was awarded latelast month with the 2024 ISAC Excellence in Action Award. The Excellence in Action Award Program is a competitive awards program that seeks to identify and recognize innovative county government employees, programs and projects. The awards were presented during a ceremony at the ISAC Annual Conference in Des Moines on August 21^st.

Facing challenges with recruiting and retaining law enforcement officers and adjusting to increasing costs, last year the City of Harlan and Shelby County worked together to consolidate the Harlan Police Department under the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office through a 28E Agreement.

Photo submitted

Since implementing the unified law enforcement services contract, the consolidated agency has seen notable improvements including a streamlined workflow resulting in higher quality and more time-efficient investigations; more successful recruitment efforts due to the ability to offer more competitive compensation, flexibility of shifts and hours, and specialized positions; a single command structure that lends itself to greater oversight, the public knowing who will respond when they call for service, quicker response times, and greater community presence including within the school district; and training that is more efficient, specialized, and cost-effective with the unified force.

This model, officials said, can be implemented in counties and cities across the state, and Shelby County has already fielded inquiries from over 15 jurisdictions statewide interested in replicating the innovation and efficiency of the initiative.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a man was arrested early this (Wednesday) morning on felony drug charges. 28-year-old Dylan Elwood Taylor was arrested at around 12:18-a.m. on a warrant for two counts of a Controlled Substance Violation – both are Class-C felonies. Taylor was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $20,000 bond. Deputies were assisted by Red Oak Police in making the arrest.

The Sheriff’s Office reports also:

• 26-year-old Abigail Jean Kates was arrested at around 4:45-a.m. Tuesday, for Violation of a Protection Order (A Simple Misdemeanor). She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.
• And, 34-year-old Dylan Thomas Griffeth was arrested at around 6:45-p.m. Tuesday, also for Violation of a Protection Order (Simple Misdemeanor).

(Radio Iowa) – The Army Corps of Engineers has completed significant repairs and upgrades to levies, dikes and other structures damaged by flooding along the Missouri River five years ago. Clint Mason, the Corps’ Missouri River program manager, expects barge traffic to increase. “Right now I think we’re seeing a resurgence of navigation after we’ve made the repairs over the last two years,” Mason says.

Officials estimate Midwest flooding in 2019 caused nearly three BILLION dollars in damage. Congress allocated over 340-Million dollars to repair the Missouri River’s navigational channel. Army Corps offices in Kansas City and Omaha typically have total budgets around 10 million dollars. “An influx of $340 million-plus — it was definitely orders of magnitude above what we would get in a normal year,” Mason says, “and even more than what we’ve seen after past floods or other major events when we’ve had damages.”

There are about seven-thousand structures along the lower Missouri River, from Sioux City to St. Louis, that maintain a navigational channel that’s 300 feet wide and nine feet deep. Mason says the influx of funding was particularly helpful in addressing delayed maintenance of structures made of rock and stone. “The rock breaks down with freeze thaw. High flow events will push the rock or move it off of our structures, things like that,” Mason says, “and so over time those rock structures require continual upkeep and maintenance.”

Low water levels in the river due to the recent drought helped speed along the Corps’ repairs. The Missouri River is the longest river in the U-S. It starts in Montana and drains into the Mississippi River at St. Louis.

(Preston, Iowa) – One person died late Tuesday morning after they were struck by a vehicle while in a parking lot of a gas station/convenience store. The Iowa State Patrol says the accident happened in Preston, at around 11:26-a.m., Tuesday. Authorities say a 2012 Hyundai Elantra was attempting to leave the parking lot of the Country Store, when the accident occurred. The names of the driver and victim were not released. The accident remains under investigation.

The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.

(Nora Springs, Iowa) – A crash early this (Wednesday) morning southwest of Nora Springs, in northern Iowa, claimed the life of a woman whose identity was not immediately known. According to the Iowa State Patrol, a 2022 KIA Telluride SUV was traveling on U-S Highway 18 eastbound Avenue of the Saints near mile marker 195, at around 12:34-a.m., when for reasons unknown, the vehicle left the road and entered the median, where it struck a bridge pillar.

The SUV burst into flames. Its driver – who was only occupant of the vehicle – died at the scene. Authorities were calling the driver “Jane Doe,” pending identification and notification of family. The crash victim was transported by Nora Springs Ambulance to MercyOne Hospital in Mason City.

The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Floyd, Cerro Gordo, and Worth County Sheriff’s Departments.

(Radio Iowa) – August ended with an above-normal run of hot weather, but State Climatologist Justin Glisan says the average temperatures for the month lines up with past records. “About 71 degrees again, that’s the overnight low plus the daytime high, divide by two gives us a good climatological trend to look at if we’re above or below average,” Glisan says. “That’s right near normal across the state.”

Glisan says the rainfall for August was a different story, as it was down. “A little drier than normal if you look at precipitation across the state,” he says, “and particularly you look at north-central Iowa, getting over into western Iowa, where we had higher precipitation deficits Overall, about an inch below normal, at three-point-two (3.2) inches.”

The temperatures for June, July and August averaged out to 72 degrees.  “And that’s what we expect for summertime behavior. And actually, we were wetter than normal across the state as well, about 14 inches of rainfall, and that’s about a half inch above normal,” Glissan says. “Now there were pockets in western Iowa where we saw precipitation deficits 50 to 75 percent of normal. And then, of course, the June in mid June, a flooding event in northwestern and north-central Iowa with epic amount of rainfall and flooding.”

The early forecast for the fall doesn’t see the cool temperatures staying around. Glissan says that all depends on how the La Nina develops. “Those outlooks that they are trending warmer for September, October, November, and then a slight signal for drier than normal conditions across southwestern Iowa. But again, we’ll have to see if this La Nina develops, because that is the dominant climate driver as we move into fall and even into wintertime as well,” he says.

The meteorological autumn started Sunday.

(Radio Iowa) – State Regulators have hired two companies to conduct a study of the state’s gaming industry that could play a key role in the decision to award a new casino license. Racing and Gaming Administrator, Tina Eick) says the studies are due December 30th, and the two companies will make a presentation to the Commission on their findings at their meeting in January.

The move comes after the Iowa Legislature’s two-year moratorium on new gambling licenses expired. The Linn County Gaming Association has a proposal for a casino on the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids if the I-R-G-C decides to award a new gambling license after reviewing the study and getting other input.

(Radio Iowa) – Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg has resigned today (Tuesday) and has been named President and CEO of the Iowa Bankers Association. In a written statement, Gregg said his kids are growing up too fast and statewide office forces him to miss more of their lives than he can accept — so his time in public service must come to a close.

Gregg, a lawyer who grew up in Hawarden, was the Republican Party’s nominee for attorney general in 2014. He served as the state’s public defender for the next three years — until Kim Reynolds chose him to be lieutenant governor. That was in the spring of 2017, when Governor Terry Branstad resigned and Reynolds was sworn in as lieutenant governor.

Reynolds says Gregg has been a tremendous partner and it comes as no surprise that he prioritizing his personal life.