(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors, today (Wednesday), set May 1st at 9:15-a.m., as the date and time for a Public Hearing on the renewal of $5-million dollars in General Urban Renewal Bonds. The Board also agreed to a contract with Ahlers-Cooney, P-C, in Des Moines, for legal services associated with the bond renewal. The Board held discussion with regard to a proposed ordinance pertaining to a large data center. Applied Digital owners Lance Cummins and Nick Phillips have announced their intention to build a 200-megawatt data center on land adjacent to a substation in the 1200 block of Fallow Avenue in Adair County, which is connected to wind turbine farms in Adair and Guthrie Counties.

The $1.5-billion dollar project includes two, 300-thousand square foot structures on the site, which would be employ anywhere from 40-to 70 people, primarily for facilities management, with some in technical positions. Concerns have been expressed with regard to the impact of construction traffic, water usage and electric rates. According to Applied Digital representatives, the facility would initially require 200-thousand gallons of water, which would be trucked-in, and would not affect local residents. Electric bills would not increase, they said, because the center would be directly connected to the NextEra Energy substation associated with MidAmerican Energy.

Board Chair Jerry Walker said Applied Digital has not asked for any special consideration, such as a tax abatement or incentives. Board member Jodie Hoadley said other entities have received tax breaks for their projects.

Landowners affected by the proposed facility have been notified. A public meeting will be held in Adair, closer to when construction is expected to begin. The construction process for one of the two buildings, would take about one year. Adair County Attorney Melissa Larson will draw-up a Draft Data Center Ordinance, the first Public Hearing for which will take place during the Supervisor’s meeting on Wednesday, April 24th. Jerry Walker…

In other business, the Adair County Supervisors held a Public Hearing on the vacating of a portion of 190th Street, between Pinewood and Quebec Avenue. After hearing from the affected land owners, the Board approved the following Resolution, as read by Chairman Jerry Walker:

The Resolution was subsequently amended to note there were some objections to vacating the road. The Board set April 17th at 9:30-a.m., as the date for a Public Hearing to vacate also, a one-quarter of a mile portion of 110th Street

(Radio Iowa) – A celebration of Iowa girls’ six-on-six basketball will be held in north-central Iowa this (Wednesday) afternoon. Event coordinator Jean Eels is inviting all who are interested to the Fuller Hall Recreation Center in Webster City.  “There’ll be women who’ve played six-on-six,” Eels says, “and we’re also reaching out to former coaches of six-on-six, or referees, or cheer squad, or managers, statisticians, chaperones, people that were associated with six-on-six basketball.” Eels expects a sizeable turnout for the event from supporters across the region.

“People have reached out saying, ‘Oh, my sister played,’ or ‘Oh, I have cousins that played,’ some who indicated that they’ve got people that might come from a greater distance,” she says. Six-on-six basketball came to an end in Iowa in 1993, and Eels describes the game’s background. “It really was an interesting, essentially half-court game, because the players would be six of them on one half of the court and they would stay there and pass the ball to the six players on the other half the court,” Eels says, “so it has a really unique rhythm to it, and generally, it’s a strong passing game.”

The celebration runs from 1 to 3 P-M. Learn more at the Webster City Parks and Recreation Facebook page.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports a man from Nebraska was arrested Tuesday night at the Douglas County, NE, Jail, on a warrant out of Mills County. 58-year-old Raymond Arthur Cole, of Bellevue, NE, was arrested on the warrant charging him with two counts of Failure To Appear on the original charges of OWI, and 2 counts of Child Endangerment. Cole was being held in the Mills County Jail on a $6,000 bond.

And, a man from Lincoln, NE, was arrested a little after 7-a.m. today (Wednesday), following a traffic stop. 32-year-old Emanuel Aguilar-Lopez was arrested at Highway 34/Hillman Road, for OWI/1st offense. His bond was set at $1,000.

(Harlan, Iowa) – Officials with the Shelby County Historical Museum, today (Wednesday), announced that preservation work has begun on the historic McIntosh and Leland log cabins. The preservation process will include removing the crumbling chinking, replacing logs, making dutchman repairs, stabilizing the structures, cobb blasting to clean the logs, repairing door and window frames, reapplying chinking between the logs, reframing and re-roofing both cabins, and finally, replacing any damaged interior chinking. The work is estimated to take approximately 8 weeks, weather permitting.

Sarah McDonald, Executive Director of the Shelby County Historical Museum, says “We are looking forward to documenting the preservation process and sharing updates with the community. The project has been in development for several years, so we are excited to take this step in preserving the McIntosh and Leland log cabins for future generations.”

Tours of the cabins are currently unavailable and will resume after the completion of the preservation work. Museum representatives kindly ask that those who wish to watch the preservation work do so from a safe distance behind the fencing.

Cabin preservation work underway. Shelby County Historical Museum photo (provided)

About the Shelby County Historical Museum:
The Shelby County Historical Museum was founded in 1964 by over 50 individuals who were passionate about preserving local history for future generations. The museum is home to two exhibit buildings and two historic log cabins built in Shelby County in 1856 and 1857. Each year, they welcome thousands of visitors who experience Shelby County history through free exhibits and programming.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports 46-year-old Michael David Johns, of Creston, was arrested late Tuesday evening. Johns was arrested at around 6:53-p.m., in the vicinity of Sumner Avenue and Townline Street, on a Violation of Parole charge. He was taken to Union County Jail and held without bond.

(Radio Iowa) – A man who’s considered the world’s most popular author, with almost half a BILLION books sold globally, will appear in central Iowa tonight. James Patterson is as big as they get, according to Tim Paluch, director of the AVID series — or Authors Visiting in Des Moines — at the Des Moines Public Library. “He writes nonfiction, fiction, children’s books, he has co-authored best-selling novels with Bill Clinton and Dolly Parton,” Paluch says. “He’s written true story biographies on the Kennedys, John Lennon and Princess Diana, and he also writes about military heroes, police officers, ER nurses, and he has his mystery thriller series that people love.”

Patterson was the first author to sell more than one-million e-books and has now sold more than five-million e-books in his career. He holds a record for 67 number-one New York Times’ best-sellers, and Paluch expects Patterson’s latest book, released Monday, will quickly become #68. “It’s called ‘The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians’ and it’s nonfiction, talking about what he calls heroes, people who get books in people’s hands and why that’s important,” Paluch says. “So it’s a perfect fit for the library, obviously, and we’re just thrilled to have him.”

James Patterson (Provided by DMPL)

Patterson will appear at the Scottish Rite Consistory in downtown Des Moines, which seats about 850 people. He’ll do a moderated talk, take questions, and then will sign autographs, but Paluch says they’ll only be taking people up row by row. “We’re trying to be respectful of his time and everyone’s time, so he’ll only sign copies of his new book. He’s not going to personalize it like a lot of authors do,” Paluch says. “We just have to keep that line moving, otherwise, we’ll be there until the middle of the night. People do want to meet him and he’ll chat with you, but just expect to be moved along. We’re going to have a lot of people in line.”

Doors open at 5 PM for the 7 PM event. Learn more HERE.

DES MOINES, Iowa — [KCCI] –  A picture taken during the Iowa State Fair could soon be seen on envelopes across the country. The picture shows the big Ferris wheel at the fair and is part of a series of 10 stamps depicting images at carnivals or fairs as part of the Carnival Nights series.

The photo was captured by Phil Roeder, an accomplished photographer and the communications director at Des Moines Public Schools. Roeder says he’s excited to be part of the project, and just as excited to be able to highlight the fair.

ANAMOSA, Iowa (KCRG) – The family of an Anamosa corrections officer, is suing the state of Iowa. Correctional officer Robert McFarland and nurse Lorena Schulte were murdered by inmates trying to escape the prison in March 2021. Investigators say inmates Thomas Woodard and Michael Dutcher used hammers from the prison’s maintenance shop to strike both McFarland and Schulte in the back of the head. Both Woodard and Dutcher pleaded guilty to the crimes later that year. They’re both serving sentences of life in prison.

The lawsuit alleges the Anamosa prison was over-capacity and under-staffed for at least five months before McFarland and Schulte were fatally attacked. Specifically, the lawsuit states the prison had a maximum capacity of 911 inmates, but at the time of the attack was housing more than 950 inmates. The lawsuit also states the prison only had 172 staff members despite being funded for 201 staff positions.

It claims this problem of operating over capacity while being understaffed was not unique to the prison in Anamosa and has been a pattern across the state. The lawsuit also accuses the prison of failing to properly train and prepare staff members with an appropriate emergency response plan. It also highlights faulty radios that limited communication, failure to use surveillance cameras to monitor inmate activity, and a failure to control access to the prison’s tools.

In February 2023, the Iowa Department of Corrections redesignated the Anamosa State Penitentiary as strictly medium security. It had previously been a medium/maximum security. The change resulted in the relocation of some of its most dangerous prisoners to the state penitentiary in Fort Madison. Lorena Schulte’s family also filed a lawsuit against the state, the prison and the Department of Corrections in January alleging failures to provide a safe working environment, sufficient staffing and other failures of duty.

(Radio Iowa) – A Sioux City woman who is the wife of a Woodbury County Supervisor, plans to appeal her voter fraud conviction. Kim Taylor will have a new attorney.  Guy Weinstein has been appointed to represent Taylor in the appeal.

Taylor was sentenced to four months in prison and four months home confinement back on April 1st. She was convicted last November by a federal jury on 26 counts of providing false information in registering and voting, three counts of fraudulent registration, and 23 counts of fraudulent voting.