“Grow Another Row, Cass County!” is a campaign to encourage residents to grow more food to share in 2020. The campaign is launching to address food challenges created by COVID-19, as more people are finding themselves needing a little extra help keeping food on the table. Did you get some plants in the ground last week? Need a little help getting started? We hear you.
Need seeds? The Griswold Library will donate seeds to area gardeners this year. Just call the Griswold Library at (712) 778-4130, and talk to Lisa about what she has available. Lisa will then set the seeds out for you to pick up on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. This is open to any grower in Cass County.

Caring for plants in the spring: Although, this IS the time to plant cool season crops, it can also be a difficult time with cool nights dipping into the low 30’s and small animals looking for a treat. What can we do to keep those young crops ‘safe’? Here are some ideas.

1. Milk jugs with the bottom cut out can be placed over fresh transplants to help keep the chill off on cold nights and give a nice greenhouse effect during the day. As an added bonus, the jugs also protect the transplants from rabbits and small rodents looking for a snack. Pro tip: instead of cutting the bottom completely off the jug, cut just 3 sides and bend the flap that you have created to the side – place a rock or clod of dirt on the flap to keep milk jug from blowing away.

2. Baby powder or cornstarch is a great way to deter bugs, rabbits, and other small creatures from devouring your tiny seedlings. Just sprinkle some on at planting and remember to reapply after each rain. Be careful to not ‘poof’ the baby powder or cornstarch into your face. Can we call that a pro tip?
For more information, please contact: Brigham Hoegh, Wellness Coordinator Cass County ISU Extension 712-249-5870

3. Mulch. Weeds are not only a nuisance but can hurt garden yields. One fast, easy remedy is to mulch your plants. Mulch between rows and around plants. Whole sheets of newspapers may be used. Most are printed with organic ink. Layer 2 or 3 sheets, water them down so they stick together and to the soil surface, then weigh them down with a little soil to prevent them from blowing away in the wind. The extra work now saves time and energy later.

For more gardening tips and to sign up to participate in Grow Another Row visit https://www.extension.iastate.edu/cass/content/grow-another-row-cass-county.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) — Churches are reacting to decision by Governor Kim Reynolds to lift the coronavirus limit of holding public gatherings to 10 or fewer people to allow churches to hold worship services. The governor has limited the opening of businesses to 77 counties that have lower cases of COVID-19 and she was asked Tuesday why she is allowing churches in all 99 counties to hold services.”I think it comes down to constitutional liberties and the First Amendment. So, we are going to continue to work with our churches across the state,” Reynolds said. “We would continue to encourage them to offer online services — especially for our most vulnerable Iowans.”

Reynolds said she is confident the church leaders will do the right thing in deciding whether to restart worship services in their buildings. “We are also encouraging them — and they will — to practice social distancing. To think about different measures that they can put in place. The Department of Public Health has put together guidelines that they should follow — but they’ll make sure that they are practicing safe worship,” Reynolds said. She says worshipers also have a responsibility. “Iowans also need to be responsible — so if you are sick you need to stay home — continue to utilize the online services. We also know that social distancing works, so we should incorporate that into opening up the services,” Reynolds says.

The four Catholic bishops of Iowa announced that public Masses will continue to be suspended for now in light of the expectation that positive cases of COVID-19 will peak in Iowa in the next few weeks. A group of denominational leaders issued a statement of recommendation urging all religions to refrain from in-person religious gatherings. Reverend Ian McMullen of the Presbyterian Church signed on to the statement, and says they also feel it is not yet time to bring people together for services. “Our first call is to love our neighbor. And most of our congregations are made up of people who are in a high-risk group — 65 and older, underlying conditions — so that is why we have put forth this recommendation,” he says.

McMullen hopes all religious leaders will feel the same way. “I appreciate that the governor has left it up to us. I know that she has the best intentions when she gave us the freedom to do that and I appreciate that,” according to McMullen. “So, with that freedom, we have made the decision to love our neighbors by physically staying apart.” McMullen says the coronavirus pandemic has brought a powerful urgency to the religious community. “We had this glorious moment when our world was upended and we were scrambling to share the gospel news with the world around us — as opposed to living in our regular rut of weekly worship,” McMullen says. ” We were scrambling for our Facebook passwords and figuring out how to work webcams, and caring for those people who could not leave their home or had become sick. It was, and is, a time of great transition in the church.”

McMullen says the pandemic impacts everyone and no denomination is left out. “We’ve been in conversation with folks in mosques and synagogues and churches and meeting house all over the country. And they all say the same thing — this has heightened their awareness of what is really important in our faith,” McMullen says.  He says they’ve learned again it is not about the building where you gather — it is about the message.  “Love your neighbor, feed the hungry. Those are all things that are much more important than stained glass windows and brick and mortar,” McMullen says.

More than 20 leaders of various denominations signed onto the recommendation.

Red Oak Police were called at around 10-p.m. Tuesday to the 200 block of E. Elm Street, for a reported altercation. Upon further investigation, officers arrested 22-year old Skylar Lee Bingham, of Red Oak, on charges of Simple Assault and Breach of Peace/Disorderly Conduct. His bond was set at $300. Red Oak Police were assisted at the scene by Deputies from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, along with Red Oak Fire and Rescue.

(Radio Iowa) — Due to the pandemic, state officials are discouraging schools from holding traditional high school graduation ceremonies in the month of May. Five options were being considered for the Atlantic School District. Officials in the East Sac County Community School District have tentatively scheduled a graduation ceremony for the Class of 2020 on the last Sunday in July. High School Principal Kevin Litterer says it’s the farthest date on the calendar that avoids annual events in the area, like county fairs.

“Plus, the time you hit August, kids are thinking more about college,” Litterer says. “If you have any student going into play college sports, college activities — they’re getting started right away that first week of August, so that’s really how we came up with July 26th.” Litterer says there may be restrictions on how many people may attend, to ensure social distancing. The football stadium is one option.

“You only get to graduate from high school one time and so we want to try to do what we can to make it a special moment,” he says. “We don’t want it to be the time they lost everything…How do we make is something they can remember?” Algona Schools Superintendent Joe Carter says prom for juniors and seniors in his district has been rescheduled for June 20th and graduation has been postponed until June 28th.

“We don’t know exactly what this will look like in June,” he says “but those are the dates we’ve set at this time.” Some schools are scheduling parades, with graduates safely separated in their vehicles. Others are planning virtual ceremonies. Red Oak’s school board has set May 17th as the date for graduation in their district. Superintendent Tom Messinger says he and the high school principal have been directed to set up the most traditional ceremony that’s possible under state guidelines for social distancing.

“So we do not know exactly what it’s going to look like yet because between now and May 17th,” Messinger says. “Some of those guidelines and recommendations may change as we move forward in the current situation.” Governor Reynolds has discouraged public gatherings of more than 10 people.

A head-on crash between a car and a semi in northern Iowa’s Clay County, Tuesday afternoon, claimed the life of a woman from Milford. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2012 Toyota Camry driven by 40-year old Lori Nicole Scott, of Milford, was traveling west on Highway 18 near 100th Avenue at around 1-p.m., when it crossed the center line and entered the eastbound lane, where the car collided head-on with a semi driven by 36-year old Eric Steven Meighan, of Ruthven.

Scott died at the scene. No other injuries were reported. The accident remains under investigation. Several agencies assisted the Patrol at the crash scene, including the Spencer Fire Dept., Everly Fire and Rescue, Spencer Ambulance and an Iowa DOT Maintenance crew.

The Iowa State Patrol reports two children, ages 8 and 5, died in a single-vehicle crash late Tuesday morning just outside of Jamaica, in Dallas County. Four other people, including an 11-year old, suffered serious injuries. Only two of the victims were wearing their seat belts. No names had been released as of early this (Wednesday) morning.

Authorities say the accident happened as a 2014 Toyota Sienna driven by a 16-year old was traveling north on Beaumont Place at around 11:27-a.m., and was transitioning over a bridge, when the minivan suddenly veered left.

The vehicle moved left off the road before moving back to the right and leaving the road. It impacted the south side of a field drive, traveled over the drive, and came to rest upon the field drive, facing east. The accident remains under investigation.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:20 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — University of Iowa experts advised Gov. Kim Reynolds last week not to relax social distancing rules, warning that the state could suffer a “catastrophic loss of life” even with them and see a second wave of infections. In a research paper made public Tuesday, the professors from the UI College of Public Health said they saw “considerable uncertainty” in how many deaths Iowa could get, ranging deaths from 150 to thousands even with strict social distancing rules. Days after receiving that warning, the Republican governor signed orders to partially reopen 77 of the state’s 99 largest counties and allow church services and farmers markets to resume statewide.

ARNOLD, Mo. (AP) — Some communities in the U.S. heartland are taking a more natural approach to preventing the kinds of floods that have devastated the region in recent years. For more than a century, flood control has relied mostly on man-made structures such as levees and walls to keep rivers in place. As climate change brings more extreme weather, the new idea is to let rivers behave more naturally. It means keeping some waterfront areas vacant or using them as parkland so no great harm is done when the rivers overflow. In rural areas, officials are considering moving levees farther back to give rivers more room to roam.

UNDATED (AP) — Some communities in the U.S. heartland are taking a more natural approach to preventing the kinds of floods that have devastated the region in recent years. For more than a century, flood control has relied mostly on man-made structures such as levees and walls to keep rivers in place. As climate change brings more extreme weather, the new idea is to let rivers behave more naturally. It means keeping some waterfront areas vacant or using them as parkland so no great harm is done when the rivers overflow. In rural areas, officials are considering moving levees farther back to give rivers more room to roam.

ROCKWELL CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa sheriff has resigned after being charged with assaulting his wife and officers who arrested him. Calhoun County Sheriff Scott Anderson resigned Monday, just hours before scheduled a court hearing to hear evidence to remove him. Court documents detail the testimonies of other deputies and coworkers who say Anderson was often drunk, failed to show up at crime scenes while on duty and, according to one deputy, reported for work only four days during May last year. Mason City Police Chief Gerald Frick said in an affidavit that he doesn’t think Anderson “should have access to weapons.”

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — University of Iowa experts advised Gov. Kim Reynolds last week not to relax social distancing rules, warning that the state could suffer a “catastrophic loss of life” even with them and see a second wave of infections. In a research paper made public Tuesday, the professors from the UI College of Public Health said they saw “considerable uncertainty” in how many deaths Iowa could get, ranging deaths from 150 to thousands even with strict social distancing rules.

Days after receiving that warning, the Republican governor signed orders to partially reopen 77 of the state’s 99 largest counties and allow church services and farmers markets to resume statewide.

JAMAICA, Iowa (KCCI-TV) — Authorities say two people are dead and five others are hurt after a young driver crashed a minivan at an Iowa field entrance. Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Alex Dinkla said the crash happened around 11:35 a.m. Tuesday after the driver lost control of the Toyota Sienna in the community of Jamaica.

KCCI reports that the injuries range from serious to life-threatening and that names will be withheld until all family is notified. The driver was described as a minor. The crash is under investigation.