Firefighters from Anita and Wiota, with assistance from Cumberland and Massena, remained on the scene of a large machine shed fire southeast of Wiota, late Friday night. The blaze at 71737 Jackson Road, was reported at around 9:20-p.m. A nearby residence was unoccupied when law enforcement arrived on the scene. Crews worked to protect the home from the flames, which were being blown in the direction of the home.

Authorities say it appears the blaze started in the center of the building, which was completely destroyed, along with some pieces of farm machinery stored inside the structure. No injuries were reported.

In addition to the area fire departments mentioned, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon were also on the scene. (Pics below are courtesy the Cass County Emergency Management Agency/Mike Kennon)

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Board of Education had a split 4-4 vote Thursday — nullifying the Hamburg School District’s certification request. But Superintendent Mike Wells says it was still a positive meeting. “We had very good conversation, and they are considering a different model for education for small schools in Iowa. Sometimes you go in front of boards, and you figure it’s just lip service. They don’t really listen to you. This board took the time. It was only scheduled for 20 minutes, and we were in there for an hour-and-a-half,” Wells says.

Wells believes Hamburg had a solid plan to resurrect high school classes under a career academy format, in which students would receive a certificate for special skills, in addition to their high school diploma. Wells says the key to the plan is sharing instructors with Essex–where he is also superintendent. “Finding certified staff is very difficult,” he says. “By being able to share a high quality staff that Essex has for some of the programs–and we have some teachers that are certified at our current school for high school–without Essex, this doesn’t work.”

While saying the board liked the career academy format, Wells says some members questioned Hamburg’s projected enrollment numbers. “The numbers we presented to them were 25 students–not counting any kids from Sidney,” Wells says. “That would be the number for year one of the program. We do have kids in each grade level. We have home schooled kids that will be coming. We know that number will be higher than that, but we wanted to be realistic. We just assumed that those kids that are currently going to Sidney will stay there. So, there were concerns with that.”

Hamburg high school students are now attending classes in Sidney under a tuition-in agreement. Because one board member was absent, the board set another meeting with Hamburg for its February meeting. Wells says the district will be better prepared for the second go-around next month. “We will have an actual schedule as to what Hamburg’s schedule would look like. We will meet with the Iowa Department of Education, and we will go through to make sure we can meet, offer and teach,” Wells says.

“We feel that the plan we presented does that, but we want to make sure that when we get to that meeting, there are no red flags from the Iowa Department of Education.” State education board officials rejected Hamburg’s first certification request late last March–right during the Missouri River flooding that swamped most of the community.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat candidate for president, will be criss-crossing Iowa next week in the days leading up to the Feb. 3rd Iowa caucuses. The three-term senator plans on engaging with caucus goers in rural, urban and suburban communities.

On Thursday, January 30, Klobuchar will campaign in Sioux City, Council Bluffs, Atlantic and Winterset.  Details for those and other events are expected to be released soon. All events are subject to change IF the impeachment proceedings progress well into the week.

In the meantime, you can check her campaign’s website for the latest information.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An animal welfare group that gained access to an Iowa lawmaker’s hog farm has posted a video and photos online that show pigs suffering and even dying in what appear to be inhumane conditions. Members of California-based Direct Action Everywhere entered a hog farm owned by Iowa Sen. Ken Rozenboom last April through an unlocked door.

Rozenboom says the farm was managed then by others who didn’t follow proper animal care protocols. He says his family is overseeing operations and properly caring for animals.

Rozenboom managed a law passed last year that heightens trespass penalties for undercover operations on farms.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) announced today (Friday), that there was a breach in personal information related to some Dallas County income maintenance and social work cases. The breach occurred on November 25, 2019. There are 4,784 individuals whose information was included in the breach.

The breach occurred when a contracted custodial company mistakenly emptied boxes containing documents to be shredded into the office’s garbage dumpster. The incident was not discovered until after the garbage dumpster had been emptied. DHS cannot be certain which documents from each worker’s cases had been printed. As a precaution, notifications were sent to all case parties whose information may have been printed and thrown into the garbage dumpster without being confidentially shredded. The Department has had no reports that any affected parties had their information misused.

The types of information involved potentially could include name, mailing address, date of birth, social security number, driver’s license number, banking or wage information, disability information, medical information, receipt of Medicaid, mental health information, provider information, substance abuse information, illegal drug use information, or prescription drug information.

The Department launched an internal investigation on December 2, 2019, once the issue was identified by a social work supervisor. Officials found that the custodial worker was not aware of the confidential nature of the paperwork in the boxes under the employees’ desks and threw out the paperwork thinking it was trash. DHS has clarified with all employees that all confidential paperwork must be secured to ensure confidentiality of its clients and the employees in the office were required to take refresher confidentiality training.

The chance that this information was accessed in the process of it being transported from the office to the garbage dump site is small, but officials say the affected persons involved in these cases may wish to take steps to be sure their information wasn’t misused.

Individuals who receive a letter notifying them of the breach can get more information if they are concerned their identity may be compromised, including signing up for free credit monitoring. They can call the TransUnion Credit Bureau at 855-288-5422.

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) – Company officials say a central Iowa plant that produces bodies for electric buses is closing. TPI Composites announced Thursday that production at the Newton plant will be consolidated at a company plant in Warren, Rhode Island. The company says nearly all of the bus plant employees will be offered employment at the company’s wind blade facility in Newton or at other TPI facilities. Josh Syhlman is plant manager at TPI’s wind blade factory, and he told the Newton Daily News the bus plant had never reached adequate production and profitability levels.

Two people were arrested on separate charges Thursday, in Mills County. 22-year old Tre-Von Shantile Harrington, of Bellevue, NE., was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance, following a traffic stop at Highway 34 & Kidd Road. Harrington was taken into custody at around 2-a.m. and held in the Mills County Jail on a $1,000 bond. And, at around 1:37-p.m., Thursday, 59-year old Michael Earl Gillenwater, of Bellevue, NE., was arrested at the Mills County Jail, on a warrant for Probation Violation. His bond was set at $2,000.

Gillenwater was being held in the Mills County Jail as a result of his arrest Tuesday, on two-counts Possession of a Controlled Substance, Drug Stamp Criminal Penalties, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

(Radio Iowa) — A consultant with experience at facilities that care for patients with severe intellectual disabilities is now working at the Glenwood Resource Center — and Governor Kim Reynolds says new hiring procedures already have been put in place for future staff. The Department of Justice is investigating allegations of poor patient care. Reynolds visited the center this week and met with current staff as well as some of the residents. “It was nice to be on site,” Reynolds says. “It was really an opportunity for me to thank the workers there and let them know that…we are making changes. We are going to get it right.”

Reynolds says some of the state’s most vulnerable Iowans are patients at the center. “I got to speak with some of the residents there. We got to speak with some of the employees, some of the nurses there and just really get a sense of what they are doing and providing,” Reynolds says, “but honestly, most importantly I wanted them to hear it from me that I appreciate what they’re doing and it’s not gone unnoticed and we’re going to listen and we’re going to get things turned around.”

Federal investigators plan to be at the Glenwood Resource Center in February and they’ve asked to see the medical charts for all patients who’ve died in the past year. Reynolds says conditions at the facility were “not acceptable” and changes are being made — like bringing in University of Iowa doctors on three different occasions to evaluate the patients. “The DOJ is collecting their information. They’ll report back, but in the interim they’ve been very, I think, impressed with what we’ve already done to start to address the concerns that were raised, so we’re going to keep doing that and we’re going to keep changing policies and procedures and get things turned around and back on track.”

The Department of Justice is also investigating allegations the superintendent at Glenwood Resource Center had been doing human experiments on patients. Reynolds place the superintendent on paid leave in November, then fired him on December 30th.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa’s unemployment rate increased slightly to 2.7% in December. Iowa Workforce Development reported Friday the unemployment rate rose as both the number of people with and without jobs increased in the state. The December rate was up from a 2.6% in November and 2.4% a year ago. Iowa’s unemployment rate tied with Alabama for the nation’s ninth-lowest. The national unemployment rate in December was 3.5%.

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Senate is advancing two bills that would allow Iowans to have loaded firearms on work and school property. One measure would force businesses to allow employees to keep guns locked in their car at work. The other would allow people dropping off kids to have a gun on them while in a school parking lot or driveway. Senator Jason Schultz, a Republican from Schleswig, says current policies make it hard for Iowans to keep their guns with them.  “I think these are a very good common sense recognition that Iowans and Americans in general have a right to keep and bear arms,” Schultz says, “and keep and bear arms during their daily routine throughout the day.”

Brad Hartkopf is a lobbyist for the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, which opposes the measure about keeping guns at work in the car. Hartkopf says, “This legislation infringes upon an employer’s private property rights by saying that they can’t have a policy prohibiting weapons in their parking lots or on their property.” Representatives from school and religious groups also say these bills infringe on private property rights and pose safety risks. Both proposals have support from some members of both political parties.

(Katarina Sostaric, Iowa Public Radio)