A western Iowa businessman and farmer has been nominated to serve on the three-member federal board that oversees the Farm Credit Administration. Glen Smith of Atlantic testified before the U.S. Senate Ag Committee Thursday. “I’m truly humbled by the honor of this nomination, but also quite sobered by the huge responsibility, if confirmed, of having a role of ensuring that American agriculture continues to have a source for reliable, secure credit,” Smith said, “which happens to the be mission of Farm Credit.”

Smith founded Smith Land Service Company in 1982. The firm manages farms and is a farm brokerage. He and his family also raise corn and soybeans on about two-thousand acres.  “As an active farmer, ag businessman and even dating back to my ag finance days at Iowa State University, I’ve understood the important role of the Farm Credit Administration in setting policy, examining and regulating our nation’s largest long-term agricultural lender, the Farm Credit System,” Smith says. “…The health of American agriculture is critically dependent upon a healthy, viable Farm Credit System. Credit is truly the lifeblood of agriculture.”

Glen R. Smith

Smith told senators he has a “keen sense” of “boom and bust” cycles since he lived through the soaring ag economy of the 1970s, followed by the Farm Crisis of the 1980s. “We can’t afford to lose a generation of agriculturalists like we did in the ’80s,” Smith said. “…I’ve always considered myself to be an optimist. As a farmer you take on the weather, you take on pests, you take on the markets and you have to be an optimist to survive. However, I do have to confess that I am very concerned about the current agricultural outlook.”

Smith says the Farm Credit System can play a key role in supporting young farmers who are most vulnerable to financial fluctuations. “Land is typically the dominant asset on a farmer’s balance sheet,” Smith says. “In the Midwest alone, we’ve seen a 15-20 percent erosion in land values over the last several years…I believe we’re a long ways away from crisis management as experienced in the ’80s, however, out of love for this wonderful industry, I would be a strong advocate for caution in the Farm Credit System.”

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, as expected, Smith will move to Washington because the position is a full-time job. The Farm Credit System currently is managing more than a quarter of a TRILLION dollars in loans. Fewer than one percent of those loans are 90 days past due or in default.

(Radio Iowa)

A narcotics investigation early this (Friday) morning in Fremont County resulted in two arrests. Fremont County Sheriff’ Kevin Aistrope reports the County K9 Unit was conducting the investigation in to Sidney and Farragut areas, during which a vehicle was stopped on 370th Avenue and Manti Road.

Following the traffic stop, 21-year old Jared Comstock, of Farragut, and 20-year old Alix Gorby, of Shenandoah, were arrested. Each faces a Delivery of Controlled Substance and Possession of a Controlled Substance,  charge. They were being held in the Fremont County Jail on $6,000 cash bonds, each.

Alix Gorby

Jared Comstock

The Sheriff says they expect more arrests to transpire from the investigation, and that his deputies were assisted in this latest investigation, by Officers with the Tabor Police Department.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Republican leaders are creating a human resources manager position to oversee harassment complaints at the Legislature. The move comes after the state agreed to pay $1.75 million to settle a lawsuit involving a former Senate Republican staffer who alleged sexual harassment. Staff for the GOP-controlled House and Senate plan to make the hire before the legislative session begins in January. The Senate staffer filed the suit after reporting sexual harassment, then being fired.

ALTA VISTA, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa parents of a 4-month-ol baby whose maggot-infested body was found in a swing in his family’s home have pleaded not guilty to murder charges. The Courier reported Thursday that 28-year-old Zachary Paul Koehn and 20-year-old Cheyanne Renae Harris, both of Alta Vista, filed written arraignments pleading not guilty earlier in the week. Each face charges of child endangerment and first-degree murder in the death of their son, Sterling Koehn.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A western Iowa man accused of raping a teenage baby sitter has been sentenced to two years in prison. The Sioux City Journal reports that 25-year-old Colby Mauch, of Castana, was sentenced Thursday in Woodbury County District Court. He had pleaded guilty to one count of assault with the intent to commit sexual abuse, an aggravated misdemeanor.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa state lawmaker has filed a police report accusing someone in her campaign office of stealing $6,000 in campaign donations over several years. The Des Moines Register reports that Rep. Ruth Ann Gaines, D-Des Moines, reported the theft Wednesday. She told police the campaign worker wrote checks to herself from the campaign account. The Associated Press is not naming the worker, since she has not been arrested or charged with a crime.

ALTA VISTA, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa parents of a 4-month-old baby whose maggot-infested body was found in a swing in his family’s home have pleaded not guilty to murder charges. The Courier reported Thursday that 28-year-old Zachary Paul Koehn and 20-year-old Cheyanne Renae Harris, both of Alta Vista, filed written entered a plea of not guilty earlier this week.

Each faces charges of child endangerment and first-degree murder in the death of their son, Sterling Koehn. Authorities say deputies and medics called to the couple’s apartment on Aug. 30 found Sterling dead in the swing. A medical examiner found maggots in his clothing and skin that indicated he hadn’t had a diaper change, bath or been removed from the seat in over a week.

Koehn and Harris remain jailed pending a trial date.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A western Iowa man accused of raping a teenage baby sitter has been sentenced to two years in prison. The Sioux City Journal reports that 25-year-old Colby Mauch, of Castana, was sentenced Thursday in Woodbury County District Court. He had pleaded guilty to one count of assault with the intent to commit sexual abuse, an aggravated misdemeanor.

Police say that in September 2016, Mauch traveled to the then-17-year-old girl’s home, where she was baby-sitting six children. While the children were in the backyard, Mauch grabbed the girl, pulled down her pants and raped her.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey and Deputy Secretary Mike Naig have announced that they will be making stops in Fremont, Page, Adams, Montgomery, Mills and Audubon Counties on Monday, November 13th.

Northey and Naig will attend a Veterans Day assembly at Sidney High School, visit the Freedom Rock in Clarinda to visit with veterans, speak at a cover crop and risk management field day in Corning, visit with farmers in Red Oak, tour the new community center and extension office in Malvern and speak at the Audubon County Soil and Water Conservation District 75th Anniversary Dinner in Exira.

Details of their tour are as follows:

Monday, November 13, 2017

Fremont County – 10:00 a.m., attend a Veterans Day Assembly, Sidney High School, 2754 Knox Rd., Sidney

Page County – 11:20 a.m., visit the Page County Freedom Rock and visit with Veterans, 1600 S. 16th St., Clarinda

Adams County – 1:15 p.m., speak at a cover crops and risk management field day, 2507 Quince Ave., Corning

Montgomery County – 3:00 p.m., meet with farmers, Montgomery County Farm Bureau office, 950 Senate Ave., Red Oak

Mills County – 4:45 p.m., tour the new Community Center and Extension Office, 61317 315th St., Malvern

Audubon County – 7:15 p.m., speak at the Audubon County Soil and Water Conservation District 75th Anniversary Dinner, Exira Lions Club, 104 E. Washington St., Exira.

Northey, a corn and soybean farmer from Spirit Lake, is serving his third term as Secretary of Agriculture. His priorities as Secretary of Agriculture are promoting the use of science and new technologies to better care for our air, soil and water, and reaching out to tell the story of Iowa agriculture.

DES MOINES – Recently, Iowa Economic Development Authority announced the cities of Creston and Lewis were awarded a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG).

“The award of funds for housing stability to the cities of Creston and Lewis are positive steps for those towns,” said Senator Tom Shipley, R-Nodaway. “Housing stabilization grants allow hardworking Iowans the ability to remain in their homes with important health and safety upgrades.”

The city of Creston will receive $246,200 and the city of Lewis will receive $238,242. Each year, approximately $4 million in federal CDBG funds are available to cities and counties through Iowa’s Housing Sustainability Fund. Eligible applicants are cities and counties under 50,000 people. This money may go to funding public or community services and facilities, housing rehabilitation, or economic development and job training.

Two men from Council Bluffs were arrested this (Thursday) morning in connection with several recent storage unit burglaries and thefts from apartment complex laundry facilities in Council Bluffs. The two suspects are identified as 30 year old Joshua McCammond and 29 year old Jacob Vincent.

McCammond

Vincent

Both men were being held on multiple felony and misdemeanor charges including Ongoing Criminal Conduct, Burglary, Theft and Criminal Mischief. Detectives continue to investigate other property crimes that may have been committed by the suspects, and additional charges are expected.

Anyone with knowledge of criminal activity perpetrated by the suspects, or by anyone else, is encouraged to contact the Council Bluffs Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division at 712-328-4728 or you can remain anonymous by calling CrimeStoppers at 712-328-STOP (7867).

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service says its decision not to fill dozens of postal jobs in Des Moines is intended to deal with a shrinking workload. The comment follows picketing Wednesday by more than 100 postal workers, customers, teamsters and others outside the post office near downtown Des Moines to protest recent job cuts. USPS spokesman John Friess says no one has lost a job at the postal service; all cuts have come through attrition.

The Postal Service has seen growth in its package segment. But Friess says overall volume has declined by more than 3 billion pieces. He says cuts are to “reduce costs and remain competitive in the marketplace, to be able to continue to serve the public in the most efficient, cost-effective way possible and keep mail affordable.”

The Iowa West Foundation Board of Directors recently approved $4.4 million in grants and initiatives funding to 22 nonprofit organizations and government entities in southwest Iowa and eastern Nebraska. Here are some of the non-profit and government entities which received IWF grants and initiatives:

• City of Carroll – Kellan’s Kingdom: Carroll’s first all-inclusive playground, $10,000.
• City of Council Bluffs – Bayliss Park holiday lights, $24, 370.
• The City of Council Bluffs also received $2 million for the parking garage to be constructed on the Iowa side of the Missouri Riverfront.
• City of Crescent – Bunker gear (for firefighters), $10,000.
• City of Denison – Audio/Visual Equipment, $4,000
• Iowa Western Community College Foundation – $30,000 for access to performing arts programs.
• Micha House – Shelter Reimiagined campaign, $425,000.
• Pottawattamie Arts, Culture and Entertainment – $600,000.
• Shelby County Historical Society – Military exhibit hall, $8,250.
• Walnut Volunteer Fire Department – $7,567 for Compressed air foam system, pagers, parkas and blowers.

The City of Council Bluffs, as mentioned, will use their $25,000 for holiday lights in Bayliss Park. In the past few years, the city has sought to restore the display to its former prominence. The Iowa West Foundation grant will allow the city to install custom lighting on the trees in the park and continue the forward momentum. This year’s lighting ceremony will be held on Thursday, Nov. 16th from 6-8 p.m. and kick off Winterfest. Attendees can enjoy family-friendly activities in the park and at partnering locations around the park, in addition to hot chocolate and cookies. The hope is to attract visitors from throughout Pottawattamie County and surrounding areas and increase traffic to Bayliss overall during the winter months.

The Letter of Inquiry period for the Cycle 1 of 2018 grant application process opened on November 1 and will close Nov. 15  Applications are due Dec. 15th, Grant application and initiative decisions will be made in February. The Iowa West Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the Midwest. It has distributed more than $400 million to nonprofits and governmental agencies through southwest Iowa and eastern Nebraska since the inception of its grant program. Funding for the grants comes from investment earnings and the Iowa West Racing Association, which receives contractual fees from casino operators, Ameristar and Harrah’s. IWRA is the license sponsor for Ameristar and Harrah’s and the license holder for Horseshoe-Bluffs Run. The Foundation targets resources into programs and projects that focus on economic development, education, placemaking and healthy families. For more information on the Foundation, visit www.iowawestfoundation.org