(Massena, Iowa) –  The Cass County Conservation Board (CCCB) and the Massena Public Library are holding a Kids Book Club Program on the book- Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Kids are invited to read the book, discuss it, and learn more at the Massena Public Library in Massena, on Tuesday June 25th, 2024, beginning at 10:00-a.m.

The event is program is FREE, and geared to 3rd grade readers and up. If you need to borrow a copy of the book, both the Cass County Conservation Board and the Massena Public Library have additional copies.

The program on the 25th will feature activities that tie to the book besides discussing the book You DO NOT have to be a registered card holder to attend the program!

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative Zach Nunn (IA-03) today (Tuesday) was promoted to Colonel in the United States Air Force during a private ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. alongside family, friends, and colleagues.

“After 20 years of service, I am honored to earn the rank of Colonel in the U.S. Air Force,” said Rep. Nunn. “It is a privilege to serve our country not only in Congress, but also as a member of the armed forces. My time in the Air Force has taught me patriotism, courage, and service above self – values I rely on every day as a father, Colonel, and Congressman.”

Rep. Nunn served our country for two decades in the United States Air Force. As an airborne intelligence officer, Rep. Nunn flew recon missions off the coasts of Russia and China. After 9/11, he deployed three times to the Middle East and flew over 700 combat hours, including being awarded “Aircrew of the Year” for combat operations to save special forces in Afghanistan.

In his 20 years of military service, Rep. Nunn has served as an active-duty officer in the Air Force and the Iowa National Guard. Rep. Nunn currently serves as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

(Radio Iowa) – State Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig is asking the U-S-D-A to compensate dairy operations struck by bird flu. Naig says it’s a typical move when there’s an animal disease outbreak that leads to the loss of livestock or production. “You see a loss of milk production when a herd is affected, so we think it’s right that those producers, kind of like a crop insurance type concept, would be compensated for those losses,” Naig says, “and we are finding that some animals do have to be culled or sold off of the farm.”

Modern dairy operations have all sorts of ways to monitor cows, including how much they eat and how much milk is produced daily. Naig says those sick cattle are then isolated from the rest of the herd. “Their milk, then, is also captured and siphoned off and so that milk, from the sick pen, does not make it into normal production,” Naig says. “I think this is the good news is that there were already very well established food safety protocols on dairy farms and those certainly serve us well in normal times, but in times like this where there’s a developing situation with an animal disease, those protocols really are important.”

Bird flu has been confirmed among cows at dairy operations in Sioux and O’Brien Counties. A team of U-S-D-A veterinarians is in Iowa this week, trying to determine what might be the connection among poultry and dairy operations that recently have been hit by bird flu.  “We requested those resources,” Naig says. “We’re going to probably request some additional resources to really, really run down these leads and really figure this out.” Naig says it will hopefully identify how the virus is moving and help develop new biosecurity strategies for poultry and dairy operations.

When bird flu was first confirmed at poultry farms and in backyard flocks nine years ago, testing was done in nearby poultry operations to try to contain the virus. Now, both dairy farms and poultry operations near a bird flu outbreak are included in testing protocols. “What you’re trying to do, again, is to prevent the spread,” Naig says. “You’re trying to identify early whether there may have been a connection between farms.”

Dr. Jeff Kaisand — the State Veterinarian — says they don’t yet know how bird flu is transmitted from cow to cow within a herd, but there is a key sign a dairy operation has cows infected with the virus.  “In certain animals, they’ll see very serious drops in milk production. The milk may have a yellowish color or colostrum like color to it…but it does not usually cause major issues in the dairy farm,” Kaisand says. “We have had some reports that there is for a period time, about four or five days, a marked decrease in milk production.”

Kaisand briefed a state legislative committee at the Iowa Capitol Tuesday. The state vet says once bird flu has been confirmed in a dairy operation, workers are advised to wear protective gear, like face masks and public health officials ask the owner of the dairy to monitor the health of their employees. “We don’t know for sure how it’s being transmitted to people,” Kaisand said. “We don’t know whether it’s milk or other body secretions from the animals.”

While no cases of bird flu in humans have been reported IN IOWA, three dairy workers in other states recently have been infected with the virus after working around sick cows.

(Radio Iowa) – A U-S Appeals Court heard arguments today (Tuesday) for lifting the injunction against a state law the prevents some books from being in school libraries. The state argues the law keeps sexually explicit books out of schools and inappropriate lessons out of school curriculum’s. The Iowa State Education Association teacher union is one of the groups that seeks to block the law, saying it is unconstitutional. I-S-E-A attorney, Christy Hickman, says it is too vague for schools and school boards to interpret.

“They have been tasked with trying to carry out a law that prohibits school libraries to include books with, quote, descriptions and depictions of sex acts without any additional meaningful guidance,” she says. Hickman says the penalties for violating the law have made teachers hesitant to take action. “Loss of employment licensure complaints that could lead to loss of license licensure the inability to you know practice as a public educator for a certain period of time,” Hickman says.

One of the judges asked why they should act if the book was available through other sources outside the school.  “Public school libraries are intended to provide access to books to all children, regardless of whether or not they can buy it at the bookstore,” she says. “So, such an argument, while it might make sense in other contexts, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in the context of of our K-12 Public Schools.”

A judge also questioned why the law should be declared unconstitutional and where it was a better tactic to sue individuals school over the issue. Hickman says the law has already had an impact with reports that thousands of more books than needed being removed from school libraries. “It seems like an obvious chilling effect across the state and I don’t see that changing unless we get some acknowledgment from the Department of Education that there needs to be some additional guidance,” Hickman says.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird issued a statement after the arguments that says, inappropriate books do not belong in the hands of school children and “they made the case in court to defend Iowa’s law that protects kids, families, and parental rights. It is common sense.”

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City of Atlantic’s Beautification Committee and City Council will hold separate meetings, Wednesday. The Beautification Committee meeting gets underway at 10:30-a.m. in the City Council’s Chambers at City Hall. Here’s their agenda:

• Call To Order
• Approval of the Agenda
• Discussion, Review, and Recommendation Regarding Proposals from the RAGBRAI® Welcome Committee
• Discussion, Review, and Recommendation Regarding Proposals from the RAGBRAI Entertainment Committee
• Review of Robinson Landscaping Plan for Downtown
• Review and Recommendation on Designs and Prices from JJ Design for Wraps to Enhance Existing Entrance Signs
• Update, Review and Recommendation on Flagpoles and other Enhancements for the Primary Entrance Sign on the Corner of Highway 6 and Highway 71
• Update, Review, and Recommendation on the FY 2024 and FY 2025 Beautification Budget
• Other Business
• Adjournment

A City Council Work Session will take place at 4-p.m., Wednesday. During the meeting, the Council will receive consultation and engage in discussion with Buddy Johnson, a County manager from Georgia, on Strategic Planning.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken, Tuesday (June 11th), reported to the County Board of Supervisors, the Secondary Roads Department has been busy the past couple of weeks.

A contractor was working on the bridge seven-miles north of Cumberland on N-28.

On Wednesday, work will begin on lining two 42-inch culverts under the pavement on G-43, with a fiberglass liner. The work may continue into the day on Thursday.

(Radio Iowa) – Chinese officials say they’ve arrested a 55-year-old man suspected of stabbing four Cornell College instructors. Cornell College, based in Mount Vernon, has had a longstanding relationship with a university in northeast China and the four educators were attacked in a public park. One of the survivors, David Zabner, spoke with Iowa Public Radio from his hospital room in China. He said the group was leaving the park when he heard a sound. “I turned around to find a man brandishing a knife at me. I didn’t immediately realize that was what was happening. I thought my coworkers had been pushed and he, for some reason, was trying to push me,” Zabner said. “And then I looked down at my shoulder and realized: ‘No, I’m bleeding. I’ve been stabbed.'”

Pictures and video of the aftermath quickly began circulating on Chinese social media sites, but most have been taken down by the Chinese government. In one picture, Zabner can be seen wincing in pain as paramedics attend to another instructor bleeding from his back.  “I can see why kind of the visceral proof of what happened is important,” Zabner said, “but it’s also really upsetting.”

Zabner was stabbed in the arm, six inches below his shoulder. He and his three colleagues are still receiving treatment. Zabner says he appreciates the thoughts and prayers from people back home and the help from the U.S. Consulate and Iowa’s congressional delegation. He says he’s looking forward to returning to Iowa as soon as he can.

(Radio Iowa) – A central Iowa real estate developer and property manager is launching what’s being called Hometown Tours of a half-dozen Iowa communities where businesses are hungry for help and housing is scarce. Karie Kading Ramsey, C-E-O of Kading Properties of Urbandale, says they’ll start by visiting the Wayne County town of Corydon on Thursday. “In Corydon, for example, we have lots and lots of Missouri license plates coming over the border to work,” Ramsey says, “and our goal is to get some of those Missouri license plates to convert to Iowa license plates, so we can keep them right there working in the community, sending their kids to school in the community.”

Kading has already built houses in more than two-dozen Iowa towns over the past five decades. By eliminating the need for long commutes, Ramsey says Kading helps employers retain skilled labor and boosts local economies, while saving families time and money on travel and fuel. “We’re also providing a lot of housing, slab on grade, zero entry, so we get a lot of elderly people moving in,” Ramsey says. “They’re not quite ready for the nursing home or assisted living, and want a little ease with the snow and mowing, so they’ll move in and that will also recycle the housing.”

The so-called workforce housing may be individual houses, town homes, bi-attached houses or whatever works best in the community, she says. Who lives in them? “It’s your average person in your community that’s working around 50 hours a week, generally,” Ramsey says. “A lot of service folks do it, plumbing, electrical, teachers, people that are earning a really good solid wage and contributing a lot to the community, but we’re also trying to keep their rent affordable, knowing that they’ve got a lot of other expenses.”

While the south-central Iowa town of Corydon is the first town on the tour, the other five communities will be announced next week. Each stop will include tours and meetings with economic development teams, city council members, school district representatives, and local employers.