(Radio Iowa) – Mitigation efforts are underway in Algona to try and save as many ash trees as possible from the destruction of the emerald ash borer, which was first discovered in Kossuth County in 2022. Deputy City Administrator Barb Smith says the city hired a local tree care company to examine every ash tree on city property. “They measured and ranked each tree on a zero to five scale — zero meaning worst, five meaning the best, so then we sorted that listing…We knew that we could budget for so many trees,” Smith says. “We went out to bid to take down approximately 75 ash trees.”

Smith says the bids for the tree removal came in lower than anticipated, so they will be able to remove more ash trees. “All of the trees that are coming down needed to come down because they either already have the emerald ash borer or they’re in very bad shape,” Smith says. The trees that will be taken down this year are in what’s called the “right of way” — it’s the area between a sidewalk and a city street. Smith says replacing trees in the exact same spot could be difficult.

“There are very few places in right of ways that you can plant trees any more due to all the utility lines, but the city does have a program,” Smith says. “A property owner may plant a tree either on the right of way or their personal property and the city will reimburse half of the cost of the tree, up to $150.” That funding for new trees is a joint effort between the city and Algona Municipal Utilities.

The city will provide financial assistance for trees that are replanted within the right of way, while the utility will provide assistance for trees replanted on private property. A total of 788 Ash trees are currently on city property and those destined for removal have been marked with a white X on the trunk.

(Radio Iowa) – Most Republicans in the Iowa House have voted to block the state auditor’s access to some types of personal or confidential information — and the bill forbids the state auditor from going to court to get access to state government records. The bill would set up a three-member arbitration panel to decide whether state agencies or state officials must turn over material for an audit or investigation. Representative Michael Bergan, a Republican from Dorchester, is the bill’s floor manager.

“The Auditor of State, a member of the executive branch, should not sue another member of the executive branch,” Sand says. “The cost and time involved in such an endeavor is a poor use of public funds.” House Speaker Pat Grassley says Republicans believe State Auditor Rob Sand has sought information that’s out of bounds. “The bill is not intended to go after the ability to perform audits,” Grassley says. “The bill is intended to protect things like personal health statuses and other things…we consider outside of what the scope of an audit should look like.”

Iowa Auditor of State Rob Sand

Sand, the only Democrat in statewide office, says the bill would let any agency or state official hide records. “This is the greatest perversion of checks and balances in Iowa history,” Sand says. Sand says the bill follows Republican efforts in other states to limit the authority of elected Democrats. “Let’s be clear about this. This is the destruction of democratic norms. It’s continuing in Des Moines. That’s what this is,” Sand said. “The people of Iowa elected me and now they’re changing the rules for how this office operates because they didn’t like what I did in my first term and they didn’t like the fact that the public did like it.”

Sand was first elected state auditor in 2018 and re-elected last November. Sand thanked the six House Republicans who voted against the bill. In March, the 34 Republicans in the Iowa Senate voted to make some types of documents, like tax returns, off limits to the state auditor’s office.

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans in the House and Senate have agreed on a final version of legislation originally proposed by Governor Kim Reynolds. It bans instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation in elementary schools and parents must be notified if their child asks to be known by a different name or pronoun at school. Republican Representative Skyler Wheeler of Hull led debate as House members considered the G-O-P compromise.

“Parents are going to be informed if something drastic is happening with their child at school,” Wheeler says. “The school does not have a right to keep secrets from them.” Representative Heather Matson, a Democrat from Ankeny, voted against the bill. “The idea of penalizing teachers for who affirm a student for who they are could not be more hurtful or dangerous,” Matson said.

The bill passed the House Thursday with the support of 57 Republicans. Four Republicans and 34 Democrats opposed it. The Senate passed the plan Wednesday on a party line vote. Senator Ken Rozenboom, a Republican from Oskaloosa, says the bill provides reasonable guardrails. “This bill just matches up with what most schools are doing right now and with what parents expect their school to be doing,” Rozenboom said.

Representative Skyler Wheeler

The bill calls for removing books that describe or depict sex acts, however the Bible, the Quran and the Torah could stay on the shelves. Senator Janice Weiner, a Democrat from Iowa City, says it means literary classics must be removed. “Dracula, Lady Chatterley’s Lover…they’re out,” Weiner said. “That’s not education. That’s censorship.”

The bill outlines sanctions for educators who do not follow the policies in the bill.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Senate has confirmed two new members to the state board that will decide whether proposed carbon pipelines get built in Iowa. Attorney Erik Helland, a former Republican member of the state legislature, was confirmed to serve as chairman of the Iowa Utilities Board on a 39-11 vote. After two terms in the Iowa House, Helland worked in Alaska’s state government.

During a Senate Commerce Committee meeting on Helland’s nomination, Republican Senator Jason Schultz of Schleswig said Helland was “working on process and was actually an efficiency driver (in Alaksa)…by looking at how state government worked and finding efficiencies and increasing productivity of case management.”

Some Democrats like Senator Herman Quirmbach of Ames said Helland doesn’t have the right qualifications to be on the utilities board. “The electric utility industry has some very complicated issues these days with regard to engineering and how to incorporate non-point sources of electric generation, wind generation, etc.,” Quirmbach said today on the Senate floor. “There are also some very complicated economic issues.”

Senator Adrian Dickey, a Republican from Packwood, called Helland “a great fit” for the Utilities Board. “I had maybe some concerns as well about not having a lot of background in the utilities industry,” Dickey said during Wednesday’s Commerce Committee meeting, “but I also think on this issue that may be a good thing because he comes in without expectations and may be more open to looking at the processes and the different things that face the Utilities Board whether it be with the pipeline or regulations or rates and whatever things that will come in front of him.”

In a separate vote today, all 50 Senators supported confirming Sarah Martz, the director of engineering for utilities on the Iowa State University campus, to the Iowa Utilities Board. Martz has degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering.

“Sarah has spent her career in the energy industry, spending time at Alliant Energy optimizing power plants, researching solar performance in the Midwest and piloting new technologies like energy storage in Iowa communities,” Senator Waylon Brown, a Republican from St. Ansgar, said late this morning.

Quirmbach said Martz has “superb” qualifications. “Her expertise and experience will catapult her into a leadership position in the Utilities Board,” Quirmbach said. “She should, in fact, be the chair.”

The other member of the board is former state Representative Joshua Byrnes, the former general manager of Osage Municipal Utilities.

[Council Bluffs, Iowa] – The open burn ban that has been in place for Pottawattamie County has been lifted effective today, Thursday, April 20th, 2023. Pott. County Emergency Management officials say recent rounds of precipitation combined with warm soil moisture will promote a quicker greening of dry fuels. Additionally, as planting season is underway many fields are being worked which also contributes to the elimination of fire fuels in our cropland areas.

Although the ban has been lifted, citizens are urged to continue minimizing their open burning activities and always use caution when conducting an open or controlled burn. Always have an emergency plan when burning; clear combustible materials from the area of the fire, ensure you have an accessible water source near the fire area, and always contact the Pottawattamie County 9-1-1 on their non-emergency number (712-328-5737) to report the location of your burn before ignition and after the fire is out.

Cass Health in Atlantic has been made aware of a series of scam phone calls that appear to be from the main hospital phone number 712-243-3250. According to CCHS Director of Communications, Ann McCurdy, “The caller states that they are with Nebraska Iowa Radiology Consultants and want to discuss their radiology results. Nebraska Iowa Radiology Consultants ceased operations several years ago. These are not legitimate phone calls and residents should disregard.”

McCurdy warns “If you have received or do receive one of these phone calls, please leave a detailed message with the Cass Health Information Systems team at 712-243-7578.”

(Radio Iowa) – A large sinkhole south of Knoxville is growing. The sinkhole is in an area where coal was mined decades ago. Marion County officials closed a gravel road on Friday after being alerted to the hole, which was 30 feet in diameter and about 20 feet deep. County officials say the hole has grown wider, up to 40 feet in diameter.

Representatives from various county and state agencies met Wednesday to come up with a plan to determine what has caused the collapse and how to mitigate the damage.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – A burning ban has been lifted for Adair County and Guthrie County starting Thursday, April 20, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. The ban that prohibited open burning in Adair County and Guthrie County, including all the cities within the counties has now been removed. Emergency Management Deputy Coordinator Jeremy Cooper says the previously dry conditions throughout the region that caused an increase in fire responses throughout Adair and Guthrie County has been eased with the exceptional amount of rain we have received this week. As we look ahead, it appears to be off and on-again rain chances in the coming week or so, therefore it was the decision of the local Fire Chief’s to have this Burn Ban removed.

“Adair and Guthrie County Fire Departments have seen the effects of fires during control burns that suddenly become uncontrolled” according to Cooper. He says “The tragic accident in Northern Guthrie County is a prime example of these kinds of situations that our Local Fire Chief’s were trying to avoid by issuing a Burn Ban.” Authorities said Alex Krueger, of Bagley, remains in serious condition at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Burn Unit. He was seriously injured when burning field debris spread to his cultivator. He managed to escape, but not before suffering extensive burns.

Jeremy Cooper said “I urge everyone to take the time and thank their local Fire Department for the dedication to the communities they serve. Issuing a Burn Ban is not taken lightly and is a hard decision for our Departments to make as they understand everyone has work to get done.”

When you plan to do a controlled burn, it is best practice to contact your local Fire Department and the Sheriff’s Office and inform them of your controlled burn prior to ever lighting the fire. Have location, date, and time information of your controlled burn to provide to them so they can prevent potential false alarms for our local Volunteers.

For more information on burn bans and the law or to check the current status of burn bans statewide on the State Fire Marshal’s statewide burn ban website: https://dps.iowa.gov/divisions/state-fire-marshal/burn-bans.

(Mills County, Iowa) – A man from Pacific Junction was injured Thursday morning in Mills County, when the vehicle he was driving collided with a semi on 202nd Street. The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports a 2004 Ford driven by 46-year-old Corey Manley was traveling east after completing a gradual turn in the 55000 block of 202nd Street. A 2016 Freightliner semi driven by 50-year-old Arthur Sales, of Council Bluffs, was westbound, when, according to a witness, the car came around the corner “out of control.” The witness, who a was traveling westbound about a car’s length in front of the semi, said he had to pull off to the side of the road to avoid a collision. When he looked in the rear-view mirror, he just saw “A cloud of dust” after the Ford hit the semi.

Sales saw the car coming, but was unable to avoid the collision. The semi pushed into a ditch during the ensuing collision. Corey Manley was transported to Methodist Hospital by Glenwood Rescue.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports five arrests from over the past week. Wednesday evening, 57-year-old Timothy Scott Tompkins, of Omaha, was arrested on I-29, following a traffic stop. Tompkins was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Bond was set at $2,300.

Tuesday evening, Mills County Deputies arrested 55-year-old Jolene Kay Christensen, of Omaha, following a traffic stop on I-29. She was also arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Bond was set at $2,300.

There were two separate arrests Monday, in Mills County. At around 12:14-a.m., 25-year-old David Ben Jorgensen, of Omaha, was arrested on Highway 34 at Kidd Road, for Theft in the 1st Degree. Bond set at $10,000. And, at around 9:40-a.m., Monday, Mills County Deputies arrested 53-year-old Melissa Renee Pedersen, of Carroll, on a warrant for Driving While Barred. She was taken into custody at the Greene County Jail. Bond was set at $2,000.

And, last Sunday, 22-year-old Orland Estrada, of Omaha, was arrested for Simple Assault. Bond set at $300.