(Radio Iowa) – We got our first taste of snow across the state and the first winter driving conditions today (Tuesday). The Iowa D-O-T’s Sinclair Stolle says the 511ia.org website can help you navigate this winter and that includes personalizing the info. “One of the ways to do that is the layer bar that’s on the far right side of the map. This also includes a legend tab that is dynamic based on the layers that you have turned on,” Stolle says. She says it makes it easy when you want to quickly check out the information on the 511IA.org site.

“If you just want to see certain things, and you want to see them all the time, you can turn on the layers and zoom to the area that you want, and then bookmark that U-R-L. And it’ll come back to that each time when you use that bookmark,” she explains. They added the winter mode button last year that lets you only view the information on winter driving. “It looks like a snowflake, it’s in the upper left corner of the website. And what that does is it only turns on the road conditions and plow locations,” Stolle says. “So that’s all you’re going to see if that’s all you want. It makes it quick and easy. Just click that button. And it’ll just take your view to those layers turned on.”

You can also get the 511IA.org app for your phone. “The winter road conditions are updated every two hours or as conditions change, whichever is sooner,” she says. Stolle says the site does not include information on county and local roads. “We are only putting road conditions out and other information and all the construction and incidents and things on the roads that we maintain, have jurisdiction on, and so that does not include city or county roadways,” Stolle says. She says they do have a regional winter road conditions layer that allows those on the border to see information from bordering states when a storm is coming in.

(Radio Iowa) – The state provides cybersecurity services for Iowa governmental entities and nonprofits at cost — but few are taking advantage of the offer. While 92 percent of counties use the state for cybersecurity, only 14 school districts, three cities and four nonprofits use these services. Iowa State University cybersecurity expert, Doug Jacobson says it doesn’t matter how you plan for an attack — you just need to do it before it’s a problem.

“If you call these people out of the blue and say, I got ransomware help, they got a long road ahead of them to even figure out what you have and what you’ve done and where you are to even start to figure out what the ransomware did,” Jacobson says. Jacobson is the director of the I-S-U Center for Cybersecurity, Innovation and Outreach.

(By Zachary Oren Smith, Iowa Public Radio)

(Atlantic & Audubon) – Officials with the Community Foundations of Southwest Iowa have announced awards of $36,000 to the Cass County Community Foundation and $53,150 to the Audubon County Community Foundations, as part of the organization’s Fall 2022 Grant Cycle. The funds will be used in each respective county for nonprofit organizations and community projects.  All grantees met the criteria as Cass or Audubon County nonprofit agencies or organizations, with charitable missions supporting community needs in the areas of civic engagement, culture, health, education, and social services. Only organizations providing services in Cass or Audubon County were eligible to apply in each separate county.

Including these most recent grants, the Cass County Community Foundation has distributed more than $2.6 million in grants and scholarships over the past 24-years.

Cass County Community Foundation Advisory Board Members pictured include (front row from left to right): Kristi Burg, Chair; Gaylord Schelling, Vice Chair; Stacey Goodman, Foundation Director; Sandy Bierbaum; (back row from left to right) Mike Tibken; Justin D. Hockenberry; and Sue Hunt, Secretary/Treasurer.

The following organizations are Fall 2022 Cass County Grant Recipients:

Anita Public Library Obituary Card File Cabinets $ 1,000
Anita Town & Country Project Organization $ 600
Anita Volunteer Fire Association Laerdal Compact Suction Unit $ 1,175
Atlantic Public Library Exterior Security Camera $ 1,000
Cass County Historical Museum Replacement of HVAC System in Museum $ 3,500
City of Griswold City Park Revitalization $ 2,000
Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa Girl Scout Tree Promise – Cass County $ 500
Griswold Fire Department Ventilation Chainsaw $ 1,610
Griswold Rescue Portable Suction Unit $ 1,060
Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates (iJAG) Career Pathways for Underserved Youth $ 2,555
Kiwanis Club of Atlantic Books for Kindergartners and Newborns $ 500
LC Clinic Lactation Consultation Equipment and Supplies $ 1,000
Lewis Public Library Tween/Teen Makerspace $ 1,000
Massena Historical Society Interior Improvements $ 2,600
Massena Public Library Community Room Update $ 1,000
Noble Initiative Foundation Concrete Work $ 7,000
The 309 Club, Inc. Parking Lot Improvements $ 1,000
Trivium Life Services Fresh Start Fund $ 1,500
Wesley Retirement Services, Inc. Heritage House Audio/Visual Enhancement $ 5,000
West Central Community Action Emergency Clothing Room Equipment $ 1,000

Advisory board members of the Audubon County Community Foundation are Chair, Steven B. Hansen of Audubon; Vice Chair, Pat Kaiser of Audubon; Secretary/Treasurer, Megan Wagner of Audubon; Gina Benton of Exira; Dr. Bob Blomme, DVM of Audubon; Travis Nelson of Exira; and Donna Olson of Kimballton.

Including these most recent grants, the Audubon County Community Foundation has distributed more than $2.8 million in grants and scholarships over the last 25 years. The following organizations are Fall 2022 Grant Recipients:

Albert the Bull Committee Operation Penny Machine $1,000
Audubon County Agricultural Society Chairs and Carriers $7,000
Audubon County Hospital Foundation ACMH Surgical Lights and Boom $16,320
Exira Lions Club Lions Club and Park Equipment $2,950
Friendship Home Lower Dining Area Air Conditioning $20,880
Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa Girl Scout Tree Promise – Audubon County $1,000
The Children’s Nest Staff Kitchenette and Work Area Improvements $4,000

The Red Oak Police Department reports a man suffered a gunshot wound while cleaning a rifle on Tuesday.

Officers were dispatched to 102 E. Elm Street in Red Oak for a male with a gun shot wound to the hip. It was determined that 30-year-old Kyle Lee Foster of Red Oak was cleaning an old .22 caliber rifle and didn’t check to see if it was loaded. The rifle discharged and struck him in the hip. He was transported to Montgomery County Memorial Hospital with a non-life threatening gunshot wound to the left hip.

No charges were filed in the incident. The Red Oak Police Department was assisted at the scene by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Red Oak Rescue, and the Red Oak Fire Department.

(Logan, Iowa) – The Harrison County Emergency Management Agency, Tuesday, said a Burn Ban that had been in-place since late last month, is officially canceled. The ban was rescinded as of 10-a.m. Tuesday (11/15/22).

A news release from the EMA said “Residents may resume open burning,” but noted that there are some municipal city limits where open burns are prohibited on a standing basis. And, while recent rain and snow have reduced hazards, authorities still urge caution when conducting open burns and ask that residents call the Harrison County Communications Center at 712-644-2244 before doing so.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s Attorney General has announced a settlement against Walmart after claims the company contributed to the opioid crisis. Attorney General Tom Miller says a coalition of attorneys general have reached a $3.1 billion settlement with Walmart after allegations the company failed to appropriately oversee the dispensing of opioids at its stores.

Iowa will receive nearly $20 million from the settlement that Miller says must be used to provide treatment and recovery services to people struggling with opioid use disorder. The settlement also includes court-ordered requirements for oversight to prevent fraudulent prescriptions and flag suspicious prescriptions.

This is one of several opioid settlements that have been reached — or are in negotiations.

(Radio Iowa) – The city of Sioux City is issuing a health advisory due to dangerous chemicals called PFAs detected in one of the city’s drinking water plants. It’s one of many communities across Iowa that has to come up with a plan to address the so-called “forever chemicals.” Utilities director Brad Puetz (PITS) says Sioux City will wait to develop a plan once the E-P-A’s final rule on PFAs standards comes out next summer. Puetz says, “We don’t want to be premature in making a decision on how we want to spend money for an emerging contaminant that we just don’t have all the information for yet.”

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources first detected the chemicals at nine-point-one parts per trillion in January. Since then, the Environmental Protection Agency has lowered its threshold for health advisories from 70 parts per trillion to less than point-zero-zero-four parts per trillion. “It’s very difficult for us to say at what level the water would become toxic for the citizens to drink,” he says. “I don’t believe we’re there and we’ll know more once the final rule is published.”

Puetz says Sioux City’s water was likely contaminated by the nearby Iowa Air National Guard Base. The drinking source accounts for less than a fourth of the city’s drinking water. The EPA is expected to give a final ruling of PFAS level standards next summer, and if the city is still under an advisory, officials say they will consider relocating the well to a different water source.

(Kendall Crawford, Iowa Public Radio)

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports there were four recent arrests and three non-injury accidents.

• On Sunday (Nov. 13), Beau Stephen Brodersen, of Plattsmouth, NE, was arrested for OWI/1st offense, following a traffic stop on 195th Street at around 5:50-a.m. ( Bond $1,000).
• At around 10:30-a.m. Friday, 32-year-old Kyle Alexander Walline, of Kansas City, MO., was arrested at the Jackson County, MO., Detention Facility, on a Mills County warrant for Violation of Probation. Walline was being held without bond.
• At around 4:30-p.m. on Nov. 9th, Mills County Deputies conducted a traffic stop on I-29 and subsequently arrested 59-year-old Raymond Lamar Greene, of Nebraska City, NE, for Possession of Controlled Substance. His bond was set at $25,000.
• And, on Nov. 8th, 33-year-old Derek Laclair Cotter, of Shenandoah, was arrested for Possession of Controlled Substance and Contraband in Correctional Facility. Bond was set at $6,000.

Two accidents took place in Mills County Monday night during inclement weather. Slick roads were attributed to separate accidents involving vehicles driven by 53-year-old Scott Ziegler, of Glenwood, as well as 22-year-old Keilani Drenner, of Pacific Junction, and 20-year-old Nicholas Dollen, of Mineola. The latter collision occurred at around 8:45-p.m., when Drenner lost control of her 2010 Chevy as she was traveling north in the 54,000 block of 250th Street, and Dollen was traveling southbound. Her vehicle swerved and struck Dollen’s 2018 Ford. In the other accident, Scott Zieglar was driving a 2005 Nissan east on Highway 34 at around 8:05-p.m., Monday, when his vehicle went out of control on the snow and ice-covered road. The vehicle rolled over once before coming to rest on its wheels.

And, an accident occurred last Thursday, as 51-year-old David Robinson, of Sioux City, was working in an area off Edwards Street, and was moving a 2022 Ford truck, when the vehicle struck a fire hydrant, causing minimal damage to the vehicle, and no above ground observable damage to the hydrant.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – No injuries were reported after a vehicle driven by Cody Baker, of Atlantic, crashed into the Casey’s Store at 7th and Poplar Streets, Monday evening, in Atlantic. Authorities say Baker was southbound and pulling up to the north side of the “Casey’s Central,” as it’s known, when his vehicle jumped the curb and ran into the building. In speaking with the driver and vehicle occupants to make sure they were okay, Atlantic Police learned they had been having trouble with the car not going into park, and that the engine revved-up before it moved forward, into the building.

The accident happened at around 4:50-p.m. Damage to the building was estimated at $20,000. The car sustained $2,000 damage. (Photos courtesy of the Atlantic Police Dept.)

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors have passed a Resolution amending the County’s 5-year construction program from Fiscal Year 2024 to FY 2023, which allows a bridge project to move forward sooner than anticipated, thanks to funds the county received by closing a road under Interstate 80. County Engineer Trent Wolken explains…

Wolken reported also, that the Assistant to the Cass County Engineer and Zoning Administrator Rich Hansen, is retiring at the end of December.

It’s not clear at this time, how the Zoning position will be filled. Wolken discussed current Secondary Roads Department Projects during the Supervisor’s meeting.

Additional concrete pours on some projects are expected to take place, Thursday. The Supervisors voted to approved a request by Jorgensen Dirt Works, LLC, to delay work on a project due to a delay in being able to receive project pipe. The original contract complete date was November 15^th, but with the Board’s action, allows that to be extended until April 2024.