(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports two arrests took place last week. On March 17th, an Iowa State Patrol Trooper arrested 32-year-old Carlie Rae Wright, of Clive, for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana – 1st offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Wright was taken into custody following a traffic stop for speeding on Interstate 80 near mile marker 91, at around 4-p.m., March 17th.

While speaking with Wright, the Trooper noticed an odor of marijuana coming from the 2005 Ford Taurus Wright was driving. The woman admitted during questioning, that marijuana was in a red pouch on the passenger side floor board. Inside, was a jar about half full of a substance that looked and smelled like marijuana. A lighter and metal pipe used for smoking marijuana was inside the pouch, along with a grinder. Wright was transported to the Adair County Jail and released a couple of hours later on a $1,300 cash or surety bond.

And, at around 12:50-a.m. on March 20th, Stuart Police arrested 41-year-old Antonio Cartez Evans, of Ames, following a traffic stop on a 2005 Ford Taurus that was reported to have been “all over the road on Interstate 80, and unable to maintain highway speeds. The Stuart Police Officer located the car, and after seeing the vehicle cross the fog and center line’s of the road multiple times, initiated a traffic stop. Upon further investigation, Evans was arrested for PCS/Marijuana – 1st offense, and OWI/1st offense.

Evans was released from the Adair County Jail the following day on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

Spring is in the air, and plans are underway for gardening projects in Cass County. Local groups planning community gardening, beautification or education programs will again be eligible for assistance from the Cass County Master Gardeners. The group is offering grant money to be used in the 2024 growing season, to encourage gardening to grow food for donation, for gardening education, and/or for gardening projects to improve local communities. The Cass County Master Gardener Memorial Grants are offered in remembrance of the many years of service to the community provided by long-time Master Gardener volunteers who have passed. Funds are raised by Master Gardeners at events like their spring plant sale, set for May 11, and summer events such as a bus trip and garden walk.

Any Cass County not-for-profit group may apply. Schools, churches, libraries, 4-H clubs, Scouts, or other organizations/individuals working to improving their communities can apply for money to begin or improve gardens or landscaping for community benefit, or to provide education for their members or the public. To ensure the money is helping a wide variety of community organizations, those who were funded by 2023 grants will not be eligible to apply in 2024. Each grant has a maximum value of $300. Applications must include plans for teamwork and sustainability. All grant recipients will be expected to submit a report at the end of the growing season, detailing how the money was spent. Recipients will also be given a sign to place in their garden area for the 2024 growing season.

Applications must be received by 4:30 PM on Monday April 22 for guaranteed consideration. They may be submitted by mail or email. Grant recipients will be informed of their application status no later than Monday, May 8 so they can make plans for the growing season. For more information, or with questions, call the Cass County Extension office at 712-243-1132 or email  keolson@iastate.edu. Application forms can be printed from the Cass County Extension website at www.extension.iastate.edu/cass. You can also call or email the office to request a form be mailed or emailed to you, or stop by 805 West 10^th Street in Atlantic to pick one up.

The Master Gardener program trains volunteers to develop their knowledge and skills in horticulture. These volunteers then give back to their communities through gardening service and education. The program is available in all 50 states and Canada through land grant university Extension programs such as Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. For more information on the program, contact Cass County Extension Director Kate Olson, at 712-243-1132 or keolson@iastate.edu. You can also follow the Cass County Master Gardeners on Facebook (@CassCoMG) for gardening tips and information on upcoming events!

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Gas prices are up in Iowa. The latest survey from AAA, shows the price of regular unleaded gasoline rose 15 cents this past week, to an average of $3.33 in Iowa (as of March 25th). That’s up 15 cents from a year ago. The national average on Monday (March 25th) was $3.52, up 11 cents from last week’s price.
Retail diesel prices in Iowa rose 1 cent this past week, with a statewide average of $3.79. One year ago, diesel prices averaged $3.87 in Iowa. The current Iowa diesel price is 26 cents lower than the national average of $4.04.

Propane prices averaged $1.59 per gallon statewide. Home heating oil prices averaged $3.20 per gallon statewide. Natural gas prices rose 2 cents at $1.70.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Police in Glenwood, Saturday, arrested a man for possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. 20-year-old Seth Houser, of Glenwood, pled guilty to the charges, and was released.

And, 21-year-old Austin Jepsen, of Glenwood, was arrested Saturday, for OWI/1st offense. He posted bond, and was released.

(Radio Iowa) – Studies find 30 to 40-percent of food that’s produced is never eaten, and researchers are looking for possible solutions that could be implemented in Iowa livestock lots to help prevent so much food waste. University of Minnesota Professor Jerry Shurson favors turning leftovers into animal feed. Another option Shurson suggests would be feeding livestock byproducts from bakeries that are safe to eat but don’t meet certain quality standards to get them on our grocery shelves.

“Chips and cookies and cereal could easily go into animal feeds,” Shurson says, “and many of them are, but we need to move more of that type of material into animal feeds, and at a greater rate than what we’re doing.” Shurson is in the university’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences. He’s hosting a virtual international conference this week to educate people in feed and feeding industries about the value of food waste for livestock in the backdrop of food, climate, and sustainability challenges.

“Taking leftover parts from animal carcasses after slaughter or after harvesting and recycling it to rendered animal byproducts that can be used as high protein feed ingredients for, not only food-producing animals but for many of our pet foods,” he says. Shurson says nutrients from byproducts produced by grain milling, meat packing, and milk processing industries, can easily be turned into pig feed and more, as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions from food waste rotting in landfills. Iowa producers raise about 50-million hogs a year, most of which are processed at 14 plants across the state.

(Harlan, Iowa) – Shelby County Auditor Mark Maxwell has released the final list of Republican candidates who have filed their nomination papers for County Office, prior to the June 4th Primary Election. There were no local candidacy papers filed for the Democratic or Libertarian races in Shelby County

Sheriff

Neil W. Gross (Incumbent), of Harlan

Supervisor – At Large (elect 2)

Alexis Carter, of Harlan

Mike Kolbe, of Harlan

Charles Parkhurst (Incumbent), of Harlan

Auditor (Elect 1)

Melissa Arkfeld, of Panama

Taryn Knapp, of Portsmouth

DES MOINES, Iowa — One of the big pop star is bringing road tour to downtown Des Moines this Fall. On Monday, P!nk (aka Pink) announced that she will play Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on Thursday, October 24th. The three-time Grammy-award winner will be joined by ‘The Script’ and ‘KidCutUp’.

P!NK and Wells Fargo Arena are donating a portion of the show’s proceeds to local non-profit Girl’s Rock! Des Moines.

Tickets go on sale to the general public Friday, March 29th at 10:00 a.m. via LiveNation.com. Presale tickets through Citi start Wednesday, March 27th.

(Elk Horn, Iowa) – The Exira-Elk Horn/Kimballton School District’s Board of Education will hold a Special Board Meeting in the Exira-EHK Conference Room, in Elk Horn, Tuesday evening. During the 5:15-p.m. session, the Board will consider and act on “Financing Proposals Opened and Reviewed by the Superintendent of Schools, Secretary of the Board, and the Placement Agreement.” Their second order of business, is to act on a resolution “Directing [the] sale of One-million dollars in General Obligation School Capital Loan Notes, Series 2024.

At the conclusion of the Special Meeting, at about 5:30-p.m., the Board will hold a Public Hearing on the Proposed 2024-2025 Property Tax Notice. (Details below)

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A Public Hearing will be held beginning at 9-a.m. Tuesday, March 26th, with regard to the proposed property tax in Cass County (IA). The hearing takes place in the Cass County Board of Supervisors Board Room, at the Courthouse in Atlantic. Details of the proposed budget can be found below:

Join the meeting electronically at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2899195216?pwd=R0hSa2FOOTh0NUdra1ZSdVhVWHpMUT09
Meeting ID: 289 919 5216
Passcode: 012064

or by Call-In at 312-626-6799, press *9 to indicate you wish to speak.