The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports four arrests took place, Wednesday: Authorities say 55-year-old Dale Clifford Greedy, of Sidney, was arrested at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office. He was wanted on a warrant for Violation of Probation. Bond was set at $20,000; 37-year-old Brandon Heath Smith, of Glenwood, was also arrested Tuesday, on a Mills County warrant for Violation of Probation. He was being held without bond.

37-year-old Jessica Dawn Whetsel, of Glenwood, was arrested for Interference with Official Acts. Bond was set at $300. And, 38-year-old Kyle Anthony Zeigler, of Glenwood, was arrested for Driving While Barred, with bond set at $2,000.

LENEXA, KAN. (MARCH 17, 2022) – Officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Thursday (today) proposed adding five Superfund sites to the National Priorities List (NPL), including the Highway 3 PCE Site in Le Mars, Iowa. The NPL includes sites where releases of contamination pose significant human health and environmental risks. Before EPA adds a site to the NPL, a site must meet EPA’s requirements and be proposed for addition to the list in the Federal Register, subject to a 60-day public comment period. EPA will add the site to the NPL if it continues to meet the listing requirements after the public comment period closes and the Agency has responded to any comments.

The Highway 3 PCE Site (site) is located southeast of the intersection of Plymouth Street West (Iowa Highway 3) and Central Avenue Northeast in Le Mars. EPA discovered the site in April 2008 during an investigation conducted for the nearby Le Mars Coal Gas Plant Site. Groundwater sampling identified the presence of tetrachloroethene (PCE) and its breakdown products. Those contaminants were determined not to be associated with the Le Mars Coal Gas Plant Site. In today’s announcement, EPA also said it is adding 12 sites to the NPL across the country. Cleaning up contaminated sites is important for the health, safety, and revitalization of communities.

Thousands of contaminated sites, from landfills, processing plants, to manufacturing facilities exist nationally due to hazardous waste being dumped, left out in the open, or otherwise improperly managed. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will accelerate EPA’s work to help communities clean up these contaminated sites with a $3.5 billion investment in the Superfund Remedial Program and reinstates the Superfund chemical excise taxes, making it one of the largest investments in American history to address legacy pollution. This historic investment strengthens EPA’s ability to tackle threats to human health and the environment, and EPA has already set action in motion to clear the backlog of the 49 contaminated sites which had been awaiting funding to start remedial action.

Superfund cleanups provide health and economic benefits to communities. The program is credited for significant reductions in both birth defects and blood-lead levels among children living near sites, and research has shown that residential property values increase up to 24% within 3 miles of sites after cleanup. Further, thanks to Superfund cleanups, communities are now using previously blighted properties for a wide range of purposes, including retail businesses, office space, public parks, residences, warehouses, and solar power generation. As of 2021, EPA has collected economic data on 650 Superfund sites. At these sites, there are 10,230 businesses operating, 246,000 people employed, an estimated $18.6 billion in income earned by employees, and $65.8 billion in sales generated by businesses.

With this Superfund NPL update, the Biden-Harris administration is following through on its commitment to update the NPL twice a year, as opposed to once a year.

Background

The National Priorities List (NPL) includes the nation’s most serious uncontrolled or abandoned releases of contamination. The list serves as the basis for prioritizing EPA Superfund cleanup funding and enforcement actions. Only releases at sites included on the NPL are eligible to receive federal funding for long-term, permanent cleanup.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Chamber Ambassadors were hosted by the Masonic Pymosa Lodge today, (Thursday) March 17th, 2022. The Ambassadors learned about the Annual Masonic Scholarship Fundraiser, which includes a St. Patrick’s Day Stew Feed taking place this evening.

Donnie Drennan shared about the rich history of philanthropy of the Masonic organization and their annual fundraiser for the scholarship fund. Annual scholarships are awarded to area seniors to help offset the cost of tuition and vary in amount depending on donations the organization has received throughout the year. The Masons have been handing out scholarships to a graduating Atlantic High School Seniors for over 30 years. Thanks to the generosity of the community, the organization has given out over $25,000 in scholarship funds.

The 6th Annual Masonic Scholarship St. Patrick’s Day Stew Feed Fundraiser will be held today, March 17th from 5-7:30 PM. They will be serving Beef Stew and Irish Soda Bread for a free will donation at the Masonic Lodge, located at 1010 SW 7th Street. There are two ways to enjoy the meal with seating inside the Masonic Lodge or a drive through lane alongside the lodge.

For further information about the Annual Irish Stew Feed, Scholarship Program, or to donate, please contact 402-740-1717. The Masonic Lodge/ Pymosa Lodge #271 is located at 1010 SW 7th Street in Atlantic.

(Radio Iowa) – Beekeepers are starting to get ready for the bee season as temperatures warm up — but the twin impacts of inflation and supply shortages are causing concerns. H.R. Cook picked up beekeeping as a hobby when the COVID-19 pandemic started two years ago. Now he also finds himself having to pay more for the materials he needs for beekeeping, which includes lumber, with prices that are up to three to four times what they have been for the past ten years. He tells K-C-R-G T-V some supplies have been hard to get — like those plastic bear containers for honey.

”Which are made in China, they have to be shipped from China,” he says, “there are millions of these honey bears sitting over on a cargo ship, to glass jars that we put the honey in and we sell at the farmers markets.” Phylicia Chandler is a beekeeper and member of the Dubuque Swiss Valley Bee Club. She told K-C-R-G T-V she knows of other beekeepers who have struggled to find hive equipment and honey extractors — which could be very detrimental to beekeepers.

”When we need something, we need it now,” she says. “And it can be a matter of if you are catching a swarm and you do not have what you need, then you have nowhere to put those bees if you do not have that extra hive,” Chandler says the good side of the issue is she has noticed how so many beekeepers in eastern Iowa have come together to support one another.

”Beekeepers work together, so if they are ever in need we call on other beekeepers to help us out,” she added. Cook says people who make a living out of beekeeping are probably feeling the impact the most. He says commercial beekeepers usually ship their bees to California during the winter to pollinate almond trees and now bringing them back with high gas prices and inflation is proving to be quite the challenge.

ATLANTIC, IOWA – Cass Health is pleased to welcome board-certified neurologist Brian Boes, MD. Dr. Boes specializes in all types of general neurology, including seizures, strokes, migraines, neck and back pain. He is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and is a member of the American Academy of Neurology.

He is a graduate of University of Nebraska Medical Center, and he completed his neurology residency at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He has been in practice since 1996.  Dr. Boes will provide care to patients on the second and fourth Mondays every month at Atlantic Medical Center, RHC. To make an appointment, please call 712-243-2850.

Dr. Brian Boes

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Iowa District 18 Republican Representative Tom Moore, from Griswold, has filed papers to run for re-election.

This week is the end of the second and final funnel at the Iowa Capitol. Moore said “With the deadline approaching this Friday, the legislature has been busy making a final push to get legislation approved. The second funnel is designed to keep both the House and Senate focused on bills that still can be passed this year. For bills to remain eligible for consideration, all of the bills in the legislature – except for bills that deal with budgeting – must be approved by a committee in the House and Senate.”

(R) Rep. Tom Moore

Among the bills that passed, was House File 2475 adds that municipal utility board members may only be removed by impeachment. The bill passed by a vote of 82-10. Another bill pertains to ATV’s.

The ATV/UTV must have headlights, taillights, turn signals, and mirrors. The amendment also prohibits the DNR from using funds from the ATV Grant Program for law enforcement or signage outside of designated OHV parks.

It grandfathers in existing authorizing ordinances and allows counties to prohibit operation on certain county roads if they have a written agreement with a local ATV/UTV club. The agreements are valid for 5 years. Cities are allowed to regulate the operation of registered ATV/UTVs on city-controlled streets and are prohibited from charging a fee to operate the ATV/UTV within the city. The bill passed by a vote of 64-29.

Moore says there’s also a bill that passed, which deals with mental health professionals.

Iowa ranks 44th in the nation for psychiatrists per capita. The bill passed by a vote of 96-0.

The Glenwood Police Department reports two arrests. This (Thursday) morning, 61-year-old Peggy Kaderka, of Glenwood, was arrested for OWI/1st offense, Possession of a controlled substance, and Possession of drug paraphernalia. Her bond was set at $2,300.

An, on Wednesday, 34-year-old Amber Pike, of Council Bluffs, was arrested in Glenwood, for Driving While Barred. Her bond was set at $2,000.

(Radio Iowa) – A southeast Iowa couple has been charged with animal neglect after dozens of dogs and hamsters were rescued from their home last month. An administrator at the Animal Rescue League of Iowa has said the smell of urine was overpowering inside the home in Lee County, near the town of Argyle, as a team rescued 42 dogs and puppies and 40 hamsters three weeks ago. According to a news release from the Lee County Sheriff, David and Gina Sams were told last month to clean up and organize the property and begin to thin the number of animals they were keeping.

After a welfare check this week, the couple was arrested and charged with seven counts of animal neglect. The couple has surrendered another group of animals — dogs, cats, goats, horses, donkeys, ducks, chickens, geese, a peacock, turkey, rabbits, a pig, a hedgehog, lizards and a chinchilla.

(Radio Iowa) – It’s the day for the wearin’ of the green, but some Iowans will be seeing red and blue if they don’t make smart choices. Iowa State Trooper Paul Gardner, who’s based in Fort Dodge, says law officers across Iowa will be focused on Highway 20 today (Thursday) as part of a special traffic enforcement program.  “What that’s going to include is troopers working Highway 20, looking for excessive speeders, people not wearing their seat belts, people who are distracted and driving,” Gardner says. “And of course, with St. Patrick’s Day, we tend to see alcohol consumption go up so we will also be watching for people who are under the influence as well.”

Trooper Gardner explains why this year’s focus will be on that particular east-west corridor from Dubuque to Sioux City. “When we look at the numbers, the stats for traffic crashes along Highway 20 in the last five years, we’ve had 33 fatalities and 13 of those were alcohol-related, so close to 40% were attributed to OWI,” Gardner says. “We want to make sure we’re bringing that number down to avoid crashes and avoid casualties.”

If you’ve had a little too much green beverage, he reminds drivers not to get behind the wheel but to first designate a driver or call a cab or a ride.

WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), the first female combat veteran elected to the U.S. Senate, joined Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in a resolution urging the Biden administration to facilitate the transfer of aircraft, such as MiG-29s, and air defense systems to Ukraine. In her statement, Ernst said “Putin and his army continue to target innocent Ukrainian civilians, their public infrastructure, farms, hospitals, and even homes. The Ukrainian people, under President Zelenskyy, have fought back valiantly, but they need more support from the United States and our NATO allies. President Biden must act immediately to transfer MiGs and air defense systems to our allies and allow the Ukrainians to protect their people and their country. Every second counts.”

The resolution:

• Encourages the President of the United States to support the transfer of aircraft, such as MiG-29s, and air defense systems to Ukraine.
• Supports continued efforts by members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and other countries around the globe to identify additional aviation and air defense capabilities to transfer to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
• Expresses that the Senate stands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian people in their struggle against Russian aggression.