Get ready to welcome spring by attending the Cass County Master Gardeners’ 2020 Spring Garden Seminar, scheduled for Saturday, March 7, at the Cass County Community Center.  This year’s event, focused on “Garden Inspiration Old & New,” is a half day seminar designed to provide inspiration for discovering what’s new in the garden and appreciation for the heirlooms that continue to delight gardeners. Master Gardeners are encouraging attendees to register early as space is limited and the deadline for registration is March 1st.

The event will feature two main guest speakers. Kathy Johnson, owner of local business “Flowers For You” will kick off the morning with a presentation on growing your own cut flowers. Kathy will share her knowledge of floral design and tips for selecting and growing flowers for your own bouquets.

The second speaker is Cody Egan from Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa. Cody will teach attendees about heirloom plants and how to preserve them.  Cody believes heirloom seeds have the ability to reconnect us to a specific time and place, a certain soil and season during which that seed, and the memories associated with it, were grown.

In addition to the guest speakers, the seminar will feature 60 minutes of “lightning learning” where attendees will have the opportunity to rotate between short presentations on topics such as Hostas, Small Space Gardening, Soil Testing, Propagating Succulents, and What’s New at the Garden Center, with more topics still to be added.

“Garden Inspiration Old and New” will be held at the Cass County Community Center in Atlantic. Registration and a light continental breakfast for the March 7th event begins at 8:30-a.m.  The program begins at 9-a.m., and will conclude by 12:30-p.m. Attendees will be provided ideas and coupons to spend the afternoon lunching and exploring in the Atlantic area.

Cost for the seminar, including continental breakfast, materials and refreshments is $20. A schedule and registration form are available at the Cass County Extension office, or online at www.extension.iastate.edu/cass.  Previous Garden Seminar, attendees with a current address on record will also receive a brochure with registration form in the mail. Questions can be directed to Kate Olson at 712-243-1132, or by email at keolson@iastate.edu.

Mark your calendars, register by March 1st and plan to join the Cass County Master Gardeners for the 2020 Spring Garden Seminar, “Garden Inspiration Old and New” on Saturday, March 7th!

The Cass County Board of Supervisors met twice this past week in their Boardroom at the Courthouse in Atlantic.  Auditor Dale Sundermen reports during the Jan. 28th meeting, Veteran Affairs Executive Director Mitch Holmes gave report of 2nd quarter FY20 activity. Holmes said during the quarter, 182 veterans were assisted in the form of Federal VA benefits and/or local general assistance. In other business, the Board voted to approve an application for a Class C Beer Permit with Sunday Sales privilege of Hansen Valley Oil (at 64977 Boston Road).

On Friday, January 31st, the Supervisors adopted a Resolution setting the date/time/place for a public hearing on the plans, specifications, costs estimates and form of contract, for the Cold Springs Park Paving Project.  The Resolution states the following:

“WHEREAS, Cass County has concluded that roadway at Cold Springs Park requires
improvement; and WHEREAS, the plans, specifications, cost estimations and form of
contract have been completed; and WHEREAS, the estimated cost of this paving project
makes this a public improvement project and not a maintenance project; and
WHEREAS, a public hearing is needed before said plans, specifications, cost estimations
and form of contract may be approved.”

The Resolution set a public hearing on the matter for 9:05 a.m. Tuesday, February 11, 2020. The Supervisors’ next meeting is a Work Session set for 9-a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4th, to work on the FY 2020-21 Cass County Budget.

w/ Chris Parks

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The Iowa presidential campaign has kicked into high gear at the start of weekend. Democratic candidates are launching a final, frenetic weekend of campaigning ahead of the Iowa caucuses, kick-starting the battle to take on President Donald Trump in November. The Senate pushed back voting on Trump’s impeachment trial until Wednesday, which allowed the senators who had been stuck in Washington to begin returning to the campaign trail. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren flew to Iowa late Friday night and headed straight to a Des Moines brewery.

(Radio Iowa) — A Sac City-native and U-S Marine Corps Major, Adam Wellington, will be behind the controls of one of the jets in the military flyover at the Super Bowl in Miami on Sunday. The 37-year-old pilot graduated from Sac Community Schools in 2001 and joined the Marines after graduating from the University of Iowa in 2005. Wellington says he was lucky to be chosen to be one of four pilots be involved in the flyover.

Major Adam Wellington

“Basically these things get source to higher headquarters…and they trickle down. Eventually the squadron that I’m in — which is VMF-AT-501 out of Beaufort, South Carolina — that squadron got tasked by the Marine Corps to support with an aircraft,” Wellington says, “and I just happened to be lucky enough to be the guy that the squadron chose to go down and fly.”

Wellington started flying the F-35-B in 2015. Prior to that, he flew the F-18 Hornet, including deployments to the Middle East in 2012 and 2014 and two, three-year deployments stationed in Japan. Wellington’s mother Annette Wellington of Sac City, says her son has dreamed of becoming a pilot since elementary school, and everybody in the Wellington family is thrilled to see him fly on national television.

Annette says the toughest part is her late husband and Adam’s father, Don, won’t be with them to watch the flyover. “I lost my husband in 2018. And he would have been so proud to watch him on T-V flying that jet. That’s one of the sad things — buy you know he’s watching him from heaven,” she says. Sunday’s flyover will occur prior to kickoff. Wellington and the other pilots will then land at a nearby airfield and head back to Hard Rock Stadium to hopefully catch the halftime show and second half of the game.

He says being a part of the spectacle of the Super Bowl just adds the great career he has. “It’s always been a lifelong dream of mine to fly. The Marine Corps gave ma an opportunity and it worked out and it’s been great ever since,” Wellington says. Wellington currently lives in South Carolina with his wife, Leslie, and their three children, six-year-old Evan, four-year-old Adeline and two-year-old Vincent.

Pregame coverage begins at 1 p-m. Sunday, February 2nd on Fox with kickoff scheduled for 5:30 p-m Central Time. (Listen for the game Sunday evening on KJAN!)

(Radio Iowa) — Woodbury County supervisor Jeremy Taylor is resigning after his residency was canceled last week when the county auditor ruled Taylor now lives in a new home outside the county district he was elected to serve.  He says he plans to continue to be a candidate for the 4th District Congressional seat. Taylor did not attend the supervisor meeting Tuesday. Taylor a Republican, says he doesn’t agree with the decision on his residency.

“We did all that we could to balance the needs of the county supervisors district and the residency requirement where I was elected to serve with a home that was suited to our large family of eight,” Taylor says. “I want to make clear that I sought legal counsel early on in the decision process — and was given some assurance that I had met the legal requirements” He had announced he was going to fight the decision in court — but says he does not to subject his family to a long legal battle.

d)”And while I believe that there may be a better verdict for us on appeal — I have also come to know that that is going to cost us tens of thousands of dollars. And I think that my family has gone through enough in this,” according to Taylor. Woodbury County Auditor Pat Gill and County Attorney Patrick Jennings will meet Monday to determine a time frame for a special election to replace Taylor.

In an update to our earlier report, Council Bluffs Police Friday afternoon identified a suspect who had fled from Police during a traffic stop Thursday night. Authorities say 57-year-old Jerry Dean Phipps, of Council Bluffs was charged with OWI 1st Offense, Eluding, Disobedience to Police Officer, Reckless Driving, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

(Original story w/name now added):

A traffic stop at around 9-p.m. Thursday in Council Bluffs resulted in a brief pursuit and the driver being taken into custody. Authorities say after an officer stopped a vehicle for a simple traffic violation, the officer suspected the driver – later identified as 57-year old Jerry Dean Phipps – to be intoxicated, and called for a back-up officer. Before the second officer could arrive, Phipps fled in the vehicle westbound on 2nd Avenue and hit “stop-sticks” that were deployed at 28th Street. The vehicle continued to elude officers, heading southbound on 28th St and eastbound on 9th Ave.

In the 1300 block of 9th Ave officers performed a P.I.T. maneuver on the vehicle, causing it to slide off the road into a business parking lot. When Phipps refused to exit the vehicle, a less than lethal bean-bag shotgun was deployed, and the vehicle window was shot out. A Police K-9 was on scene but Phipps became cooperative and exited the vehicle on his own power. He was taken into custody without further incident.

(Radio Iowa) — Officials in the Iowa Department of Public Safety want to analyze blood samples from drivers who die in SINGLE-VEHICLE accidents, to determine if drug or alcohol-use contributed to the crash. Chandlor Collins, a policy advisor in the agency, says Nebraska, Minnesota and Michigan are already collecting this data.

“As more states continue to either legalize medical marijuana or recreational marijuana, just having the data regardless of where you fall on those issues is just going to allow for better decisions to be made,” Collins says. About 70 fatal wrecks in Iowa last year involved a single driver. Collins says blood samples in those instances are rarely, if ever, collected to determine if the driver was impaired because there’s no liability issue since no one else was injured or killed in the accident.

“Data out there is saying there’s more drug-impaired driving than I think a lot of us as lay citizens think that is currently is occurring,” Collins says. A senate subcommittee is working on a bill that would require county medical examiners to draw blood from drivers killed in a single-vehicle wreck. Senators say there are issues, like proper training, to address.

(Radio Iowa) — A spokesman for Governor Kim Reynolds says the backlog of applications from felons seeking restoration of their voting rights has been cleared. Reynolds announced earlier this month that she was working with her staff as well as staff in two state agencies to review dozens of applications. This past Tuesday, Reynolds had reviewed 300 and had another 100 to go.

“We are going to make it. We are going to get it done.” And this (Friday) afternoon, the governor’s spokesman announced all the pending applications had been reviewed. It means about 400 more Iowans now have the ability to participate in Monday night’s Caucuses. Iowa is now the only state that requires paroled felons to apply to the governor for restoration of their voting rights.

A year ago, Reynolds asked legislators to set the wheels in motion so Iowa’s constitution can be changed so voting rights are automatically restored. It’s part of what she calls her “second chance” agenda. Reynolds sometimes calls the people who’ve applied to have their voting rights restored and she’s talked publicly about those conversations.

“The stories continue to just be really inspiring,” Reynolds says. This past Tuesday, Reynolds told reporters she a young woman whose voting rights were restored this month sent her a thank you note after the two spoke by phone.  “It’s always kind of the same theme,” Reynolds said of the notes she gets from paroled felons who tell the governor they’re working hard to turn their lives around.

Sheriff’s deputies in Page County today (Friday), arrested 26-year old Tyler Jacob Broadway, of Clarinda, on numerous Page County warrants. The warrants were for: Stalking; Domestic Abuse Assault by impeding the flow of air / blood; Theft 4th Degree; False Imprisonment, and three counts of Violation of No contact / protective orders.

Tyler Broadway

Broadway was being held in the Page County Jail without bond, pending future court proceedings.