(Radio Iowa) – The governor’s Iowa Renewable Fuels Standard that won House approval in early February has cleared a committee in the senate — but with an addition that could let nearly a third of the state’s gas stations opt out of the requirement to sell E-15. Molly Severn is the governor’s legislative liaison.

“This bill is the result of significant compromise from everyone along the fuel supply chain,” Severn says, “from farmers to fuel retailers.” The House voted to grant waivers from the E-15 mandate to stations with equipment that’s not certified to handle fuel with higher blends of ethanol. The Senate Ways and Means Committee has voted to let stations get a waiver from the E-15 mandate if they sell less than 300-thousand gallons of gasoline each year.

Supporters of the plan estimate about 30 percent of small gas stations could opt out — leaving about 70 percent of Iowa fuel retailers subject to the requirement to sell E-15. Severn says with uncertainty over federal ethanol rules, Governor Reynolds believes this is an important step for Iowa to take.

“Over 55% of the corn grown in Iowa is processed for the first time at an Iowa ethanol plant,” Severn says. “If we lose the liquid fuel market, that would devastate the Iowa economy, farmers and fuel retailers.” The ethanol mandate does have detractors. Senator Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, says a mandate that gas stations sell corn-based ethanol is ironic since farmers oppose regulating fertilizer application on corn fields to improve water quality.

“The idea that we’d ever regulate or have a mandate for something like a 20 foot buffer strip along a river or creek — we’ll be 100 years from now without that,” Bolkcom said, “because of the opposition to mandates.” The Senate Ways and Means Committee has also voted to reduce the amount of matching funds small gas stations have to raise to secure state grants for installing tanks and pumps that can dispense gasoline with a higher blend of ethanol. Republican Senator Dan Dawson of Council Bluffs is chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

“We’re really trying to help out these small retailers in the state, knowing that they support a lot of our rural communities,” Dawson says. “There’s a difference between a high volume station that has the capital to make an investment in something like that versus a small station that might not have as much capital.”

It’s likely the bill will be debated in the Senate today (Tuesday).

(Radio Iowa) – Grass and field fires remained a big problem this past weekend in western Iowa and bordering states where things remain very dry. Sergeant Bluff fire chief, Anthony Gaul says his firefighters worked several hours responding to calls Saturday, and every area department was busy:

“There were so many fires going on that departments had to travel 20 and 25 miles to help manage incidents because there was nobody else available,” he says. Gaul says the local area damage total from the weekend fires will be more than seven figures as the burn ban in Woodbury County remains in place.

“One community wants to opt-out of it but the amount of dollars that were lost in Woodbury and Plymouth and then across the river and those counties if you add it up is over one million dollars. I know Plymouth County had a piece of apparatus burn up,” Gaul says. Chief Gaul says the strong winds of up to 60 miles an hour at times contributed to the fires.

“One of the fires in Woodbury County was caused by a downed power line which we can’t control that. But others have mentioned hey, we’ve had some rain and yes, we have had some rain but with that wind, it has dried everything out and there is so much out there that’s just ready and able to burn that. We can’t ask enough to stop, not do it,” Gaul says. He says you need to think twice before starting any kind of fire outdoors when conditions are as windy and dry as they have been. Even if you are using a burn barrel.

“We’ve had quite a few incidents caused by burn barrels which can be legal throughout the burn ban but there are requirements that you can’t have more than a one inch opening with a grating,” according to Gaul. He says there are code requirements for burn barrels on the State Fire Marshal’s website.

There are ten active burn bans in the state as of Monday — with all of them along the western edge of the state.

(Milo, Iowa) – The Iowa State Patrol reports a second fatality accident has occurred in central Iowa’s Warren County, in less than 24-hours. On Monday (April 25th), at around 12:30-p.m., a 2008 Chevy Silverado pickup driven by 79-year-old John Lester Dittmer, of Milo, was traveling south on Highway S-31 northeast of Milo, when the vehicle left the road and entered the east ditch. The pickup crossed a field and Nevada Street, before coming to rest in a field just south of Nevada Street. Dittmer died at the scene.

The other accident took place at around 3:50-p.m. Sunday, near Pleasantville. The crash between a pickup and a car resulted in the death of 82-year-old Glenna Clarke, from Knoxville. A crash report indicates she was crossing Highway 5 from Highway 316 between Hartford and Pleasantville when a pickup slammed into the driver’s side of her car.

The crash report says the driver and passenger in the truck were not injured. The crash remains under investigation.

(Oakland, Iowa) – A Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputy on patrol at around 8:20-p.m., Sunday, saw a car traveling west on Linden Avenue out of Oakland, and noticed the vehicle’s taillights weren’t illuminated. When he attempted a traffic stop, the 2008 Honda Accord took off and led the Deputy on a pursuit. Stop sticks were deployed, causing the vehicle’s tires to deflate and making the car undrivable. The car eventually stopped, and the driver, 35-year-old Joshua Lloyd Long, of Council Bluffs, was taken into custody without further incident. He faces charges that include: Reckless Driving; 2 counts of Driving While License denied/suspended or revoked; Possession of Marijuana/1st offense; Eluding; Possession of Burglary tools; 2 counts Violation of Probation; Criminal Mischief in the 2nd Degree, and for being a person ineligible to carry dangerous weapons. His cash/surety bond was set at $6,000.

A Council Bluffs man turned himself-in to the Pott. County Sheriff’s Office, Sunday night. 23-year-old Miguel Martinez-Andrade was taken into custody on warrants for Violation of a No Contact/Protective Order, and Criminal Trespass/1st offense.

Just before 5-a.m., Sunday, a traffic stop in Council Bluffs resulted in the arrest on of the registered vehicle owner, a warrant for OWI/1st offense. 20-year-old Vince Edward Bertlett was later released from custody. And, at around 12:20-a.m. Sunday, 21-year-old Santino Gabriel Ortega was pulled over on Highway 92 in Pott. County, for speeding 73 mph in a 55 zone. He was subsequently charged with OWI/1st offense.

The Glenwood Police Department reports five recent arrests: On Sunday, 36-year-old Cedar Torres Martin, of Omaha, was arrested for OWI/1st Offense and Child Endangerment. He has since posted bond.

Three Glenwood residents were arrested on separate charges Saturday, in Glenwood: 44-year-old Angie Bothwell was arrested on a Mills County warrant (bond posted); 42-year-old Michael Gaver was arrested for Driving Under Suspension (Bond posted); & 55-year-old Shawn Nosekabel was arrested for OWI/1st Offense (Bond also posted).

On Friday, Glenwood Police arrested 29-year-old Joshua Humphry, of Glenwood, for Driving While Barred. He later posted bond and was released.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – [**UPDATED 6/17/22]  Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports a man from Stuart was being held in the Adair County Jail on a $500,000 cash-only bond. 51-year-old Skeet Miller was being held on Adair County arrest warrants for Violation of Pretrial Release on charges of False Imprisonment, Domestic Abuse Assault/Impeding the Flow of Air/Blood, and Felony charges that include Burglary/1st Degree, Willful Injury – Causing Bodily Injury, and Harassment/1st Degree. The charges stem from an incident that occurred during the February 14th execution of search warrants in Stuart.

Vandewater reports also, 59-year-old Nicholas Dave Allen, of Des Moines, was arrested April 15th in Adair, on charges that include OWI/2nd Offense, and Driving While Barred. His cash/surety bond was set at $2,000. On April 22nd, 41-year-old Christopher Michael Fasce, of West Des Moines, was arrested in Adair County on an Adams County warrant. He was turned over to Adams County Deputies.

On the 22nd, Adair County Deputies in Bridgewater arrested 36-year-old Shane Curtis White, of Creston, for Driving While Barred. His cash/surety bond was set at $2,000. The following day, 22-year-old Craven Lee Martin, of Mount Ayr, was arrested south of Orient, in Adair County, for OWI/1st offense. He was later released on bond. Later in the day on April 23rd, 32-year-old Devin Scott O’leary, of Canton, MI, was arrested by Police in Stuart, on charges that include Felony Forgery, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Possession of a Controlled Substance/1st Offense – Marijuana. O’leary was being held in the Adair County Jail on a $5,000 cash/surety bond. [**The Felony charge against O’Leary was dismissed by the court; In a plea deal, O’Leary entered a written plea of guilty to the Possession and Paraphernalia charges on May 4th**]

And, at around 6-p.m on April 23rd, 63-year-old David Lee Grasty, of Greenfield, was arrested for Harassment in the 3rd Degree. He was being held without bond until his initial appearance. He was released on the 25th by Court Order.

(Radio Iowa) – Gasoline prices remain about 20-cents a gallon shy of their all-time high in Iowa. Meredith Mitts, spokeswoman for Triple-A-Iowa, says prices at the pump appear to have stabilized. “Gas prices have kind of leveled out,” Mitts says. “Prices today are almost exactly the same as the statewide average from a month ago. They’re up a little bit from a week ago but we’re staying in roughly the same 10-cent range.”

The statewide average is three-84 a gallon and Mitts doubts prices will drop dramatically anytime soon. “We’re not seeing the big jumps either direction anymore,” Mitts says. “They’ve kind of leveled out and the crude oil is about $100 a barrel, but we are seeing that demand is kicking back up now that the prices have started to fall again, and since the demand is picking back up, we’ll see that the gas prices are staying roughly the same.”

The start of summer travel season is still several weeks away but Mitts says it’s a safe bet prices will rise around the big holidays like Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day. “Those are very heavy travel periods,” Mitts says, “and hopefully we’ll remain roughly level the rest of the summer but it will really depend on how many people want to be traveling, how much of the strategic oil reserves are made available, what’s going on all around the country but also, all around the world.”

Given the current statewide average of three-84 a gallon, that price is more than a dollar higher than Iowa’s average a year ago of two-78. Iowa’s highest-ever average of four-oh-two a gallon was set in July of 2008.

(Radio Iowa) – A new map by University of Iowa researchers shows nearly 450-thousand acres of Iowa farmland is under constant flood threat. Researcher Enes Yildirim says he developed the statewide map to help farmers compare their flood risk with their crop productivity.

“There are lots of regions very fertile, but also under flood threat, so those regions might need extra precaution, let’s say maybe a levee or some sort of other flood mitigation,” Vildirim says. Four wetlands zones in Iowa have the highest risk. They are part of four river valleys — the Middle Cedar, North Raccoon, South Skunk and West Nishnabotna.

Cropland in those areas have a 50 percent chance of flooding each year according to Yildirim’s  research. He hopes policymakers will consider adding more flood protection to those areas or converting them into wetlands. “It will be helpful for maintaining the food production and also it will be helpful for cities to get less extreme floods,” he says. The University of Iowa research indicates floods lead to the destruction of around 230 million dollars worth of crops in Iowa each year.

Yildirim anticipates that number will grow as floods become more frequent within the state.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Kendall Crawford)

(Radio Iowa) – Crews have been working to clean up and investigate what appears to be a diesel spill at or near a state park in northwest Iowa. Trapper’s Bay State Park sits along the north shore of Silver Lake. Dickinson County Emergency Management director Mike Ehret says someone passing by noticed a shine on top of the water of Silver Lake and the smell of fuel.

“We called over Spirit Lake to bring over some extra equipment and Milford brought up the country’s haz mat trailer,” he says. “We were able to deploy some boom under the bridge that goes between Silver Lake and Trapper’s Bay to try and contain as much as we could into Trapper’s Bay and try and keep any more from getting into the bay itself. A little of it had, but we were just trying to slow that down, basically, at the time.” The spill was reported late last week.

An official with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the investigation isn’t done, but the spill may have happened when an above ground storage tank was overfilled. Silver Lake has more than nine and a half miles of shoreline and covers more than a thousand acres. Trapper’s Bay State Park was established in 1933 and has a picnic shelter that’s on the National Register of Historic Places.

(Radio Iowa) – One person was killed in an apartment fire early this (Monday) morning in the northwest Iowa town of Sheldon. According to the Sheldon Fire Department, they were called out at 12:51 Monday morning for a structure fire at 219 8th Street. Firefighters from three area departments battled the blaze. The identity of the victim has not been released, pending positive identification and notification of next of kin.