A vice president for Summit Carbon Solutions says rejected requests to build the company’s carbon pipeline in North and South Dakota should not impact its pursuit of a construction permit in Iowa. Micah (MIKE-uh) Rorie (ROHR-ee) is in charge of land acquisition for the company and testified Tuesday at an Iowa Utilities Board hearing in Fort Dodge.

John Murray, an attorney for property owners who don’t want the pipeline on their land, quizzed Rorie about Monday’s permit denial in South Dakota.

Murray, an attorney from Storm Lake, also asked Rorie about last month’s denial of a permit to extend Summit’s pipeline through NORTH Dakota, where the company plans to store its liquid carbon underground.

Rorie says over 12-hundred Iowa landowners have voluntarily signed easements that give Summit access to over 33-hundred parcels of land along its proposed route through Iowa. The company is asking the Iowa Utilities Board for eminent domain authority to force 469 Iowa landowners who object to the project to sign property easements.

The number of train cars carrying grain across the state dropped in July.  The D-O-T’s Stuart Anderson told the Transportation Commission July continues what has been a downward trend.

Commissioner Ray Gaesser (Gas-er) of Corning is a grain farmer and says exports have slowed down substantially.

Gaesser says one of the factors is competition from South America.

Gaesser says production was down last year too, and the carryover of supply of corn is up 30 percent from one year ago.  Hauling grain on water is also an issue as Anderson says water levels have been dropping since June on the Mississippi River and are expected to continue to drop.

Anderson says that requires more barges to haul the same amount of grain — which causes other issues.

He says this year could end up being as challenging as it was last year when there were significant impacts on the transport and barge rates.

Book bans were the subject of a hearing before the U-S Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he sees it all as being about parental rights.  The Iowa legislature passed a bill this past session that became law which requires Iowa schools to remove most books that depict sex acts from classrooms and school libraries.  Grassley refused to offer an opinion on the state law.

Grassley, the ranking Republican on the committee, says the hearing is called: “Book Bans: Examining How Censorship Limits Liberty and Literature.”

The new state law has left some school administrators uncertain how to proceed on certain books.  Some school boards have started issuing lists of books they’re pulling from shelves, while others have requested instruction from state education leaders. Grassley says the law should be clear about what books are inappropriate for certain ages.

The new state law will take effect in January.  Some nationally-known authors have criticized Iowa’s legislature for the law as their books are among those being banned in some schools.

Southwest Iowa Transit Agency (SWITA) was recognized as the Iowa rural public transit system with the largest ridership in fiscal year 2021 by the Federal Transit Administration during the Breakfast of Transit Champions at the 2023 Midwest Transit Conference in Kansas City on September 8th.

SWITA has continued to show tremendous growth in ridership despite the decline many other agencies have seen since the pandemic. The award itself was delayed because of the pandemic. For the award year (2021) SWITA provided 377,547 rides. SWITA will hold the title for 2022 and 2023 as well with 480,229 rides and an unprecedented 526,300 rides respectively. Workforce ridership is one specific area of growth for SWITA and ridership has more than doubled from fiscal year 2020 at 43,363 rides to fiscal year 2023 at 99,286 rides. SWITA transportation is available for all residents in Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie and Shelby counties.

SWIPCO Executive Director John McCurdy said, “Awards because of big numbers are nice, but what is really important is what those numbers represent. SWITA is getting people in Southwest Iowa where they need to go—including to work, school, and medical appointments. The SWITA staff bend over backwards to meet the needs of our clients because they know every trip is important to that client.”

SWITA transportation is accessible to everyone including the disabled population and elderly. SWITA vehicles are equipped with wheelchair accessibility and one personal care attendant rides free. SWITA transportation is affordable: taxi rides are $2.50 per trip or $2.00 per trip for elderly clients (60 years and older) with collaboration from Connenctions Area Agency on Aging; medical trips are $30 per hour; Summer Fun Bus rides are $1 per trip or $40 for the full summer; other special trips are $40 per hour.

SWITA Transit Director Mark Lander said, “SWITA is one of the few Rural Public Transit Agencies in Iowa that has routes running 24/7 and we were the only public transit agency in the state that saw ridership gains during the pandemic. This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the men and women at SWITA that work day in and day out to get the people of Southwest Iowa where they need to go!”

For questions or to request a ride, contact SWITA at 712-243-2518 or 1-800-842-8065.

One person was reportedly taken by local EMS to the hospital after a pair of vehicles collided Monday in Atlantic.  The crash happened at the intersection of Linn and Seventh Streets just after 5:00 pm.  An SUV driven by Robert Hitch of Atlantic and a pickup truck driven by Floyd Knop of Hancock were involved.  Police say Knop was southbound at the intersection and failed to obey a stop sign, striking the Hitch vehicle which was westbound.  Hitch was taken to the hospital with what were described as non-life threatening injuries.  Knop was taken to the hospital by private vehicle as a precaution.  Knop was charged with failing to obey a stop sign.  Total damage to the two vehicles was estimated at $23,000.

Atlantic Police also report that on September 1, 2023, 22 year old Mikayla Waldron of Atlantic was arrested for Theft 5th degree.  She was cited into court and released.

On, September 2, 2023, 36 year old Louis Chipenson of Atlantic was cited for Operating While Under the Influence 2nd Offense and Public Intoxication.  He was taken into custody and transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked in and held.

On September 6, 2023, 20 year old Jarrit Smith of Atlantic was charged with Possession of Controlled Substance 1st Offense and Possession of Controlled Substance (marijuana).  He turned himself in on his warrants, posted bond and was released.

On September 8, 2023, 29 year old Edward Parrott Jr. of Council Bluffs was arrested on a warrant for Violation of Probation.  He was taken into custody and transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked in and held.

Also on September 8th, 38 year old Tyler Pottorff of Anita was cited for Disorderly Conduct.  He was taken into custody and transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked in and held.

On September 9, 2023, 32 year old Cody Pleis of Atlantic was charged for Violation of No Contact Order.  He was taken into custody and transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked in and held.

(SW Cass County, IA) – No injuries were reported when a semi tractor-trailer hauling corn overturned this (Tuesday) morning, between Griswold and Lewis. The accident

(Photo courtesy Cass County EMA Director Mike Kennon)

happened as the semi was turning north from White Pole Road onto  570^th Street.  The rig overturned, landing on the passenger side. The load of corn was dumped corn into a ditch.

No other details are currently available.

Creston Police report that on Monday, September 11 just after noon, they arrested 56 year old Stephen Timothy Shindolof Creston at the Intersection of Adams and Elm streets.  Shindoll was charged with OWI 1st offense.  Shindoll was transported to the Union County Jail where he was later released on $1,000 cash or surety bond.

The heat and drought have continued to cause Iowa crops to deteriorate. The U-S-D-A crop report out Monday shows the corn condition declined by three percentage points in the last week where 46 percent is rated in good to excellent condition. Soybeans took a bigger hit, dropping five percentage points to average 44 percent in good to excellent condition. Dolph Ivener found issues in his cornfield in western Iowa that started with brown leaves.

Ivener estimates big swings in yields from 200 bushels per acre on his farms with heavier rainfall to around 40 in spots stifled by a third year of drought.

The crop report shows that 38 percent of the corn crop has reached maturity, which is one week ahead of last year and six days ahead of normal.

Farmers in Ukraine are now raising hogs thanks to a little help from Iowa State University. Justin Brown, an I-S-U professor of veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine, is leading a series of webinars just for Ukrainian farmers. Due to the prolonged war with Russia, Brown says corn producers in Ukraine aren’t able to export much, if any, of their grain.

Brown says the response to the I-S-U webinars has been very good. He presents them early in the morning and they air in Ukraine around the lunch hour.

Brown prepares his presentation slides in English and sends them to the president of the Association of Ukrainian Pig Breeders, who translates them into Ukrainian, while the lectures themselves are dubbed in that language for the Ukranian farmers.

Those questions are translated live, along with his answers. The last of the webinars will be presented this month.