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Cass County Youth to Celebrate National 4-H Week October 6-12

Ag/Outdoor, News

October 3rd, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with Cass County ISU Extension say the anticipation is building for this year’s National 4-H Week, during which millions of youth, parents, volunteers, and alumni across the country will celebrate everything 4-H. Cass County 4-H will observe National 4-H Week this year by showcasing the incredible experiences that 4-H offers and highlighting the remarkable 4-H young people in our community who work to positively impact those around them. October 13th the community is welcome to join the Cass County 4-H Clubs with carnival games and learn more about 4-H at Fall Fest on the Fairgrounds from 2:00-4:00pm.

The 2024 National 4-H Week theme is Beyond Ready, which celebrates the program’s dedication to building a generation equipped for the future while being met where they are today. This year, 4-H is focused on helping youth be ready to lead, ready to serve, ready to build, and ready to conquer.

4-H believes that young people, in partnership with adults, can play a key role in creating a more promising and equitable future for youth, families, and communities across the country. Through hands-on learning experiences in areas such as agriculture, communication and the arts, leadership and civic engagement, healthy living, and STEM, 4-H members are equipped with the skills they need to be Beyond Ready and make a difference in the world.

Katie Bateman, County Youth Coordinator with Cass County Extension, says “We equip youth with skills for the future while meeting them where they are today. Through 4-H, we offer opportunities and experiences that shape youth into their full, authentic selves, enabling them to shine both now and in the future.”

In Cass County, more than 300 4-H youth and 50 volunteers from the community are involved in 4-H. For over 100 years, 4‑H has inspired families, shaped careers, and impacted communities. For more information on the Iowa 4-H Youth Development program, please contact the Cass County Extension office or visit the Iowa 4-H website at www.extension.iastate.edu/4h.

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News |

General Election Absentee Voting Dates and Times

News

October 3rd, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County (Iowa) Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Kathy Somers has announced in-person-absentee voting will take place at the auditor’s office in the courthouse beginning Wednesday, October 16th through Monday, November 4th, the day before the election, during regular business hours from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. The auditor’s office will also be open for in-person- absentee voting, and other election business, on Saturday, November 2nd, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

Voters wishing to vote by mail may request absentee ballots by contacting the auditor’s office, or by downloading the request form from the Secretary of State’s website and delivering it to the auditor’s office by October 21st. The Secretary of State’s website is sos.iowa.gov/elections/electioninfo/absenteeinfo.html.

Vote Early

Absentee ballots must be returned to the auditor’s office before polls close at 8:00 PM on election night in order to be counted. For more information about the November 5, 2024 General Election, contact the auditor’s office at 712-243-4570 or go to the Cass County elections website at casscountyia.gov/county-government/elections/general-elections/.

Posted in News |

Glenwood woman arrested on weapons charges

News

October 3rd, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports a woman from Glenwood was arrested Tuesday night on weapons charges.  69-year-old Teresa Ann Keller was arrested for Intimidation with a Dangerous Weapon, and Reckless use of a Firearm. Her bond was set at $10,000.

Posted in News |

Iowa Business Council sees optimism in latest survey

News

October 3rd, 2024 by Jim Field

The Iowa Business Council’s third-quarter Economic Outlook Survey of members shows an overall positive economic outlook. I-B-C president Joe Murphy says that’s especially good news after concerns raised in the last survey.

The survey asks members about expectations for sales, capital spending and employment in the next six months. All three were positive.

Murphy says the survey came before the Fed Reserve cut interest rates, so that numbers would likely be a little higher. Murphy says the union dock strike that just began is something they will be watching.

Murphy says the strike comes as members for the first time since 2021 did not list inflation as one of their tops concerns.

He says the strike is just the latest in what seems like a “whack a mole” combination of issues that businesses have faced and overcome.

The Iowa Business Council (IBC) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization whose 22 members are the chief decision makers of major Iowa employers.

Posted in News |

Iowa is being invaded by swarms of nearly-invisible bugs with a painful bite

Ag/Outdoor, News

October 3rd, 2024 by Jim Field

Iowa’s seeing at least one bumper crop this fall, but it’s not your typical agricultural commodity. Many millions of weensy insects called minute (my-NOOT) pirate bugs are swarming our yards in recent weeks and their bite, while tiny, can be a doozy. Ginny Mitchell, education program coordinator at Iowa State University’s Insect Zoo, says they’re an appropriately named creature as they’re only about one-eighth to one-twelfth of an inch long.

Spend any time outdoors and you’ll likely be surrounded and attacked by these little flying monsters at some point. Mitchell says farmers and other growers should love the minute pirate bugs as they perform a very valuable service during the spring, summer and early fall, though they’re an absolute terror if you happen to be a smaller bug.

Why are there so many of these itsy-bitsy biting beasts all of the sudden? Minute pirate bugs usually feed in the tree canopy or in a field, and as the trees start to lose their leaves and the harvest is underway, they’re having to look elsewhere for food. Mitchell says the best way to stave off a minute pirate bug is to wear long pants, long sleeves, and dark colors.

If you’re bitten, use soap and water or hand sanitizer right away, and there are various creams and ointments that can bring relief, though Mitchell says a dab of raw honey may also do the trick. The sting of the minute pirate bug can be very painful, which some people attribute to venom, poison, acid, or even the bug’s urine. None of those are true, Mitchell says, but they -do- secrete a type of saliva or enzyme.

If you find an insect in your house, or even in the wild, Mitchell usually advocates not killing it, but she takes a different tack with minute pirate bugs. Squish as many as you want, she says, as “there are gazillions of them in Iowa.”

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News |

Reynolds to return to India in 2025 to build trade ties

Ag/Outdoor, News

October 3rd, 2024 by Jim Field

Governor Kim Reynolds says her recent 10-day trade mission to India is just the beginning of positioning Iowa companies, Iowa products and Iowa itself as partners in the world’s fastest growing economy.

Peter Tokar (TOH-kar) — president and C-E-O of the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce — was part of the delegation.

Tokar and state officials are not revealing the name of the company. India only allows genetically modified cotton seeds to be grown in the country and bars imports of corn and soybeans grown from genetically modified seeds. Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says there may be opportunities to export dried distillers grain and soybean meal, however.

Naig was also part of the trade mission to India.

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News |

Skyscan Forecast – Thursday, October 3, 2024

Ag/Outdoor, Weather

October 3rd, 2024 by Jim Field

Today:  Sunny with a high near 81. East northeast wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Tonight:  Partly cloudy with a low around 47. North northeast wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Friday:  Sunny with a high near 74. East wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Saturday:  Sunny with a high near 89. Windy, with a south southeast wind 10 to 15 mph increasing to 20 to 25 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph.

Sunday:  Sunny with a high near 74.

Monday:  Sunny with a high near 73.

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, Weather |

Exira-EHK Cross Country Feeling Good Heading into Final Stretch

Sports

October 2nd, 2024 by Christian Adams

The Exira-EHK Spartans Cross Country teams are feeling very good about their standing heading into the last weeks of the season. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams have multiple runners in the top 10 in the Rolling Valley conference with four meets remaining.

For the boys, they have five of the top 10 best times in the conference. Tim Reinhart, Ben Baggett, Cater Wiemann, and Josiah King have posted the seventh through tenth best times respectively.  Head Coach Kevin Brown is not only pleased with the way they’ve worked but also the way they’ve performed given their youth and inexperience.

Junior Austin Rasmussen has been Exira-EHK’s best runner this season. His best time of 17:43.00 currently ranks second in the conference. In addition to being a leader and helping his team gain five top-10 finishes this year, Brown says Rasmussen has a chance to do special things moving forward.

Unlike the boys, the girls group has been together for quite some time. Most of the girls on the team have been running cross country since middle school.  The Spartans’ girls have two top 10 finishes this year and like the boys have numerous runners with top 15 times. Ruby VanderWal, Gracie Bartz, and Kaitlyn Christensen all rank in the top 15, and Coach Brown knows that their experience has played a key role in their success.

Leading the way for the Exira-EHK girls this season has been the young sophomore Michelle Wilson. She ran her best time of 22:15.33 on September 24th which has her ranked sixth in the conference. Sophomore Leah Boysen isn’t far behind, with her best time of 23:58.71 placing her at seventh. Brown has not only appreciated their work throughout the season but also realized their potential for this season and for years to come.

The Spartans will be in action on Thursday when they compete at IKM-Manning. The meet is scheduled for 4:30 pm.

Posted in Sports |

Atlantic Cross Country Looking to Continue Tradition of Sending Athletes to State

Sports

October 2nd, 2024 by Christian Adams

The Atlantic Cross Country team is looking to continue its history of sending athletes to states with the cross country season winding down. The boys and girls teams have both had multiple top-ten finishes in their last three meets, with the girls finishing in fourth on September 24th while the boys finished ninth on September 19th. Preparing for a race and cutting your time might seem simple. However, Head Coach Daniel Vargason says that each athlete gets their own plan for preparation.

The girls team has been consistently improving throughout the season and has been gaining confidence. Atlantic’s girls have two top 5 finishes this year including a 2nd place finish at Clarinda back in mid-September. Hailey Huffman and Allison Middents have both been able to shave time off their runs while Hailey White, Bella Brock, and Elynor Brummer have all been consistent runners for the Trojans this year. After dealing with some early-season adversity, Vargason appreciates their ability to improve and compete.

Leading the way for the girls this year is the junior Katrina William. Her best time this year of 21:04.00 is currently the 11th best time in the Hawkeye Ten Conference. The difference between her and a spot in the top 10 is just five seconds. Vargason stated that her mindset, confidence, and hard work have allowed her to take off.

The boys team has been a bit of a different story than the girls this year. After struggling out of the gate, Vargason challenged the squad to be better, and they responded. However, where health and numbers were a problem on the girl’s side, the amount of runners on the boy’s side helped push each other to improve.

Luke Irlmier has been the leading runner for the boys team.  His time of 18:34.00 currently ranks 14th in the conference. However, he is less than a minute off of a top 10 place. Vargason says his ability to push himself has been one of Irlmeier’s biggest assets.

Atlantic has just two meets left before the Hawkeye Ten conference meet. They will host their last meet of the regular season on October 10th but are in action on Thursday at Shenandoah with the Boys scheduled at 4 pm with the girls set for 4:30 pm.

Posted in Sports |

Atlantic Police Dept. receives $125,000 COPS Grant for hiring an extra officer & SRO

News

October 2nd, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – An official with the Atlantic Police Department, Wednesday evening, announced that the department was selected as a recipient of the 2024 Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) hiring grant. The department was one of five entities in Iowa approved for the grant, which will be distributed over a period of three-years.
Chief Devin Hogie reports “We will receive $125,000 to utilize over the span of three years to help employ an extra APD officer. The officer will be hired to fill the role of School Resource Officer and will be working as a liason between our department and the Atlantic Community School District.” After the grant funding ends, the City and the School District must commit to funding the program for a fourth year.
“Our immediate focus,” Hugue says, “will be working with the school to finalize the needed agreements for this position and we hope to open this position for hire in the coming weeks.” Fund raising efforts for the SRO’s vehicle, equipment and uniform, continues. As we previously mentioned, Camblin Mechanical recently presented a check for $5,000 intended for the SRO fund. In addition, officials with the Trevor Frederickson Foundation donated $2,000, and the Elbow Room donated to the cause, as a way to thank the department for their help during RAGBRAI. Funds from an upcoming Atlantic Rotary Club Auction/Raffle will be added to the SRO position fund.
This past June, the City of Atlantic and the Atlantic Community School District agreed to collaborate on hiring a School Resource Officer. The School Resource Officer will be an employee of the City and a member of the Atlantic Police Department and will work in all of the school district’s buildings.

Posted in News |