(Radio Iowa) – Officials from seven Iowa counties are asking the Iowa Utilities Commission to reconsider its conditional approval of the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline project. Shelby County Board of Supervisors chairman Kevin Kenkel says the commission’s decision did not address zoning issues. “The counties also maintain that Summit is not a ‘common carrier’ and is not proposing a public use or benefit to the public and should not be granted the right of eminent domain,” Kenkel said.
Monday (yesterday) was the deadline for filing the paperwork, asking the Iowa Utilities Commission to rescind the construction permit. Landowners who oppose the project and the Sierra Club of Iowa have also filed objections. Kenkel isn’t making any predictions on how the commission might respond. “We feel we deserve a fair and impartial shot at this,” Kenkel says.
In addition to Shelby County, officials from Kossuth, Floyd, Emmet, Dickinson, Wright and Woodbury Counties signed the 16-page challenge filed with the Iowa Utilities Commission. Kenkel says it’s unrelated to the pending case in a federal appeals court over hazardous pipeline zoning ordinances in Shelby and Story Counties. “Other counties started passing ordinances and wanted to get involved in intervention at Iowa Utilities Board — Commission now — hearings, so we formed a coalition of intervenors,” Kenkel says. “We are all impacted on phase one of Summit.”
Summit recently announced plans to expand the pipeline route through Iowa by over 300 miles to connect to ethanol plants that had been part of the abandoned Navigator C-O-2 pipeline project. The commission’s ruling on Summit’s initial request says the company has to get approval for its route through South and North Dakota before construction may start in Iowa. A final option for groups that oppose the pipeline project would be filing a lawsuit asking the courts to block construction.
CRESTON – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is relaxing the fishing regulations at McKinley Lake in Creston. The city of Creston will begin to drain the lake in August as part of a lake restoration project. McKinley Lake, constructed in the 1870s, has accumulated a lot of sediment and nutrients over time causing poor water quality that impacts outdoor recreation opportunities on the community lake.
The City of Creston’s Park and Recreation Board has made improvements to the lake’s watershed to reduce the amount of sediment and nutrients washing into the lake. In-lake work is the final step in the lake restoration process. Planned improvements include targeted dredging, improving shoreline access and adding fish habitat, a fishing pier and small boat/canoe/kayak access.
Anglers with a valid fishing license may harvest any size or number of largemouth bass, bluegill, channel catfish, and all other fish species from McKinley Lake. Any number of fishing poles or jug fishing is allowed. Anglers must remain in sight of these lines at all times, and follow all other fishing regulations and area rules. Trot lines will be allowed (name and address must be attached), however lines may not be set across the entire water body. It is illegal to sell fish or stock captured fish into public waters. All navigation rules still apply.
Liberalized fishing regulations for McKinley Lake will be in effect immediately. Specific regulation changes include:
Removal of bag and length limit restrictions on largemouth bass.
Removal of bag limit on channel catfish.
Removal of bag limit on crappie and bluegill.
Removal of the two line/two hook fishing restriction; anglers must be within visual sight of the lines.
(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with the Atlantic Police Department report one person was taken into custody on a felony charge, following an incident that occurred Monday evening. Authorities say just before 6-p.m., the Cass County Communications center received a report of an assault at 1600 Bryn Mawr Blvd. in Atlantic. The initial report indicated that a man had been stabbed at the residence.
Upon arrival, officers with the Atlantic Police Department determined that the victim had not been stabbed, but had been assaulted, and struck using items in the home. The man suffered from lacerations and bleeding. As a result of this investigation, Michael Brownsberger was charged with Willful injury, causing serious injury (a Class C Felony.) Brownsberger was taken into custody at the scene and transported to the Cass County Jail, where he was booked and held.
The Atlantic Police Department was assisted at the scene by the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Cass EMS, and Atlantic Fire & Rescue. No other details are being released at this time. If you have information regarding the incident, please call the Atlantic Police Department at 712-243-3512.
(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Attorney General’s Office has issued rulings in two police shootings in eastern Iowa. One report involves the shooting of John Carl Piazza by a Waterloo officer after a standoff at his home in March. The report says the shooting was legally justified after Piazza pointed a shotgun at an officer. Police were called after Piazza had visited a hospital seeking help for anxiety and then left saying he wanted to kill someone. Police say he fired a gun at an automotive shop before going to his home.
The other shooting happened in April 20204 in Cedar Rapids. Police say David Vanderhamm pointed a gun at an officer and was shot. It was later found the gun was an airsoft rifle. Vanderhamm had called 9-1-1 requesting officers come to his home after previously being taken to the hospital and refusing treatment.
The A-G’s office says that shooting was also legally justified.
(Red Oak, Iowa) – A rural Montgomery County resident, Tuesday (today), claims the Board of Supervisors in Montgomery County, violated Iowa’s Open Meetings law, during their session on July 2nd,. West Township resident Jan Norris said the violation was due to a closed session that was held without prior public vote.
Norris said minutes from the July 2nd meeting do not reflect a vote, because none was taken.
Norris said “the threat of imminent litigation can be disputed. Dickinson County has not been sued since passing a pipeline ordinance in May, and even this Board wants to move forward with a hazardous pipeline ordinance, it will be months until a vote.”
Jan Norris speaks during the July 16, 2024 Montgomery County BOS mtg.
She said the Board’s actions are “Unfortunate,” and she has not yet decided what her next steps will be.
In other business, Montgomery County Emergency Management Director Brian Hamman provided the Board with damage repair updates, as they pertain to the May 2024 tornado and storms.
Brian Hamman
Hamman said as for Hacklebarney Woods Park, which sustained a great deal of damage, a number of issues are keeping the park closed.
Things still need to be cleaned-up he said, and that will take some time. Hamman said they won’t be holding another clean-up day because most of what’s left is heavy debris, especially in the picnic and camping areas. The bigger issue is communications, and the microwave tower that was destroyed.
A temporary fence was installed, mainly to keep animals out. The County’s deployable communications unit is at the radio shop, getting some equipment installed. In other business, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution authorizing a temporary road closure and detour on H-34, for a Hot Melt Asphalt, widening and overlay project.
(Radio Iowa) – A powerful series of storms swept over Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan late Monday afternoon and night, spinning off at least one tornado in Iowa and knocking out the power to nearly a half-million Midwesterners. The Weather Channel and several news outlets are calling the storms a derecho, but meteorologist Brooke Hagenhof, at the National Weather Service office in Johnston, says still it’s too early to say that. “The official determination for a derecho is made by the Storm Prediction Center, their national center down in Norman, Oklahoma,” Hagenhoff says. “Derechos have a very strict definition as far as how long they are and how wide that swath of wind damage is, so they will be going through the data today and determining whether this fits that description.”
A derecho, also called a land hurricane, is defined as a widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm that is associated with a fast-moving group of severe thunderstorms. This storm system appears to fit that definition, bringing exceptionally powerful winds to many areas of Iowa, including a report of 102-mile an hour gusts near New Vienna in Dubuque County. There are dozens of damage reports from central into eastern Iowa of toppled trees, downed power lines, and structural damage to homes, businesses and other buildings. The one confirmed tornado touched down in metro Des Moines.
“We did have the area that moved across portions of the metro from Urbandale into the Windsor Heights area across the Des Moines metro,” Hagenhoff says. “We’re also investigating some damage near Eldora, as well as a swath of wind gusts that went from near Pella towards Montezuma and just north of Oskaloosa.” A national report says the power was cut to more than 460-thousand customers in the region, including parts of Chicago. Iowa-based MidAmerican Energy reported 40-thousand customers without power at 11 last night, mostly in the Des Moines, Iowa City and Davenport areas.
80,000-bushel grain bin toppled in Luxemburg (Photo by Luxemburg Fire Dep’t)
A Des Moines T-V station reports the electricity may not be restored to all Urbandale residents until late tonight or early tomorrow. Many counties in northeast Iowa reported large hail, Benton County reported two-and-a-half inches of rainfall, and there was scattered flash flooding, including Highway 61 being underwater near Zwingle. Hagenhoff says the weather service is dispatching survey teams to several Iowa locations where the damage is concentrated. “We’re going to be working today to determine which of those were due to tornado damage and which was straight line winds with this complex of storms that moved across the state,” she says.
There are no serious injuries reported in Iowa, though one death is attributed to the storm. Reports say a woman in Indiana was killed when a tree fell on her home. The derecho that hit Iowa in August of 2020 had winds that peaked in the Cedar Rapids area around 140 miles an hour. The storm destroyed more than seven-million Iowa trees and caused some 11-billion dollars damage.
(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Glenwood Police Department reports 23-year-old Noah Kittle, of Glenwood, was arrested Monday, on an OWI charge. Kittle was taken into custody for OWI/1st offense. His bond was set at $1,000. He posted bond and was released.
The Audubon Wheelers keep the season alive and punched their ticket to the state tournament with a terrific win against MVAOCOU. It didn’t come easy for the Wheelers, as a stout Rams defense constantly shut down anything the Wheelers tried to do. Mattie Nielsen led off the game with a single, but Rams pitcher Mya Goslar responded by striking out Taryn Petersen, before Jordan Porsch hit a screamer to the 2nd baseman who touched the base then quickly threw over to second to turn a double play.
The double play set the tone early, as in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings, the Wheelers found themselves with runners in scoring position, with MVAOCOU finding a way out of the jam each inning. Coach Schwery talked about what she had to tell her players in the dugout.
Runs were scarce to come by on both sides, as Riley Miller had another standout performance. The freshman added to her dominant campaign, striking out 12 Ram batters and not allowing a single hit on the night. Coach Schwery talked about Miller’s season.
It all came down to the bottom of the 7th inning. Anna Larsen led off the inning with a stand-up double, then advanced to 3rd on a passed ball. With the winning run only 60 feet away, the Rams pinned back their ears, with Gemeni Goodwin and Mattie Nielsen both hitting pop-ups to the shortstop. Then with a 1-1 count, Taryn Petersen hit one to the 3rd base-shortstop gap. Rams shortstop MaKynlee made a terrific snag and throw over to first but there was no beating Taryn Petersen’s speed as she walked it off for the Lady Wheelers. After the game, Coach Schwety tipped her cap to players both past and present.
The Wheelers will await to find their seeding for the state tournament in Fort Dodge. Their first game will be next Tuesday the 23rd. The Rams’ season comes to an end at 20-12. The Rams graduate three seniors.
(State News) – A lawsuit alleges that a company operating an alternative fuels plant in the eastern Iowa town of Marengo, lied to and may have bribed, public officials before a massive explosion injured workers there in 2022. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports Tali Washburn, a Pottawattamie County woman who worked for the C6-Zero company as its government relations director, is now suing the company, six of its affiliates and several company officials in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.
In December 2022, C6-Zero’s roof-shingle recycling plant in Marengo was rocked by a massive explosion that injured more than a dozen people and resulted in a partial evacuation of the town.
An explosion in Marengo contaminated soil and water in the area. (Photo courtesy of Department of Natural Resources documents)
As part of her lawsuit, Washburn alleges that long before the explosion, company officials told her they had purchased a house from the Marengo city official tasked with approving the plant’s emergency safety plan. The purchase was then put in someone else’s name to obscure C6-Zero’s involvement, the lawsuit claims.
In 2023, a judge ordered the company to pay a $95,700 fine for workplace safety violations that contributed to the explosion. The state has since sued the company for $1.5 million in expenses caused by the cleanup of contaminated water at the Marengo site. A trial in that case is scheduled for later this year.
According to Washburn’s lawsuit, she was hired by C6-Zero in March 2020. In mid-2021, she claims, she “blew the whistle” on corporate wrongdoing by contacting the company’s CEO, general counsel and chief operating officer. The lawsuit alleges she then hired a former federal prosecutor as her own legal counsel and “confronted” the company about what she considered to be safety issues, loan falsification, tax issues and “interference” with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. In January 2022, she claims, the company placed her on administrative leave and threatened her with a lawsuit for defamation. In July 2022, she alleges, she was fired and three months later disclosed her concerns to an unspecified “Iowa government official.”
Her lawsuit seeks damages for breach of contract, unpaid wages, fraudulent misrepresentation and civil conspiracy. C6-Zero and company officials named in have yet to file a response to the allegations.
The problems began, Washburn alleges, shortly after she was hired to help C6-Zero clear regulatory hurdles in developing recycling technology that would turn asphalt into oil. According to the lawsuit, C6-Zero’s biggest problem at that time was that it was unable to use patented technology due to various state agencies classifying the business as a recycler, a stockpiler of solid waste and a potential generator of hazardous waste. Washburn alleges she “developed a pathway” for C6-Zero to successfully obtain a “comfort letter” from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Midwest regional office to launch its business in Iowa. That letter was intended to “validate” the company’s commitment to operate, within the EPA’s own framework, as a manufacturer and not a generator of hazardous waste.
Shortly thereafter, the lawsuit claims, company officials directed Washburn to send a grant application to the state seeking a forgivable multimillion-dollar loan. State officials denied the grant request, allegedly citing issues with the company’s background. Months later, the lawsuit claims, company officials told Washburn they had “embellished” the grant application in part by stating they would hire 260 employees and have a total annual payroll of $3.7 million.
In addition, the lawsuit states, Chief Operating Officer Christopher Koehn “specifically and purposefully lied on the application” by listing a particular individual with a good reputation as C6-Zero’s chief technology officer. Koehn confessed to Washburn that the man never had any official role in the company and his name was included merely to bolster the company’s bid for the forgivable loan, the lawsuit alleges.
OMAHA, Neb. [KETV) – Officials in Douglas County, Nebraska, late Monday night, alerted Pottawattamie County emergency personnel, about calls they had about someone jumping into the Missouri River. Word of the incident began coming in a little before midnight. A water rescue team and first responders were able to locate the individual and bring them ashore. Medics took the unidentified person to the hospital, where they were said to be in serious condition.
Additional information is currently not available.
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