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Sen. Grassley calls EPA production standards on biofuels ‘an insult’

Ag/Outdoor, News

June 20th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is calling on the E-P-A and the Biden Administration to raise Renewable Fuel Standard volumes so they keep up with the amount of biofuels our factories can churn out. Grassley says the agency didn’t boost the Renewable Volume Obligation — or R-V-O — levels far enough last year. He says it’s an “insult” for those levels to be so low and the result is a stifled industry and a discouragement of outside investment, which is costing green jobs in Iowa.

Grassley, a Republican, is joining with Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar in calling for a boost in R-V-O volumes in order to keep pace with biofuels production and availability. Sixteen other senators signed on.

The letter to the E-P-A highlights environmental benefits from an increase in biofuels production, including how biomass-based diesel can cut carbon emissions by more than 70 percent. Grassley says there are significant economic advantages for the entire supply chain, from the farmer to the consumer.

Iowa is the nation’s top producer of both ethanol and biodiesel. The letter to the head of the EPA says: “America’s environmental and energy security depend on the widespread production, availability, and use of biofuels. Biofuels play a particularly critical role in emissions reduction for heavy-duty transportation – including aviation, shipping, rail, and trucking – while opening up economic opportunities for American farmers. A strong RFS and broad availability of homegrown agricultural feedstocks are critical for ensuring we keep up the progress we have made in decarbonizing our roads, seas, railways and skies.”

Testing may be required for dairy cattle shows at Iowa fairs

Ag/Outdoor, News

June 20th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – With bird flu cases confirmed in at least nine northwest Iowa dairy herds, there may be new requirements for some dairy cattle exhibited at county fairs and the Iowa State Fair this summer. Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig expects to make an announcement soon.

Cows enter a more than 300-day lactating cycle and produce milk after giving birth to a calf. In early 2022 after bird flu reemerged in Iowa poultry operations, Naig cancelled live bird shows at fairs and other exhibitions to try to curb the spread of the virus. Iowa law requires county fairs to have a veterinarian inspect all livestock, poultry and birds as the animals arrive on the fairgrounds for shows and exhibits.

ISU students get a chance to chase storms as part of class

News, Weather

June 20th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A class of Iowa State University students got a first hand look at severe weather this spring in a course on identifying how storms develop. Dave Floury is one of the course instructors.

Floury, who is in the Atmospheric Sciences Department at I-S-U, says some students had been storm chasing, but wanted a more structured and safe experience.

He says they talked about the science of how thunderstorms and tornadoes form, and then went on an eight-day trip to observe them.

Their trip started in central Kansas, when to northeastern Colorado, then southwest Iowa and southwest Kansas. They also got a tour of the national Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. And finished up by running with storms in northern Oklahoma and southwest Missouri.

Bird co-leads brief on Trump gag order in Mar-A-Lago case

News

June 20th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is among 24 state attorneys general asking a Florida judge let former President Trump speak publicly about the search of his Mar-A-Lago resort. A special prosecutor has asked the judge overseeing the classified documents case against Trump to issue a gag order.

Bird was part of the team that drafted a legal brief that argues the gag order would muzzle political speech.

Bird served as Fremont County Attorney and then as Guthrie County Attorney before being elected as the state’s attorney general in 2022. This is the second time Bird has been one of the leading attorneys general in drafting a brief to oppose a gag order on Trump. The first was related to federal charges that accuse Trump of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird testified at Iowa House Budget Subcommittee hearing. (RI file photo)

In this latest brief, Bird and the other attorneys general says a gag order in the classified documents case would deny Americans the right to hear what Trump has to say about the most heated political issue of the day. The special prosecutor says Trump’s comments on the case have endangered law officers involved in the investigation and threatened the integrity of the proceedings.

ELDA LOUISE FROCK, 92, of Exira (Memorial Svc. 7/1/24)

Obituaries

June 20th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

ELDA LOUISE FROCK, 92, of Exira, died June 8, 2024, at the Exira Care Center.  A Memorial service for ELDA FROCK will be held 2-p.m. July 1st, 2024, at the Exira Christian Church. Schmidt Family Funeral Home in Exira has the arrangements.

A reception with a luncheon will follow the memorial service on July 1st, in the fellowship hall of the Exira Christian Church.

ELDA FROCK is survived by:

Her daughter – Rebecca Anne (& husband Les), of Sacramento CA

Her son – Steven (Katia) Frock, of Hamlin.

Cass County (IA) Sheriff’s report on arrests from May 30th thru June 19th

News

June 20th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office has released a report on arrests from over the past four weeks. Most recently:

  • On June 19th, 36-year-old Aaron Macias of Atlantic, was arrested on a warrant for Harassment 3rd Degree.
  • On June 17th, 33-year-old Dustin Potter, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Violation of Probation; and, 33-year-old Benjamin Barnes of Griswold, was arrested on a warrant for a Sex Offender Registry Violation.
  • On June 16th, Cass County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 46-year-old Angela Logemann of Atlantic, for Simple Assault.  Logemann held pending her later release on her own recognizance.
  • On June 13th, 33-year-old Bradley Haley of Clarinda, was arrested in Cass County on a warrant for Failure to Appear.  He was held pending his later release on his own recognizance.
  • On June 12th, 41-year-old Zachary Frank of Atlantic, was arrested on a warrant for Violation of Probation, as well as Driving While Barred and Improper Rear Lamps; and, 24-year-old Jackon Sally of Atlantic, was arrested on warrants for Violation of Probation.  He was additionally charged with Sex Abuse 3rd Degree.
  • There were two arrests June 10th, in Cass County: 71-year-old Samuel Miller  of Atlantic, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance/3rd or subsequent offense.  Miller was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on his own recognizance; and 37-year-old Aaron Shamblen of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Driving While Barred, OWI 1st Offense and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.  Shamblen was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on his own recognizance.
  • June 6th, Cass County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 65-year-old Reggie Martin of Bridgewater, for OWI/1st Offense.  Martin was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on his own recognizance.
  • On the 4th, 39-year-old Robin Grieshaber of Cumberland, was arrested for Drug Trafficking – Methamphetamine, Driving with No Valid Driver’s License and Interference with Official Acts.  Grieshaber was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release.
  • June 3rd, 27-year-old Jacob Johnson of Atlantic, was arrested for Public Intoxication.  Johnson was booked into the Cass County Jail where he remained until his time was served.
  • On the June 2nd, 23-year-old Justin Elimo of Atlantic, was arrested for Public Intoxication.  Elimo was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on his own recognizance.
  • And, on May 30th, 20-year-old Phillip Germann of Anita, was arrested on for OWI/1st Offense and Operating without a Valid Driver’s License.  Germann was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release.

Unless otherwise mentioned, the above listed subjects were booked into the Cass County Jail.

“All criminal charges are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in the court of law.”

** Please Note:  The Cass County Sheriff’s Office is now using:  civil@casscoia.us as the preferred email address for any digital civil service processing needs.  Thank you.

2 arrested on warrants in Mills County

News

June 20th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two poeple were arrested this week on separate warrants. On Monday, 32-year-old Devon Elizabeth Gbekin, (no known address) was arrested on an Out of County/State Warrant. Gbekin was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

And, on Tuesday, 52-year-old Glen Eugen Gallagher, of  Omaha, was arrested on a warrant for Violation of Probation. He was taken into custody at the Douglas County, NE, Jail and held in the Mills County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

DORSEY DINKLA, 87, of Massena (Svcs. 7/1/24)

Obituaries

June 20th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

DORSEY DINKLA, 87, of Massena, died Thursday, June 20, 2024, at the Heritage House in Atlantic.  Funeral services for DORSEY DINKLA will be held July 1st at 10:30 a.m. at the First Evangelical Lutheran Church, south of Wiota. Lamb Funeral Home in Massena is in charge of the arrangements

Visitation at the funeral home is on June 30th from Noon until 5-p.m., with the family greeting friends from 3-until 5-p.m.

Burial is in the Massena Center Cemetery.

 Memorials:  To the Dorsey Dinkla Memorial Fund to be established by the family at a later date.

Online condolences may be left to the family at www.lambfuneralhomes.com.

Webster County man fined for triple digit speeding on a crotch rocket

News

June 20th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Fort Dodge, Iowa) – The Webster County Sheriff’s Office posted on social media this (Thursday) morning, a 20-year old motorcycle enthusiast “met one of our deputies tonight while traveling 136 mph in a 55 mph speed zone on his street bike. He soon discovered that this speed results in a $561 fine along with loss of his driver’s license if convicted.”

This is a similar make/model/color motorcycle mentioned in this story.

Authorities said “At this speed, this young man would have almost zero time to react had another motorist, deer, or something else been in his path. Luckily he gets to learn this lesson without serious injury or worse.”

California man sentenced in Cass County (IA) for “hit list” that included Biden & Harris

News

June 20th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

A California man was sentenced in Iowa on Tuesday after authorities found a hit list of high-ranking U.S. officials, including the president. According to multiple reports, Kuachua Brillion Xiong was sentenced to two years in prison and three years of supervised release. In December, 2021, Xiong was pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy on Interstate 80 in Cass County, for weaving in and out of traffic.

He told deputies that he was on his way to Washington, D.C., to kill President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Investigators said his “hit list” was based on downloaded videos of individuals on TikTok — that he had over 100 videos featuring Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and Mark Zuckerberg. He also told investigators that nothing but this traffic stop would stop him.

Kuachua Brillion Xiong

Firearms, ammunition and body armor were found in the vehicle. Investigators said Xiong had the White House’s address on his GPS and cash set aside in the vehicle — earmarked for his own funeral expenses. He also had a grappling hook authorities say he intended to use to break into the White House.