Two women were arrested Tuesday on separate charges in Red Oak. Authorities say 51-year-old Shelby Joann Olivares, of Red Oak, was arrested for Public Intoxication. She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond. And, 29-year-old Brandi Jessica Harding, of Omaha, NE., was arrested for Interference with Official Acts. Her bond was also set at $300.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors met Tuesday morning in Atlantic, and approved the hiring of Sean Berens as Information Technology & Geographic Information Systems (IT/GIS) Director. Supervisor Steve Green….

The Board approved the appointment of Sandra Sothman from Atlantic, to fill a vacancy position on the Cass County Conservation Board for the remainder of a term ending 12/31/22. And, they passed a Resolution declaring an official intent under treasury regulation, to issue debt to reimburse the County for certain original expenditures paid in connection with specified projects. Board Chair Steve Baier explained the resolution is with regard to the communications project…

Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken presented a brief report on Secondary Roads Department activities since last week. He said crews are doing a lot of road rock spreading, for one thing, and burning some brush, among other previously backlogged projects. There are also some box culvert projects that are in the process of being finished-up.

He said they should be completed by the end of next week. And, the Board received a report on General Relief/Mental Health for the month of October, from Deb Schuler.

(Radio Iowa) – With gasoline prices in Iowa averaging more than a dollar a gallon higher than a year ago, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is calling on President Joe Biden to challenge OPEC in international court. Grassley, a Republican, says the president’s energy policies discourage domestic production, while Biden “resorted to pleading” with OPEC to ramp up production, only to be turned down. “Instead of asking OPEC to pump more,” Grassley says, “he should look at how they’re monopolizing the world price of petroleum.”

Grassley is calling on the president to support his bipartisan No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels, or NOPEC, Act, which he’s reintroduced. Grassley says Biden backed the original bill some 21 years ago when he was still a senator. “He advocated to then-President Clinton that President Clinton ought to sue OPEC for violating antitrust laws,” Grassley says. “That was through a bill that he and I agreed on at that particular time called NOPEC.”

Grassley is urging the administration to support the bill to hold the cartel accountable for its anticompetitive behavior that elevates global oil prices. He says NOPEC would provide the Department of Justice with an effective tool to ensure American consumers are “no longer beholden to artificially inflated gas prices.” “If the president’s serious about lowering gas prices, he should support strong renewable fuels volumes,” Grassley says, “and look at the real anti-trust violation of OPEC.”

According to Triple-A, gas prices in Iowa are averaging three-13 a gallon, compared to a dollar-97 a year ago. An official with the motor club in Iowa notes, prices a year ago were exceptionally low due to drastically-reduced travel levels caused by the pandemic — and lower demand brought lower prices.