(Council Bluffs, IA) – As we turn the corner into spring, officials with the Charles E. Lakin Foundation say they are excited to open up nominations for its annual Outstanding Teacher Award. The foundation is seeking stories of elementary and secondary teachers within 40 miles of Emerson, Iowa, who are going above and beyond for their students. Jennifer Green, Charles E. Lakin Foundation, Inc. Secretary, Operations and Grant Manager, says this is the 18th year for the award.

Since its inception, 64 teachers from around the region have been honored for the Outstanding Teacher Award.

Every spring the Charles E. Lakin Foundation honors four local educators–two elementary teachers and two secondary teachers, whose efforts encourage and motivate students to come to school and who see teaching as a calling, rather than a job.

Each winner will receive $10,000, with an additional $2,500 given to their school. Previous winners have spanned the gamut of education.

Nominations will be accepted through March 31st and the link below, or through the link at https://www.ghaea.org/

Educators may not be nominated by family members. The Charles E. Lakin Foundation serves six counties in Southwest Iowa (Pottawattamie, Cass, Mills, Montgomery, Fremont, Page) and two counties in Nebraska (Douglas and Sarpy).

Direct survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8T87FZX

(Creston, IA) – Officials with the Creston Police Department report the arrest Sunday night, of 31-year-old Patrick Riley Iiams. He was taken into custody at his residence in Creston, and charged with Violation of Parole. Iiams was taken to Union County Jail and was being held without bond until making his initial court appearance.

(Iowa DNR Water Summary Update) – Drought watches have been issued for northwest and southeast Iowa following a winter marked by a lack of rain and snow, according to the latest Water Summary Update from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Iowa experienced a notably dry winter, with worsening drought conditions expanding across much of the state through February. This deterioration has resulted in the northwest and southeast drought regions of Iowa being placed under a drought watch. While seasonal streamflows currently remain within normal ranges, soil moisture levels continue to decline statewide.

Iowa’s preliminary statewide February precipitation totaled 0.38 inches, or 0.79 inches below normal. Monthly totals ranged from no accumulation at several southern and northwestern stations to 1.26 inches in New Hampton, with southeastern Iowa experiencing the driest conditions as precipitation measured between 0.75 and 1.75 inches. The preliminary statewide average temperature for February was 31.3 degrees, which is 7.2 degrees above normal.

The U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) currently shows that most of Iowa is abnormally dry or experiencing drought conditions, with portions of southeast Iowa carrying a severe drought designation. According to Iowa’s Drought Plan, all drought regions saw conditions deteriorate in February as soil moisture remained critically dry due to growing moisture deficits and the resurgence of drought.

The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center’s March outlook indicates above-average precipitation across the entire state, and an increased likelihood of above-average temperatures. The seasonal outlook suggests continued drought in far northwestern Iowa, and a drought-free or drought removal is likely for the remainder of the state.

“Following a winter of persistent moisture deficits, Drought Regions in northwest and southeastern Iowa are now under a drought watch. The lack of both precipitation and a significant snowpack has led to substantial soil drying across the state. While the seasonal outlook predicts drought will persist in far Northwest Iowa through May, the rest of the state shows a favorable trend for improvement,” said Jessica Reese McIntyre, DNR Environmental Specialist.

The report is prepared by technical staff from Iowa DNR, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering, and the U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department.

ATLANTIC, IA (March 8, 2026) – Produce in the Park is welcoming some special visitors to Spring Celebration Market Saturday, April 4, from 10 AM to noon. Hoopy Hallow Ranch is bringing bottle lambs named Kit and Kat to the April farmers market this year. Spring Celebration Market is held the day before Easter at the Nishna Valley Family YMCA, 1100 Maple Street, in Atlantic.

In addition to bottle lambs, this holiday farmers market will offer favorite area food and craft vendors, face painting, and free bounce houses provided by the Nishna Valley YMCA. Visiting organizations providing community resources will include Healthy Cass County.

Vendors at Spring Celebration Market will be selling produce including leafy greens, sweet potatoes, carrots, and more; local meats including lamb, chicken, pork, and beef; farm-fresh eggs; local honey, jellies, and jams; breads including sourdough; and a variety of freeze-dried snacks, as well as a variety of desserts including cupcakes, kringle, cookies, and cinnamon rolls. Craft vendors will be selling bath and body products including soaps, body creams, lip balms, sugar scrubs, and beard oils, as well as crocheted stuffies, candles and wax melts, seasonal decorations, gifts, and potted plants.

Admission is free and all are welcome at Produce in the Park farmers markets. The market accepts SNAP/EBT and Double Up Food Bucks for all qualifying food items.

Produce in the Park farmers markets are sponsored by the City of Atlantic, First Whitney Bank & Trust, Gregg Young Chevrolet of Atlantic, Cass Health, Cass County Tourism, Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, and Nishna Valley Family YMCA.

For the latest market updates, follow Produce in the Park on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProduceInThePark or Instagram at www.instagram.com/produceintheparkatlanticia/, or sign up for the Produce in the Park email newsletter at www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com.

(Radio Iowa) – The remains of six soldiers from an Army Reserve unit based in Des Moines were returned to the U.S. this weekend in a somber military ceremony at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. President Trump, Vice President Vance and top officials from the Trump Administration were there, along with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and Iowa’s entire congressional delegation.

Two of the soldiers were Iowans. 20-year-old Declan Coady was a student at Drake and was posthumously promoted to sergeant. 45-year-old Major Jeffrey O’Brien of Waukee was commissioned as an officer in the Army Reserve in 2012 and 54-year-old Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan of Sacramento, California, had lived in Iowa for several years.

The Sacramento Bee reports Kuwait was to be his final deployment after a 30 year military career. On Air Force One after the ceremony, President Trump told reporters the soldiers’ relatives are “great people” and it was “a very sad day.”

The soldiers’ remains were taken to a military mortuary on the Air Force base. The Pentagon has not announced details of their final flights to their home states. Their Army Reserve unit — the 103rd Sustainment Command — specializes in logistics for the military.

(Radio Iowa) – St. Patrick Catholic School in Sheldon will permanently close at the end of the current academic year. A statement from the Sioux City Catholic Diocese says the school’s board of education and leadership made the decision to close due to low and declining enrollment and other factors. The school has provided a Catholic education for families in the Sheldon, Ashton and Sibley areas for the past 70 years.

This, year, St. Patrick has 42 students enrolled in preschool through 8th grade. Staff and parents were notified of the closure Friday afternoon.

A message from the board was shared with parishioners this weekend. Bishop John Keehner of the Sioux City Catholic Diocese issues a statement, saying in part: “This was a difficult decision for the leadership of St. Patrick. We are grateful for the many decades St. Patrick Catholic School served the families and students in the Sheldon area, teaching the faith and academics to our young people.

(Red Oak, IA) – A vehicle traveling 78 miles per hour in a 20-mile per hour zone, was stopped early this (Sunday) morning in Red Oak, and the driver arrested on an OWI charge. According to Red Oak Police, officers conducted the traffic stop at around 3:30-a.m. in the 2000 block of N. 8th Street. The driver, 29-year-old Collin Earl Robert McDowell, of Essex, was arrested for OWI/1st offense – A serious Misdemeanor. He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $1,000 bond.

(An IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH report) – In southwest Iowa, the fields can be dry, sloped or have rough soil that is poor for growing corn or soybeans and is prone to erosion and runoff. A state-led program is helping farmers, like Bailie Walters, convert those less-than-desirable crop lands into pasture. This helps with soil and nutrient conservation on those acres and it gives farmers more places to graze cattle.

Walters, who farms and raises cattle with her father in Taylor County, has used the state Cattle and Conservation Working Lands Program to convert crop land to pasture and to add fencing and water sources to different parts of the farm to facilitate additional grazing opportunities. Walters said she’s not sure these conservation measures would have happened if it weren’t for the state program, which offers cost-share funding and technical support to producers in select counties.

The program began as a pilot project in 2016, administered by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, and now serves farmers in eight counties: Adams, Carroll, Cherokee, Guthrie, Ida, Page, Taylor, and Woodbury. IDALS recently announced it was extending the program for an additional three years and renewing agreements in Taylor, Page, Carroll, Cherokee, Guthrie and Ida counties. The program will persist in the other counties, but they have a separate grant timeline.

The goal of the project, according to IDALS, is to “convert non-productive land to productive land while also providing water quality benefits to the state of Iowa.” According to a news release from IDALS, the program has facilitated the conversion of more than 16,000 acres of land from less-productive row crops fields to pasture and grazing systems. IDALS also said producers in the program have established more than 195,000 acres of cover crops, which can also be used as pasture for livestock. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said the project shows that “conservation does not require taking land out of production.”

“Farmers take their responsibility to be good stewards of the land very seriously because clean water is non-negotiable,” Naig said in the news release. Naig said the project encourages farmers to evaluate their land and “determine what makes sense to farm and what makes sense to hay or graze.” Underperforming or highly erodible acres are areas targeted for conversion. Walters said she has seen the impacts of the program on her family land as areas that were prone to erosion are now stabilized and more fields get seeded with cover crops.

She said seeding a marginal field to pasture was the “best thing” the family could do for that ground, which she said had poor soil and was in a rough and hilly area. The program also allowed them to grade stabilize a ditch at the back of the property and put in a couple of cattle ponds, both of which have made it easier to move the cattle to different paddocks and have reduced the amount of soil that runs off the land.

Walters said her father and grandfather implemented traditional conservation measures, like terraces, but were harder to convince on things like cover crops. Walters, as the younger generation on the farm, said it has been easier to get her family to try out different conservation methods under the program, since it has some funding attached. Ultimately, the program has allowed the Walters’ operation to rotate cattle between different areas on the farm. Walters said this has been especially helpful toward the end of the summer — when the pasture starts to singe, she still has areas to move the cattle.

A total of $15 million has been invested in the program, according to IDALS, and $11.7 million of that has come directly from the state. Funding for the recent extension of the program comes from the state’s Water Quality Initiative. The Water Quality Initiative funds many projects across the state, in addition to the cattle and conservation program. According to a fiscal year 2027 budget recommendation, the initiative received $8.2 million in both 2025 and 2026 from the state’s Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund.

Naig, speaking to lawmakers in a House appropriations subcommittee March 2, said the project could be a model for the federal Farm Bill because it promotes conservation without taking land out of production.  Plus, he said it gives the younger generation on the farm, like Walters, some assistance to add or build up a cattle herd if they want to diversify the family operation. Pallin Turner is another of the more than 1,100 producers in the state who have participated in the project. She runs about 300 head of cow-calf pairs and farms around 1,500 acres in Taylor and Page counties.

Turner said the program has allowed her operation to put cover crops on all of their farmed row crop acres, and even hay some of the rye they use as cover crops. Like Walters, she has also used the program to add fencing and ponds that make it easier to move cattle to different areas. She said there is a lot of pasture in southwest Iowa that was converted to crop land when row crops were more profitable than grazing cattle.

Those sloping or less productive lands are key targets of the program, which also partners with local Soil and Water Conservation Districts and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. Turner said the funding and implementation of cattle-specific conservation practices come at a time when the “pendulum” in the ag economy is swinging from row crops over to cattle. The U.S. cattle herd is at a historic low, while row crop producers have faced several years of low crop prices and high yields.

Applications for the program, according to IDALS, are considered on a first-come, first served basis. Interested producers can reach out to their USDA service centers for application information in the applicable counties.

(Henry County, IA) – A single vehicle crash involving a car early Saturday morning in southeastern Iowa resulted in the death of the driver. The Iowa State Patrol reports 26-year-old Jaden Eugene Williams, of Eddyville, was driving a 2017 Chevy Malibu northbound on Highway 34/218 on the eastern side of Mount Pleasant, when for reasons unknown, the vehicle left the road to the right and struck an embankment.

The car vaulted into a bridge before coming to rest. The accident happened at around 12:24-a.m., Saturday. Williams died at the scene.

The Patrol was assisted in its investigation by the Henry County Sheriff’s Office, Mount Pleasant Police, EMS, Fire, and the Henry County Medical Examiner’s Office.