(Anita, Iowa) – The CAM School Board met Monday evening at the high school in Anita. The retiring Board held a public hearing on the Instructional Support Levy, which Superintendent Dr. Pam Stangeland said pertained to resolution calling for a renewal of the current levy through Fiscal Year 2032.

Following an organizational meeting of the new CAM School Board, Cara Murphy was re-elected as President of the Board, and Julie Williamson was re-elected Vice-President. Dr. Stangeland said they are excited to have to new Board members in Adam Akers and Mallory Armstrong on the CAM School Board.

Stangeland summed-up the meeting by saying she feels positive about the direction the CAM School District is taking.

(Radio Iowa/KJAN) – The High Wind Warning expired this (Wednesday) morning, but strong gusts were continuing to blast across Iowa before they were expected to diminish this (Wed.) afternoon. National Weather Service meteorologist Brooke Hagenhoff) says some winds early this (Wednesday) morning approached 70 miles an hour. “Sixty-eight is the highest recorded so far out in Carroll,” she says. “Des Moines has gusted to 66, and parts of western Iowa towards Nebraska and South Dakota have gusted towards 69 miles per hour.” No serious injuries are reported after multiple incidents of semis blowing onto their sides on Interstates 35 and 80. Tree limbs falling on power lines caused scattered outages, while many Iowa school districts delayed the start of classes two hours.

In southwest Iowa, a semi tractor-trailer was blown off of Interstate 80 westbound east of the Marne Exit. Minor injuries were reported. And, a semi was blown-off of I-80 eastbound, near mile marker 11 in Pottawattamie County. A Street/stop sign was snapped-off at its base at 4th & Walnut, here in Atlantic, and a tree or tree debris was blocking Highway 173 north of I-80 early this (Wed.) morning, but the road had been cleared by 5:15-a.m.  Elsewhere, a power power was snapped by the winds in Page County.

Hagenhoff says the forecast calls for another wintry mix of weather tomorrow (Thursday). “Parts of northeast Iowa could see a few inches of snow. As we get towards central Iowa, maybe a little bit of a rain/snow mix, perhaps some light ice accumulations with that are possible,” Hagenhoff says. “Anything that does accumulate will be very light.” She says yet more snow is possible this weekend for wide areas of the state. “Yeah, the third consecutive week we’re forecasting snow on a Saturday for Iowa,” Hagenhoff says. “Thankfully, this round looks fairly light, maybe an inch or two, but very cold — highs in the single digits to teens on Saturday and Sunday.”

The Thanksgiving weekend storm dropped more than 16 inches of snow on some parts of the state.

(UPDATED w/CPD Correction) – (Creston, IA) – Officials with the Creston Police Department report 34-year-old Ashton James Olson, of Creston, was arrested Friday afternoon at his residence. Olson was charged with Animal at Large. He was cited and released on a Promise to Appear.

And, at around 2:20-a.m. Tuesday (12/9), Creston Police arrested 21-year-old Nikoli Ja’Hari Wilson, of Cumming (IA), for Possession of Controlled Substance Marijuana 1^st Offense. Wilson was cited and released on a Promise to Appear.

(Radio Iowa) – Many Iowans are being invited to holiday gatherings for work and family, and those events can become a real challenge for anyone who’s trying to mind their calories. Shayna Schertz, a wellness education specialist at Emplify Health by Gundersen, says you may be able to temporarily set aside your healthy goals, just don’t go hog wild. “Go in to the party, choose what foods that you really want to eat, that are special, that aren’t there all year round, have a small portion of that food, and then move on,” Schertz says. “There’s always tomorrow to get back on track.” Splurging is likely okay on certain items like home-baked pies or grandma’s potato salad, as Schertz says you shouldn’t try to be so regimented that you feel restricted.

“They are the holidays, it’s good to indulge,” Schertz says. “However, if it’s something that you really don’t want, or you’ve made up your mind that you’re going to stick to certain goals, then I would just let them know, ‘Nope, I’m just not hungry right now,’ or you can politely decline.” She says there are a few tricks to attending parties and avoiding overindulging when you’re trying to watch your weight.”If you’re heading out to a party, make sure that you eat a well-balanced meal first. You don’t want to go into a party hungry,” Schertz says. “Second, peruse the table. Choose those whole nutrient-dense foods first, and then have smaller portions of the foods that you normally can’t have or normally aren’t around. Cheese and crackers? You can have that any time of the year.”

Portion size is also key, and she says to work toward striking a balance between fruits and vegetables and those -other- foods that are a treat. Emplify Health by Gundersen has clinics in Calmar, Decorah, Fayette, Lansing, Postville and Waukon, and a hospital in West Union.

(Radio Iowa) – D-O-T engineer Clayton Burke says the ferry taking people across the Mississippi River after the old bridge was closed has been running most of the time. He says they are averaging between 500 and 600 passengers a day with 300 to 400 vehicles every day. The old bridge was closed so work can continue on the new bridge. Burke says weather is the only thing that has stopped the ferry. “With that Thanksgiving storm obviously and the holiday we had to stop the ferry service for day and a half just because of the weather and and what-not,” Burke says. Burke gave an update to the Iowa Transportation Commission Tuesday on the new bridge, and says with the peers in place steel is going up.

Mississippi River bridge at Lansing. (File photo, Iowa DOT)

“The steel truss has been erected on the Iowa side through that first span on the left side of your sheet there. They’ve started with construction of the cantilever towards the Wisconsin side, they started construction of that part of the truss. Construction has slowed down a little bit, but they’re still out there working, obviously with the weather that’s going to slow things down,” Burke says. He says they will soon take down the steel from the old bridge.

“The implosion is coming up on the existing bridge, that’s coming up on December 18th,” Burke says. Burke says the ferry runs during holidays, but the reduce the hours to 12 hours a day instead of 16 hours.

(Red Oak, IA) – Police in Red Oak arrested a man on an assault charge, Tuesday evening. Authorities report 22-year-old Tylor Ray Adams, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 8:15-p.m., on a Montgomery County warrant charging him with Domestic Abuse Assault – a Simple Misdemeanor.

Adams was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held without bond.

(Radio Iowa) – A Republican has won Tuesday’s special election for a seat in the Iowa House. Unofficial results indicate Republican Wendy Larson of Odebolt finished 40 points ahead of Democrat Rachel Burns in the district, which covers Sac, Calhoun and Pocahontas Counties and a portion of Webster County. It was Larson’s second race in the district. She’s campaigned on protecting landowner rights in an area of the state where some property owners have opposed the Summit Carbon Solutions Pipeline. She came within 53 votes of defeating Representative Mike Sexton of Rockwell City in last year’s Republican Primary.

This fall, President Trump appointed Sexton to be state director of U-S-D-A Rural Development. Sexton resigned from the Iowa House September 19th. Larson’s win means Republicans have maintained their 67-seat supermajority in the Iowa House.

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart says Rachel Burns — the Democrat who ran against Larson — ran a gutsy campaign and did 11 points better in the district than Kamala Harris did in 2024.

This was the fifth special election this year to fill a vacancy in the state legislature. A sixth special election on December 30th will fill the seat held by state Senator Clair Celsi (SELL-see), a Democrat from West Des Moines who died in October. The 2026 Iowa legislative session begins January 12th.

(Radio Iowa) – Four of the five Republicans running for governor say it’s time for action to reduce the alarming rate of new cancer cases among Iowans. The candidates appeared at a forum last (Monday) night in Sioux Center that was sponsored by the Iowa Standard blog. Zach Lahn of Belle Plaine says Iowans know there’s something terribly wrong with the status quo.

“I have read the Monsanto papers. I understand this issue deeply. When my father go cancer, I did that,” Lahn said. “…We know what’s going on here, but this is not on the backs of our farmers. I’m with you. I’m one of you. We are being lied to and it’s time that we stand up for our people and stand up for our health and I’m here to do just that.” Lahn was endorsed this week by MAHA Action, a group aligned with Robert F. Kennedy, Junior — a long time critic of farm pesticides.

Pastor Brad Sherman of Williamsburg, a former state legislator, says it’s time for independent studies to confirm the reasons why Iowa’s cancer rate is so high. “We can find out exactly what’s causing these problems,” Sherman said. “And when we can’t find them out, it’s because we don’t want to find them out.” Former Iowa Department of Administrative Services Director Adam Steen of Runnells says there had been no history of cancer in his family — but his father died of kidney cancer three years ago and his mother just survived breast cancer.

“Is it chemicals on our crops? Is it chemicals on our golf courses? Is it chemicals in our yard? Is it radon? Is it drinking? Is it smoking? What is it that is causing these cancer rates to be so high? We have to determine what that is,” Steen said. Eddie Andrews of Johnston, a member of the Iowa House, says it was misguided for the Iowa Senate to pass a bill that would have provided liability protection to Monsanto, the maker of roundup. “The exactly wrong direction,” Andrews said. “We need to be finding solutions to cancer, stopping things.”

Congressman Randy Feenstra, the other Republican candidate in the 2026 race for governor, did not appear at last (Monday) night’s event with his G-O-P rivals. Feenstra spoke at campaign event in a brewery in Sioux Center.

(Glenwood, IA) – The Glenwood Police Department, today (Tuesday) reports two arrests. 52-year-old Trevor Lee Narron, of Glenwood, was arrested Dec. 9th in Des Moines, on an Out-of-County/State warrant. He was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

And, on Monday (Dec. 8), 33-year-old Brandon Charles Amenta, of Glenwood, was arrested in Glenwood for Failure to Appear on a citation. His bond was set at $1,000.