(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken informed the Cass County Board of Supervisors during their meeting today (Tuesday), that the Iowa DOT has two bridges in Cass County that they will conduct overlays on, In both causes, there will be road closures and detours. The first to close on Monday, March 14th, is the Highway 6 bridge over Indian Creek, near Lewis. It won’t be done until at least the end of May. Detours will be established for both bridge projects.

Most of the locals, it was noted, will use the Lewis Road as a detour, instead. The second bridge to be closed is over the East Nishnabotna River on Highway 83, northwest of Atlantic. Similar work will begin March 28th on that project.

Changeable electronic message signs will remind motorists of the impending changes. Wolken said also, later this summer, the bridge on Highway 92 near Griswold will be closed for repair work. Additional information will be available closer to the project date. In other news, Wolken said bridge #280 on 700^th Street is finished, and open to traffic.

And, Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon reported the EMA trailer was in the Winterset area this past weekend, following the devastating and fatal tornado.

The trailer Cass County is supplying is 15-years old, Kennon says, but it works perfectly and is equipped with a generator.

(Radio Iowa) – Six teenagers are now charged in Monday’s shootings outside Des Moines East High School that left one boy dead and two young women hurt. Investigators say shots were fired by multiple shooters from multiple vehicles. Officers searched five homes and six vehicles, recovering six firearms. The six suspects range in age from 14 to 17 and all six are charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. Police say all six are from Des Moines but it’s unclear if they attended East High. The name of the 15-year-old boy who was killed remains withheld, while the 16-year-old girl is hospitalized in serious condition, and the 18-year-old woman is in critical condition.

The suspects in custody are: 16-year-old Manuel Buezo, 14-year-old Nyang Chamdual, 17-year-old Octavio Lopez,15-year-old Alex Perdomo, 16-year-old Romero Perdomo and 17-year-old Henry Valladares-Amaya.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he does -not- oppose the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U-S Supreme Court, but Grassley says the timeline Democrats propose to confirm her by Easter isn’t “realistic.” Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, says Democrats want to start Jackson’s hearings on March 21st. “That probably would allow them to get done by Easter,” Grassley says. “It wouldn’t have to be done by Easter because the ninth seat on the court that she will fill won’t be vacant until the first of July, around that period of time, so there’s no hurry from the standpoint of the court only having eight members.”

Comparisons are being made to how swiftly Republicans confirmed now-Justice Amy Coney Barrett in 2020, but Grassley says it’s not apples-to-apples. “Barrett didn’t have any federal government relationship whatsoever when she was picked to be on the Supreme Court,” Grassley says, “whereas there’s just 500 cases by Judge Jackson at the district court level, only two at the D.C. circuit court level.”

Grassley says senators are going through all of those cases but also need time to review Jackson’s years of service on the sentencing commission. Jackson and Grassley met one-one-one earlier this month, shortly after President Biden announced she was his choice to replace Justice Stephen Breyer, who’s stepping down at the end of June. Grassley says it would be tough to schedule one-on-ones with everyone who might want one before March 21st. “It’s a short period of time if 100 senators want to see her and probably not 100 senators do want to see her face-to-face,” Grassley says. “I only took 40 minutes with her when she was in my office but some senators might want to take a longer period of time.”

Certainly, he says, all 11 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee will want to meet with Jackson, but Grassley says there are 39 other G-O-P senators who deserve an opportunity to question her before they cast a vote. Grassley makes the following prediction about the confirmation process for the potential first black woman on the nation’s high court. “It’s going to be fair and thorough, both the vetting as well as the questions before the committee,” Grassley says, “and Republicans are not going to get down in the gutter like the Democrats did with Kavanaugh.”

Grassley is referring to now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was nominated for the Supreme Court by President Trump in 2018. Shortly after being nominated, Kavanaugh was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in the 1980s when they were in high school, and two other women accused him of sexual misconduct, all allegations he denied. After fiery hearings, Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate on a 50-to-48 vote.

(Radio Iowa) – A Mason City man who was reported missing has been found dead. Mason City police late last month had said they were looking for 38-year-old Travis Kummer, who had been reported missing to police on February 18th. Family members at the time reported that he had last been seen in Mason City on February 11th. Police on Monday say that officers were called to a wooded area near in the southeastern part of town on Sunday after a citizen reported finding a body.

Officers believed that the deceased was Kummer. The police department says an autopsy will be performed at the State Medical Examiner’s Office.

(Radio Iowa) – This will be the Sunday to “spring ahead” for Daylight Saving Time and a legislator who’s a vocal critic of flipping the clock twice a year has won another round of voting in the Iowa House. For this year’s effort, Representative Mike Sexton of Rockwell City started out by reading passages from a medical journal. “An abundance of accumulated medical evidence indicates that the acute transition from Standard Time to Daylight Savings Time incurs significant public health and safety risks,'” Sexton read, “‘including increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events, mood disorders, motor vehicle crashes.'”

Sexton’s bill to stay on Daylight Saving Time passed the House 82-13, but the move can only happen if congress votes to allow it. Nineteen other states have passed similar bills. Sexton has been trying for the past few years to get a bill on the topic through the Iowa legislature.  “The week that follows the time we change in the clock, we have accidents at work,” Sexton says, “teachers have student problems in their classrooms.”

Time in the United States was generally measured by the position of the sun or a prominent clock in a community until 1883. That’s when the railroads introduced “Standard Time” to keep time consistent in zones of the country. Daylight Saving Time was implemented during World War I as a way to conserve fuel.

(Radio Iowa) – The State of Iowa is paying eight men a million dollars in total to settle a case connected to a state employee who pleaded guilty to secretly taking photos them in the bathroom. Kenneth Kerr was fired from the Iowa Department of Revenue in 2015 and he pleaded guilty to invasion of privacy and sexually-motivated stalking of male co-workers. In 2019, the state paid out 900-thousand dollars to settle a federal lawsuit filed by three men who accused supervisors of not talking complaints about Kerr seriously.

The state’s solicitor general says an investigation discovered more victims, including the eight men who’re receiving settlements now, and these payouts resolve all remaining complaints about Kerr. Supervisors who failed to intervene are no longer working in the agency.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop in Red Oak Monday evening, resulted in the arrest of a woman on drug charges. According to Red Oak Police, 51-year-old Sarah Wohlt, of Council Bluffs,  faces charges that include: possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), possession of a controlled substance (marijuana), 1^st offense, and unlawful possession of a prescription drug.

Montgomery County Deputies and the Montgomery County K9 assisted the Red Oak Police Department.

(Creston, Iowa) – Two people were arrested this (Tuesday) morning, in Creston. According to the Police Department, 58-year-old Jack E Snyder, of Diagonal, was arrested around 1:14-a.m. following a traffic stop at Highway 34 and Smith Street. Snyder was charged with Driving while Barred. He was transported to the Union County Jail and later released on a $2,000 cash or surety bond. And, at around 5:41-a.m., Creston Police arrested 35-year-old Nicholas Bryan Crenshaw, of Afton. He was taken into custody at the Creston McDonald’s restaurant, on a Probation Violation Warrant. Crenshaw was transported to the Union County Jail was being held on a $10,000 cash only bond.

Monday afternoon, 32-year-old Rachel Marie Colburn, of Creston, was arrested at her residence, on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault/1st Offense. Colburn was transported to Adams Co Jail and later released after seeing the Magistrate.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Speech and Debate Team Co-Coach Patricia Nicewanger, Monday evening, reported that the Atlantic Speech and Debate Team brought home the Sweepstakes Trophy at last Saturday’s 51st Annual Walnut Hills Invitational held at CAM High School.

Niceswanger said with regard to District Results,  “We took 33 entries, more than I have ever had participate. 28 of those received a Division 1 rating and advance to State at ADM on March 12th. We had a great showing by Freshmen and I’m very excited to see the potential for the future of our program! These results show the outcome of many hours of rehearsal. Some students took pieces and cut them together, some wrote their own pieces. They take critiques very well to learn and grow as performers.

Walnut Hill awards a traveling Sweepstakes trophy to the school with the highest number of total points. Niceswanger said “Atlantic was thrilled to be notified today that we won the Sweepstakes trophy as well! What a great honor to celebrate our kids’ success!”

Back row L to R: Josie Handlos, Faith Nath, Alexiya Moore, Keira Olson, Charlotte Saluk
Front row L to R: Alex Garcia, Nolan Perez, Nick Bennett

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater, Monday evening, released a report on recent arrests. Saturday night, March 5th, 44-year-old Lisa Marie Overton, of Menlo, was pulled-over in Stuart by Stuart Police, for having an expired registration plate. Overton admitted to not having a driver’s license or insurance. She was arrested for Driving While Barred, and then released from the scene with a citation.

At around 2:25-a.m., Saturday, 35-year-old Jonathan Paul Calhoun, of Adair, was pulled over by Adair Police for running a stop sign, in Adair. He was subsequently arrested for OWI, with a BAC of .140.  Calhoun was cited for OWI/1st offense and later released with the citation.

Friday morning (March 4th), 38-year-old Christopher Anthony Ford, of Greenfield, was arrested by Greenfield Police, for Violation of a No Contact/Protective Order – Contempt of Court. Ford was released that same afternoon on a $300 cash/surety bond.

And, on March 1st, 35-year-old David Spencer Reeves, of Des Moines, was arrested in Greenfield on Adair County warrants charging him with Tampering with a Witness/Juror, and Domestic Abuse Assault/2nd offense. Reeves was being held without bond in the Adair County Jail, pending an appearance in District Court.