(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett, Wednesday evening, administered the Oath of Office to the City’s newest Police Officer. Anthony Snyder comes to the City from Lake City, Iowa (in Calhoun County). He completed the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy last August 28, 2021. He hails from California, where he was a manager for The Walt Disney Company.

He has two girls, ages 14 and 11, and is looking for a house in Atlantic. Snyder said he’s ready to go, and said of his fellow officers, “It’s a very great team we have.”

Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett administers the Oath of Office to Anthony Snyder. (2/16/22)

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Police in Council Bluffs report that at around 1:45-p.m. Wednesday (today), officers responded to 1030 Veterans Memorial Highway, the Casey’s gas station for a robbery call. Prior to officers arriving at the scene they were informed that the suspect had fled the area on foot, southbound from the business. The suspect was described as a Hispanic male wearing a mask, blue hoodie and gray pants.

The suspect was said to have displayed a knife during this incident and took several items from the business. Officers arrived in the area and were unable to locate the suspect. Criminal Investigations detectives arrived at the scene and are conducting the investigation into this robbery.

There were no reports of persons involved being injured, the suspect is currently at large and the identity is unknown. Anyone with any information that was in the area at the time of this incident is encouraged to contact the Criminal Investigations Division at 712-328-4728 or they may call Crime Stoppers at 712-328-7867.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s Attorney General has reached a settlement with a Florida company that was accused of sending mailers that appeared to be from government agencies. Attorney General Tom Miller says Centurion Filing Services and owner Dean. Marshlack used the name “IA Certificate Service” to send out mailers that looked like invoices requesting 67 dollars for an “Iowa Certificate of Existence. ”

The Iowa Secretary of State provides them for only five dollars. The certificates are not required to do business in Iowa, although companies may need them to do business out of state. Centurion has agreed to provide nearly 79-thousand dollars in refunds to more than 12-hundred Iowa business owners and charity operators — and will also not send mailer solicitations to Iowans or from any Iowa location.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Public Health today (Wednesday) released its first weekly COVID-19 data update after the state’s emergency proclamation expired Tuesday night. The new data dashboard reports 7,375 positive virus tests in the last seven days, down from 8,370 on Monday. IDPH reported there were 119 additional deaths since the last report on Feb. 9. That brings the total number of virus deaths to 8,948 since the start of the pandemic.

The new weekly dashboard features several changes. There are links to federal government websites for hospitalization and long-term care facility data. The state is no longer requiring entities to provide positive COVID-19 test results, and long-term care facilities are no longer required to report then they have three or more infections to the state. Officials said in a news release, “IDPH began collecting COVID related data from Iowa hospitals in March 2020 to satisfy state and federal data reporting requirements throughout the pandemic response. The state is no longer requiring this reporting to occur. However, the US Department of Health and Human Services will continue to require hospital data reporting, and Iowans can access that information here.”

Health officials said the state identified an additional 6,700 positive COVID-19 tests that had not been previously reported when people received both a positive and negative test in the same day. That data has since been added to the totals reported on the new dashboard. A new feature on the health department’s website shows COVID-19 variants detected by month. The new graphic shows how alpha, delta and omicron variants moved through the state since March of 2021.

Find the new IDPH dashboard here.

(Radio Iowa) – A House committee has approved a bill to classify most of Iowa P-B-S archived content as public record, giving anyone access to it. Representative Megan Jones, a Republican from Sioux Rapids, is the bill’s manager. “The ultimate goal of this bill is to make sure that Iowans have access to their memories…so that grandpas can show their grandkids their state finals at wrestling,” Jones says. “This is about nostalgia and this is a beautiful way to share our past with our future.” If the bill comes law, Iowa P-B-S videos, tapes, documents and other stored material would become public record 10 years after it was created. Jean Berger is executive director of the Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union. She says if Iowa P-B-S loses copyright protection for its content, the union may end its agreement for Iowa P-B-S broadcasts of girls state basketball, softball and volleyball tournaments.

“It’s important, our partnership, because Iowans know where to go to watch the state basketball tournament. They know where to go to watch for free…They know what channel to find us on,” she says. “…My concerns are that if our contests become part of the public domain that they can be used in a way that we have no control over by people we don’t wish to be associated with, that don’t match what we stand for.” Representative Jones says these and other arguments against the bill give her whiplash. “The mission is to be free and accessible,” Jones says, “but this bill makes it too free and accessible.” The dispute over Iowa P-B-S content started after former Iowa State wrestling coach Jim Gibbons sought access to Iowa P-B-S broadcasts of college wrestling for a California company’s documentary.

“I think there’s a lot of good news in this legislation,” Gibbons says. “…The net result of this is there is a sharing process. You’re sharing this content here with…parents, grandparents, to be able to share their cherished memories, or have the access to the cherished memories that they really don’t have access to right now.” The version of the bill now eligible for House debate limits the public’s use of Iowa P-B-S material to educational, historical or cultural purposes and says it cannot be used to make a profit or for political purposes. Michael Egel, artistic director of the Des Moines Metro Opera, says the bill would pose a problem for past and future Iowa P-B-S broadcasts of the Opera and other artistic productions.

“Behind each of these performances is a complex set of labor negotitions, contracts, etc. that govern the use of this content, protect the rights of its creators, performers, authors, composers, copyright holders,” he says, “people on stage and those behind the scenes.” He says the loss of copyright, trademark and intellectual property protections could also impact Iowa P-B-S broadcasts of the All-State Music Festival.

(Des Moines, Iowa) — The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a Red Oak man for first-degree murder. In their opinion released today (Wednesday), a three-judge panel from the Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court’s 2019 handling of the case, in which Toby McCunn was convicted of murdering Joshua Jordan at a Shenandoah home in April 2019. The decision comes five weeks after McCunn’s Attorney Mary Conroy argued for a new trial in the case, saying the jury in the trial was not instructed properly on what it could and could not consider in the case, namely their instructions on how to decide if the shooting was justified. McCunn’s defense claimed the shooting was an act of self-defense after Jordan pulled a gun first.

Assistant Attorney General Aaron Rogers – arguing on behalf of the state – said the actions of McCunn following the shooting did not point to self-defense. Authorities eventually took McCunn into custody several hours after the shooting following a brief standoff at another residence. Rogers says authorities found the gun used to kill Jordan hidden under a floor board in the attic, not something consistent with self-defense.

Toby McCunn

McCunn’s legal team had also asked for the conviction to be thrown out, claiming a juror in the case admitted to having prior knowledge of the events surrounding the incident. In the opinion authored by Judge Mary Tabor, the Appeals Court says the court did not commit instructional error, pretrial publicity did not compel a change of venue, seating a challenged juror did not warrant a new trial and that the court did not abuse its discretion in allowing testimony about prior bad acts by McCunn.

McCunn is currently serving a life sentence without parole at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of an Earlville man found guilty of killing his wife with a corn rake. Todd Mullis was convicted by a jury in September of 2019 of first-degree murder in the death of his wife Amy. Mullis appealed — saying there was not enough evidence to show he was the one who attacked Amy in a hog barn and killed her with the corn rake. The Court of Appeals disagreed — saying there was ample evidence presented that Mullis was the only one who could have killed his wife –and that he had a motive because he was suspicious she was having an affair and did not want to lose his farming operation in a divorce.

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans on the Senate Ag Committee have approved a bill that would forbid energy companies, including Rural Electric Cooperatives, from installing solar panels on land that’s suitable for growing corn and soybeans. Senator Dan Zumbach, a Republican from Ryan, says he sponsored the bill because of a rapidly expanding solar farm in his district. “It’s about protecting our most precious resource and that’s Iowa’s farmland,” Zumbach says.

If the bill becomes law, solar panel fields also would have to be at least half a mile from other solar installations and 12-hundred-50 (1250) feet from a neighbor’s property line. Senator Kevin Kinney, a Democrat from Oxford, says the bill limits his local R-E-C from expanding its solar operation, which is five miles from Kinney’s farm. “We’re also dealing with property rights, someone owning a property and being able to do with that property as they wish,” Kinney says.

Aerial shot top view of solar panel photovoltaic farm

Democrats on the committee voted against the bill, and the Senate’s Democratic leader says it would have a chilling effect on investment in solar energy installations in Iowa. Zumbach says he’s willing to consider changes to the bill, but he says there are no statewide restrictions on solar arrays today and it’s time to put some lines in the sand. “I’m saying the word ‘sand’ because lines in sand are movable,” Zumbach says, “but what we do need to have is some good energy policy on putting solar farms on agricultural land which is being used for agricultural purposes and having respect for folks on both sides of those fence lines.”

The bill would forbid solar installations on land with a Corn Suitability Rating of 65 or above, meaning the soil is considered fertile ground for row crops. The Iowa Solar Energy Trade Association and the Iowa Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives are opposed to the bill, while both the Iowa Farm Bureau and the Iowa Farmers Union have registered as undecided.

(corrects day of the meeting) (Harlan, Iowa) – The Shelby County Board of Supervisors met in a regular session at 9-a.m. Tuesday. According to the meeting minutes, Representatives of the Harlan, Irwin and Elk Horn libraries were on hand to present to the Supervisors, the happenings and programs that take place at their facilities. Irwin representatives announced an uptick in attendance at events and reading programs at the library. Elk Horn was represented and told of the appreciation for County funding and that the Elk Horn Library has achieved a 5 star rating, the highest rating available to a library in Iowa. Amanda Brewer of the Harlan library thanked the Supervisors for contributions to the library. Making the exterior areas of the library more user friendly is a goal for the coming year.

The Shelby County EMA requested Shelby County to be the fiscal sponsor for their agency, concerning a grant application. No action was taken. Also, the Shelby County Relay for life made an application to the Supervisors for their annual event on the Harlan Square, June 3rd, 2022. The application was approved as presented. Todd Valline of the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce advised the Supervisors of the upcoming Legislative coffee this Saturday and the Annual Chamber Banquet which will be held February 25th.

Brandon Burmeister, Shelby County Engineer, was present to update the Supervisors of his Departments current activities. The lack of moisture in the ground he said has made maintenance on granular surfaced roads more of a challenge. Burmeister has been looking over the entrance policy the County currently has in place, it calls for steel culverts, he advised the Supervisors that plastic culverts are starting to be used in other counties in Iowa, and the only drawback is a burning ditch, that could damage the plastic culvert.

And, the Board set the date for a Maximum Levy Hearing, along with allowing publication. The Resolution calls for the hearing to be held 9-a.m. March 2nd, in the Supervisor’s Chambers at the Shelby County Courthouse. The budget shows there are some increases, which officials say are attributed to: Wage increases per union negotiations and state mandate; Inflation; Departmental revenue decrease causing wages to be drawn from General Basic in the future; and an increased capital outlay for road rock. The Budget notice is available for review HERE.

The tax rates shown in the notice do not include county voted levies, mental health and disabilities services levy, debt service levy and the rates of other local jurisdictions. Regarding proposed maximum dollars, the Board of Supervisors cannot adopt a higher tax asking for these levies following the public hearing. Budget year effective property tax rate is the rate that would be assessed for these levies if the dollars requested is not changed in the coming year.

In other business, Jamie Goetz, Mayor from the City of Defiance was present to explain the need for rehabilitating the currently unused water tower in Defiance. Goetz explained that water could be used for emergency services as well as helping out with neighboring communities in times of water shortages. An ARPA application for the City has been submitted to the Supervisors for assistance in the cost of repairs that are needed. No action was taken as there are currently more ARPA funds are currently requested than will be available.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors, Wednesday morning, held a public hearing on a Redistricting Ordinance (28C), that’s been in the news for several weeks. Board member Jodie Hoadley explained why the Ordinance was needed…they didn’t have any other options.

There were no written or spoken objections. After the hearing closed, the Board voted to waive the second- and third- Readings of the Ordinance, and passed a Resolution to approve it. Board Chair Matt Wedemeyer…

Wedemeyer then signed the Ordinance, making it official. The Adair County Supervisors heard from Brenda Dudley, Director of the Stuart Area Chamber of Commerce, who requested approval for a temporary (1-to 2-hour) road closure on April 23rd, for the “Bonnie and Clyde 5-mile Run/Walk, 1 mile Fun/Run/Walk,” sponsored by The Stuart Revitalization Group. While this is technically the fourth-year for the event, it’s actually the second run, since the event wasn’t held the past two-years, due to the pandemic. The purpose, she said, is to get more people coming to Stuart. Dudley said the 5-mile race/walk will begin at a different location, in Dexter and make its way onto the White Pole Road into Stuart.

While the five-mile race/walk starts at the Dexter City Museum instead of the Round House, the one-mile race/walk will start in Stuart at the former First National Bank. You can find more information on the Stuart Revitalization Group Facebook page. Register for the event at www.getmeregistered.com or www.runnerstuff.com.

In other business, the Board, by a vote of three- to two, to spend $50,500 out of ARPA Funds for the Conservation Department. The funds will be used for a skid-steer loader. Any other attachments, such as a cutter or a gravel bucket, would have to come out of the Department’s Budget. County Engineer Nick Kauffman reported on the Lakeview Drive project agreement between the County and City of Greenfield. The project is estimated to cost $844,000, with the County’s portion amounting to $723,144.

He also discussed the Secondary Roads Dept. 5-year Construction Program, and the Adair-Cass County Line Agreement for the G-61 Paving Project, which the Adair County Board approved. Cass County approved their participation in the project, last week. And, the Board passed a Resolution for a Reinforced Concrete Box (RCB) Project for West20/ Jackson Road. The low bid was $439,211, which was higher than the engineer’s estimated of $406,828. Kauffan said the problem with estimates right now, is the ever changing price situation with demand, supply and shipping.