(Radio Iowa) – Senator Chuck Grassley has completed his schedule of holding some sort of meeting in each of Iowa’s 99 counties every year. “For the 41st year in a row!” Grassley said, with a laugh. Grassley has been doing the 99 county tour since he became a U.S. Senator in 1981 and a town hall meeting in Greenfield yesterday (Wednesday) was his 99th and final tour event this year. He served six years in the U.S. House before that. During that period in the 1970s, Grassley toured the 16 counties in his House district four times a year. Grassley says it’s all because of something he overheard decades ago.

“I don’t even know whether they knew if I was in the room or not. If they did, then, that was their motivation for saying it,” Grassley says. “But they said: ‘It must be election time. Politicians are in town.’ And I thought to myself: ‘Do they think we only come around because we want to get reelected?'” Grassley says visiting businesses, schools and civil organizations as well as holding town-hall style meetings like the one in Adair County yesterday (Wednesday) helps him gauge public opinion and influences his votes in congress.

“I get vocal opinions of people either from their statements to me or the questions that they have to know what’s generally on their mind and some of them there’s no doubt what’s on their mind,” Grassley says. “I mean it’s so strong, some questions or some comments, which is perfectly legitimate.” The circuit has become known as “the full Grassley” and he’s gotten some guff from other politicians — including president candidates — who’ve been compelled to make the trek. “Well, they kind of swear at me and say: ‘How come you started all this?'” Grassley says, with a laugh.

WILL HE RUN IN 2022?
Grassley says by November 1st he’ll make a decision about whether he’ll be campaigning for an eighth term in the US. Senate next year. He’s been talking with his wife, Barbara, and his immediate family about the decision. “I think they are thinking it through and then what the people of Iowa have to say,” Grassley says. “Now, the latter is very difficult to determine because I don’t have just a few people say: ‘You ought to retire,’ and maybe those are people who want me to retire so they can elect a Democrat — I don’t know their motives, but I get a lot of people to encourage me to run.”

Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann says he’ll be relieved if Grassley decides to seek reelection. During a rally in eastern Iowa this past weekend, Kaufmann called Grassley an Iowa legend. “We may very well have not had a Justice Kavanaugh had it not been for Chuck Grassley. That is one of his major legacies — Justice Kavanaugh,” Kaufmann said to cheers. “Thank you.” Grassley was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2018 when Brett Kavanaugh was nominated and confirmed to the U.S Supreme Court.

GRASSLEY DEFENDS VOTE FOR BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE PACKAGE

A few people in the crowd at a G-O-P rally this past weekend booed Grassley when he was first introduced at the fundraiser. Genia Kujath of Marion is upset that Grassley voted for the infrastructure bill.  “I voted for him the last round,” she said. “Never again. Never.” Grassley says if he could talk to her, he’d thank her for voting for him in the past. “If I had a chance and they were interested in dialogue on the subject, I’d say: ‘Did you have the same opposition when Trump proposed $2 trillion? This is half of that amount,'” Grassley says.

And Grassley says there’s misinformation circulating about his vote, suggesting the bill includes a mileage tax — which it does not. That’s in a separate bill Democrats advanced, which Grassley voted against. Grassley says groups representing Iowa’s ag sector, county boards of supervisors and chambers of commerce around the state have all been telling him the state needs more federal help to repair roads and bridges.

“You hear about it for four or five years and get a chance to vote for it, shouldn’t I vote for it if I want to represent my people?” Grassley asks. Grassley says there’s a risk Iowa’s economy will suffer if aging infrastructure isn’t fixed. The bipartisan infrastructure bill passed with 69 “yes” votes. Nineteen Republicans, including Grassley and the Senate’s Republican leader were among its supporters.

(Afton, Iowa) – A Union County teen was seriously injured during a single-vehicle accident Wednesday afternoon, north of Afton. The Iowa State Patrol reports 16-year-old Tyler Shane Kiss, of Afton, was driving a 2011 KIA Soul northbound on Creamery Road at around 4:45-p.m., when the car went out of control and struck a bridge guard rail.

The vehicle then ramped across a small river and impacted the embankment before it flipped several times. Shane Kiss was ejected from the car as it flipped. He was not wearing a seat belt. The teen was flown by Life Flight to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Police Chief Dave Erickson, Wednesday, spoke to the City Council with regard to permits for bow hunting in the City limits. The hunting season begins Oct. 1st.

The Chief says the City is doing the Doe depredation program, also.

If you aren’t already certified to bow hunt in the City, you will need to contact Chief Erickson and qualify to do so. The numbers of hunters taking advantage of the program have declined over the past couple of years, and the herd has grown as a result.

(Radio Iowa/KJAN) – State climatologist Justin Glisan says August ended up wetter and warmer than normal. He says numerous storms push rainfall above average.

He says the rain distribution varied widely across the state — with some of the driest areas seeing the most.

August averaged out a little warmer than normal.

Glisan says the short-term outlook for September shows it could be a cooler and drier start to the month. The month of August in Atlantic was slightly warmer than average. The Average High of 87 was about four-degrees warmer than normal, while the Average Low of 62 was just one-degree shy of normal. The warmest day was August 23rd, when we topped out at 95. And, on the Low side of the thermometer, Aug. 49-degrees was popular for a few days. The temp was set on the 13th, 14th and 15th.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Mayor Dave Jones and City Administrator John Lund, Wednesday, dispelled rumors the City is discussing the annexation of an area northwest of Atlantic. At the start of the City Council’s meeting, Jones said “The City is not annexing [anything.” During the Public Comment period at the end of the meeting, Nathan Berg, owner of Berg Electric, asked what many in the audience were wanting to know, what discussions are going on, if any.

(Mayor Jones said he only found out about the matter earlier in the day, Wednesday.)

The issue of annexation was brought up in City Administrator John Lund’s agenda notes, both ahead of the Personnel and Finance Committee meeting on Monday, and in the City’s Council’s packet ahead of today’s (Wednesday’s) session. In both cases, it was with regard to 60365 Glacier Road, and in reference to a Resolution the Council approved 6-to 1 Wednesday, granting permission to connect to the City’s Sanitary Sewer System at that location. John Lund said annexation was included in the agenda notes, but it was for historical reference, and never discussed in Monday’s meeting.

Councilman Pat McCurdy said any discussion about annexation should have taken place years ago, when Mahle hooked-up to City Water and Sewer, but now it’s too late. John Lund agreed.

Lund said the City’s Comprehensive Plan doesn’t even mention the City expanding its boundaries. The sewer and water connections in the area on Glacier Road that was mentioned, will be paid for by the property owner, and not the citizens of Atlantic. In other business, the Atlantic City Council approved a request by Produce in the Park (PIP) organizers, to extend the closure of 6th Street, from Chestnut to Poplar, through Oct. 14th. The street will be closed for the event on Thursday’s at the downtown City Park. PIP was set to end on Sept. 30th.

The Council also approved a change order pertaining to the Downtown Revitalization Project, in the amount of $5,065, and is with regard building improvements previously mentioned on KJAN News and on our News page at kjan.com. The Council also appointed At Large Councilperson Grace Garrett to the Beautification Committee, which has been dormant since the addition of banners and street signs they had requested, were implemented a few years ago.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Another hat was tossed into the ring when it comes to the Mayor’s race, in Atlantic. The Cass County Auditor’s Office, Wednesday afternoon, said Tim Teig, of Atlantic, filed nomination papers to have his name on the Nov. 2nd ballot. There are currently four candidates for Mayor in Atlantic.  Teig, who is retired, formerly worked as a Regional Manager for Snyder and Associates Engineers in Atlantic.

As of Wednesday Sept. 1st, the following candidates have filed to run for offices in Cass County:

Mayor of Atlantic:

Tim Teig

Pat McCurdy

Grace Garrett

Kathy Somers

Atlantic City Council, 5th Ward (Vote for 1):

Dick Casady (Incumbent)

Mayor of Anita (to fill a vacancy):

John Knutson (Appointed – term ends 11/2021)

Anita City Council (Vote for 3):

Simon Jensen (Incumbent)

Anita City Council (to fill a vacancy) – Vote for 1):

Mark Harris (Incumbent)

City of Atlantic Parks and Recreation Board (Vote for 1):

Shirley Jensen

Cumberland City Council (Vote for 3):

Mike Hill (Incumbent)

Darrin Hardisty (Incumbent)

Cumberland City Mayor

Nancy Virginia Coughlin (Incumbent)

Nomination papers may be filed with the Cass County Auditors Office until 5-p.m., Sept. 16th.

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Department of Public Health today (Wednesday) released new COVID-19 data for the past 7 days. IDPH reported 8,907 additional positive COVID-19 tests, for a total of 441,889 positive tests since the start of the pandemic. The health department reported 39 additional COVID-19 deaths, totaling 6,307 since the pandemic began.

Hospitals in RMCC Region 4 (western and southwest Iowa) report:  29 patients are hospitalized with COVID; 9 patients are in an ICU; 6 were admitted and one person was on a ventilator. The latest data on deaths in Cass & surrounding counties (since the beginning of the pandemic) show:

• Cass County: 56
• Adair: 32
• Adams: 4
• Audubon: 14
• Guthrie: 32
• Montgomery: 38
• Pottawattamie: 180
• Shelby: 39

The state’s 14-day positivity rate is up from 8.2% to 8.6% in the last 7 days, and the 7-day rate is up from 8.3% to 8.6%. There are COVID-19 outbreaks in 16 of Iowa’s long-term care facilities. That is twice as many outbreaks as last week’s total of 8.

The number of people completing a vaccine is 1,612,253, up from 1,593,557. As of Sept. 1, 49.2% of all Iowa residents are now fully vaccinated. Iowa’s hospitalization data has not yet been updated by the health department. IDPH has been releasing COVID-19 data on a weekly basis since July 1.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic School District Superintendent Steve Barber, Wednesday, said “Thanks to the DOT and Kirk Knutsen for getting the Achievement Center classified as a school zone with a 35 mile per hour speed zone. Starting tomorrow (Thursday) morning, the flashers will be flashing from 7:45 to 8:15 in the morning and 2:45 to 3:15 in the afternoon.”

Barber urges motorists to “Please take notice of these flashing lights and slow your speed down through the school zone.”

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans who want to help residents on the Gulf Coast recover from the destructive Hurricane Ida may need to do a little homework before making a donation, according to Susan Bach, at the Better Business Bureau.
* “You want to make sure that you are researching those charities before giving,” Bach says. “We recommend that you use our Wise Giving Alliance to see if those charities meet our standards for charity accountability.”

You can check out charities — good and not-so-good — at the Better Business Bureau’s “GIVE-DOT-ORG” website. “When you are researching charities that you would like to donate to, if you’ve never heard of the charity, it really deserves a second or third look,” she says. If you’re going beyond the well-known large relief agencies like the Red Cross, United Way or Salvation Army, Bach says to be very careful where you send your donations.

“You want to make sure that it’s an experienced group, that they have the means and are already ready to provide quick and effective assistance to the affected area,” Bach says. “You want to make sure that you give money instead of goods.” Bach says donating money is the quickest way to help as it provides charities the flexibility to channel the most-needed resources to impacted areas.