The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reported two recent arrests on Wednesday afternoon.

On Tuesday, May 21st at about 9:29am Deputies arrested 19-year-old Charles Lee Shadbolt of Villisca. Shadbolt was arrested at the Regional Correction Facility in Council Bluffs on a Montgomery County Bench Warrant for Violation of Probation. He was held on $5,000 bond.

On Wednesday, May 22nd at 10:57am Montgomery County Deputies arrested 26-year-old Keegan Michael Johnson of Stanton for Driving While License Barred and Operation of a Vehicle with Expired Plates. He was held on $2,000 bond.

The Audubon School District’s Board of Education met Monday evening. Superintendent Brett Gibbs said the Board approved final approval to some summer projects, including tuck pointing at the Elementary School, and replacement of fencing around the exterior of the football field and track.

The Board also talked about future remodeling of the 5th through 12th grade building. About 12-years ago, the district added some rooms onto the back of the building to bring the 5th and 6th grade up, but Gibbs said the rest of the building has not had much done to it since 1964. He said “It’s time, basically starting with our HVAC system. The building currently has steam heat, the pipes for which are leaking. Gibbs said they’ve been told the boilers “are on the downhill side” of their life, with another 10-years of use at the most before they need to be replaced. “So it’s time to starting looking at ways we can upgrade our facility here and make it more energy efficient, and maintain the condition of the building.”

He said the will be in discussion with Engie Engineering on the potential costs and how the potential project could be paid for. The Audubon School Board also set Student Fees for the FY 2020 School Year. Gibbs said also parents should be aware the District is switching to a different provider for parents to use credit cards online for student fees, including lunches and books. He said there will be a fee charged to the user, which will in-turn charge persons who use credit cards for those purchases…much like an ATM fee.

The new provider is JMC, which has the districts student information system, and costs less than the current provider. With regard to student lunch fees, Brett Gibbs said the price of student and adult lunches increased 5-cents, and the cost of junior high mesh jerseys went from $22 to $25.

In other business, the Audubon School Board discussed student drop-off and pick-up at the Elementary School. Gibbs said they have some safety concerns, mainly in the morning. “EMC Insurance sent out a traffic [flow] expert come out and make suggestions on ways to improve the flow.” Those suggestions included proper markings on the pick-up and drop-off areas, and having the buses drop-off in a different location in the morning. If that doesn’t help, the next step is to look at putting a whole new bus pick-up and drop-off area on the east side, which would likely cost around $50,000. But they want to try all other ideas first, according to Gibbs.

The National Weather Service in Des Moines spent the morning assessing the damage caused during a storm early this morning, in northwestern Adair County. One person died and another was injured during what the preliminary investigation determined was a STRONG (EF-2) Tornado, with estimated peak winds of 120-to 130 MPH.

Officials say “A tornado developed quickly 3.2 miles south southeast of Adair, Iowa early Wednesday morning, May 22nd, 2019 resulting in one fatality and one injury. A rural homestead located just south of Interstate 80 received extensive damage to a single-family residence and outbuildings. The damage survey team also found lesser damage to single family residences and outbuildings located south of the main impacted home.”

Main Residence outbuildings-1

Main Residence GrainBinFoundation-1

Main residence (Adair Tornado) – Outbuildings (All photos by NWS Damage Survey Team)

The twister’s path was 4.8-miles, and 150-yards wide. It’s estimated to have begun at 1:29-a.m. 3.2 miles south-southeast of Adair, and ended at around 1:37-a.m., 2.2-miles northeast of Adair. 74-year old Linda Lee Brownlee died at the scene. Her husband, 78-year old Harold Brownlee suffered serious injuries, and was flown to a hospital in Des Moines. Debris from their home landed on nearby Interstate 80, at mile marker 77. One semi was in the ditch at about the same location.

Meteorologist Chad Hahn, with the National Weather Service, says it’s very unusual to have a twister strike that early in the morning. He says only about five-percent of tornadoes hit during the nighttime.  While May, June and July are typically the worst months of the year for tornadoes in Iowa, this is the first confirmed tornado this year. Last year, there were 69 tornadoes statewide with the most notable hitting Bondurant, Marshalltown and Pella on July 19th. Over the past decade, Iowa has seen as few as 16 tornadoes during all of 2012 and as many as 88 tornadoes in 2014.

Law enforcement reported to KJAN that numerous power poles were down this (Wednesday) morning across rural roads in eastern Cass County. A motorist drove over one of the power lines at around 4-a.m. on Glendale/Fairview Road, between 750th (Highway 148) and 760th Streets. Building debris from a barn was scattered along Glendale Road, but has since been removed. Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon encourages residents who sustained storm damage to contact him at 254-1500.  For more information on the tornado: https://www.weather.gov/dmx/20190522_Tornadoes

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EF Scale: The Enhanced Fujita scale classifies tornadoes in
the following categories.

EF0…Weak……65 TO 85 MPH
EF1…Weak……86 TO 110 MPH
EF2…Strong….111 TO 135 MPH
EF3…Strong….136 TO 165 MPH
EF4…Violent…166 TO 200 MPH
EF5…Violent…>200 MPH

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Department of Education has added some new features to the online system that tells how public schools are measuring up to federal requirements. Department spokesperson, Staci Hupp, says the information folds in with the data required under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. “It really made sense to have one report card for Iowa that meets federal and state laws, and also is intended to help Iowans understand how their schools are performing in certain areas,” Hupp says.

Hupp says they’ve added several items to the site. “The new data includes suspension and expulsion of students, chronic absenteeism — which is the percentage of students who missed ten percent of schools days for any reason. It includes things like post-secondary readiness,” according to Hupp.

There is also feature to compare school and district performance and includes data and ratings from the former Iowa School Report Card that was developed to meet a 2013 state law. “Parents and other Iowa education stakeholders can use the information to better understand how their schools are performing in certain areas,” Hupp says. “And while an online tool certainly never the whole story on our schools in Iowa — having access to this information really empowers parents and other stakeholders to better contribute to local conversations in their communities around improving schools.”

You can see the full report online at: iaschoolperformance.gov. Hupps says the new features do not change the school accountability scores calculated in December. Those scores will be updated later this year as part of an annual update to the website.

Audubon Police Chief Matt Starmer reports the arrest on Monday, of 29-year old Levi Alroy Kluver, of Audubon.  Kluver turned himself in on a warrant for two counts of child endangerment.  He appeared before a magistrate and was released. And, last Saturday, 38-year old Joshua Lee Larsen, of Audubon, was arrested and charged with Domestic Abuse Causing Injury, and Felony Child Endangerment.  Larsen was transported to the Audubon County Jail where he was held to appear before a magistrate.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has vetoed a measure that Republican lawmakers pushed through in the final days of the legislative session to stop the state’s Democratic attorney general from filing or joining lawsuits challenging President Donald Trump’s policies. The measure Reynolds vetoed Wednesday was targeted at stopping Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller from joining multistate lawsuits filed against the federal government. Republicans argued Miller had sued Trump too much.

The proposal would have required the attorney general to get the permission from the governor, legislature or state executive council before filing any out-of-state court action. Iowa would have been the only state in the nation to approve such limits. Reynolds says she wanted to be cautious about changing the attorney general’s duties and noted he was elected by voters.

Iowa residents can try fishing without buying a license on June 7, 8 and 9 as part of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) free fishing weekend. All other regulations remain in place. “Grab your family and your poles, hook a memory, and don’t let go,” said Joe Larscheid, chief of the Iowa DNR’s Fisheries Bureau. “The memories are always bigger than the fish.”

Free fishing weekend is a great time to take kids fishing or invite a neighbor or friend to come along. Outdoor fun awaits at hundreds of Iowa lakes, thousands of miles of rivers or a neighborhood pond. Find a list of stocked lakes and ponds that are easily accessible in parks and along trails on the Iowa DNR’s interactive Iowa Community Fisheries Atlas at www.iowadnr.gov/Fishing/Fish-Local.

Fun, hands-on fishing events will be offered across Iowa to help families new to fishing get started. Check the general fishing calendar on the DNR website at www.iowadnr.gov/fishing for a list of free fishing events.

On a related note: Crappies and bluegills are biting in small ponds and lakes across Iowa. Spring panfish fishing is a great time to introduce beginners of all ages to fishing. Catching panfish is easy and fun. All Iowa lakes have panfish in them. Look for structures in the water, like rocks or a pile of brush or gravel, to find bluegills or crappies. Bass will be around brush or boat docks or rock piles. Quickly find fish structure locations with the interactive fishing atlas or download a catalog of 1,968 fishing structure locations for lakes across Iowa from the DNR’s fishing maps website at www.iowadnr.gov/Fishing/Fishing-Maps.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — The Black Hawk County Board of Supervisors added its voice to those calling for a moratorium on new livestock feeding operations.
The board voted unanimously Tuesday for a resolution that asks Gov. Kim Reynolds and state legislators to bar construction of new concentrated animal feeding operations until Iowa’s water quality improves. The resolution wants no permits issued by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources until the state’s number of impaired waterways has dropped to fewer than 100 from about 750.

“I think it’s really a crisis situation,” said Supervisor Chris Schwartz. “If we’re going to get ahead of it we need to put the brakes on now until we’ve got better things in place.”
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported that supervisors in 25 more of the state’s 99 counties have passed similar measures. “It’s not the family farms that we all know and love,” Schwartz said. “It’s these big, kind of corporate operations putting thousands and thousands of animals in small spaces.”

Groups such as the Sierra Club and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement have said the operations are detrimental to human health and that failed manure management plans harm the state’s streams, rivers and lakes. Environmental groups have said the spills and animal manure used as fertilizer drain down creeks and other tributaries into the Missouri and Mississippi rivers have contributed to the growth of a “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, a zone where oxygen levels are so low that marine life can no longer survive.

State Sen. Eric Giddens, who works as program manager for the University of Northern Iowa’s Center for Energy and Environmental Education, on Tuesday spoke in favor of the moratorium and read from a January 2018 Iowa Policy Project report that said Iowa has four times more of the big feeding operations than it had in 2001. Groups such as the Sierra Club and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement say the operations are detrimental to human health and that failed manure management plans harm the state’s streams, rivers and lakes.

(9-a.m. News, 5/22) — The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports three arrests took place over the past week, with two people arrested on separate charges, Saturday: 21-year old Kolby Austin Fulk, of Harlan, was arrested for Driving While Barred. Fulk was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on his own recognizance. And, 35-year old Ashley Christensen, of Council Bluffs, was arrested on charges of Operating While Under the Influence/2nd Offense; Public Intoxication; Interference with Official Acts; and Disorderly Conduct. Christensen was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on her own recognizance.

Last Thursday, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 35-year old Ryan Kent Richards, of Griswold, on a Nuisance charge. Richards was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the later that day on his own recognizance.

(9-a.m., Radio Iowa) — What may be Iowa’s first tornado of 2019 claimed a life early this (Wednesday) morning in the southwest corner of the state. Meteorologist Chad Hahn, with the National Weather Service, says there is storm damage in Adair and Cass counties and at least one house was destroyed south of the city of Adair. Reports say several other homes were impacted.  “We’re still evaluating that,” Hahn says. “We have a storm team that’s out in the area evaluating and assessing the damage. The one homestead that we know was hit was close to the interstate, which was closed down for a time in the early morning hours.”

Adair County authorities say 74-year-old Linda Brownlee was killed in the storm and her husband, 78-year-old Harold Brownlee, was seriously hurt and is hospitalized in Des Moines. Hahn says the team surveying the wreckage will be working to determine whether the destruction was caused by a tornado or straight-line winds. “The biggest signs that we look for is the damage pattern within the debris,” Hahn says. “We can evaluate whether there is a rotational component to that and that’s what they’re examining out there right now.”

If it was a tornado, Hahn says it’s very unusual to have a twister strike at that hour, sometime between 12:30 and 1:30 A-M. He says only about five-percent of tornadoes hit during the nighttime. The risk of more severe weather today is low, but Hahn says the chances are a bit higher Thursday, especially in southeast Iowa. “As we look into Friday, we can expect portions of the southeastern part of the state to be in that area where conditions will be favorable for severe weather,” Hahn says. “It’s late May. We know the conditions around here are becoming more susceptible to severe weather and we need to stay on guard.”

While May, June and July are typically the worst months of the year for tornadoes in Iowa, this would be the first confirmed tornado this year. Last year, there were 69 tornadoes statewide with the most notable hitting Bondurant, Marshalltown and Pella on July 19th. Over the past decade, Iowa has seen as few as 16 tornadoes during all of 2012 and as many as 88 tornadoes in 2014.