(Greenfield, Iowa) – A Public hearing was held this (Wednesday) morning in Greenfield, on a proposed Adair County Ordinance regulating the placement of Data Centers. Applied Digital has an agreement to purchase land adjacent to a substation in the 1200 block of Fallow Avenue in Adair County, for a 200-megawatt data center. During the hearing, an Adair County resident said there are too many questions about the definition of a data center and specifics regarding setbacks, water usage and other property matters.

Adair County farmer Randy Caviness has wind turbines on his land, and is concerned about stopping progress and losing the opportunity to bring in jobs.

Others mentioned similar concerns, along with the affect on property values.

One of Applied Digital’s owners, Nick Phillips, said he was surprised at the amount of “Pushback” in the community since the data center was first proposed. He spoke about increasing property values and the investment in the county it would bring, along with jobs.

He addressed also, the question about the property setback.

Former State Representative and Adair County property owner Clel Baudler, urged the Board not to “Over-regulate private industry.”

Supervisor John Twombly said the County Attorney recommended the Board take no action, due to possible legal repercussions. Supervisors Jodie Hoadley and Matt Wedemeyer agreed there’s nothing they can do to stop Applied Digital, but there should have been a better plan for property setbacks. The Supervisors voted 3-2 against a motion by Board member John Twombly NOT to pass an ordinance regulating data centers on the 1^st reading. Wedemeyer made, and the Board passed, a motion to modify the wording in the draft proposed ordinance in setbacks and the definition of a commercial building, and have a public hearing on the second and possibly third consideration, on May 8^th at 9:15-a.m.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Officials with the Glenwood Police Department report four Glenwood residents were arrested this (Wednesday) morning, on drug charges. Authorities say:

• 52-year-old Bret Samuelson was arrested for Possession of a controlled substance 3rd offense (Bond $2,000).
• 50-year-old Edwin Rogers was arrested for 3 counts child endangerment, Gathering, 2 counts of possession of controlled substances and poss. of drug paraphernalia (Bond $23,300).
• 43-year-old Crystal McCann was arrested for 2 counts child endangerment, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia (Bond $12,300). And,
• 18-year-old Jasmine Cadena was arrested for possession of a controlled substance (Bond $1,000).

(Creston, Iowa) – A woman from Union County was arrested Tuesday on a warrant out of Clarke County. The Creston Police Department reports 47-year-old Karina Lynn Wilkinson, of Creston, was arrested at 302 N. Pine Street at around 10-a.m., on the warrant charging her with two-counts of Failure to Appear. Wilkinson was transported to the Clarke County Jail and held without bond until completing the terms of her March 14th court-ordered jail sentence.

(Logan, Iowa) – Additional information is being released in connection with a Harrison County homicide investigation. According to an arrest affidavit, the victim of the murder was identified as 53-year-old Douglas Manley, who was found dead inside his rural Harrison County home. The Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner has ruled Manley’s death as a homicide caused by blunt force trauma.

Court documents say Manly and 22-year-old Sebastin Reece O’Brien, were moving furniture Sunday when they got into a fight. Investigators said O’Brien told them he punched, kicked and hit Manley with dresser drawers.

As we previously reported, Deputies in Harrison County found O’Brien Sunday afternoon south of Modale, after he crashed a pickup that belonged to Manley. When deputies went to Manley’s house, they found blood smeared on the front door and said the door appeared to be forced open.  They found Manley dead at the top of the stairs. Investigators said he had face and head injuries. Deputies said O’Brien was intoxicated and combative when they interviewed him.

O’Brien is charged with first-degree murder, a Class-A felony. He’s being held without bond, and scheduled to be in court for a preliminary hearing May 1st.

(Radio Iowa) One of the world’s most deadly forms of cancer is the focus of an event in central Iowa this weekend that will gather survivors from across the state, as well as advocates and loved ones of those who’ve died from it. The Purple Stride Iowa walk will be held Saturday at Raccoon River Park in West Des Moines. Ryan Dwars, of Iowa City, is a three-year pancreatic cancer survivor and he’ll be giving a speech during the event’s opening ceremony.

“The Purple Stride event is to help those that are impacted by pancreatic cancer,” Dwars says. “It’s a way to give tribute to family members that may have been lost due to pancreatic cancer, but it’s really to raise public awareness and funds to hopefully have some better treatment options, resources and scientific research.” Symptoms of pancreatic cancer are often vague and can include abdominal or mid-back pain, unexplained weight loss, jaundice, loss of appetite, indigestion, changes in stool and new-onset diabetes. After some minor back pain grew and gradually spread into his chest, Dwars went to the E-R and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at age 36.

“Luckily, I was able to catch it soon enough which — a lot of people aren’t quite that lucky,” Dwars says. “My uncle was battling pancreatic cancer at the time as well, too. He has since passed. I was able to have surgery, but then I’ve still been battling it because it’s come back a couple other times, so I’m on my third chemo regimen.” The five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is just 13-percent. It’s estimated more than 66-thousand Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year, and nearly 52-thousand will die from the disease this year, making it the third-leading cause of cancer death in the U-S. Dwars, a special education teacher at Iowa City West High School, says he’s faced a variety of challenges since being diagnosed.

“The chemo drug that I was on at the time, there was a shortage of that and I wasn’t going to be able to get it,” Dwars says. “We helped advocate and find the drug to be able to bring that to our local hospital, and not just to help myself but also to help about 50 other patients that were going to miss their chemo treatment because of a drug shortage.”

Saturday’s annual Purple Stride event is the only one in Iowa, and it’s among about 60 nationwide. The Iowa goal is to raise 145-thousand dollars toward a national goal of 19-million, in order to help change the lives of people facing pancreatic cancer and advance progress against the disease.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Red Oak Police report a local man faces charges in connection with a drug investigation. 28-year-old Nikolus Brenton Schooling, of Red Oak, was arrested late Tuesday afternoon on felony charges that include Drug trafficking methamphetamine–a Class B felony, Intent to manufacture or deliver a schedule 1 narcotic–a Class C felony, Controlled substance violation–a Class D felony, and Class-D felony Drug tax stamp violations.

Schooling was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $45,000 cash-only bond.

Separately, Red Oak Police Tuesday arrested 37-year-old Tyce Samual Watts, of Red Oak, for OWI/ 1^st Offense. Bond for Watts was set at $1,000.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is investigating a fertilizer spill Monday in the City of Burlington in Des Moines County. The D-N-R says a 700 gallon plastic tank containing fertilizer fell off a truck and an unknown amount of the fertilizer spilled onto the street and continued into a nearby storm sewer which discharges into Hawkeye Creek. D-N-R staff later observed fertilizer contamination at Hawkeye Creek, which flows through the City of Burlington to the Mississippi River. No dead fish have been found and the the D-N-R is working with the City of Burlington to address the fertilizer impact before entering the Mississippi River.

(Radio Iowa) – Things could be changing in the labor force as we head through spring into summer. Iowa Workforce Development executive director, Beth Townsend, says there’ll be some impact as college students graduate. “We have 61-thousand open jobs, so we’ve got a lot of really great jobs to pull from or take advantage us so hopefully we’ll see more people enter into the workforce as we get closer to graduation,” she says.

The pork plant in Perry will be closing as summer starts. “The layoffs are not supposed to start until the end of June. So, you know, assuming that some of the lines close in June, it probably will be July or August before we can ascertain how many folks had lined up employment, you know, and went right into another job and how many needed some additional time to find work,” she says. Townsend says they hope many of the employees find work they can transition to after the plant closes.

“We don’t typically see every single person who gets laid off on unemployment because they’ve, you know, found other jobs,” she says. “We know there are employers out there recruiting them. There was a job fair, the first week in April. We plan to have multiple job fairs in May and June as we get closer to people actually being ready to look for work.”

Townsend says they will continue to be focused on helping the Perry workers through the plant shutdown.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop at around 7:30-p.m. Tuesday in Montgomery County, resulted in the arrest of a man wanted on a warrant. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 48-year-old Timothy Lee Hutchison, of Decatur City, was arrested in the 1700 block of Highway 34, on a Decatur County warrant for Violation of Probation. Hutchison was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held without bond, pending extradition to Decatur County.