(Atlantic, Iowa) – Republican Iowa Senator Charles Grassley stopped in Atlantic Wednesday afternoon, and spoke with some of the 150 employees at Henningsen Construction. The company is very busy working on buildings and roads around the State and the Midwest. Appropriately enough, one of the things Grassley spoke about was the bipartisan Infrastructure bill he voted for last year, which includes funds for bridges ($432 million in bridge funding over a five-year period), locks and dams ($829 million on the upper Mississippi River) and at least $100-million for broadband.

Henningson Construction President Brad Henningsen (Left) & Sen. Charles Grassley

He says a major reason he did so, even though he received some criticism, is because approximately 23-percent of the bridges (4,500) in Iowa are structurally unsound, and that’s the worst of all 50 states.

One question Grassley was asked was if he thought President Biden should be tested for his cognitive abilities, such as some suggested for former President Trump when he was in office. Grassley said “Susan Rice might be running the country…Obama’s top person.”

He said in the only face-to-face meeting he’s had with Biden since he became President. He suggested Biden has changed from how he acted as Senator, due to outside influences.

But he says he doesn’t think however, that there’s any reason to conclude Biden’s thinking processes make him unfit to hold the office.

The Senator was asked if the U-S is handling the situation in the Ukraine appropriately. He said “From now on, I would have to say ‘Yes’, because the only thing we’re presumably going to do is institute the sanctions.” He said the U-S has to draw a “line in the sand” with the sanctions, but he has some reservations about whether the sanctions will work at this stage in the situation.

He was asked also if a statement made by former President Trump that Russian President Putin made a “Genius move,” by putting Troops along the border as “Peacekeepers.”

Prior to coming to Atlantic, Senator Grassley spoke earlier in the day, Wednesday, at the Audubon County Economic Development Corporation’s meeting, in Audubon.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Public Health is now accepting registrations for the next session of A Matter of Balance. This award-winning program helps older adults learn to manage their concerns about falling, make changes to reduce the risk of falling, and increase their physical activity, flexibility, strength, and balance. Participants meet for two hours each week for eight weeks total, and the program is offered for free.

This upcoming session will be held from 1 to 3 pm on Tuesdays beginning on March 15th. Registration is required as class size is limited. To register, or for more information, please contact Victoria Means at Cass County Public Health at 712-243-7443.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court is being asked to overturn its 2018 ruling that said the Iowa Constitution guarantees women a right to an abortion. During oral arguments today (Wednesday), Lawyer Chris Schandovel represented the state lawmakers who signed onto the case. He says the Supreme Court overstepped its authority in declaring the right. “When the Constitution is silent and therefore leaving them to the people to regulate through their elected representatives,” Schandovel says.

Schandovel says the 2018 ruling ignored precedent on abortion issues. “In order to be a fundamental right, that right has to be a liberty interest that is deeply rooted in the history of the nation or the state of Iowa. And we know that since 1843 before the Constitution of Iowa was adopted, Iowa criminalized abortion,” he says. Justice Brent Appel asked if the Constitution that was written by men and the laws were created by men left out the voice of women — and if they should still apply in 2022. “The words in our state Constitution have to be defined by their original public meaning. So it’s not a question of what was in the mind of the male legislators — it’s a question of what the public — including men and women — would have understood that word liberty to mean,” according to Schandoval.

“Since abortion was criminalized at the time of its framing — no member of the public male or female — would have thought that they had a constitutional right to commit an abortion,” Schandoval says. He says that belief continued right up until the U-S- Supreme Court abortion ruling. The case came after a law that requires a 24-hour waiting period for abortions was passed after the court held a 72-hour waiting period was not legal. Rita Bettis-Austen represents Planned Parenthood and says the procedure used to pass the 24-hour law is the issue. “And it’s not a case that squarely or properly presents the question of whether abortion is protected under the Iowa Constitution or whether strict scrutiny or undue burden is the appropriate test. That’s for numerous reasons and they are all about process. Process is what this case is really about,” Bettis-Austen says.

She says the state didn’t show the process was properly followed to show the new law brought something new to the table. “Planned Parenthood put forth really undisputed record evidence. It was incumbent on the state to dispute that with any factual evidence. The district court found that it had made these vague and hypothetical arguments about how things could be different — but that is not enough on summary judgment,” she says. Bettis-Austen says the state wants to improperly use this case to overturn the 2018 ruling. “That state’s argument is very simple — it just that it disagrees with this court’s prior precedent, and that is not enough,” she says. The Supreme Court will issue a ruling in the case later.

The high court has changed dramatically since the 2018 ruling, as the chief justice at the time died and Governor Kim Reynolds has appointed four of the seven justices now on the court, including the new chief justice.

(Radio Iowa) – Officials at the Animal Rescue League of Iowa say 42 dogs and puppies have been removed from an unlicensed breeder in southeast Iowa. Joe Stafford, director of animal services at the organization, says the smell of urine was overpowering. “It was just deplorable conditions,” Stafford says, ” really hard to describe, I mean an ammonia level that would burn your eyes and just made it very, very difficult for the rescue team to breathe inside the home.”

According to a news release from the Animal Rescue League, the dogs ranged in size from Great Danes to Corgis and they were crammed into filthy cages stacked on top of each other inside a home in Lee County, near the town of Argyle.  “Wire cages that were far, far too small for them,” Stafford says, “Many of them were soaked in urine, covered in feces and you can imagine a large number of dogs inside a small, residential home — what that would look like and smell like.

The dogs are thin, with rotten teeth and were suffering from fleas infestations. Stafford says Lee County authorities are conducting an investigation and will determine if charges are filed. Most of the dogs are now being cared for at the Animal Rescue League’s facility in Des Moines, but female dogs with nursing puppies have been placed in foster homes.  “We rely on the support of our constituents and people who are animal lovers to do this work,” Stafford says, “and if somebody has some extra funds or some time to volunteer, whatever they could do to help out.”

More than three dozen hamsters were also rescued from cages in the Lee County home and have been cleaned up, evaluated and fed and are recovering at the Animal Rescue League facility.

(Radio Iowa) – Legislators are planning to spend millions to upgrade facilities and make other changes in response to a federal investigation of the Glenwood and Woodward State Resource Centers. About 300 Iowans with intellectual disabilities and behavioral disorders are residents at the state facilities in Glenwood and Woodward. A December report from the Justice Department found that with the right services, nearly all of them could live in a community setting instead and the cost of that care would be less. This week, House Republicans announced they’re planning to plug an additional 25 million into the budget for Glenwood and Woodward.

A spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Human Services says negotiations with the U.S. Justice Department aren’t final, but the outcome is likely to require a large investment in community integration — in other words, moving residents out of institutional care at Glenwood and Woodward. D-H-S director Kelly Garcia has been telling legislators that will require spending in the neighborhood of 25 million to move those residents into homes or smaller, community-based facilities.

In January, Governor Reynolds recommended a budget increase of more than two-and-a-half million to make building upgrades at the two state-run institutions.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors held their regular weekly meeting this (Wednesday) morning. The Board appointed eight members to the County Safety Committee, and received four Manure Management Plan updates. Board Chair Matt Wedemyer….

They approved County Recorder Janelle Schneider’s request for Wedemyer to sign a Copier Lease Contract.

A Public Hearing was held with regard to the FY 2023 Maximum Property Tax Dollars. There were no comments received. Board Chair Matt Wedemyer…

After the MPT dollars were approved, the Adair County Supervisors held and passed a Resolution to that effect, along with setting March 16th as the date for a Public Hearing on the Fiscal Year ’23 Budget.

Adair County Engineer Nick Kauffman gave the Board his weekly report on the Secondary Roads Department maintenance and activities.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Police in Glenwood report a Malvern man was arrested Tuesday. 46-year-old Brent Michael was arrested for driving under suspension. His cash or surety bond was set at $300.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Police Chief Dave Erickson reports there were 10 arrests between Feb 6th and the 22nd.

On February 6th, 19-year-old Michael Gehling, and 26-year-old River Pecha-Nichols, both of Atlantic, were arrested for Burglary 3rd Degree, Theft 3rd and Criminal Mischief.

On Feb. 10th, 31-year-old Ashely Fuentes and 30-year-old Derrick Behlers, both of Atlantic, were arrested for in Theft 3rd. Both were subsequently cited into court and released at the scene.

On the 11th, 23-year-old Maxwell Low, of Atlantic, was arrested for OWI/1st offense.

February 16th, Atlantic Police arrested 41-year-old Dawn Theisen, of Atlantic, on a Cass County Warrant for Failure to Appear. And, 19-year-old Maria Mullenberg, of Atlantic, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. On the 17th, 38-year-old Mark Shaver, of Anderson, CA, was arrested in Atlantic for Assault causing Bodily Injury.

On the 22nd, 23-year-old Jovan Ochoa, of Guymon, OK, was arrested in Atlantic for Possession of Controlled Substance. And, 34-year-old Gleen Raymond, of Atlantic, was arrested for OWI/1st offense.

With the exception of the two individuals who were cited on the Theft charges, the rest were booked into the Cass County Jail. As of last Thursday (The latest jail roster posting), four of the aforementioned individuals remained in the Cass County Jail.

(Radio Iowa) – Drought conditions are expected to expand across the region in 2022 and with — on average — mostly mild temperatures this winter, there is concern of another year ahead like 2012. That was a year of drought and extreme summer heat. Meteorologist Dennis Todey, director of the U-S-D-A’s Midwest Climate Hub in Ames, says there are similarities. “We are coming off La Ninas in two consecutive years. We did the same thing back in 2012. So, there’s that similarity,” Todey says. “There are other sea surface temperature differences that we note.”

Farmers shouldn’t start to worry too much, Todey says, as there are some contrasts as well between this year and a decade ago. “We had a very dry fall throughout parts of the Plains back in 2011 going into 2012, not quite as much in this time frame,” Todey says. “2012 really cranked up quickly by getting very warm and dry in the spring and right now we’re not necessarily seeing that same kind of crank-up yet.”

The Climate Prediction Center is forecasting above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation for the Northern Plains into early summer.

(Harlan, Iowa) – Shelby County Auditor/Elections Commissioner Mark Maxwell reports, the Shelby County Board of Supervisors will meet in special session in the Auditors office Thursday, Feb 24th, beginning at 9-a.m.  The purpose of the meeting is to reset the public hearing date for the Maximum Levy Hearing.  The new hearing date will be March 7^th for the Max levy Hearing.  Publication issues necessitated the action.

Agenda items include: “Budget discussion, Discussion budget 2023 set maximum levy hearing, approve Public Notice publication, Resolution 2022-15, set a special meeting/ max levy hearing March 7th.”