(Audubon, IA) – The Audubon School District’s Board of Education held their regular monthly meeting Wednesday evening. Superintendent Trevor Miller, in his recap of their short session, said because there was short notice, the Board will host a public hearing and approval of district calendar, when they convene their meeting in March. Miller said also, their March Board Meeting will be on March 23rd, so they can have their 1st Public Hearing on Budget/Tax rate.

Superintendent Miller said the Board approved the following Action Items:

A) Policy Primer 34 #2 Second Reading. Miller says he went through each of these last month and explained the blanks.
B) Policy Review: This is part of the 5-year cycle. Trevor Miller said there are not any changes to these documents, and they only have to do a single reading since review.
C) Storm Protection Fund FY27. That’s that deductible protection, if they District should have storm or damage instead of 1%. The number listed is the max they can charge, but it could be less.
D) ICAN Scholarship Grant Agreement: Miller said “This will allow us to utilize grant funds to help Counselors with providing student support.”
E) The Audubon School Board approved an update to the Handbook: The update includes an addition that Jill, the School Nurse, would like to add after talking with other nurses, about getting signatures, emergencies etc.

F) Personnel:

1) Hires
a) Taylor Hackbarth – English
b) Nichole Olsen – Elementary Principal

2) Resignations:
a) Tracy Mulford – Kitchen

Personnel were approved as presented by the board

(Radio Iowa) – This week’s unseasonably warm weather in the 60s and 70s caused many trees across Iowa to start budding, and February is way too early for that, according to Tivon Feeley, the Iowa D-N-R’s forest health program leader. “The trees that we’re seeing leaf out a little bit right now are the red maples or the red maple hybrids that are pretty common, that you’d buy in the nursery,” Feeley says, “and those buds are just beginning to swell and kind of break open. There’s no leaf tissue hanging out.” The return to winter weather and temperatures in the 20s will spell trouble for those tiny, tender leaves.

“We know that leaf tissue that’s very fragile can freeze, and when that happens, it’ll cause damage to those leaves when they emerge,” Feeley says. “They may emerge green and look healthy, but as we get warmer in June, early July, that tissue will turn brown and fall out.” This condition is sometimes mistaken for insect feeding or disease, but Feeley says it’s simply a delayed response to cold injury that occurred earlier in the season. The leaf buds that are appearing now aren’t the only buds the trees will generate during spring, but leaves are vital to tree health and photosynthesis. Feeley was asked if the freezing of these early buds could cause us to lose any trees.

“We shouldn’t. The new growth that the trees put on won’t have this damage,” Feeley says. “Some of those will look kind of aesthetically unpleasing, but overall, there’s nothing we need to do about it. It’s just something to be aware of at the moment.” He says there should be -no- long-term threat to tree health. Homeowners are encouraged to monitor their trees, but there should not be a need for extra pruning, fertilization, or pesticides. Oh, and sorry, but he says it won’t likely mean any fewer leaves to rake in the fall.

(Radio Iowa) – The governor’s call to raise state taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products AND impose a new tax on vaping products and consumable hemp products has narrowly failed in a Senate Committee. Republican Senator Kara Warme of Ames is chair of the Health and Human Services Committee.

“I don’t like raising taxes on anyone,” she said. “I also don’t like that Iowa has more of our people dying of lung cancer than very many of our other states across the nation.” But Warme’s bill would have diverted the new sales taxes on vapes and consumable hemp products into a state fund that would be used next year to assist victims of human trafficking and plug a million dollars into Iowa’s Double Up Food Bucks program that helps low income Iowans buy more fresh fruits and vegetables.

Senator Janet Petersen and other Democrats called those surprising additions. “I have always been a proponent of doing what we can to promote cancer,” Petersen said. “…I find it frustrating that a one-time fund was stuck in this bill.” Warme’s bill wound up getting nine votes — one short of the 10 necessary to win committee approval.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Reynolds and her fellow Republicans in the House and Senate have agreed to raise general state support of public schools by 160 dollars per student. Republican Representative Dan Gelbach of Urbandale says it will amount to nearly 82-hundred dollars per student. “The state is now going to allocate…almost $4 billion in funding to our public schools,” Gelbach said. “…Factor in local property taxes…and you add on all federal funds and the SAVE penny, which is the Local Option Sales Tax for school infrastructure, our schools are operating with total resources exceeding $11 billion annually.”

The plan is slightly more than Senate Republicans originally suggested and slightly less than House Republicans proposed. It will provide the two percent per pupil spending increase Governor Reynolds called for in January. House Democrats say this is the 9th year out of 10 that state funding for public schools fails to keep pace with inflation. Representative Heather Matson of Ankeny says a two percent increase won’t provide enough to cover schools’ operating costs — including the state-required minimum salaries for teachers.

“This bill is survival mode funding. In some cases, it’s not even that,” Matson said. “…Iowans should no longer accept this irresponsibility.” Representative Mary Lee Madison, a Democrat from Des Moines, says this level of funding won’t lead to world class results in classrooms. “Underfunding our schools is not fiscal responsibility. It is civic neglect,” Madison said. “We must invest in schools as if the future depended on it, because it does.”

Gehlbach was the only Republican to speak during Thursday’s House debate. He says the demographic reality is there’s been a more than five percent decline in public school enrollment in the past decade, while the number of school staff has grown by 11 percent. “With schools losing students in their buildings and adding so much to administrative costs, I would suggest they do what Iowa has done and take a hard look at spending and budgeting,” Gehlbach said.

Gehlbach and 57 other House Republicans approved the plan, while five other Republicans joined Democrats in voting against it. The two percent per pupil spending increase will apply to state-funded Education Savings Accounts for private school students, too.

(Greenfield, IA) – Adair County Democrats are hosting a forum featuring both candidates in the Democratic Primary Race for the US Senate: Josh Turek and Zach Wahls. The event will be in Greenfield, Iowa, on Sunday afternoon, February 22,  at the 4H Building at the Adair County Fairgrounds, just east of Highway 25 at 202 NE 7th St, Greenfield.

The focus of this forum will be on rural issues. Whoever wins this race must get rural votes, and the Adair County Democratic Party sees this as an opportunity for them to share their views with rural voters and others who may attend.

Topics to be discussed follow:
* Farm policy
* Soil and water stewardship
* Business monopolies
* Main Street commerce and jobs
* Healthcare
* Education

(Atlantic, IA) – Iowa Rep. Senator Charles Grassley stopped in Atlantic this (Thursday) afternoon, for a brief tour of Cass Health, and to answer questions posed by members of the hospital staff and others.

Grassley was introduced by Cass Health CEO Brett Altman, who asked him – with regard to this being Grassley’s 46th 99-County Tour of Iowa, what his proudest accomplishments have been. Grassley responded he’s always attempted to make sure government spending isn’t wasteful, with regard to oversight and “checks and balances.”

He said “whistleblowers” who know something’s wrong, come to him for help, because he “protects them and follow-up” on the information they give him.

Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) speaks before medical professionals at CCHS in Atlantic, 2-19-26) – Ric Hanson/photo

Grassley said also, he championed the wind energy tax credit, but acknowledged that’s not so popular anymore.

He was asked about the cancer rates in Iowa, noting that Cass County has the highest cancer rate of all 99 counties in the State. Grassley said people tend to blame farmers for the chemicals they use and the nitrate runoff into rivers and streams. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. he says injects emotion into the equation of laws and regulation, and that “Sound Science,” is the answer.

During his visit to CCHS, he was asked about the 340-B Drug Reimbursement Program, Cardiac rehab and Pulmonary Rehab reimbursement rates, which he was told, were different ($125 for cardiac rehab, and $53-$93 for pulmonary rehab). With regard to that, Grassley said there’s no good answer for the rural areas, but instead of legislation to regulate reimbursement, that’s something that should be worked out between CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) and Primary Care Medical Providers…people who are not politicians.

(Radio Iowa) – Deere & Company, Iowa’s largest manufacturing employer, reports its first quarter income was down, but there’s optimism for the year ahead. Deere reports net income was 656 million in the first quarter compared with to 869 million dollars in the first quarter last year. Worldwide net sales and revenues increased 13 percent compared to the same quarter last year.

Deere C-E-O John May says in a statement that the global large agriculture industry continues to experience challenges, but they’re encouraged by the ongoing recovery in demand for construction and small agriculture. May says the positive developments reinforce their belief that 2026 represents the bottom of the current cycle and provides a strong foundation for accelerated growth going forward.

(Glenwood, IA) – Two people were arrested in Glenwood on separate “Failure To Appear” (in court) charges. The Glenwood Police Department reports 43-year-old Jared Daniel Newman, and 44-year-old Nathan Francis Styles, both of Glenwood, were arrested Wednesday afternoon and early Thursday morning, respectively. Their bonds were set at $1,000, each.

(Radio Iowa) – Forecasters say a winter storm system will move across Iowa this (Thursday) afternoon, tonight and early tomorrow, dropping up to six inches of snow. For now, National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Lee says it’s thought the heaviest snow will run in a corridor roughly from Council Bluffs to Des Moines to Dubuque. “The most likely areas to receive higher amounts are generally from western through central or north central into northeastern Iowa,” Lee says, “however, what we’re looking at is a situation where there will be a relatively narrow band of heavier snow, and it’s not yet certain exactly where that’s going to fall, so the forecast amounts are somewhat variable.” Lee is urging all Iowans to keep a close eye on the changing forecast, as travel could become hazardous later today and tonight.

“Within the heaviest band of snow, amounts of two to five inches will be common, and there may even be a narrow strip of six inches or more,” Lee says. “Again, that would be over a relatively small area, but it is quite possible. So we are going to look at some travel impacts here later today into the night that may linger into the Friday morning commute.” The winter weather comes after record warmth earlier in the week where many parts of the state saw high temperatures in the 50s, 60s and even low 70s. Lee says this shift back to more seasonal weather means this snow will likely stick around.

“The next several days from Friday through Monday, we’ll struggle to get above freezing during the day, which is actually only a little bit below normal, but it’ll feel much worse because we’ve been so spoiled,” Lee says. “However, toward the middle of next week, it does look like we’ll get a relative warm-up again. Maybe not what we’ve just seen, but 50s are definitely in play for the middle of next week.”

Over the past week or so, he notes Des Moines had six days in a row of temperatures in the 60s, an exceptionally warm stretch for February in Iowa.