(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Auditor’s Office, today (Tuesday) reports two more candidates have filed to run for city offices as of the end of business today:

Jackson Bissell has filed to run for re-election to the Massena City Council, and Eyon Steffensen has filed to run for a seat on the Anita City Council.  A reminder: The deadline for candidates to file their papers ahead of the November 4th City/School Elections is this Thursday, Sept. 18th, at 5-p.m.  With today’s filings, the complete list of candidates whose names will appear on the ballot in Cass County, for city offices in Cass County (as of Sept. 16th) include:

The current list of candidates now is as follows:

Anita City Council (Vote for 3):

• Deanna Andrews (Incumbent, term expires 1/1/26)
• Shelly Hogueison
• Kim Miller
• Eyon Steffensen

Atlantic City Council Ward 2 (Vote for 1):

• Jim Behrens (Incumbent, term expires 1/1/26)

Atlantic City Council Ward 5 (Vote for 1):

• Dana Halder (Incumbent, term expires 1/1/26)

Atlantic City Council At-Large (Vote for1):

• Jeremy Butler

Atlantic – Mayor:

• Rob Clausen

Cumberland City Council (Vote for 3):

• Tatiana Thielen
• Randall Anderson Jr
• Matthew Dolch

Cumberland City Council – To Fill Vacancy (Vote for 1):

• Dori A Borras

Cumberland Mayor:

• Rachel McCann

Griswold City Council (Vote for 2):

• Troy Nicklaus
• Jesse Doty
• Nick Demanett

Griswold Mayor

• Brad Rhine (Incumbent)

Lewis City Council (Vote for 2):

• Russell Miller
• Jim Triller
• David Raymond

Massena City Council (Vote for 2) :

• Doug Venteicher
• Jackson Bissell (Incumbent)

Wiota City Council (Vote for 3):

• Charles Bechtold

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says the F-B-I was infected with politics when F-B-I director Kash Patel took over in February. Patel appeared before Grassley and the Senate Judiciary Committee today (Tuesday). “Since your confirmation you’ve been acquainted with the bureaucracy that you must reform and hold accountable,” Grassley said, “and that’s no simple task.”

Grassley says whistleblowers in the F-B-I along with records about an operation called “Arctic Frost” suggest the agency’s investigation of the January 6th riot at the U-S Capitol targeted 92 Republican groups. “Arctic Frost wasn’t just a case to politically investigate Trump,” Grassley said shortly after convening today’s hearing. “It was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors could achieve their partisan ends and improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus.”

Grassley and a fellow Republican senator from Wisconsin are also calling on Patel to reveal whether the F-B-I has investigated allegations some confidential F-B-I sources made against President Biden. “We aren’t saying the allegations are true. We want to know what the FBI did to fully investigate their veracity or lack thereof, and what they concluded,” Grassley said. “Let’s put this matter to rest, one way or the other.”

Democrats on the committee accused Patel of firing F-B-I agents for political reasons and questioned why more records about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein haven’t been released. Patel says the F-B-I has no credible information that Epstein trafficked women or underage girls to anyone but himself.

Patel also discussed his agency’s investigation of Charlie Kirk’s assassination during the hearing.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Environmental Protection Commission voted today (Tuesday) to continue a program with the state Ag Department to improve the watershed runoff into the Iowa Great Lakes. The D-N-R’s Ginger Murphy says the project has several benefits. “Water quality in the Iowa Great Lakes drives the economy, recreation, and quality of life in the region and also impacts source water for local communities,” Murphy says.

Information from 2019 shows an economic impact from travel to the region at nearly 378 million dollars. Murphy says those numbers are likely higher as travel has picked up since the pandemic. She says the plan seeks to improve the water quality. “The current watershed management plan for Iowa Great Lakes is focused on reducing turbidity driven by sediment and algal growth by reducing the phosphorus entering the lakes,” she says. The plan has a limit of up to 129-thousand-500 dollars using an E-P-A grant.

“Practices supported by the watershed management plan and this funding include in-field and edge-of-field best management practices on ag land. Wetland and shallow lake restoration on public and private lands. Shoreline stabilization on the lakes and urban stormwater best management practices,” Murphy says. The plan was first implemented in 2018. “Total sediment reduced during this time period is six-thouse-944 tons per year over all the practices that have been installed,” Murphy says. “Total phosphorus reduction has been 15-thousand-746 pounds per year, and that’s based on those practices staying in place and ongoing. And we calculate that using a model that we use across all of our watershed projects for all installed practices.”

Murphy says one success in the project is Lower Lake Gar, which met water clarity goals. “And that resulted in the 2024 delisting from the impaired waters list off lower Gar Lake. Lower Gar is kind of the end of the chain of lakes…it has its own watershed, but it also captures everything flowing through the bigger lakes that are to the north. And so this was great news and important milestone,” Murphy says.

Murphy says they still feel that phosphorus will continue to be the primary pollutant of concern in the Great Lakes and they want to continue seeing progress.

Regular City Election Filing Deadline: Last day to file nomination papers with the auditor or designated city clerk is 5:00 p.m.; School Election Candidate Filing Deadline: Last day to file nomination paper with the school secretary or community college board secretary is 5:00 p.m.

Red Oak City Offices and Candidates Filed:

Mayor – Vote for One: John F. Haidsiak, Tim Fridolph

Council Member Ward #2 – Vote for One:

Council Member At Large – Vote for One: John Gross, Jeanice Lester

Council Member Ward #1-TFV – Vote for One: Levi Franks

Elliott City Offices and Candidates Filed:

Mayor – Vote for One: Michael Carson

Council Member At Large – Vote for Three: Chris Tischer, Nancy Jo Nelson

Grant City Offices and Candidates Filed:

Mayor – Vote for One:

Council Member At Large – Vote for Five: Zelda Swartz. Lyn Sliger

Stanton City Offices and Candidates Filed:

Council Member At Large – Vote for Three:

Coburg City Offices and Candidates Filed:

Mayor- Vote for One-

Council Member At Large – Vote for Two

Villisca City Offices and Candidates Filed:

Mayor – Vote for One: Marilyn Halda

Council Member At Large – Vote for Two:

Council Member At Large – TFV 2-year term:

********

Red Oak School Board:

Director At Large – Vote for Three:

Director At Large TFV- Vote for One:

Stanton School Board:

Director At Large – Vote for Three:

Villisca School Board:

Director At Large – Vote for Two:

Southwestern Community College:

Director District #1 – Vote for One:

Director District #3 – Vote for One:

Director District #5 – Vote for One:

Director District #6 – Vote for One:

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Guthrie County say no injuries were reported following a collision Monday morning in Guthrie Center. Authorities say the accident happened a little after 8-a.m, on eastbound State Street, when a  2015 Chevy Silverado pickup driven by 20-year-old Wyatt Rudy, of Casey, rear-ended a 2021 Toyota Tundra pickup driven by 62-year-old Randy Countryman, of Bagley, as his vehicle was slowing down or stopped, waiting for westbound traffic, before turning onto N. 12th Street.

Damage from the collision amounted to $13,000. No citations were issued.

(Onawa, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reports, “Due to safety concerns created from dead or dying cottonwood trees, the Lewis and Clark State Park campground is closed until further notice. The DNR will remove hazardous trees while the campground is closed.” The DNR said also, the park currently remains open for day-use activities such as picnicking and walking trails; however, the park will close once tree removal begins to ensure safety of visitors.

Campers with reservations have been contacted and issued refunds. Please visit the DNR’s Iowa State Park and Forest web page to find alternative campgrounds in the region, and for links to latest park closures and alerts.

For more information, contact the Park Office at: Lewis_and_Clark@dnr.iowa.gov

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports six arrests took place between Sept. 8th and the 14th:

On the 14th, 19-year-old Jorge A. Narciso-Jimenez, of Omaha, was arrested in Pacific Junction on multiple charges, including: Possession of alcohol under age/1st offense; No valid driver’s license; Failure to provide proof of financial liability (Insurance-accident related); Failure to comply w/a Police order; Striking fixtures upon a highway; Reckless driving; Eluding; OWI/1st offense; Criminal Mischief in the 2nd Degree; and Interference with Official Acts. His bond was set at $7,000.

Mills County Deputies arrested 18-year-old Josephine Grace Costello, of Omaha, on Sept. 13th in Glenwood. She was charged with Domestic Abuse Assault/1st offense and was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

On the 9th of September, 24-year-old ALexis Esai Zamora, of Omaha, was arrested in Glenwood for Assault (Bond $300). And there were three separate arrests on Sept. 8th in Mills County: 40-year-old Nicholas Alan Goodsell, of Council Bluffs, was arrested in Glenwood for Violation of a No Contact/Protective Order (Bond $300); 67-year-old Robert Michael Krupa, of Omaha, was arrested for Assault while displaying a dangerous weapon (bond $2,000); and, 25-year-old Branden Ray Peaches, of Independence, MO, was arrested in Glenwood for Failure to Appear on a Felony offense (Bond $25,000).

(Clarinda, Iowa) – Page County Attorney James L. Varley has issued a report on the outcome of court cases heard in Page County District Court, for the week of August 25, 2025:

46-year-old Kimberly Ann Briggs, of Clarinda, was found guilty of: One count of Possession of Controlled Substance-Methamphetamine, 2nd Offense; 2 counts Possession of a Controlled Substance- Hydrocodone; and 3 counts Possession of a Controlled Substance-Marijuana, 2nd Offense. The verdict was handed down following a trial.  Briggs was sentenced to 2 years of incarceration and plus related fines. The fines for counts 1, 2 and 3 and terms of incarceration were suspended. Briggs was find $300 each on counts 4,5 & 6, and placed on probation for two years and as a condition of probation is to obtain a drug/alcohol evaluation and follow through with any recommendations. She was additionally ordered to pay court costs, surcharges and court-appointed attorney fees.

27-year-old Oren William Keller, of Clarinda, pled guilty to Possession with Intent to Deliver Methamphetamine. He was sentenced to 10 years of incarceration and fined $1,000. The term of incarceration was suspended, and Keller was placed on probation for 3 years. He was ordered to pay court costs, surcharges and court-appointed attorney fees. Keller also pled guilty to a separate Possession with Intent to Deliver Methamphetamine charge, sentenced to 10 years of incarceration and fined $1,000. The sentence will run concurrently with the sentence imposed in the aforementioned case. The term of incarceration was suspended, and Keller was placed on probation for 3 years. He was ordered to pay court costs, surcharges and court-appointed attorney fees.

40-year-old Megan Renee Sunderman, Omaha, Nebraska, appeared with counsel in Page County District Court, and was found to be in violation of the terms of her probation. Her probation was revoked, and the original sentence of 10 years of incarceration was imposed. Sunderman pled guilty to Possession of Controlled Substance, Methamphetamine, with the Intent to Deliver on February 3, 2025.

23-year-old Jacob Apollo Tanori, of Merced, California, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Possession of Controlled Substance-Marijuana, 1st Offense. He received a deferred judgment for 9 months and placed on probation. The Tanori was ordered to pay a civil penalty of $430, court costs and surcharges.

All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors met this (Tuesday) morning at the courthouse in Atlantic, and adopted an amended Ordinance for the Veterans Emergency Assistance Program. Their action followed a public hearing, passage of the First Reading of the Ordinance, and waiving of the rules for a Second Reading. KJAN reported on the amendments last week.

The Board passed also, a Resolution “Terminating the Cass County, Cass-Audubon Border Economic Development, Urban Renewal Plan,” and Ending the CABEDA (Cass-Audubon-Economic Development [Urban Renewal] Area), also known as the Valley Business Park Urban Renewal Area (VBP-URA). On a related note, the Supervisors, after hearing a request from the Noble Initiative Foundation, passed a motion by Supervisor Steve Green, to provide $300,000 from the Valley Business Park funds, at a zero-percent interest rate for 18-months. Board Chair Steve Baier abstained due to a conflict of interest. The funds will be used for the construction of housing in a subdivision containing residential parcels, and known as the “Land of Oz,” near the Lakin Foundation Child Development Center.

Noble Initiative Foundation Board member Matt Leighton explained the request.

He said a considerable amount of TIF funds have been expended to make the area construction ready. Board Chair Baier said the County’s action is a “leap of faith” in the project.

Cass County BOS 9-16-25 (Zoom image)

In other business, the Board passed an Ordinance that repealed an ordinance providing for the Division of Taxes on taxable property in the VBP- URA. And, they passed a Resolution “Terminating the Cass County-Amaizing Energy Urban Renewal Area, along with the providing for the Division of Taxes (similar to the above).

The Cass County Supervisors approved a Cass County Segregation of Duties Policy, which Steve Green said is a necessary step in order for the County to receive grant monies. And, they approved a Federal Aid Agreement for a bridge project over Indian Creek, on Jasper Road. The project would replace a narrow concrete bridge built in 1955 with a twin box culvert, at a cost of approximately $650,000.

And, the Board approved the appointment of Amy Smith to fill a vacancy on the Cass County Local Food Policy Council. The term expires Dec. 31, 2026.