(Glenwood, Iowa) – Police in Glenwood report 45-year-old Michael Butcher, of Council Bluffs, was arrested today (Wednesday). Butcher was taken into custody for OWI/1st offense. Bond wa set at $1,000.

(Radio Iowa) – Blood donated by Iowans is being rushed to Texas today (Wednesday) following Tuesday’s mass shooting at an elementary school that left at least 19 children and two adults dead. Another 15 children and four adults were wounded. Danielle West, spokeswoman for the Des Moines-based LifeServe Blood Center, says Iowa is answering Texas’ call for help, even though blood is very scarce here. “We don’t have a ton of inventory on hand,” West says. “We’re not where we want to be but we do have units set aside right now. We’re sending 10 O-negative and 10 O-positive but we also have more set aside throughout the week, so every day, we’re checking in with Texas to see if they need more.”

LifeServe is part of the Blood Emergency Readiness Corps, a coalition of more than 35 blood centers across the U-S that have committed to collecting extra blood units on a rotating, on-call schedule. The 20 units of Iowa blood being sent to South Texas Blood & Tissue won’t mean any Iowans are denied an important surgery, but it does ratchet up the urgency. “We absolutely need donors. O-negative and O-positive are always lower than we want them to be, especially when we’re sending more outside of this area,” West says. “This is a way that our community can step up and help our community blood supply but also the Texas area that probably will need more blood products throughout the week.” An appeal is going out to all Iowans who are left wondering, “What can I do,” following the Texas shootings, as they -can- make a difference.

“I would just encourage people to go to our website, LifeServeBloodCenter.org,” West says, “or give us a call at 800-287-4903 to find a blood drive or donor center near them and get scheduled as soon as they can.” LifeServe is the sole supplier of blood products to 129 hospitals across Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

(Greenfield,Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors today (Wednesday) approved the use of $16,000 from the County’s share of the ARPA allotment (American Rescue Plan Act for Covid recovery), for the Adair County Neighborhood Center, in Greenfield. The Center is owned by MATURA. They will provide the necessary matching funds, the sum of which would serve to make the building’s restroom ADA compliant, and feature new flooring, and heating and cooling system. The agreement stipulates if MATURA sells the building, money from the County would be paid-back within five-years. It also says bids for their improvement projects must not exceed $32,000, with proof of receipts. The Neighborhood Center provides assistance to families who are facing a crisis situation with food and/or shelter.

The Board also approved a wage increase for Timber Woosley in the Adair County Auditor’s Office. The Board and Auditor Mandy Berg all agreed Timber is a great asset, and as such approved an increase in her salary from 73-percent, to 74-percent, of Berg’ salary. The increase is accounted for in Berg’s office budget.

They heard from Adair/Guthrie County Environmental Health Coordinator Jotham Arber. He provided the Board with an Environmental Health report update.

Anyone who wants to install a septic system on their property in Adair County, he said, should get the required perc test done now.

He said the cost of the perc test is reimbursed if you apply for the grant. Arber said there are currently 19 perc tests scheduled for Adair County. Septic systems, he said, generally have a 30-to-35 year lifespan, so if yours is that old or older, you should consider getting it replaced, before it causes sewage issues. Jotham Arber said also, the Environmental Health Department is recommending Adair County residents perform a Radon test in their home. Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that can cause lung cancer. Arber left five free tests off at the Adair County Courthouse and will continue to provide five free each month. They can also be purchased at most hardware stores for as little as $10-dollars.

For more information, call Jotham Arber at 641-747-3972. In other business, Adair County County Engineer Nick Kauffman recommended and the Board approved, a 5-cent longevity raise for Secondary Roads employee Alex Bauer. The Supervisors then acted on awarding a Resolution for the N5 Richland Bridge Project to the low bidder, Murphy Heavy Contracting out of Anita, in the amount of $847,841. There were two other bidders for the project. All were in the ballpark of the Engineer’s estimate of $820,000.

Kauffman then updated the Board on his department’s activities.

Audubon, Iowa (May 25, 2022) – Trees Forever, Audubon County Conservation Board, Audubon County Roadsides, Audubon County Economic Development and partners are offering the Stewards of the Beautiful Land Series to individuals in Audubon and surrounding counties. Stewards of the Beautiful Land is a four-session course, meeting monthly, geared for the outdoor enthusiast who wants to learn more about prairie plants, trees and forests, and the environments they thrive in, and how to advocate for native landscapes.

“We have been offering this innovative series to other counties throughout Iowa the last three years and now it is being offered in Audubon. We have identified several great locations for field days which will be the perfect outdoor classroom to learn about prairie plant identification, establishment, and management as well as tree care and more,” says Trees Forever Program Manager Brad Riphagen. 

The course is structured with monthly webinars featuring guest presenters which lay the groundwork and knowledge base for where to find native plants on the landscape, the various landforms of Iowa, invasive species identification and management, pollinator habitat enhancement and protection and more. Each month will also feature an in-person meeting to learn from one another, walk through the woods or prairie identifying native plants and trees, and hands-on skills like how to properly plant and care for natives. In-person meetings are from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at various locations throughout the county.

According to Sara Slater with Audubon County Economic Development, “we are excited to host this series of field days around Audubon and learning about the natural landscape with Brad and other participants. We even have a pollinator planting planned for this fall near Albert the Bull so the course has something for everyone.”

For more information contact Brad Riphagen at briphagen@treesforever.org or via phone at 515-370-1291. Registration is live on the Trees Forever events calendar found at this link https://treesforever.org/event/stewards-of-the-beautiful-land-session-1/

(Radio Iowa) – Court records show a woman killed in a weekend shooting in Waterloo was arrested on robbery charges connected to another homicide nearly two years ago. The woman who died early Sunday morning has been identified as 26-year-old Ana Berinobis-McLemore. Police say someone opened fire on a vehicle at a residential intersection, killing her. She was a passenger in the vehicle.

Court documents show Berinobis-McLemore was awaiting trial on first-degree robbery charges connected to a 2020 shooting that left one man dead. Her murder is the third in the city this year. So far, no arrests have been made.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Due to the abnormally low temperatures over the last week, Sunnyside Pool in Atlantic will not be opening for the Memorial Day Weekend. Parks and Rec Director Bryant Rasmussen said “We have been painting benches, sealing the pool, putting up umbrellas, etc. in anticipation for this upcoming season.  But due to mother nature we will have to push back the opening.  Please follow our Sunnyside Pool Facebook page as we will monitor the pool and be working hard to get it open as soon as possible.”

Rasmussen says “Thank you for your understanding and we hope to have a great summer!”

Sunnyside Pool in Atlantic, Iowa.

The Creston Police Department reports 31-year-old Ashton James Olson, of Creston, was arrested at around 11:30-p.m. Tuesday, for OWI/1st offense. Olson was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, where he was being held on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with the Trevor Frederickson Memorial fund report the Fund’s Grant Petty recently donated $300 to Atlantic Police Chief Devin Hogue. The funds will go toward the Atlantic Police Department’s upcoming summer program for kids in the community. Fund spokesperson (Trevor’s mom) Melanie Petty, said “We are proud to help sponsor this years events and hope all involved have a great summer experience.”

Atlantic Police Chief Devin Hogue & Grant Petty w/the Frederickson Foundation (Photo courtesy Melanie Petty).

The Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund was started after Trevor lost his life in a house fire in 2009.  An annual golf tournament is held each year to raise funds in his name and then those funds are given back to the community that he loved.  This years tournament will be held on June 18th at the Atlantic Golf and Country Club.  Silent auction items and hole sponsorships are still being accepted.  Contact Melanie Petty at 249-3696 with any questions.

(Radio Iowa) – Legislators have voted to erase income taxes on the one-thousand dollar bonuses Governor Reynolds distributed to teachers and police out of federal pandemic funds. The bill also erases sales taxes on certain feminine products, as well as diapers for babies and adults. Senator Janet Petersen, a Democrat from Des Moines, says these are costly items and getting rid of the sales tax on these purchases makes sense.

“Iowans should be grateful to see at least one promising thing in the tax package that really will impact people’s pocketbook,” Petersen said. A ban on private donations to state and county election offices was included one of the final bills to pass the legislature. The move came after Republicans, nationally, raised objections to private grants from Facebook C-E-O Mark Zuckerberg and his wife that helped buy voting equipment and pay staff for the 2020 election.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller announced Iowa is part of a multistate settlement with Ford Motor Company regarding gas mileage claims for pickups. The settlement came after allegations that Ford falsely advertised the fuel economy of its 2013-2014 C-Max hybrids and the payload capacity of the model year 2011-2014 Super Duty pickup trucks. Iowa will receive more than 289-thousand dollars for its Consumer Education Fund from the settlement.

The settlement agreement also prohibits Ford from making false or misleading advertising claims concerning the estimated fuel economy or payload capacity of a new motor vehicle. It subjects Ford to penalties under the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act if a court determines that Ford violated the settlement agreement.