(Radio Iowa) – President Biden has taken a temporary step to ensure E-15 can be sold year-round.

Biden spoke about the decision to a crowd of invited guests inside an ethanol plant near Menlo Tuesday afternoon.

Biden says energy prices are the major driver of inflation right now.

Emily Skor is executive director of Growth Energy, a trade association for ethanol producers. Skor says the president has made a commitment to find a permanent fix.

In 2019, the Trump Administration moved to allow nationwide E-15 sales from June to mid-September.

Twitter photo of Pres. Biden at POET Biorefining, via Christian Datoc, White House Correspondent, Washington Examiner.

A federal judge ruled in favor of the oil industry’s challenge of that move and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case. That means the litigation path for addressing this issue is closed and Skor says the industry is pursuing two options: E-P-A action or passage of a bill in congress.

Iowa Farm Bureau president Brent Johnson says ethanol is a major market for one of Iowa’s main crops and Biden’s announcement helps stabilize the ethanol industry.

Biden made the announcement in a storage barn for dried distillers grain — by by-product of ethanol production and hosts left a 300 ton pile of it inside for the event.. Michael Walz is a V-P for POET, the company that owns the facility Biden visited.

POET operates 33 ethanol plants in eight states.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Harlan Police Department reports three, recent arrests. On Saturday, April 9th, 24-year-old Miranda Marie Shamblin, of Harlan, was arrested following a call for service. Shamblin was transported to the Shelby County Jail where she was charged with assault and interference with official acts.

On April 6th, 27-year-old Mackenzie Ann Robinson, of Harlan, was arrested by Harlan Police on an active Shelby County warrant. Robinson was transported to the Shelby County Jail where she was charged with violation of a no contact order.

And on April 5th, 28-year-old Brandon Christopher Allen, of Harlan, was arrested following a call for service. Allen was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with violation of a no contact order.

(Radio Iowa) – The bird flu outbreak throughout the state is helping to drive up egg prices. Economist Brian Earnest with CoBank, which is part of the Farm Credit System, says the nation already saw a significant decrease in egg layers due to the pandemic. The virus will only exacerbate the shortage. “If we continue to see these flock depopulations, especially at the rates we’ve been seeing, that continues to put pressure on availability even into this fall,” Earnest says.

The outbreak has already led to the culling of 24 million birds in commercial and backyard flocks across the nation. Earnest says the price of wholesale eggs rose to three dollars a dozen last month. He says prices are likely to fall in the summer but tight supply will continue to plague the industry. Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig says he’s concerned about seeing a repeat of the 2015 outbreak which took a one-point-two BILLION dollar toll on the state.  “We’re all interested in looking at the cost of food right now. There’s food price inflation for a lot of reasons. But we don’t want to add on top of that shortages because of high path,” Niag says.

Rembrandt Enterprises laid off more than 200 workers after the northwest Iowa egg producer lost its flock of more than five million chickens to the virus.

(By Kendall Crawford, Iowa Public Radio)

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two arrests. At around 7-a.m. today (Tuesday), 33-year-old Audrey Elise Martin, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Jail, on a warrant for Failure to Appear. Her bond was set at $50,000. And, at around 9:25-p.m. Monday, 30-year-old Aaron Ray McDaniel, of Malvern, was arrested for Driving While Revoked or Denied, with bond set at $1,000.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office said also, a woman from Malvern and a passenger in another vehicle, were transported to Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs, following an accident Sunday afternoon near 32295 Lambert Avenue. Authorities say a 2012 Chevy driven by 78-year-old Marilyn Hexon, of Malvern, was traveling east on Lambert Avenue out of Malvern. A 1950 Chevy driven by 74-year-old Clifford Leach, of Hastings, was behind Hexon’s vehicle, which was traveling at a slower speed.

Maxson slowed to turn into a driveway. When Leach attempted to pass her vehicle, the two Chevy’s collided. Maxson told authorities she had her turn signal on, but Leach said he didn’t see the light flashing.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, voted to adopt a 2022 Cass County Trail Plan in an effort to support trail development within the County. SWIPCO Planner Danielle Briggs addressed the Board, prior to the vote. She said the old trail plan was out-of-date, so they began fresh in 2020 efforts to update the plan that was delayed due to COVID and other matters. She said main reason for updating the plan is to use it as a tool for grant funding necessary to move the trails program forward.

Dave Chase, President of Nishna Valley Trails, thanked those who put in a considerable amount of time to develop the plan. Those persons included Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh, Cass County Naturalist Lora Kanning, Conservation Director Micah Lee, and Danielle Briggs.

SWIPCO’s Danielle Briggs talks about the Cass Co. Trail Plan

Chase said “high on the list of trail projects was the connection of the T-Bone Trail to Atlantic.” As it is now, that trail terminates about three-miles northeast of town.

He said through donations and grant funding, “we’re funding new funding is coming on-line,” and they’re working with Golden Hills RC&D in Oakland, to connect the trail to the rest of western Iowa. Chase said there is no tax asking connected with a request for the plan to be adopted. In other business, the Board passed a Resolution to approve a bridge repair project on West 6th Street (The Airport Road). Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken says the joint County-City project is on west 6^th Street over the Nishnabotna River. The project’s cost is $392,414.00 to repair the abutments, replace the steel beams, and bring the bridge back up to its’ legal load rating of 80,000 pounds. Currently, the bridge is carrying a three-ton load limit. The project wouldn’t start until 2023.

And, the Board approved a Resolution for the use of ARPA funds to purchase an enclosed trailer for the Cass County EMA.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – April 12, 2022 – The Iowa Transportation Commission, during their meeting Tuesday morning in Council Bluffs, approved an amended grant for a RISE grant (Revitalize Iowa’s Sound Economy), to Audubon County.

In Audubon County, a scope of work and grant award change was approved for a modification of the previously awarded Immediate Opportunity RISE grant to remove 100th Street improvements and construct additional intersection improvements to County Road M-66 and 100th Street. Officials say the amendment is necessary to provide improved access to the proposed expansion of Puck Enterprises, a liquid manure application equipment manufacturer. This project is anticipated to be completed by October 2023.

The Commission also approved a grant to Sioux City, for up to $665,264 from the city share of the RISE Fund and $665,264 from the county share of the RISE fund, for a Local Development grant to assist in paving approximately 2,470 feet of Alicia Avenue and construction of a left-turn lane on 225th Street located on the south side of town. This project is necessary to provide access to 37 acres for warehousing purposes. This project is anticipated to be completed by August 2023.

(Anita, Iowa) – The CAM School Board, Monday night, held public hearings on the proposed 2022-23 School Calendar and 2022-23 Certified Budget as published. Superintendent Paul Croghan told KJAN News there were no comments received, therefore the board, in their action segment, approved the School Calendar with very few changes.

The adjusted calendar, he said, calls for the the current school year ending Friday, May 27th with a four-hour early dismissal, due to days missed on account of weather and play-off football.

The 2022-23 calendar includes a two-hour early dismissal on Wednesday’s.

And, they passed the budget, for which the tax asking is slightly lower than last year.

Mr. Croghan said the CAM School Board approved the resignations of ___ staffers.

And, they approved contracts for…..

In other business, the CAM School Board approved a technology purchase amounting to $313,826.25, for teacher laptops, student Chromebooks, an I-Pad, desktops for secretaries, and the nutrition program.

(7-a.m. News) – A traffic stop late Monday night in Creston resulted in the arrest of a woman from Lenox. The Creston Police Dept. says 39-year-old Jennifer Lee Johnson was taken into custody for Driving While Suspended. Johnson was released at the scene with a citation.

(Radio Iowa) – The University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital now has new technology to provide dialysis to its smallest patients. Doctor Jennifer Jetton says the machine can provide dialysis for infants weighing between five and 20 pounds. “For those babies, we have not had machines, dialysis machines that have been designed specifically for that size. And we’ve had to make do with equipment that is designed and F-D-A approved for adults,” Jetton says.

The Cardio-Renal Pediatric Dialysis Emergency Machine (CARPEDIEM) was developed and has been in use in Europe since around 2013, and she says they’ve been just really anxiously waiting to have access to it in the United States. “Just because it is so much smaller. And it is designed specifically for babies in mind. So like the amount of blood that’s out of the body at any one time is much, much smaller than the scales and the accuracy are very precise down to one gram,” she says. Doctor Jetton is a pediatric nephrologist, and says they have been training and establishing protocols for the machine. She says it is not something they will use a lot right away.

“But I think a few times a year is what we are kind of anticipating maybe more than that. I think in the center that first started using it, it started in Cincinnati, children’s they had like one patient, and then all of a sudden they had two and then they had three kids,” she explains. “So again, once you have it, and it’s out there, then the options, you know, cases where it can be beneficial become more, more clear.” Doctor Jetton says the machine helps the babies get through kidney problems. “They’ve developed something called acute kidney injury, where their kidneys are temporarily not working very well. And they need help with getting rid of all the fluids that they need, as part of like their nutrition or medications, and then help with balancing all their body salts like their sodium and potassium,” Jetton says.

She says those are the two main things that the kidneys do normally. Jetton says any new therapy requires lots of preparation before it is put into use. “Anytime you’re talking about a baby within the intensive care unit who’s sick enough to need dialysis, it’s risky. And so there’s a lot of work that goes into training the team and making sure that we’ve thought about safety in every possible way for these kids,” she says.

Jetton says it has been an entire team effort to get the machine and work out all the training and protocols so they can put it into use.

(Radio Iowa) – President Biden will visit an Iowa ethanol plant today (Tuesday) to highlight steps to expand the use of “homegrown” biofuels. The Environmental Protection Agency will issue a waiver so E-15 — gasoline with a 15 percent ethanol blend — can be sold nationwide all year long. Under current regulations, E-15 cannot be sold in most of the country between June 1st and September 15th.

The leader of a trade association for the ethanol industry says this is welcome news for all American drivers seeking lower cost options at the pump. The U-S-D-A is providing 100 million dollars in grants for installing or upgrading gas station equipment that can dispense gasoline with higher blends of ethanol and diesel with a higher concentration of a soybean-based additive.

The event is being covered by the national press corps. The White House has not released any information about how the public can attend the event. Expect security to be tight and some detours in the area.

Republican Senator Joni Ernst says expanding the biofuels industry is a national security issue. “It’s not only important for the United States — clean energy! — but it sure is a great way to push back against Vladamir Putin,” Ernst said.

Ernst was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014 and has lobbied the Obama, Trump and Biden Administrations on policies to expand ethanol production. That includes refusing to issue waivers so oil refinerites don’t have to blend ethanol into gasoline and allowing fuel blended with 15 percent ethanol — E-15 — to be sold year-round all around the country. Anti-smog rules have prevented E-15’s sale in most areas during the summer months. Ernst says Biden’s trip to Menlo was a surprise. “With everything that is going on, I just did not anticipate that he would be traveling right now. His approval levels are very low, but at the same time, you know, he needs to be out engaging with the public. We’ve got high inflation. We’ve got high gas costs…He needs to get out and he needs to explain his position,” Ernst said. “He needs to engage with constituents — and maybe that would help.”

Iowa’s other U.S. Senator, Republican Chuck Grassley, says promoting biofuels and allowing summer sales of E-15 is far better than pursuing expanded crude oil production from Middle East countries and Venezuela. The chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party has said he’s thrilled Iowans can hear directly from Biden about the agenda Democrats are pursuing to lower costs for working families. This is Biden’s first trip to Iowa as president. Biden was last here four days before the 2020 General Election, for a drive-in rally on the Iowa State Fairgrounds.