(Radio Iowa) – What’s billed as the Midwest’s largest and most colorful winter kite festival is scheduled for Saturday in north-central Iowa. Libby Hohn, tourism director for the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce, says the Color The Wind Kite Festival is an exhibition of hundreds of traditional and inflatable kites, and even stunt kites doing aerial choreography to music. “We’re expecting great crowds and beautiful kites,” Hohn says. “We have dozens of kiters from all over the United States and even a kiter coming over from England to show off their kites.”

The 36-hundred acre lake is an ideal venue for kiting, she says, as there are no obstacles like trees or power lines. Ten-thousand spectators are expected for the one-day festival which will go on whatever the weather — as long as there’s wind. “Several years ago, there was very low wind and they would just attach kites to some ATVs and drive them around to try and pick up some wind,” Hohn says. “The way our topography is here in Clear Lake, there’s typically a nice breeze or wind so that’s also what makes us a great sailing lake in the summertime.”

Color the Wind Kite Festival (File photo, Clearlakeiowa.com)

At last check, the ice was 19-inches thick, so it’ll be safe to walk right onto the frozen lake to take in the spectacle in the skies. “We really recommend to dress for the weather. If you want to wear ice cleats on your boots, if you’re going to venture out on the ice, that helps with stability,” Hohn says. “If you’re bringing children, we recommend bringing a wagon or even a sled to pull them around on the ice.”

She notes, only kiters can park on the ice, though there’s free parking at Clear Lake High School and free shuttles. The event runs Saturday from 11 AM to 4 PM.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Chamber Ambassadors, Thursday, visited with Leah Mundorf, owner of Skip’s Home Décor & More on East 7th Street, to celebrate the Grand Opening of her Home Décor/ Gift Shop in Atlantic. After closing The Gym, Leah and her husband Mitch were left with an opportunity to try something new. That something new came in the form of a Home Décor Store named after Leah’s late mother’s nickname. Leah is passionate about decorating and helping people create gifts for others and you can sense that when you arrive in the newly remodeled building.

Skip’s Home Décor & More has a little bit of everything from decorative signs, pillows, flowers and candles alongside cards, gift bags, and even some clothing. Leah has no desire to expand into clothing, but she “couldn’t help herself” with some of the pieces on display. Skip’s Home Décor & More has regular business hours of Monday and Thursday, 10AM to 6PM, Tuesday and Friday, 10AM to 3PM, and Saturday, 10AM-2PM.

Skip’s Home Décor & More is located at 1000 E. 7th Street in Atlantic. To learn more about Skip’s Home Decor, visit their Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/879933082670149/

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s largest manufacturing employer is reporting a drop in income but a rise in sales. John Deere is reporting first quarter net income of 903-million dollars. That’s down more than 321-million from the first quarter a year ago. Worldwide net sales and revenues for Quad Cities-based Deere rose five-percent in the quarter to more than nine-and-a half billion, up from about eight-billion last year.

Deere chairman and C-E-O John May calls the performance “impressive” given last fall’s U-A-W strike as well as “persistent challenges posed by the supply chain and pandemic.”

DES MOINES, IA (Feb. 18, 2021) — Officials with the Healthiest State Initiative have announced the winners of the 2022 Healthiest State Annual Awards. The winners were recognized for their efforts to improve the physical, social and emotional well-being of their students, employees and fellow Iowans. Among the winners in western Iowa, was the City of Manning.  Each winner was awarded a monetary prize to continue their work focused on improving the health and wellness at their site.

The winners in the 10 categories are:

Healthy Hometown (Powered by Wellmark) Community Award:

• Dallas Center
• Iowa Great Lakes Region
• Manning
  

  Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh holds a ceremonial check for the 2021 Healthy Hometown award as part of the Healthiest State awards for that year. (2021 File photo)

Early Care award:

Small – Neverland Child Care (Sioux City)
Large – Theodore’s Academy Preschool & Childcare (Sioux City)

K-12 School award: Clay Elementary (Southeast Polk Community School District)

Out-of-School Program award: Girls on the Run of Central Iowa

Workplace award:

Small – Claude W. and Dolly Ahrens Foundation (Grinnell)
Medium – Merchants Bonding Company (West Des Moines)
Large – Optimae LifeServices (Des Moines)

Health Care award: UnityPoint Clinic Pediatrics – Walnut Creek (West Des Moines)

Individual award: Daira Driftmier (Hy-Vee KidsFit)

The winners were announced during an online award ceremony Thursday on Facebook and YouTube. Viewers also heard from keynote speaker Jessica Heims, a two-time Paralympian Iowa who spoke about her inspirational athletic journey that led her to represent Team USA at the 2016 and 2020 Games. To watch a replay of the award ceremony, visit IowaHealthiestState.com/Awards.

Jami Haberl, Healthiest State Initiative executive director, said “The work being done by our finalists and winners to create healthier environments for their students, colleagues and fellow community members is critical to the wellbeing of our state. We are continually inspired by their efforts and were honored to recognize them at the 2022 Healthiest State Annual Awards.” The 2022 Healthiest State Annual Awards are sponsored by Wellmark® Blue Cross® and Blue Shield®, HealthPartners UnityPoint Health, Iowa Department of Public Health, Iowa Medical Society and Malvern Bank.

(Griswold, Iowa) – Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh reminds you that there is one more FREE, QPR (Question. Persuade. Refer) suicide prevention training coming up, in Cass County. The session will be held on Monday, Feb. 21st in the Griswold Public Library, beginning at 5:30-p.m. Hoegh says ” We’ve held this training twice this week, once in Atlantic, and once in Anita, and it has been getting excellent feedback from participants. I love hearing people say they wish more people could take it!”

The program brought to you in part by USDA, Healthy Cass County, and Cass County Extension. Cass County Extension is providing free pizza. Registration appreciated but not required. Call 712-243-1132 or visit www.extension.iastate.edu/cass/ to pre-register

******

Details:

Event: Griswold | Question. Persuade. Refer. Suicide Prevention Program

Date: Monday, February 21; Time: 5:30-7:00 PM; Location: Griswold Public Library (505 Main St., Griswold, IA 51535)

Say “Yes” to saving the life of a friend, colleague, family member, or neighbor. Just as people trained in CPR help save thousands of lives each year, people trained in QPR can recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and learn to question, persuade, and refer someone to help.

Missouri Valley, Iowa – Officials with the Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO), in Atlantic, report following the spring flood of 2019, SWIPCO helped the city of Missouri Valley obtain a $583,000 CDBG Disaster Recovery grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority to restore damaged drainageways and ditches, as well as replace street surfacing destroyed by flood waters. The project is now in its final stages of completion.

2019 Spring Flood affects Missouri Valley (SWIPCO photo)

Missouri Valley City Administrator Jodie Flaherty said “The drainage system we had in place before was just not functional, and that led to some serious delays in the floodwater receding in 2019. This project is going to prevent a lot of damage to property and make Missouri Valley a safer place to live going forward.” In addition, Flaherty said the $1.9 million project, whose funding came from a combination of FEMA funds following the 2019 flood events and the CDBG administered by SWIPCO, will boost the economic and physical well-being of the city.

City officials including Flaherty, Mayor Shawn Kelly, Streets Public Works foreman Robert Riesland, and City Engineer Jim Olmsted were all involved in the project’s development and implementation, in coordination with SWIPCO community development staff. Following the spring 2019 floods, the city made temporary repairs, like placing granular surfacing on damaged streets, but FEMA officials agreed the reconstruction of the drainage infrastructure and replacement of the street sub-base and surfacing was needed to prevent further challenges down the line.

The construction of the new drainage infrastructure, as well as the resurfacing of the roads, will result in increased property values and provide additional vitality to the Willow Park subdivision of the city of Missouri Valley. Officials note that with improved infrastructure, Missouri Valley may be more attractive to developers and builders who are looking to build on empty lots.

SWIPCO routinely provides grant writing and administration services to its member communities in Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Pottawattamie, and Shelby Counties and brought over $53 million in grants to the region in the last two years alone.

(Radio Iowa) – House Speaker Pat Grassley has used his authority to shift the governor’s plan for state-funded private school scholarships to another House committee — so the bill remains eligible for debate.  “I can’t predict the end result is, ultimately,” Grassley says. The bill as currently written did not have enough support among Republicans on the House Education Committee, dooming its chances of clearing the panel by today’s (Friday’s) deadline for a committee vote.

Grassley has reassigned the bill to the House Appropriations Committee, where all bills are eligible for a vote at any time. “We’d like to have further discussions,” Grassley says, “and see what something may look like where we can get the support.” Governor Reynolds originally proposed state-funded scholarships for students to transfer out of a handful of underperforming school districts and into a private school, but the proposal stalled in the House a year ago.

Her revised plan calls for creation of 10-thousand state-funded accounts — each worth 53-hundred dollars — to cover the costs of a private school transfer, along with a new state fund that would be distributed to public schools in rural areas. Democrats say public tax dollars should be used on public schools and they oppose the governor’s plans.

(Radio Iowa) – A new report shows the State of Iowa issued nearly 44 million dollars worth of tax REFUNDS last year to corporations claiming a tax credit for research activities. Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver says that’s part of the discussion as Senate Republicans press to cut the corporate income tax RATE, while at the same time reduce tax CREDITS commonly used by businesses.

“If you’re going to dish out all these tax credits and exemptions, you can’t get your rate low enough,” Whitver says. “We really want to balance that, so that we’re more competitive.” Corporations claim the research activities credit to reduce what they owe in state taxes and the credit is so lucrative, many corporations erase all of what they owe and then some — so they get a refund check from the State.

Whitver says the credit has supported companies with high-paying jobs in research. “But do we need the most generous credit in the entire company?” Whitver asks. “And do we need to be cutting out $44 million worth of checks to companies here in Iowa?” House Republicans approved their tax plan this week and it does not include a corporate tax reduction. House Speaker Pat Grassley isn’t closing the door on a corporate tax cut, however.

“Our focus was on the individual income tax. That is why we moved that bill as quickly as we did,” Grassley says. “…That doesn’t mean there won’t be continued conversations between the House, the Senate and the governor.” Senator Whitver says there’s already agreement on about 75 percent of what should be in the final tax plan, with the exception of the taxes corporations pay.

“In mid-February I’m not going to draw any lines on anything,” Whitver says, “but I think it’s pretty obvious around the building that there’s a lot of interest in starting the conversation on corporate reforms. I mean, we have the second or third highest rate in the country.”

Governor Reynolds has proposed lowering the corporate income tax rate to five-and-a-half percent. The Senate G-O-P plan doesn’t go as far, but would cut that rate to just under eight percent AND get rid of about 140 million dollars worth of business tax breaks — including a tax credit for the purchase of computers.

(Marne, Iowa) – The smell of chili and pies will permeate the air in Marne this weekend. This Saturday, February 19th, is the date of the Annual Chili Contest sponsored by the Marne Community Club.

At the same time, the Annual Men’s Pie Baking Contest will be held. Judging for both contests will be “people’s choice.”

Anyone interested in entering the Chili Contest should bring a gallon crock pot of chili to the Marne Community Center by 6:00 p.m. on the day of the contest. The same goes for entering the Men’s Pie Contest. There are no fees for entering. Trophies for both chili and pie winners are on display at the Marne Community Center, and the  1st place winners’ names will be added to their respective trophy.

Everyone is welcome to join the fun, either as a participant or a judge! Come to Marne and share a meal. The main course will be, of course, chili. Please bring a potluck salad to share. Pie for dessert! Beverages will be provided.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Primary Election in Iowa is a little more than three months away (June 7th), but the time for opening of the window for filing nomination papers is much closer. The Cass County Auditor’s Office reminds interested persons that the first day for Democratic and Republican candidates for county offices to file nomination papers in the office of the county auditor is Monday, March 7, 2022. Last day to file is Wednesday, March 25, 2022.

Nomination papers may be circulated prior to first date for filing as well as during the filing period. Nomination papers and candidate information are available at the office of the county auditor and from the secretary of state: www.sos.iowa.gov

The county positions to appear on the Cass County ballot for the 2022 PRIMARY ELECTION are:

• Attorney (incumbent: Vanessa Strazdas, Republican)
• Recorder (incumbent: Mary Ward, Republican)
• Treasurer (incumbent: Tracey Marshall, Republican)
• District 2 Supervisor (incumbent: Mark O’Brien, Republican)
• District 3 Supervisor (incumbent: John Hartkopf, Republican)

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT: The Cass County Auditor, Courthouse 5 W 7th St, Atlantic, IA 50022
Phone: 712-243-4570 and Fax: 712-243-4572. Email: auditor@casscoia.us

For the 2022 Primary Election, the following number of signatures are required for a person’s name to appear on the ballot:

GENERAL ELECTION (Tuesday, November 8, 2022) INFORMATION:

The filing periods for the November 8, 2022, General Election are:

• U.S. Senate, U.S. Representative and State Office: February 28 – March 18, 2022 (5:00 p.m.)
• County Office: March 7 – March 25, 2022 (5:00 p.m.)
• Ag Extension, Soil & Water Conservation District, Hospital Trustee: Anytime up until August 31, 2022

List of current position holders for non-partisan offices that will appear on General Election Ballot:

Agricultural Extension Council: David York; Bradley J Pellett; Kristi Plagman; Chad Becker and Todd Weppler.

Soil & Water Conservation District: John J Hansen (Grove Township) and Greg Zellmer (Pymosa Township)

Hospital Board of Trustees: Jody Lorence; Julie Pollock; and Michael Klocke; Roger Herring.

Edna Township; Kevin Stender-Trustee; Patrick Erickson-Trustee; Travis Erickson-Clerk:

Union Township: Richard Hoffman-Trustee; Daryl Schrier-Trustee; Cheryl Christensen-Clerk.

Monday, March 7, 2022 is the first day for candidates nominated by petition to file nomination papers for county-wide or township offices with the County Auditor’s office. Last day to file is Friday, March 25, 2022. Nomination papers may be circulated now. Nomination petitions and other election forms (including a Candidate’s Guide to the General Election) are available at the office of the County Auditor, and also from the Iowa Secretary of State (sos.iowa.gov) via the internet.