(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday morning, discussed during a Special Meeting, a possible lease for the Willow Heights facility, and, Support for Vision Atlantic. Board Chair Steve Baier thanked all parties interested in the future of the Willow Heights building, for their civility.

Supervisors Bernard Pettinger and Mark O’Brien along with the County’s Attorney have been working on the language for the lease agreement with a potential tenant – who has not yet been disclosed – who has expressed interest in the facility. That includes who is responsible for security and maintenance. The language is still being tweaked, but it’s hoped to have the final version ready by next week, the agreement signed and the building possibly occupied by next month, but that’s not a certainty at this point.

No further action was taken. Additional discussion is expected by the time the next Supervisor’s meeting rolls around on Oct. 7^th. The Willow Heights facility land was sold in 2023, but the building on the grounds, which previously served people who have a mental or intellectual disability, substance abuse or other disabling condition, was closed nearly two-years earlier, due to federal and State requirements. Later discussion included proposals for the building to be renovated for Senior, low income, veterans’ housing. Despite those talks, the building remains unsold.

With regard to Vision Atlantic, a request for support was previously discussed during the Board’s regular meeting in May, following a request from Vision Atlantic President Christina Bateman. Board Chair Steve Baier said the idea is to get a plan in-place over a five-year period.

Supervisor Wendy Richter concurred the request is feasible, and proposed a contribution for that time-frame that would not increase residents’ taxes.

The Board approved $2.5-million dollars spread over 5-years at $500,000 per year. A formal resolution to that effect designating the funds for economic development, specifically with regard to child care, will be created and made available for the next meeting. Supervisor Mark O’Brien…

This past June, the Supervisors approved the earmarking of $150,000 from the County’s share of ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds for Vision Atlantic, specifically focusing on the child care center aspect of the project. Vision Atlantic has a fundraising goal of $39 million, which will be used to construct the YMCA expansion and child development center. To date, they have raised $26 million of that goal, thanks to an $8.6 million lead grant from the Charles E. Lakin Foundation and significant support from local donors. Vision Atlantic’s Project Committee is actively working to secure the remaining $13 million needed to meet their fundraising goal.

In other business, NishnaNet owner Scott Bennett approached the Board about the use of a live-feed TV camera view of the downtown area, to promote Atlantic, especially now that the holiday season is approaching. The camera feed would promote Cass County Tourism and/or the Cass-Atlantic Development Corporatation (CADCO), but no commercial businesses.

The Board gave their blessing to the proposal.

(Radio Iowa) -The federal government faces a widespread shutdown at midnight tonight (Tuesday) due to a partisan impasse over spending and health care, while Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican, says “Democrats are holding the Senate hostage.”

Grassley says hope is evaporating for what’s known as a clean continuing resolution, a bare-bones agreement that simply says spending will remain exactly the same for a given period of time, with nothing additional tacked on. “Republicans want to pass a clean continuing resolution to keep the government open,” Grassley says, “but Democrats are refusing to vote for it.”
That’s because Democrats, in Grassley’s words, are heeding the wishes of “radical activists in their base.” Grassley serves on the Senate Finance Committee where separate negotiations were going to be held on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies, which will expire December 31st. Those talks haven’t materialized.

“As far as I know, they haven’t begun,” Grassley says. “In fact, it was only within the last week that I have heard that Republicans are willing to sit down and discuss that.” Grassley accuses Democrats of trying to attach a wide array of partisan funding items to the national budget that would cost more than one-trillion dollars.
Grassley says, “Their proposal would also roll back the $50 billion Rural Healthcare Fund that Republicans created to help hospitals in places like Iowa and other rural parts of the United States.” Grassley says he opposes these shutdown threats, and especially actual shutdowns, as a gigantic waste of time and resources.

“It costs money to shut the government down. It costs money to open the government back up,” Grassley says. “Government is supposed to be a service to the people. You can’t service the people if the government is shut down. That’s not only for servicing, it’s also for protecting the American people.”

The federal fiscal year ends at midnight. There have been ten government shutdowns since 1980, only three in the past quarter century.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop early this (Tuesday) morning (Sept.30) in Montgomery County, resulted in the arrest of a man from Massachusetts. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says deputies conducted a traffic stop on a U-Haul box truck in the 1100 block of Highway 34 at around midnight. Following an investigation, they arrested 48-year-old Owen Cunningham, of Wilmington, MA, on charges that include Interference with Official Acts, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia – both Simple Misdemeanors.

Cunningham was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $300 bond.

CLIVE, Iowa — A Crawford County man’s easy-pick Powerball ticket earlier this month, resulted in his winning one-million dollars. Ron Rothe claimed his prize Monday afternoon at the Iowa Lottery’s main office in Clive. The winning ticket was sold at Kimmes Denison Country Store. The store will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the $1 million-winning ticket. Rothe’s ticket matched all five white balls but missed the Powerball to win $1 million in the Sept. 13 drawing. His ticket was one of only four nationwide to hit that mark.

The 73-year-old Rothe admitted his lucky ticket spent nearly a week riding around in his glove compartment before he realized its value. Even after hearing that the winning ticket was sold in Denison, he never imagined he was the one holding it. A week later, Rothe stopped at same store to buy tickets for the next three drawings. While there, he asked a clerk to check the tickets he’d purchased the previous week. The clerk and the manager came back with big smile and congratulated him, but he didn’t know why. That’s when they said he had won a Million bucks.

Ron and Pat Rothe (Iowa Lottery photo)

Dumbfounded, Rothe brought the ticket and receipt showing the prize amount to his wife’s hair salon to share the news. When she looked at the ticket, Pat Rothe thought they had won $1,000. He told her to look again, and she was dumbfounded at what she saw.

The couple, who have been married for 53 years, are still pinching themselves.The plan to put the winnings toward home improvements, estate planning, charitable donations and funding college savings accounts for their two grandchildren.

WASHINGTON, September 29, 2025 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert for ready-to-eat meals containing a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulated pre-cooked pasta that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes (Lm). FSIS expects more updates as this investigation continues. As more information becomes available, FSIS will update this public health alert. Consumers should check back frequently

The following product are subject to the public health alert:

Sold at Walmart: 12-oz. clear plastic tray packages labeled “MARKETSIDE LINGUINE WITH BEEF MEATBALLS & MARINARA SAUCE” with “best if used by” dates SEP 22, 2025; SEP 24, 2025; SEP 25, 2025; SEP 29, 2025; SEP 30, 2025; and OCT 01, 2025. The product bears establishment number “EST. 50784” or “EST. 47718” inside the USDA mark of inspection.

Sold at Walmart

Sold at Trader Joe’s: 16-oz. plastic tray packages labeled “TRADER JOE’S CAJUN STYLE BLACKENED CHICKEN BREAST FETTUCINE ALFREDO” with “best if used by” dates 9/20/2025, 9/24/2025, or 9/27/2025 printed on the front label of the packaging. The product bears establishment number “P- 45288” inside the USDA mark of inspection.

One of the producing companies collected samples of the FDA-regulated, pre-cooked pasta used as an ingredient in its product as part of the ongoing investigation related to the Listeria outbreak linked to chicken fettuccine alfredo meals. The test confirmed that the linguine pasta was positive for Lm and further testing confirmed the Lm is genetically related to the specific outbreak strain. FSIS previously issued a recall notice linked to the Listeria outbreak in June and continues to coordinate with FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and state public health partners.

Consumption of food contaminated with Lm can cause listeriosis, a serious infection that primarily affects older adults, persons with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women and their newborns. Less commonly, persons outside these risk groups are affected.

Listeriosis can cause fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms. An invasive infection spreads beyond the gastrointestinal tract. In pregnant women, the infection can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, premature delivery or life-threatening infection of the newborn. In addition, serious and sometimes fatal infections can occur in older adults and persons with weakened immune systems. Listeriosis is treated with antibiotics. Persons in the higher-risk categories who experience flu-like symptoms within two months after eating contaminated food should seek medical care and tell the health care provider about eating the contaminated food.

FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.

Consumers with questions regarding the public health alert can contact Nate’s Fine Foods at 916-677-7303. Operating hours are between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. PST Monday through Friday.

(Radio Iowa & Iowa Capital Dispatch) – The U-S-D-A crop report says warm weather helped crops mature and the early harvest is running ahead of last year. The report says 15 percent of the corn is harvested statewide — four days ahead of last year and three ahead of five-year average. The southeast district leads with 32 percent of the corn harvested, followed by 23 in the southwest and 21 in the central district. The northeast and west-central districts are the only ones not in double digits. The statewide soybean harvest is at 17 percent, three days ahead of last year and two ahead of average. The northwest district has the most beans in the bin at 25 percent, with the central and west central next at 19. All districts are in double digit percentages for beans.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said farmers should continue “making harvest headway” this week with nice weather in the forecast, though “conditions may be a bit dusty.”  “Combines are rolling all across Iowa,” Naig said in a statement. Temperatures for the reporting period were 8.1 degrees above the climatological normal, which according to the report, “quickly advanced crop maturity.”

Despite a below-normal weekly precipitation average of just 0.41 inch, soil moisture conditions remain mostly adequate. Sixty-five percent of topsoil moisture and 70% of subsoil moisture conditions were adequate for the reporting period. Southern regions of the state were slightly drier than the state average, while central and northern regions were slightly wetter.  In southeast Iowa, according to the report, just 33% of topsoil had adequate moisture, while the majority, 66% of topsoil was short or very short of moisture.

According to the seven-day precipitation forecast posted Monday by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa is projected to receive less than half an inch of rain for the week.

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – The arrest of the Des Moines public school superintendent, National Guard troops patrolling city streets, and President Donald Trump pressing law enforcement to punish his political opponents is pushing one man to walk hundreds of miles across Iowa. With just a walking stick and a satchel, longtime activist and former Iowa State politician Ed Fallon plans to walk nearly 300 miles across Southwest Iowa, calling it the Save America March.

He hopes to have a conversation with Iowans on all political sides about what he calls preserving America’s democracy. His wife joined him in Des Moines on his first day. Fallon said the heightened political environment across the U.S. as inspiration for the march.

He says he hopes to bring Iowans from all sides of the political spectrum together on this issue and others. Fallon says he will walk ten to fifteen miles a day over the next five weeks, heading west.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa – The case of a 30-year-old Pottawattamie County man accused of enticing a minor after a 12-year-old girl went missing in Omaha last month will go to trial in Iowa. According to KETV in Omaha, Devon Miller, of Council Bluffs, pleaded not guilty to second-degree sexual abuse and enticing a minor under 13. He is scheduled to go to trial on Nov. 4.

The 12-year-old girl was found safe. Police said the investigation led them to Miller’s house. Court documents say Miller admitted to sending messages to the girl on Snapchat, a platform that advocates say is often used by predators.

According to police, Miller had arrest warrants from Story County, Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – The superintendent arrested in Des Moines by federal immigration agents on Friday is no longer being paid and the district may begin the process of firing him later today (Tuesday). Ian Roberts was hired to be superintendent of the state’s largest school district in July of 2023. The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners revoked his administrator’s license two days after his arrest and last (Monday) night the Des Moines School Board voted to retroactively cut off his pay at the beginning of this week. Board President Jackie Norris says Roberts, through his attorney, has until noon today (Tuesday) to clarify his citizenship or face termination.

“As a board, our job is to protect the 35,000 students and staff that walk through our doors daily, serve as good stewards of our taxpayer dollars and comply with all federal and state laws,” Norris said. Federal officials say Roberts is a citizen of Guyana who entered the U.S. on a student visa in 1999 and is not authorized to work in the U.S. Norris says Roberts indicated he was a citizen of the United States when he was hired, provided a driver’s license and a Social Security card — and the Des Moines law firm that reviewed the paperwork did not raise concerns about Roberts’ eligibility to work.

“There was nothing in the information that was given to us to allude to any question about his citizenship,” Norris said. Norris says it was jarring to hear authorities found a loaded gun, a lot of cash and a hunting knife in the Des Moines Public Schools vehicle Roberts abandoned when he ran from officers. “We all found out with everybody else, from the news,” Norris said. “And so, for us, our responsibility is to do what is right and in the best interest of the district.” Norris says the situation is very difficult for many students and staff to process.

“Our kids are watching this closely and they are scared and concerned. Our community has students from all across the world and this is personal,” Norris said. “Our teachers and staff are here to support them. We would appreciate it if the hateful rhetoric directed at our district and staff please stop so we can ensure as minimal of a disruption as possible.”

Des Moines school district officials say they learned after Roberts’ arrest that a federal judge had issued a deportation order for Roberts in May of last year. Roberts had worked at schools in Maryland, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. before he was hired to lead the public schools in Des Moines.

(Madison and Jones County, Iowa) – Two people died and one person was injured, during separate accidents Monday in Iowa. According to the Iowa State Patrol, an accident in eastern Iowa’s Jones County claimed the life of one of the crash victims, while another was injured. As of this (Tuesday) morning, no names had been released. The Patrol says the accident happened at around 8:10-a.m. at Highway 151 and South Circle Drive, in Anamosa.

Authorities say the driver of a car failed to yield the right-of-way to a pickup truck, as the car entered into the traveled portion of Highway 151 southbound from Circle Drive. The car was hit on the driver’s side by the pickup. One of the victims died at the scene. The other was transported by Anamosa Ambulance to the Jones Regional Medical Center. Both crash victims were wearing their seat belts.

The second crash, a single-vehicle accident, happened at around 5:30-p.m., Monday, in the 4400 block of SW Grand Prairie Parkway, in West Des Moines (Madison County). The Patrol says a Mini Cooper driven by 25-year-old Nicholas James Henry, of Truro, was traveling south at a high rate of speed (according to witness statements), and failed to maintain control. The car struck a curb  and rolled multiple times before coming to an uncontrolled resting position on the east side of the road. The State Patrol says Nicholas Henry was ejected from the car. He was not wearing a seat belt. The man died from his injuries at the hospital.