(Radio Iowa) – A western Iowa farmer who announced in late May that he planned to run for the U.S. Senate in 2022 has ended his campaign. Dave Muhlbauer, of Manilla, is a former Crawford County Supervisor who describes himself as an old-school farmer-labor Democrat. His father and grandfather were state legislators. Muhlbauer’s nephew died in an accident earlier this year and Muhlbauer says the tragedy has had a devastating effect on his family.

Muhlbauer says after a period of reflection with his family and close friends, he’s decided he cannot continue his campaign for the U.S. Senate. Muhlbauer was the first Democrat to announce they hoped to challenge Republican Chuck Grassley’s bid for an eighth term in the U.S. Senate.

Former Iowa Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer of Cedar Rapids, retired Admiral Michael Franken of Sioux City, Dr. Glenn Hurst of Minden and Bob Krauss, who has run unsuccessfully three times before, all say they intend to seek the Democratic Party’s 2022 nomination for the U.S. Senate.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says her administration just got the district court ruling that blocks the state’s ban on Medicaid coverage for transition-related surgery for transgender Iowans — and it is under review. “So of course, we are disappointed with the ruling and disagree. My legal team is looking at it and there will be more to come later on. But it is just too early, we just got the ruling yesterday and are looking at it and trying to determine what our options are,” she says.

The governor says the state is in much better shape heading into Thanksgiving this year compared to one year ago — despite increases in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Reynolds says COVID hospitalizations were nearly 15-hundred last year and are now around 597. She says there are also more people vaccinated. “The numbers continue to go up — so that’s positive. We’re seeing a lot of the pediatric vaccines are being administered and we are seeing some families that are taking advantage of that. And we have a good number of people who have had COVID who have natural immunity, and that’s part of the equation also,” Reynolds says.

Reynolds says she hasn’t gotten a COVID booster yet — but plans to do so. She has gotten a flu shot. “I want to encourage people to do that because we were kind of isolated last year. And so we anticipate that this could be a really bad flu year,” she says. “So, people should take advantage of the flu shots.” A reporter asked her if she is confident the five BILLION dollars coming to the state from the recently passed federal infrastructure bill would be spent appropriately.

“Why wouldn’t we be confident that that money would be spent appropriately? That’s a ridiculous question. A lot of it is a sup-up (supplemental appropriation) from existing programs that are already in place. There’s some of the money that’s not that can be utilized on new programs. We are waiting on them to give us the criteria on how the money can be spent,” Reynolds says. Reynolds says that is not the biggest concern with the federal money.

“I tell you what we do need to think about though is the amount of money that is being spent in Washington, D-C. The impact that that has on inflation, the impact that that has on working families trying to make ends meet. Tax and spending policies are going to continue to drive inflation — and that has an impact on hardworking families,” according to Reynolds. Reynolds spoke with reporters after pardoning two turkeys at Terrace Hill.

(Radio Iowa) – President Biden announced this (Tuesday) morning he’s ordering the release of 50-million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an effort to bring down gas prices, what Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says is exactly the wrong move to make. Grassley, a Republican, says the president should only tap the reserve in a “real emergency” or in the case of critical national security issues.

“He needs to undo his executive order stopping the building of the XL pipeline,” Grassley says, “undo his executive order restricting drilling on federal land or offshore or in Alaska. He needs to stop his executive order restricting fracking.” The news comes as tens of millions of Americans plan to gas up their vehicles this week before heading off to visit loved ones for Thanksgiving. Grassley blames the administration for escalating gas prices, which are more than a dollar-20 a gallon higher in Iowa than they were a year ago.

“The United States can be the world’s biggest oil and natural gas producer if the government doesn’t step in the way,” Grassley says, “and President Biden has stepped in the way.” Iowa’s senior senator says he’s convinced the president’s gesture will have little-to-no significant impact on gasoline prices.

“Taking out of the national reserve will be a spit in the ocean compared to what he could do if he would reverse his bad policies that he put in place very soon after he was sworn in as president,” Grassley says. Triple-A-Iowa reports gasoline prices in Iowa are averaging three-16 a gallon. A year ago, they averaged a dollar-95, a difference of a dollar-21 a gallon.

(Radio Iowa) – The price of ethanol is significantly higher this month that it was in January. A gallon of ethanol was selling for one-39 ($1.39) at the beginning of the year, but it’s more than doubled to above three-dollars a gallon this month. Dermot Hayes, a professor of economics and finance at Iowa State University, says ethanol prices dropped significantly in 2020 as energy consumption fell due to the pandemic.

“Since then, people are back driving almost as much as before,” Hayes says, “and energy prices are high, making ethanol more valuable.” 2014 was a record year for ethanol plant profits and market analysts expect 2021 will rank as the ethanol industry’s second most profitable year. Profit margins started to soar in September as the 2021 corn crop started showing up at ethanol plants and demand for ethanol rose.

“The market value of ethanol is higher because energy prices are high and because people are driving more,” Hayes says. The U-S-D-A estimates ethanol plants will use more than five BILLION bushels of corn to produce ethanol this year.

Norwalk, Iowa – Representative Democrat 3rd District Congresswoman Cindy Axne, Tuesday, announced the Norwalk Police Department and the Union County Sheriff’s Department will receive $500,000 in grants provided by the Department of Justice through the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) COPS Hiring Program (CHP). The Norwalk Police Department, located in Warren County, will receive $375,000 and the Union County Sheriff’s Department will receive $125,000 to hire additional law enforcement officers.

“It is going to be great to add a deputy,” said Union County Sheriff Mark Shepherd. “This funding was sorely needed in Union County. It is going to help us with our investigations, and it will help us put more feet on the streets and increase our visibility in the community. The COPS grant is like the granddaddy of grants, and it is going to be a huge benefit to Union County taxpayers.”

The Department of Justice announced funding awards to 183 law enforcement agencies across the nation, which allows those agencies to hire 1,066 additional full-time law enforcement professionals.

(Radio Iowa) -Governor Kim Reynolds continued the annual tradition today (Tuesday) of pardoning two turkeys from becoming Thanksgiving dinner. “Now, therefore, I, Kim Reynolds, Governor of the State of Iowa, do proudly proclaim Squash and Stuffing as symbols of Iowa’s great turkey industry — and they are free to roam,” Reynolds says. The two turkeys are from a farm in Ellsworth and walked right up in front of the governor as she read the proclamation on the back lawn of the Terrace Hill governor’s mansion. She mentioned how they got their names. “We want to give a shout-out to the fifth-grade class at West Marshall Elementary who helped name the turkeys. And the turkeys are Squash and Stuffing,” Reynolds says.

Reynolds talked about the importance of Thanksgiving after the proclamation pardoning the turkeys. “We’ve been through a rough couple of years and so I love that life is getting back to normal and people can gather with their families, do it safely and responsibly and just count their blessings — because we have a lot to be thankful for,” she says.

The turkeys walked around and did not make any noise throughout the ceremony or after. The governor says they will now be taken to Living History Farms.

A man from Red Oak who was arrested Monday night for Violation of a No Contact Order, was arrested again Tuesday morning on same charge. 31-year-old Dylan Thomas Griffeth had originally been taken into custody in the 700 block of N. 1st Street in Red Oak, at around 7:53-p.m., Monday.  His bond was set at $300. After being released, Griffeth was arrested at 10:17-a.m. Tuesday. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Many thousands of Iowans will be traveling long distances this Thanksgiving week and a few of them likely won’t make it home. Brett Tjepkes, chief of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, says too many motorists are giving in to the temptation to speed, and some are risking their own lives and those of everyone around them by -doubling- the speed limit, and worse. “One-hundred-ten, 120, we’ve seen speeds even in the 130s and 140s on some of those,” Tjepkes says. “It’s not just the state patrol. These are law enforcement officers all over the state that are seeing these dangerous driving behaviors.”

As of today (Tuesday), more than 316 people have died on Iowa’s roads so far this year, which is at least 30 deaths more than at this time a year ago. Tjepkes says speeders are causing a significant number of deaths and injuries. “Distracted driving is another cause. In 2020, four people died as a direct cause of distracted driving so, put down your phones,” Tjepkes says. “Thirty deaths can be attributed to excessive speed in 2020 and 51 deaths can be attributed to alcohol impairment.”

Iowa law enforcement had hoped to keep this year’s traffic deaths below 300, a figure that hasn’t been seen in decades.  “The under-300 goal is really an incremental goal. What we’d really ultimately like to see happen is that nobody dies in traffic-related crashes,” Tjepkes says. “Someday, I think that could possibly be a reality with engineering, education and enforcement.”

In 2016, the state recorded more than 400 traffic deaths, while the worst year in recent history was 1995 with 527 traffic deaths. Seat belt use, Tjepkes says, can reduce the risk of injury or death in a crash by 45-percent.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, received a request from West Central Community Action Executive Director Wendy Mueller, for continued funding in the next fiscal year, and an extension of an agreement for funding/services with the County, effective July 2022. Mueller requested $4,000 from the County, which is the same as last year. She said the funds would be used to continue the organization’s outreach efforts and more. Mueller said over the past year, West Central Community Action has provided numerous services to the citizens of Cass County, including:

WCCA she said has provided more than $1.2-million worth of services to the residents of Cass County, including Head Start.

They also work with Child Care Resource and Referral.

Administrative costs come in at less than 5% and delivery costs at 20% or less. Superintendent Steve Green had high praise for the organization.

In other business, Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken reported the Adair/Cass road opened last Friday (Nov. 19th), and bridge #208 on Indian Creek Road has one more pour next week. The Board approved the Cass County Five Year Construction Program (2022-2026), with regard to:

• L-280-73-15 Bridge Replacement of Bridge #280 on 700th St., over Jim Branch of Turkey Creek, from Jackson Rd., South 0.8 miles, on the West Line S26-T76-R35.

They also approved a contract with Cunningham-Reis from Van Meter, for a bridge replacement project on 700th Street, south of G-25, for a total of $69,500.  The Board discussed, but took no action on an updated employee cell phone policy, with regard to the use of personal phones and the reimbursement rate/eligible personnel.

Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope, Tuesday (today), said an arrest has been made in connection with the theft of a motor vehicle. An investigation into the incident began on May 22nd, 2021, when deputies took a report of a 1977 Ford F250 stolen from a previously flooded residence in Hamburg. Six months later (on Nov. 22nd), Fremont County Deputies arrested 51-year-old William Charles Maddox, of Hamburg, on an active Fremont County warrant for Theft 2nd Degree, a Class D Felony, in connection with the stolen vehicle.

Maddox was being held in the Fremont County Jail on $5,000 bond.

William C. Maddox