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Keep up-to-date with Fox News Radio, Radio Iowa, Brownfield & the Iowa Agribusiness Networks!
(Radio Iowa) – It’s been an exceptionally rainy week in Iowa, with some communities reporting record precipitation, breaking rainfall records that have stood for more than a century. State climatologist Justin Glisan says the new U-S Drought Monitor map for Iowa shows improving conditions, with fewer counties indicated as being abnormally dry or in drought.
The entire southern tier of counties is in the clear, along with wide areas of western and southeast Iowa. The worst of the dry conditions, D-2 or severe drought, remain in central and north-central Iowa, with a small patch in the northwest.
This past Sunday’s rainfall set records in several Iowa cities, including Ottumwa, Waterloo, and Des Moines — where nearly three inches fell, breaking a record set in 1908. The new drought map was just released but it’s based on data that’s a few days old, so it’s not taking into account all the rain from Wednesday and Thursday, which was considerable.
October is wrapping up to be the wettest month of 2021, so far, and we’re heading into the driest months of the year. May is typically Iowa’s wettest month of the year while February is the driest.
(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has signed the State of Iowa onto a lawsuit challenging one of the Covid-19 vaccination mandates President Biden has proposed.
Reynolds made her comments last week during a news conference inside a manufacturing plant in Adel. Iowa and nine other Republican-led states are challenging a requirement that workers employed by a company that’s a federal contractor be fully vaccinated. Reynolds says this requirement would affect one-fifth of the nation’s workforce.
Reynolds says thousands of Iowans would be forced to get a Covid shot against their wishes if the federal rule goes into effect. According to the lawsuit, most state agencies are technically federal contractors, so the vaccination requirement would force employees in Iowa’s state government to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Earlier this month, President Biden said vaccination mandates are a way to put the pandemic behind us and accelerate the country’s economic recovery.
Earlier today (Friday), Governor Reynolds signed a new law that lets workers facing the loss of a job over a vaccination mandate to claim a medical or religious exemption. The Iowa Association of Business and Industry calls the law misguided and says it means Iowa businesses are at risk of federal fines if they follow these new state regulations. The group says businesses will ultimately face higher taxes to cover the newly guaranteed unemployment benefits for workers who are fired for failing to get vaccinated.
One person was injured during a single-vehicle, rollover accident Friday morning, in Page County. Authorities says 25-year-old Alexis Kimberly Graham, of Essex, was driving a 2006 Ford Fusion east on 140th Street at around 6:40-a.m., when for reasons unknown, her car entered the south ditch, east of the intersection with Highway 48/H Avenue. The vehicle rolled twice before coming to rest.
Graham was found out of the vehicle by a passerby, who called 911. Graham was transported to the Shenandoah Medical Center by Shenandoah Ambulance with unknown injuries. The Page County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by the Essex Fire and Rescue and the Shenandoah Ambulance Service. No charges have been filed at this time.
(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with Cass Health in Atlantic say “Many individuals are eager for booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, especially before the holiday season. Based on the current CDC guidance, patients may have a preference, but you can get any booster shot regardless of what type of vaccine you have already had. There are several options on how to get the vaccine booster if you are eligible. All vaccination sites also offer first and second doses; adolescents aged 12 to 17 are only able to receive the Pfizer vaccine at this time.”
Pfizer & Moderna Booster Dose
If you aren’t sure if you live or work in a high-risk setting, visit cdc.gov for more information.
Atlantic Medical Center, RHC offers Pfizer and Moderna vaccines by appointment beginning Monday, November 1. Also locally, HyVee offers Pfizer vaccines and Walmart offers both Pfizer and Moderna; both pharmacies accept walk-ins, but online appointments are preferred. Rex Pharmacy has Pfizer vaccines, and will also have Moderna next week; walk-ins welcome Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to noon, and 2 to 5:30 pm.
Johnson & Johnson Booster Dose
COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card
Patients are always encouraged to talk to their primary care provider about their questions and concerns regarding vaccines. More information about booster shots can be found at cdc.gov, vaccines.gov, or casshealth.org/covidvaccine.
Des Moines, Iowa – Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds today (Friday) announced that the State of Iowa has joined nine other states in a lawsuit challenging President Biden’s vaccine mandate for all workers employed by a federal contractor, which is one-fifth of the nation’s workforce. Reynold said Iowa “Is joining a federal lawsuit to challenge President Biden’s unprecedented use of the government to force every employee of every federal contractor in America, including thousands of Iowans, to take a vaccine against their wishes.”
She added, “I believe the vaccine is the best defense against COVID-19, but no one should be forced to choose between making a living or standing up for their personal beliefs. As long as I am governor, the State of Iowa will always stand alongside Iowans and to be sure their freedoms are protected.”
A copy of the federal complaint can be found here.
(Clarinda, Iowa) – Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer, Friday (today), said “Over the last several months, the Page County Sheriff’s Office has been conducting ongoing investigations into illegal drug trafficking in Page County. Some of the arrests made during this investigation include three people from Shenandoah: 64-year-old Donna Sue Aldaz-Loya; 47-year-old Inna Renee Douglass, and 48-year-old Victor Bruce Ingrim. All three face felony charges that include: Gathering where controlled Substances are unlawfully used (a Class D felony); Failure to have a Tax Stamp (also a Class D felony); and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
Aldaz-Loya was arrested in a separate portion of the ongoing investigation. She was additional charged with: Prohibited acts – Manufacturing – distributing less than 5 grams of Methamphetamine (A Class C Felony); Prohibited acts – Manufacturing – distributing a controlled substance – Alprazolam (A Class C Felony); and Possessing – introducing a contraband into a Jail (A Class D Felony). Aldaz-Loya was held in the Page County Jail until she agreed until she plead guilty in District Court. The plea agreement was handled by the Page County Attorney. Aldaz-Loya was released after entering her guilty plea to the felony charges.
Aldaz-Loya
Ingrim was additionally charged with: Prohibited acts – Manufacturing – distributing a controlled substance – Methamphetamine 5 grams or more (Class B Felony); and Prohibited acts – Manufacturing – distributing a controlled substance – Methamphetamine 5 grams or less (Class C felony). Ingrim is currently being held in the Page County Jail on $36,000 bond, pending further court proceedings.
Victor Ingrim
And, Douglass was additionally charged with Prohibited acts – Manufacturing – distributing less than 5 grams of Methamphetamine (Class C Felony). She was being held in the Fremont County Jail for Page County due to jail housing issues with other inmates. Bond was set at $10,000, pending court proceedings.
Inna Douglass
Sheriff Palmer says “This drug investigation is ongoing with more arrests probable. The Shenandoah Police Department assisted with the search warrants conducted just prior to the arrests of Aldaz-Loya and Ingrim. Douglass was arrested from a warrant issued for the charges as she was not at Ingrim’s residence at the time of the search warrant there. The investigations conducted by the Page County Sheriff’s Office and search warrants were conducted in Shenandoah.”
(West Des Moines, Iowa)- With 1 in 8 Iowa children facing food insecurity, Iowa Select Farms, under the leadership of the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation, are driving the change to help end childhood hunger. Through the Power Snack program, Iowa Select Farms employees are giving ham and bread coupons, along with pork sticks, to teachers and schools for distribution to their students. The program is expected to supply enough coupons to total over 1-million ham sandwiches, as well as 20,000 pork snack sticks, to help end childhood hunger, which the Foundation’s Power Snack program has been trying to tackle for 9 years.
Beginning October 20th and continuing until November 15th, Iowa Select Farms employees will distribute Power Snack Teacher Supply Kits to schools across Iowa. In total, 89 school districts will be recipients of the program. Power Snack helps reduce childhood hunger in Iowa by providing kids the means to purchase nutritious food to prepare at home. Four different times throughout the school year, children identified by the school as food insecure receive a $5 coupon for deli ham and $3 coupon for a loaf of whole wheat bread.
Pork sticks were added by the Foundation to the deliveries to provide a non-perishable, immediate infusion of protein for students, resulting in hunger relief and an open door to engagement in the classroom. Among the area school districts participating in the program, is:
(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors held two Public Hearings in front of an overflow audience at the Cass County Courthouse this (Friday) morning. Members of the Public and others were able to teleconference-in from the Courthouse basement meeting room, in addition to the Supervisors’ Board Room. The crowd primarily consisted of area law enforcement, Fire/EMS, dispatchers and Cass County Emergency Management.
The first public hearing was with regard to authorizing a Loan Agreement and Issuing of Notes for the Agreement with regard to ISICS. Board Chair Steve Baier…
Cass County Fireman’s Association President J-C Wyman spoke on the importance of the Board’s support for ISICS. And, Atlantic Police Lt. Devin Hogue discussed the spotty coverage of the current system.
The Board voted 5-0 in favor of a Resolution instituting he proceedings necessary to take additional action on “not to exceed $2-million in General Obligation Capital Loan Notes.”
The second hearing was with regard to the vacating and closing about 500-feet of 570th Street under Interstate 80, north of Wiota. Nine people were in attendance. It lasted for more than an hour. The State wants to eventually make I-80 three lanes in both directions. Closing the road is a part of that process. Robert “Bob” Christensen, is part of a generation of a family that has lived in Cass County for 150-years. He was emotional in evoking memories of his family farming land that would be affected by the proposed change.
He said he would be willing to file an injunction to stop the road from being closed, because he feels there had been no open attempt at negotiating the offer. Jayden Smith and his wife Cathy own land on either side of I-80 in the affected area. He said closing the road would make for longer routes to the properties and increased wear and tear on bridges in the area, from traffic and heavier loads than what they would normally handle.
Iowa DOT District Transportation Planner Scott Suhr, from Atlantic, assured those at the hearing, that if the County doesn’t take advantage of the financial incentive of vacating the road and accepting funds for bridge infrastructure in the County, the DOT will not seek to incorporate “Eminent domain.” The actual conversion of I-80 into six lanes in Cass County is not going to happen soon, he said. The focus now is on the urban areas of the State. If the County were to decide against vacating the road, the DOT would continue with it’s plan to rehabilitate the current bridge in I-80 over 570th. That would likely occur sometime in 2023 at the earliest.
In the end, the Board voted 5-0 to table action until further notice, on passing a Resolution to vacate and closing that portion of 570th, until the County can get an opinion on how the change would affect the property values of the affected landowners.
(Des Moines, Iowa) – Gov. Kim Reynolds, today (Friday), signed a bipartisan vaccine mandate bill (HF902). The bill that outlines how workers may claim a religious or medical exemption from a private employer’s Covid vaccination mandate, without a doctor or cleric signing off on the document. Afterward, she said “I am proud to sign this bipartisan piece of legislation today. This is a major step forward in protecting Iowans’ freedoms and their abilities to make healthcare decisions based on what’s best for themselves and their families. This legislation also gives employees the assurance that they will still receive unemployment benefits despite being fired for standing up for their beliefs.
Reynolds said also, “As I’ve stated publicly numerous times, I believe the vaccine is the best defense against COVID-19 and we’ve provided Iowans with the information they need to determine what’s best for themselves and their families, but no Iowan should be forced to lose their job or livelihood over the COVID-19 vaccine. This is only the first step. We will be taking other legal actions against the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate.”
The bill that passed the House and Senate Thursday says workers are eligible for unemployment if they’re fired for failing to get vaccinated. Senator Jason Schultz, a Republican from Schleswig, says it’s a partial answer to looming federal vaccination mandates. “I don’t want to have to do this. Nobody does,” he said. “We’re reacting to authoritarianism.” Representative Henry Stone, a Republican from Forest City, says there are fast-approaching deadlines for Iowans faced with taking a vaccination they don’t agree with or getting fired. “We needed to take this action now,” Stone says. “January will be too late for Iowans. That’s why we have to act today.”
Democrats who voted for the bill said they did so to ensure Iowans who lose their jobs get unemployment. But Senator Tony Bisignano, a Democrat from Des Moines, voted for the bill, but accused Republicans of trying to buy off Iowans who don’t want to get a Covid shot. “All this bill says if you lose your job — which you’re going to, because you’re not dealing with the mandate,” Bisignano said, “you’re going to give them their measly weekly unemployment check.”
Business groups say the bill puts Iowa businesses in the terrible position of trying to figure out if they must follow state or federal regulations when it comes to Covid vaccinations among employees. Representative Steve Hanson, a Democrat from Sioux City, says Republicans had months to craft a bill and would up with a bill that creates too many unanswered questions. “Rather sloppy legislation,” he says. “…It’s very loosey goosey.”
Opponents of vaccine mandates who rallied at the Capitol yesterday called the bill unacceptable. Representative Jeff Shipley, a Republican from Fairfield, says while there is more work to do on the issue, the bill is a good first step. “There are people in Illinois, in New York and in every other Democratic cesspool in the United States that would love to have these legal protections,” Shipley says. Governor Reynolds says she’s committed to doing more on the topic. Last week the governor said she may join a lawsuit challenging federal Covid vaccine mandates.
(Parts of this story are courtesy Radio Iowa)
(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two separate arrests. Thursday night, 39-year-old Chad Michael Gerren, of Sgt. Bluffs, was arrested in Woodbury County, on a Mills County warrant for Pre-Trial Revocation. His bond was set at $5,000. And, Wednesday afternoon, 34-year-old Myles Dustin Longcor, of Henderson, was arrested in Mills County for Possession of a Controlled Substance. His bond was set at $1,000.
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