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(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports one person suffered possible/unknown injuries during a collision Monday afternoon. Authorities say a 2019 GMC Terrain SUV driven by 24-year-old Shannon Marie Patricia Gravlin, of Creston, was stopped in traffic at a red light on Sumner Avenue, facing north in the inside lane. The driver of a 2006 Ford 500, 31-year-old Elisia Renae Savala, of Clearfield, was traveling north on Sumner, and was distracted by a passenger in her car. The vehicle struck the rear of the SUV, causing a total of $1,700 damage.

Gravlin complained of pain after the impact, but was not transported to the hospital. Creston Police cited Savala for Failure to Provide Proof of financial liability – accident related.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Corrections is pulling out all the stops to try and find more corrections officers and other employees. Director Beth Skinner says it’s a top priority to find more employees. “We’re not just limited to Iowa, we are looking at other states surrounding us. We are looking in the south, we are doing advertising in Nebraska, we are doing billboards, we are doing radio ads, career fairs, we are using chambers of commerce, community colleges. We’ll be doing some advertising at football games, Nebraska football games,” Skinner says.

The D-O-C is also using social media to look for employees. The state allocated more money to the department following the deaths of a nurse and corrections officer at the Anamosa prison. Skinner says they are touting the benefits available. “Starting salaries average right around 40-thousand per year with opportunities for yearly increases. You also have the opportunity to receive what I believe is some of the best training in the country,” she says. Skinner says one of the new jobs will be someone who will be a full-time recruiting — and work on keeping staff. “Because you can recruit all day — but you also have to retain current staff. We have to make sure we are taking care of our current staff as well,” according to Skinner.

Skinner says the job of a corrections officer has evolved and they want to let potential employees about its importance. “Working at corrections provides individuals a chance to become a public servants. And it’s a highly rewarding job. You are ensuring that there’s fewer victims in our state, and you are creating safer communities. So, there’s also that piece too — that you are giving back to your communities as well,” Skinner says. There is a full external review underway of the state’s nine prisons, and Skinner says that could have an impact on the positions available in the system.

“We are waiting to see in the next couple of months when we get that report from them what other gaps we may have to make those investments with the additional general funds we received this year,” she says. “So we are being very thoughtful and strategic and very methodical. We know where the needs are right now in terms of institutions that need staff — but also there is more to come.”

The Iowa Legislature increased the funding for prisons by 20 million dollars in the last legislative session.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says a new state law that raised the penalties for rioting and gave police new legal protections for on-the-job activities is a recruiting tool for Iowa law enforcement. Reynolds discussed the new law in a just-released podcast hosted by Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel.

“As a mom, you want to know that your kids are being raised in safe communities,” Reynolds said. “As a business, do you want to come invest in a community or in state where you don’t know if tomorrow they’re going to come riot and loot and burn your business down?” The podcast was recorded in late August, just as Iowa schools were opening for the fall semester. The pair blasted states where last spring’s standardized tests for students were delayed until this fall.

“A lot of states aren’t doing assessments,” Reynolds says. “…They don’t want to know the damage that they’ve done to these kids.” McDaniel interjected: “They don’t want to graded on what they’ve done.” Reynolds concluded with: “They don’t want to be responsible or held accountable.” Federal law requires states to test students each year to gauge progress in reading, math and other skills. Earlier this month, Florida’s Republican governor announced he will end that kind of standardized testing after this school year and replace it with shorter tests. The Republican National Committee’s chairwoman and Governor Reynolds also criticized mask mandates in schools.

“I don’t know the health of students. We don’t what’s going on in that family…The other thing is there’s no data. I am so tired of people talking about data and there really isn’t,” Reynolds said, adding: “Be honest.” McDaniel added: “My son getting the vaccine, a big part of him getting the vaccine was: ‘I won’t have to wear a mask in school.'” Reynolds interjected: “And they changed that!”

Iowa Democratic Party chairman Ross Wilburn says wearing a mask indoors prevents the spread of Covid and Reynolds is wasting her days and the tax dollars of Iowans by going on partisan talk shows to spout dangerous disinformation about a deadly virus. The Iowa Department of Public Health’s website listing confirmed Covid cases will be updated later today (Wednesday). Last Wednesday’s report found 29 percent of Iowans who had tested positive for Covid in the previous seven days were under the age of 18.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken, Tuesday (Today), announced the bridge replacement project on Olive Street (N16) one mile south of I-80, between Boston Rd. and Chicago Rd. is now open to traffic.

Wolken says “Thank you for your patience during the construction of this project.”

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday released details on arrests dating back to August 28th.

• On August 28th Deputies arrested 23-year-old Dakota Michael Grund of Council Bluffs at Lake Icaria Campground for Public Intoxication. Grund was taken to the Adams County Jail and held on $300 bond.
• On September 4th Deputies arrested Amanda Brown of Creston for Simple Assault at the Adams County Speedway. She was held on no bond.
• On September 5th Deputies arrested Donald Jones of Sterling, IL for Public Intoxication. He was arrested at 120th and Sycamore and taken to the Adams County Jail and held on $300 bond.
• Also September 5th Deputies arrested Sheamus Gunning of Orlando, FL  at the Corning Hotel for Domestic Abuse Assault. He was held on no bond.
• On September 7th Deputies arrested Charles Regan of Omaha, NE at Lake Binder for Possession of a Controlled Substance Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was held on $1,300 bond.
• Also September 7th Deputies arrested Sheri Jo Watters of Gravity at 901 Davis Avenue in Corning for Public Intoxication. He was held on $300 bond.
• On September 12th Deputies arrested Layne Douglas Ruby of Creston at Highway 34 and Walnut Avenue for OWI and Possession of a Firearm While Intoxicated. He was held on no bond.
• Also on September 12th Deputies arrested Austin Michael Reed of St. Joseph, MO at 180th and Quince Avenue for a Missouri Warrant for Possession of Child Pornography. He was taken to the Adams County Jail and held awaiting extradition to Missouri.

(Radio Iowa) – The League of Women Voters of Iowa is calling on the Iowa Legislature to approve Plan 1 for redistricting. Maps proposing new boundaries for Iowa’s congressional and legislative districts were released last week. Terese Grant, president of the League of Women Voters of Iowa, said the plan does an incredible job of reflecting the population shifts that occurred in Iowa over the past decade. “We need to encourage our legislators to vote to adopt this plan…when they convene in special session on October 5,” she said. “We need to continue to be the ‘gold standard’ for the rest of the country.”

Grant testified today during one of three public hearings on the plan. In the 1970s, the League of Women Voters of Iowa joined the successful legal challenge that led to the unique process Iowa uses for redistricting after every Census. Amy Campbell, a lobbyist for the League of Women Voters of Iowa, said the process is “messy” and “partisan” in most other states. “I’m so proud to be in Iowa…I do trust our legislature to do the right thing and look at the overall fairness of the maps that were drawn,” Campbell said during today’s public hearing.

The current map is on top, and the proposed map is on the bottom.

A dozen people have testified at the two public hearings that have been held on the redistricting plan and all urged legislators to approve the first plan that’s been released. If lawmakers reject it as well as the second plan developed by the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency, the Republican-led legislature could choose to make changes to a third plan. John Hale, the owner of a consulting firm in Ankeny, said Plan 1 reflects the “significant” population shifts that have occurred in Iowa, with 68 of 99 counties losing population from 2010 to 2020.

“Those we elect can’t praise the process of redistricting at one moment and at the next moment discard the process because they don’t like the result or are seeking another map that gives greater advantages to a particular political party or a person,” he said. Ryan Crane, who spoke at Monday’s public hearing, said Plan 1 for redistricting is based on the data. “(I’m) just really, really encouraging folks not to turn this into a partisan matter, not to go political with this, not to kind of blow up the process,” he said.

Crane said if Republicans who control the legislature make changes and adopt a third plan, that would generate negative headlines for Iowa. Since Iowa’s redistricting law has been on the books, the legislature has approved plans drawn up by the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency in 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011.

A third public hearing on the first redistricting plan is scheduled for Wednesday night.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – For more than two decades, artist, Ray “Bubba” Sorensen II, of Greenfield, has painted giant boulders at select sites across Iowa. After painting the original rock in 1999 in Adair County, south of Interstate 80, Sorensen and his family went on the Iowa County Freedom Rock® Tour. Sorensen wrapped up his work on the 99th Freedom Rock® at the Central
City Fairgrounds over the weekend.

Sorensen’s wife Maria, says “Now the excitement turns to the 100th Freedom Rock®. The centennial mark includes an auction to raise money for Veterans causes and secure a rock in the community with the best offer. Bids are being accepted now through November 1st, with the winning community to be announced on Veterans Day (11/11/21). The 100th Freedom Rock® is slated for completion in the winning community on or around July 4, 2022.

The Sorensen family stand beside the 99th Freedom Rock in Linn County.

The couple says the auction is an ideal way for communities to demonstrate support and gratitude for our nation’s service members and fund the needs of Veterans. It’s also a unique opportunity for cities who don’t yet have a Freedom Rock® to bid and join 99 of their peers across the state. Sorensen and his family will now focus on a Freedom Rock® in every state, adding to Freedom Rocks® already placed in North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Washington and Nebraska.

(Radio Iowa) – A private Catholic liberal arts college in Cedar Rapids has confirmed one of its students has died after contracting Covid. Mount Mercy University held a vigil on campus last (Monday) night in honor of 21-year-old student Ashley Hudson. University president Todd Olson sent a message to students notifying them Hudson died Monday morning from complications associated with Covid-19. Social media posts indicate Hudson had been hospitalized and fighting the disease for weeks. Mount Mercy’s president described Hudson as an aspiring kindergarten teacher. Grief counseling services for Mount Mercy students and staff are being made available free of charge.

More than 17-hundred students are enrolled at Mount Mercy according to the university’s website. The Sisters of Mercy founded the school in 1928 and it was originally a two-year college for women.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, heard from Jotham Arber,with the County Environmental Health Office, with regard to a 28-E (Cost sharing) agreement with the Iowa DNR, as it pertains to wells for drinking water, geo-thermal and other uses.

He says the 28-E agreement with the DNR doesn’t change much. It adds some new language and puts it on a five-year cycle. Arber says it provides requirements for permits if someone is putting in a well, and allows permitting fees to come straight to the County. Arber said there are 55 wells in the County that have been closed on an annual basis and another 27 opened.

The Board tabled action on approving the 28-E until they could more thoroughly review the agreement. Action is expected during the Board’s next meeting on Sept. 30th. In other business, Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken said he expected Olive Street, south of I-80, to be open later this (Tuesday) afternoon, pending completion of the guardrail installation, inspection and traffic line painting.

The Boston Road bridge however – which it was hoped would be opening this week – may not open for another two-to-three weeks because of an issue with the guardrail installation sub-contractor getting enough workers to complete the job. Wolken said they’re looking at options that could result in the Boston Road Bridge opening next week, but that’s far from certain. T

He said also, the box culvert project along the Adair-Cass line at Victoria Road is essentially complete, with grading being finished on it. And, they’re still working on the Indian Creek road box culvert project.

And, the Board approved a 28-E project agreement between Cass County and the City of Atlantic, for the repair of the W. 6^th Street bridge over the Nishnabotna River. The cost of the project (approx. $410,000) will be split 50-50. The Board discussed the future of the County-owned Willow Heights building and adjacent farm land. Board Chair Steve Baier said an entity was scheduled to look at the facility Tuesday morning. Supervisor Steve Green said, with regard to the land, the County shouldn’t be in the land-lord business, it should be working toward contributing to an economic development fund.

Steve Baier said if an entity wants to purchase the facility, the County has the obligation to vett them, with regard to security, based on the present facility the entity operates, and what their financial position is. No action was taken during Tuesday’s meeting on selling the property.