The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports that on Wednesday, Sept. 8th, Deputies arrested 64-year-old Terry Dean Calhoun, of Anita, for possession of controlled substance 3rd or subsequent offense, possession of drug paraphernalia and felon in control of a firearm.  Calhoun was transported to Cass County Jail where he is currently being held on bond.

On September 4th, Cass County Deputies responded to an accident at the 400 block of Maple St. in Anita.  Marianne Martha Fann, of Atlantic, was driving at 2018 Chrysler Pacifica traveling east bound on Maple St., when her vehicle sideswiped a parked 2011 Chevy HHR owned by 3 Bee Farms of Griswold.  No one was injured in the accident.

On August 27th, Cass County Deputies responded to an accident on Hwy 92 west of Massena.  Clifford Dean Schaffer, of Corning, was traveling westbound driving at 2014 Chevy Silverado pick-up.  Schaffer’s rear wheel and tire came loose striking a 2018 Cora Predator Semi driven by Bradley Allen Ruth, of Orient, who was traveling in the eastbound lane.  The tire then came off of the semi and struck a 2018 Nissan Rogue driven by Joshua Vaden Hall, of Waukee, who was traveling westbound.  No injuries were reported.

And, on August 26th, Cass County Deputies responded to an accident at 10th and Plum Streets in Atlantic.  John Francis Dvorak, of Atlantic, driving a 1997 GMC Jimmy was northbound stopped at the intersection at 10th and Plum Streets.  Thomas Jordan Frederickson, of Atlantic, was driving a 2005 Chevy pickup traveling northbound when he failed to stop, striking the rear of Dvorak’s vehicle.  Dvorak was taken by private vehicle to Cass County Memorial  Hospital for treatment of unknown/possible injuries.

(Williamsburg, Iowa) – An arson investigation at a large park led state conservation officers to an Iowa man. According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 49-year-old Jereme Goltz, of Williamsburg, faces charges including two counts of third-degree arson, felony possession of a controlled substance- methamphetamine (3rd or subsequent offense), and littering following a two-month long investigation by Iowa Department of Natural Resources conservation officers.

During the months of July and August, DNR officials noticed an uptick in the number of illegal fires being set in parking lots, fields, and woodlands located within the 14,000-acre Hawkeye Wildlife Area. The fires damaged trees, fields, and parking lot posts and destroyed multiple hay bales owned by a farmer leasing a portion of the state land.

Jereme P. Goltz

As a result of the investigation, DNR conservation officers, along with the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation and the Iowa State Patrol executed a search warrant at Goltz’s residence in Williamsburg. There, officers seized electronics, evidence relating to the fires, as well as methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

In 2019, Goltz led an Iowa conservation officer in a vehicle pursuit at the Hawkeye Wildlife Area. During the chase, Goltz left his vehicle and fled on foot into flood waters of the Iowa River where he climbed a tree. A lengthy rescue effort by Iowa DNR officers, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department, the Iowa State Patrol and local fire departments to remove Goltz from the tree. Goltz was charged and convicted of eluding, carrying weapons, and possession of methamphetamine.

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) data released Thursday, indicates this past week saw continued improvement in conditions across drought-stricken areas of the Central and Northern Plains states as well as in Iowa and Minnesota, where light-to-moderate rainfall accumulations were observed. On this week’s map, widespread one-category improvements were made in drought-stricken areas in northern Iowa and western Minnesota, which received another round of beneficial precipitation this week. In those areas rainfall accumulations ranged from 1 to 4 inches. In areas of northern Iowa and southern Minnesota, percentage of normal precipitation has ranged from 150% to 300% of normal for the last 30-day period.

Likewise, light rainfall this week led to trimming back of small areas of Moderate Drought (D1) in northwestern Illinois and west-central Indiana. Conversely, dry conditions during the past 90-day period led to slight expansion of areas of Severe Drought (D2) in northern Wisconsin as well as areas of Moderate Drought (D1) in Upper Peninsula Michigan.

In the immediate KJAN listening area, the Drought Monitor map shows Abnormally dry conditions remain over most of Cass, Adair, Audubon, Montgomery and Madison Counties, along with small sections of Mills, Adams, Fremont and Page Counties. Under those conditions, corn shows drought stress and the soil is dry  The southeast quarter of Guthrie and most of Dallas County, is in a Moderate Drought. In a moderate drought: Soybeans abort pods; corn test weights are struggling; Grasses are brown; more grass fires occur; burn bans are issued, and pond levels decline.

The NWS Precipitation Forecast calls light precipitation accumulations (generally under 1 inch) during the week ahead.

(Radio Iowa) – A professor of interior design at Iowa State University is doing research on designing spaces for people with disabilities, especially for those with autism. As an interior designer in her native England, Julie Irish worked on a range of projects for educational buildings, libraries, airports, chapels and historical landmarks, but one assignment gave her pause. “I was asked to design a school in Cardiff for children with severe disabilities and autism,” Irish says, “but there was still at the back of my mind that there’s not really research to help me design for people with autism.” That realization inspired Irish to devote her time toward interior designs that were both elegant and ergonomic, and importantly, accessible to all.  “It’s kind of like the perspective that people aren’t disabled, they’re disabled by the environment,” Irish says, “and that’s where my interior design focused then.”

Early on, Irish wanted to be a veterinarian, but struggled in science. She loved drawing and crafting, though, which led her to the design field. She earned a degree in interior design, followed by a master’s degree in inclusive design. Irish says that degree helped her to understand how the environment affects people, and how she as a designer could improve. “The number of people with disabilities is growing and I think perhaps we haven’t quite caught up,” Irish says, “just the idea of making what we design better for people.”

Irish is in her third year of teaching at I-S-U. She leads a faculty learning community called Autism Links, which gathers faculty from various departments to share research surrounding autism. While her focus now is on people with disabilities, she’s also had clients who are royalty. “My claim to fame is that I designed a restroom in Cardiff Castle for Her Majesty the Queen,” Irish says, laughing. “I don’t know if she ever used it but I like to think she did.”

In the spring of 2022, Irish and her I-S-U colleagues will lead a design studio to look at the former Veterans Affairs Hospital site in Waterloo to see how it could be redesigned.

The Creston Police Department reports two arrests. At around 2:22-a.m. today (Friday), 23-year-old Skyler Rose Suzanne Wambold, of Ames, was arrested at Maple and Mills in Creston, and an Adams County Warrant for Failure to Appear. Wambold was taken to Adams Co. Jail, where her cash-only bond was set at $200. And, at around 11:05-p.m. Thursday, 35-year-old Dustin Kolby Outlaw, of Denham Springs, LA., was arrested at a bar on W. Adams Street, in Creston. He was charged with Public Intoxication – 1st Offense, and transported to the Union County Jail. Outlaw later posted a $300 bond, and was released.

The broadcast News at 7:06-a.m., from Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) – Judges in state AND federal court are being asked to temporarily block the state from enforcing its ban on mask mandates in schools. Fran Parr of Council Bluffs, the mother of twin boys who are first graders, filed a lawsuit in state court last month, arguing schools have a duty to protect students from the coronavirus. During a hearing in Polk County District Court yesterday (Thursday), Parr’s attorney, Daniel McGinn, said it is unreasonable for state lawmakers to forbid local school boards from requiring masks.

“It serves no educational, medical or scientific goal,” he told the judge. “It’s just enacted for political reasons to appeal to a certain segment of Iowa’s population who are unhappy about masks. They don’t like the inconvenience.” Sam Langholz, an assistant Iowa attorney general, argued lawmakers have the authority to set a statewide policy on masks in schools.

“Ms. Parr and many other Iowans have strong feelings and opinions about the wisdom of this statute,” he said, “but that’s not a valid basis to enjoin a duly enacted statute of the State of Iowa.”

A FEDERAL judge in Des Moines will hear legal arguments today (Friday) from a group of parents of children with disabilities who are challenging Iowa’s ban on mask mandates in schools.

(Radio Iowa) – Congresswoman Cindy Axne, a Democrat from West Des Moines, says the initial draft of the Democrats’ infrastructure plan in the U.S. House now reserves a billion dollars to promote the use of ethanol and biodiesel over the next eight years. “To issue grants directly to fuel retailers so that they can convert their existing pumps to deliver higher blends of ethanol and biodiesel,” Axne says. “They can install new pumps or related infrastructure, retrofit terminal operations, etc., so that they can carry more ethanol and biodiesel.”

Axne says it will be quite some time before electric models make up the majority of vehicles in use in America and biofuels are a greener alternative to gasoline AND to hybrid electric vehicles with a liquid fuel back-up. “There are multiple sectors of transportation that should also look to other opportunities, so this is a win-win,” Axne says. “This puts money in the pockets of Iowans while literally reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.”

A recent study led by a Harvard University environmental health professor found carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions from corn-based ethanol were 46 percent lower than from gasoline. Axne says she’s pretty confident the billion dollars for biofuels will stay in the infrastructure package, but she concedes it hasn’t been an easy fight to get it included in the initial draft.

“I’ve been handing out flyers in, literally, the chambers, educating people about biofuels. We’ve been hammering this thing home and, I think it sunk in that: ‘Listen, as we move towards this, let’s not forget a tool that really can move us in the right direction immediately,'” Axne says, “and that’s biofuels.”

The bill, which Democrats call their Build Back Better plan, will be considered in the U.S. House Agriculture Committee today (Friday).

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says the president’s new Covid vaccine rules for federal workers, health care staff and employees in large businesses are dangerous and unprecedented. President Biden says Americans who are vaccinated are growing frustrated with the 80 million who are not and the unvaccinated are fueling the current surge in Covid cases. Biden has moved to require that businesses with more than 100 employees ensure workers are fully vaccinated or tested for Covid weekly.

The president’s executive order now requires all federal government employees and contractors as well as health care workers at facilities that receive federal money be vaccinated. Reynolds, a Republican, has encouraged Iowans to get vaccinated, but she opposes these mandates. Reynolds says Iowans have the ability to make health care decisions for themselves and Biden’s plan will only worsen the workforce shortage as people quit or retire rather than get vaccinated.

Zach Wahls, the top Democrat in the Iowa Senate, says Iowa is in the midst of a dangerous surge in Covid cases because Iowa Republicans have embraced vaccine skepticism. Some Republicans in Iowa’s congressional delegation issued statements yesterday (Thursday) criticizing Biden’s vaccination requirements. Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s encouraging Iowans to get vaccinated, but he opposes the heavy hand of government threatening to fine for businesses if employees aren’t vaccinated or tested regularly.

First district Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion says the president’s actions are unconstitutional. Second district Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa says she encourages adults to be vaccinated, but she’s deeply opposed to a federal Covid vaccine mandate. The Republican National Committee announced last (Thursday) night it plans to file a lawsuit to overturn the president’s vaccine mandates.

(Radio Iowa) – The Legislative Services Agency has announced that the first proposed plan for reconfiguring legislative and congressional districts will be delivered to lawmakers at 10 a.m. next Thursday (Sept. 16). The boundaries for congressional districts and for Iowa House and Senate districts are being redrawn to account for population shifts that are shown in the 2020 Census data.

Three public hearings are scheduled after the maps are released, to give Iowans a chance to weigh in on the plans, then the bipartisan Temporary Redistricting Commission must submit its report on the maps to the legislature. After all that, a Special Legislative Session will convene — probably in early October — so the Iowa House and Senate can approve or reject the proposed maps.