(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Joni Ernst is co-sponsoring legislation designed to foster more disclosure of the prices paid for cattle, as well as a bill to block federal agencies from promoting a “meatless” diet among employees. Ernst, a Republican who grew up on a farm near Red Oak, says these issues are important to her since her family raised hogs. “Here in Iowa, folks, we are all about the meat,” Ernst says. “Farming and ranching is not only critical to our jobs, our economy, our culture and our way of life here in Iowa, it’s also in our DNA.”

Ernst is co-sponsoring a bill that would give independent cattle producers more data about what meatpackers are paying for cattle. Since packers often buy directly from feedlots, cattle prices aren’t well represented in public sales. The bill would set up a system already used to help track hog prices. Ernst warns getting the bill through the Senate will be difficult. “What we’ll see is a little bit of pushback coming from different areas of the United States,” she says. “…You see those beef producers maybe in Texas or Oklahoma that have a different thought on how it should be handled.”

Ernst and a Kansas senator are co-sponsoring a bill that would ban federal agencies from excluding meat from the menu in government cafeterias and dining halls. “When I hear calls from the liberal left, everyone from out-of-touch politicians to Hollywood elite encouraging people to ban meat and the quality agriculture products we produce here in Iowa it makes me sizzle,” Ernst says.

Ernst is calling this bill the TASTEE Act, which stands for Telling Agencies to Stop Tweaking What Employees Eat Act. Ernst says it’s one way supporters of animal agriculture can start pushing back against the so-called Green New Deal and prevent another episode like the U-S-D-A newsletter reference to “meatless Mondays” that was retracted in 2012.

The Exira-EHK School Board, Monday evening approved the hiring of a Principal for the Pre-K through 5^th grade school.

That’s Exira-EHK Superintendent Trevor Miller. Mr. Miller said also the Exira-EHK Board voted to continue with the mask mandate through the end of the current school year.

The Exira-EHK Board also approved: filling a Librarian vacancy through an AEA Sharing Agreement; An Operational Sharing Agreement with IKM-Manning for a School Business Official (SBO). Kyle Wagner will be leaving this Friday and taking another H-R position. He’ll be replaced by Mallory Meyer, who currently serves as a shared SBO.

And, the Board approved continuing the Operational Sharing Agreement with IKM-Manning for Superintendent. Trevor Miller

A Technology agreement was also reached with IKM-Manning for Dan Spooner, who will do a 60/40 split, with 60% of his time at Exira-EHK and 40% at IKM-Manning. The current arrangement is 50-50. In other board meeting news, they approved a bid of $84,900 from TBB&M Construction for renovation of the staff restroom in the Exira building. There were three bids in all, for the project, which involves taking two small bathrooms and turning them into one Uni-Sex bathroom.

Miller says the facility hasn’t had any updates since the school was built in 1957. Work is expected to take place over the summer and be ready by next school year.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports 42-year-old Jacob Benjamin Tuttle, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced Monday in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, for being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. He is required to serve 84 months in prison, plus 3 years of supervised release following his prison term. He’ll also have to pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victims Fund. Tuttle pleaded guilty to the offense on August 11, 2020.

On November 26, 2019 Tuttle was driving a stolen car on a rural two-lane highway in Mills County, when Tuttle saw a Sheriff’s patrol vehicle behind him. Tuttle accelerated to 100 mph
before he crashed the car on the side of the road and ran from the scene. He was arrested a short time later. On the front passenger seat of the stolen vehicle, officers found a Taurus .357 Magnum, along with 12 grams of methamphetamine. Tuttle is a convicted felon and drug user, therefore, prohibited from possessing firearms.

The investigation was conducted by the Mills County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports that on Monday, April 12th, United States District Court Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger sentenced 35-year-old David Robert Blake Vanderpool, of Council Bluffs, to 50 months (4.1 years) in prison for knowingly possessing a short barrel shotgun that was not registered to him. Vanderpool was ordered to serve three years of supervised release to follow his prison term and pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victims’ Fund. There is no parole in the federal system.

On June 23, 2020, the Iowa State Patrol conducted a traffic stop on Vanderpool for speeding on Interstate 29. During the stop, troopers observed a sawed-off shotgun, found to be loaded, on the backseat of Vanderpool’s car. A check of the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record by law enforcement found the firearm was not registered to him. Vanderpool pleaded guilty on November 20, 2020, to the firearm charge.

The matter was investigated by the Iowa State Patrol and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the
Southern District of Iowa.

The Cass Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, praised Cass County Public Health for helping to vaccinate the local population. Supervisors Board Chair Steve Baier said “Things are winding down and a big part of it is a sense of urgency and people are becoming more relaxed,” in hopes things are getting back to normal. Baier said the County COVID vaccination program has been better handled than other counties’ programs.

He said there are about 200 people still on a list waiting to receive their vaccinations, and that “We’re getting to the point where just about everybody [who] wants vaccinated has been vaccinated.”

In other business, the Cass County Supervisors, Tuesday, approved the five-year Secondary Roads Construction Program, and new hires for three Maintenance positions. Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman says that includes…

County Engineer Trent Wolken said he had 35 applicants for three maintenance positions and they were all very qualified candidates.

The Board passed a Resolution for the 2021 Weed Control Program, which was the same as last year, with the exception the year was changed from 2020 to 2021. They also established a Cass County Temporary County Redistricting Commission, with districts based on 2020 census data.

Once again here’s Dale Sunderman…

The unpaid Commission will include Steve Baier and Dale Sunderman as members. There were no candidates to appoint to the Cass County Zoning Board of Adjustment and/or Zoning Commission, nor was there a licensed physician’s name available for appointment to the Cass County Board of Health, so those items were tabled during Tuesday’s meeting.

(Radio Iowa) – State prison officials are disputing an OSHA report that cited deficiencies in the radio communications system for staff at the Anamosa State Penitentiary. The report from the Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration was issued eight months before a correctional officer and a nurse were killed inside the Anamosa prison. The Iowa Department of Corrections is appealing the 20-thousand dollar OSHA fine. Department spokesman Cord Overton says data from incidents when staff hit the emergency button on their radios will be introduced as evidence this summer as an administrative law judge reviews the case.

Overton says he cannot address specific details until after the case is resolved, but he says the agency is confident the radio communication system has not caused any delays in response to staff assaults. The OSHA investigation at Anamosa, which happened in February of last year, did not include interviews with prison managers according to Overton.

K-C-R-G T-V was first to acquire the Iowa OSHA report through a public records request. The report indicated the Anamosa prison’s communication system would not show the location of an emergency if an employee radioed that he or she was being attacked. OSHA cited other deficiencies, including dropped calls within the prison. Governor Kim Reynolds has said she is committed to addressing any security issues that are identified by reviews launched after last month’s murders of two Anamosa prison employees.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is blasting what he calls “dominant tech giants” like Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for squelching free speech. Grassley, a Republican, says these powerhouse platforms are now “the new public square,” where he says it’s important that all voices and viewpoints are able to be heard. “I’m so irritated because of the censoring and the violation of free speech,” Grassley says, “that I’m going to join almost any effort that will make sure that these platforms allow more free speech and less censoring.”

It has been 25 years since Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act was signed into law, which grants wide sweeping immunity to interactive computer services that host third-party content. Back then, Grassley says the internet was in its infancy and the goal of the act was “laudable.” In a conference call with Iowa reporters today (Tuesday), Grassley says the tables have turned dramatically and it’s not clear how Congress should respond. “There’s a few on the right that think we should just leave things alone,” Grassley says, “that this immunity from lawsuits by these platforms is the right thing to keep if we’re going to have strong social media platforms.”

Others argue that the private companies have their own terms of service and are able to enforce them as they wish and they’re not covered under the First Amendment. With the immunities these companies have and the importance of dialogue on their platforms, Grassley says they’re arguably “state actors” and First Amendment protections -should- apply to user-generated content. “Even if I had to repeal this Section 230 immunity, I would do that,” Grassley says. “I don’t know whether I’m going to get that opportunity, but you know where I’m coming from, I’m really irritated.”

In a floor speech on Monday, Grassley said Section 230 was enacted to encourage free speech while giving companies the ability to remove illegal or obscene materials. Today, however, he says those interactive computer services are among the largest corporations in the world. Grassley says the size and power of these companies contributes to their ability to censor speech and “undermine” the First Amendment. He says Google controls 87 percent of searches, Facebook has 2.8 billion monthly active users, 500 million tweets are sent on Twitter each day and over 1 billion hours of videos are watched daily on YouTube. Grassley says, “When a company has monopoly power, it no longer is constrained by normal market forces.”

The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office reports two injury-accidents occurred over the past few days. One accident happened at around 9:36-a.m. Monday (April 12). Authorities say 48-year-old Brian S. Cox, of Grand Island, NE., was traveling north on Frontier Road, when his 2021 Infiniti Q50 went out of control. The vehicle entered the northbound ditch and struck a field drive before coming to rest. Damage was estimated at $30,000. Cox was wearing his seat belt. He complained of pain and possible injury. He was transported by Adair County Ambulance to the hospital.

And, at around 9:15-p.m. Saturday, a 2008 Dodge Caliber driven by 16-year-old Rebekah Lynn Gosch, of Glidden, was traveling westbound on Highway 141 near Horn Avenue, when a deer appeared on the road. The car struck the animal, sustaining $10,000 damage. Gosch was wearing her seat belt. She complained of pain, but did not request medical treatment.

The Adair County Board of Supervisors will continue Wednesday, with discussions they’ve held in previous meetings the past couple of months, with regard to a Solar Panel Ordinance. In past meetings, some rural residents voiced their concerns and objections over proposed plans by MidAmerican Energy to take more land out of production, in favor of large solar farms. The Board’s meeting begins at 9-a.m.

At around 9:30-a.m., Wednesday (April 14), the Adair County Supervisors will hear from County Attorney Melissa Larson. Members of the public will be allowed to attend in person in the courtroom at the Adair County Courthouse, but officials note in-person attendance will be limited to 21 people, in order to allow for social distancing. If you plan on attending, please wear a mask. The conference phone will still be available for those to cannot attend in person. It can be accessed by call (605)-313-6157, and when prompted, enter code 526272#.

The supervisors discussed at length during their last meeting on March 31st, what would be appropriate for allowing such industrial-sized solar development in the county. After considering ordinances other counties have and discussing what their options are, and considering that rural parts of Adair County are not zoned, the supervisors decided to draw up an ordinance restricting solar panels to be 500 feet or more from any dwelling, regardless of project participation; 500 feet from a property lie of a parcel less than 10 acres of a non-participant; 250 feet from the property line of a larger non-participating parcel; 50 feet from a road right-of-way; and a radius of 150 feet from a road right-of-way at intersections from the center of the road. The supervisors would also like panels to have native grasses or other manageable vegetation under them and for there to be a decommissioning plan developed.

The Board will also receive a report from Weed Commissioner Nathan Jensen, with regard to Noxious Weed Notices, and County Engineer Nick Kauffman, who will talk about a new hire, a concrete box culvert project for W20 Jackson Road, as well as a “No Spray” agreement for the City of Fontanelle’s Well site, and other matters.