It’s that time of year for the Cass County Conservation Board to once again ask you…”When do you think the first Trumpeter Swan will arrive at the Schildberg Quarry?” Call in your prediction (by November 11^th) to the Conservation Board, at 712-769-2372, leave a message and return phone number if their staff are not in.

A Trumpeter Swan (file photo)

Duplicate dates will not be allowed. For example, if a caller predicts November 25th, no one else will be allowed to predict that arrival date. So, call anytime until November 11th to make your prediction! One prediction per family, please.

The sponsors of this contest will determine the official arrival of more than 6 trumpeter swans to Lake 4. The winner will receive a Trumpeter Swan 8×10 print from the Cass County Conservation Board. Sorry, this contest is only for residents of Cass County.

Trumpeter Swans have visited the Schildberg Quarry for, at least, Twenty-one out of the last twenty-two winters. Arrival and departure dates of the swans have been as follows:

• 1997/1998 December 18 – January 2
• 1998/1999 Nothing on record
• 1999/2000 December 25 – February 15
• 2000/2001 November 23 – March 6
• 2001/2002 December 25 – February 24
• 2002/2003 November 23 – March 15
• 2003/2004 November 26 – March 21
• 2004/2005 November 25 – March 18
• 2005/2006 November 17 – March 5
• 2006/2007 October 30 – March 9
• 2007/2008 November 22- February 14
• 2008/2009 November 18- March 12
• 2009-2010 November 19 – January 5
• 2010-2011 November 5 – February 10
• 2011/2012 November 17 – February 21
• 2012/2013 November 24– March 4
• 2013/2014 November 12- April 7
• 2014/2015 November 11- April 6
• 2015/2016 November 22- March 24
• 2016/2017 November 19- March 9
• 2017/2018 November 9- March 20
• 2018/2019 November 11- January 23
• 2019/2020 November 8- March 3

Cass County Conservation is hosting their 6th Biennial Lighted Halloween Campground, Saturday October 24th at Cold Springs Park in Lewis, from 7-9 PM. The event is designed to be non-scary, Family Friendly, and FREE to drive into the night! Prizes will be for the top 3 voted sites, and for some special categories. Prizes are donated by event sponsor Cappel’s Ace Hardware. The event will be cancelled if there is inclement weather.

GREEN MOUNTAIN, Iowa (AP) — Firefighters in east-central Iowa say a rural church was destroyed in a fire sparked by an attempt to smoke out a wild animal that had gotten inside. Station WHO-TV reports that the Monday afternoon fire burned down the Chapel United Methodist Church near Green Mountain. Investigators say someone tried to get rid of an animal that had gotten inside the church using a smoke bomb, which started the fire.

Officials did not indicate what kind of animal had gotten inside. Fire officials say it took seven fire crews and several hours to fully extinguish the blaze. The church was first established in 1867,

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Senator Chuck Grassley says Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are using this week’s hearings to suggest Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett doesn’t care about access to health care. “Democrats are painting the judge as heartless and on a mission to scrap the health care law,” Grassley says. “Frankly, that’s absurd.” Grassley made his comments this (Tuesday) morning during his half-hour turn in the committee to ask Barrett questions. “Have you committed to the president or anyone else that you will vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act if confirmed to the court?” Grassley asked and Barrett responded: ‘Absolutely not. I was never asked and, if had have been, that would have been a short conversation.”

Grassley urged Barrett to consider legislative history when ruling on cases, but Barrett says legislative history cannot substitute for the actual text of a law. “That’s a matter of interpretive philosophy,” Barrett said. Grassley replied: “My position has always been that legislative history can be instructive to the intent of the statute, so judges should not completely disregard it.”

Grassley says congress can be more careful about drafting laws, but when there’s a dispute about the law, judges should pay attention to how congress drafted, debated and passed the law. Early this (Tuesday) morning during a conference call with Iowa reporters, Grassley accused Democrats of trying to stoke real fear that confirming Barrett to the Supreme Court will lead to the demise of the Affordable Care Act. “There’s no evidence ot suggest anything of the kind,” Grassley said. “In fact, legal scholars have expressed doubt that the court would strike down ObamaCare, with or without Barrett.”

The Republican-led Senate is heading toward confirming Barrett to the Supreme Court by the end of October. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear an appeal related to the Affordable Care Act on November 10th.

(Radio Iowa) – Construction is underway in Mason City on what will be the world’s largest freestanding grain bin. Sukup Manufacturing of Sheffield has designed the bin, with a peak height of 155 feet and a capacity of 2.2 million bushels, for the Golden Grain Energy ethanol production plant.

Sukup rendering of the grain world’s largest grain bin.

The new bin would beat the two, 2-million bushel Sukup bins built in Atlantic for the Elite Octane LLC Ethanol plant, which went into operation in July, 2018. The two Sukup corn storage bins in Atlantic are each 156 feet in diameter and 150-feet tall. They hold 2,000,000 bushels each, for a total corn storage capacity of 4,000,000 bushels. They are capable of encasing a Boeing 757 jet.

Sukup president and CEO Steve Sukup says the 165-foot diameter bin in Sheffield will be large enough to hold a Boeing 767 jet.

Golden Grain C-E-O Chad Kuhlers says the bigger grain bin will increase the company’s total storage capacity from about 1.275 million bushels to almost 3.5 million bushels.

Kuhlers says the increased storage capacity can help with production around holidays and other times when corn can’t be delivered. He notes Christmas and New Year’s are both on Fridays this year, and a lot of people don’t want to deliver corn that week in between the two holidays.

Construction on the bin is scheduled to be completed in May or June of next year.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors met in-person and electronically Tuesday morning. The Board continued discussion with regard to the proposed closing of a County roadway at 570^th Street (The I-80 underpass). County Engineer Trent Wolken said he’ll be in a meeting this Friday along with others affiliated with the Iowa County Engineers Association Executive Board.

The State has offered an incentive to Cass County in the amount of about $1.5-million dollars to close the road.

The Board, Tuesday (today) passed a Resolution to accept completion of, and make payment for, a paving project at Cold Springs State Park. The Resolution states the funds ($113,751.10) will come 50% from the Conservation Special Resource Enhancement Fund and 50% from the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) fund.

The Board heard a quarterly report from Cass County Conservation Director Micah Lee, and a regular report from Engineer Trent Wolken, who said the Secondary Roads Department is trying to get ready for Winter. He also gave an update on current projects.

He said also they hope to accomplish surfacing and repatching on Glendale Road before Winter hits, and Speed limit signs on 620^th and Lansing, and Jasper, were installed Oct. 6^th, along with the stop sign at Lansing and 525^th Street.

The Board also heard from CADCO’s Jennifer McEntaffer, with regard to two-minute video being created to highlight the County and City of Atlantic, in hopes of drawing more young professionals and businesses. Similar information was presented during last Wednesday’s City Council meeting, in Atlantic.

Sheriff’s officials in Union County report a man from Lorimor informed authorities on Oct. 9th, that sometime over the previous few days, someone cut a lock off of his garage door in Lorimor, and took a 5-HP red, 30-gallon belt drive air compressor. The loss was estimated at $50.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday (today), said 48-year old Eugene Bredberg, of Council Bluffs, was arrested early Monday morning on warrants out of Mills and Montgomery Counties. he faces charges that include two counts possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, No Valid Driver’s license; Warrant for Failure to Appear on a charge of Criminal Mischief in the 4th Degree, and on a Montgomery County warrant for two counts of a Controlled Substance Violation. His total bond was set at $28,800.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police in Des Moines are investigating a shooting that injured three teenage boys, leaving one of them hospitalized. Police say the shooting happened after 12 a.m. Tuesday in a residential area several blocks south of Prospect Park. Police spokesman Sgt. Paul Parizek says one teen was hospitalized in critical but stable condition. He says the two other teens suffered injuries not believed to be life-threatening. Police have not released the victims’ names. Police have not announced any arrests, but say the shooting was not random.

The Adair County Board of Supervisors will conduct a regular meeting 9-a.m. Wednesday, in Greenfield. The meeting takes place in the courtroom at the courthouse, and electronically (via Dial-In 605-313-6157, Access Code 526272# ). During their session, the Board will hear from Adair County Treasurer Mandy Wallace, with regard to City of Orient abandoned properties, and Maranatha Full Gospel Tax Abatements.

In other business, Ryan Berven, with Group Benefit Partners, will discuss a Health Insurance Third Party Administrator, and the ICAP Accident Policy. Tiffany Johnson with Adair County Health System, will discuss a letter of support for a new ambulance grant application.

County Engineer Nick Kauffman will present for the Board Chair signature, an Iowa DOT funded agreement for an N-34 Richland Bridge Project, as well as a final voucher for a hot melt paving project.