LECLAIRE, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Bureau is investigating a boat crash that killed one person and left another in critical condition on Sunday, August 16 on the Mississippi River.

The crash happened around 7:00p.m., at Pool 14 near LeClaire. Investigators believe two boats collided killing a 52-year-old woman and critically injuring a 61-year-old man, both were in the same boat. A woman in the other boat had minor injuries.

Investigators are requesting anyone with information that may have witnessed the crash or know anything about the crash between a large black center-console boat and a blue and white 19-foot Bayliner runabout boat to contact authorities immediately.

The names of the deceased individual and the injured are being withheld at this time pending family notification. The DNR continues to investigate this fatal crash.

Anyone with information should contact DNR Conservation Officer Travis Graves at (563) 349-8953 or Travis.Graves@dnr.iowa.gov. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may do so.

SHELBY, IA – The Board of Directors of Carstens 1880 Farmstead has decided to postpone Farm Days this year until September 11 & 12, 2021,  due to COVID-19 safety considerations. The Board, at its June meeting, had decided to proceed with the Saturday evening chicken dinner/fundraiser this year.  Now plans have changed again at the farm.

During a recent Board meeting it was decided that it would be too difficult to provide physical distance for the dinner, plus the on-going COVID-19 situation could impact attendance.  The Board decided to cancel the chicken dinner plans this year.  Farm Board President Mel Hursey said “We know it is disappointing to cancel the chicken dinner.” Those who attend Carstens Farm Days know that the soil on the farm grows a large quantity of flavorful potatoes.  This year the potato harvest, or digging, will go on as planned during the traditional Farm Days weekend.

The public is invited to come to the farm and gather the freshly dug potatoes.  Gates will be open from 10 am – 4 pm on Saturday, September 12.  Potatoes will be on the ground and on a trailer as in past years.

Hursey says “Anyone who wants to have a supply of Carstens potatoes is welcome to come and pick them up on Sunday, September 13.” The Board is asking that a donation be made to the farm by anyone who gathers potatoes.  The donation will be used to help with the maintenance of the farm.  Hursey added, “Come out and see the farm, have some fun and get a supply of good spuds.”

LECLAIRE, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Bureau is requesting the public’s assistance with any information related to a serious crash that happened around 7:00p.m. Sunday, August 16 on the Mississippi River at LeClaire. Law enforcement investigators are asking for anyone with information that may have witnessed the crash or know anything about the crash between a large black center-console boat and a blue and white 19-foot Bayliner runabout boat to contact authorities immediately.

Anyone with information should contact DNR Conservation Officer Travis Graves at (563) 349-8953 or Travis.Graves@dnr.iowa.gov. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous can do so. Further information about the crash will be released this week.

The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Dept. Board of Directors will receive an update during their meeting at 5:15-p.m. Monday evening, with regard to park restroom vandalism.

Sunnyside restroom vandalism photos from the Atlantic Parks & Rec Facebook page.

In a social media post Saturday, Parks and Rec Director Bryant Rasmussen said “Due to multiple incidents…over the last couple weeks, we have decided to close the Sunnyside bathrooms for the year. If other bathrooms continue to be treated [in the same manner], we will be forced to close them all. Please don’t do this, you ruin a simple bathroom that someone may really need.”  Rasmussen posted pictures of the damage on the Parks and Rec Facebook page, showing extensive damage to the facilities.

In other business, the Parks Board will hear updates with regard to: The Schildberg Recreation Area; Schildberg signage; the Mollett Trail; Bull Creek; Nishna Park, and the Park mascot campaign. Bryant Rasmussen is also expected to discuss potential grants, storm cleanup, the pool painting is completed, and more about the Walkability maps.

The meeting takes place in the City Council’s Chambers, at the Atlantic City Hall.

Champions of the Cass County Fair participated in the Best of the West competition, held in Denison on August 3rd.

• Maddy Anderson – Breeding Ewe
• Natalye Scholl – Breeding Doe
• Brock Henderson – Breeding Heifer
• Morgan Will – Market Lamb
• Makenna Potter – Market Goat
• Morgan Will – Market Beef
• 

  Photo provided by Melanie Petty

  Grant Petty – Market Hog

Four out of the six animals shown were crowned either Champion or Reserve Champion during this competition.  Cass County should be very proud of their 4H/FFA members and all of the hard work they put in to show some of the best in Iowa! C

(Radio Iowa) – If your trees are still standing after this week’s derecho, Iowans are asked to check those trees and be on the lookout for the Asian longhorned beetle as August is when it emerges from inside trees where it burrows. Samantha Simon, an invasive species coordinator with the U-S-D-A, says the destructive bug is not native to the U-S and has few-to-no natural predators.  “It likes to attack our 12 types of hardwood trees, including maples, elms, birches and willows,” Simon says. “Once a tree has the beetle, the infested tree doesn’t recover and they die. We’re looking for the public’s help to identify this beetle and to help us eradicate it.”

Asian Longhorned Beetle

Watching for the beetle and the damage it causes is one way for homeowners to protect their own trees. She notes, it’s a distinctive creature. “It measures one to one-and-a-half inches in length,” Simon says. “Its body is black with white spots and its antenna are banded in black and white. It sounds kind of gross but it’s actually really cute.” People can unknowingly spread Asian longhorned beetles by moving firewood, since they can hide inside wood. She asks that Iowans familiarize themselves with the pest and spend five minutes checking their trees for signs of them. “We ask that people take a photo or if they can capture it, if it’s alive, they can put it in a container and put it in the freezer for us,” Simon says. “It’s really important that they report it to USDA and they can do that online at Asianlonghornedbeetle.com.”

You can also call the agency’s hotline: 866-702-9938. The beetle was first spotted in the U-S in New York in 1996 and spread far quite quickly. It’s one of a group of invasive pests and plant diseases that costs the nation some 40-billion dollars each year in losses to trees, plants and crops.

(Radio Iowa) – Even with all of the rain that fell on Iowa during Monday’s derecho, the latest report from the U-S Drought Monitor shows little change from a week ago. The report shows all or parts of 11 counties in west-central Iowa are in their second week in the D-3 category, which means extreme drought. The scale only goes up to D-4, which is exceptional drought, though none of Iowa has reached that level yet this year.

The report shows much of Iowa’s western half remains under moderate or severe drought, while much of northern and east-central Iowa is considered abnormally dry. Only a smattering of counties on the southern and eastern borders are in normal territory.

The 11 counties now shown in extreme drought are: Adair, Audubon, Boone, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Crawford, Dallas, Guthrie, Sac and Shelby.

(Radio Iowa) – Vice President Mike Pence is on a campaign swing in Iowa today (Thursday), starting at a rally on the state fairgrounds to launch the “Farmers and Ranchers for Trump Coalition. Pence addressed the widespread devastation from Monday’s derecho during his speech. “I must tell you when I heard about this storm, as a lifelong Hoosier, I was taken aback to hear of the magnitude of this storm and its impact,” Pence said.

Farmer Rod Pierce speaks to VP Pence and Governor.

Pence, the former governor of Indiana, did not talk about what specific federal relief may be headed Iowa’s way, but made a general pledge. “On behalf of the President of the United States and our administration I want Iowans to know we are with you. We are going to stay with you and we will work with your governor and your senators to make sure that we bring Iowa all the way back, bigger and stronger than ever before,” Pence said, to cheers. “I promise.”

Pence met privately on the fairgrounds with half a dozen Iowans whose farms were hit by Monday’s derecho. Rod Pierce of Woodward was among the group. “We had 131 mile an hour winds. We probably lost 12-15 of our bigger grain bins. We’ve got probably 2500 acres of corn flat.” Pierce says enhanced crop insurance benefits for farmers would be helpful, along with expanded trade and ethanol production.

“We need a price down in the future here, too, not just this year,” Pearce says. Iowa Democratic Party officials, including former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, criticized Pence for not altering his campaign schedule to personally survey the damage from Monday’s storm. Pence is attending a pro-police rally in Urbandale and will be the keynote speaker at a fundraiser for the Republican Party of Iowa this (Thursday) evening.

The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department is looking for help to create an animal mascot to be the face of the parks. Draw a picture of your favorite animal and give it a clever name. Submit your picture via the Atlantic Parks and Recreation Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/atlanticparksandrecreation) or drop your picture off at City Hall at 23 E 4^th Street by September 15, 2020.

All the submissions will be compiled and then the community can vote on their favorite. The winning submission will be used to promote rules, activities, etc. for the Parks and Recreation Department. All ages and all artistic levels are welcomed and encouraged to participate as the community will vote on the winner and not by how well the picture is drawn.

All submissions will be property of the City of Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department.

(Radio Iowa) – Four of Iowa’s state parks remain closed to all visitors due to extensive damage from Monday’s strong wind storm, while several other state parks are only partly open as cleanup operations continue. Alex Murphy, spokesman for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says the majority of the trouble is with downed trees, as there was little structural damage in the parks.  “We have one cabin that was hit by a tree at Union Grove State Park but otherwise, our parks are open,” Murphy says. “We’re just encouraging people to avoid those areas. Staff are working very hard to clear the roadways, the trails, all of those areas, so people can still get out and enjoy that, although most people in these areas are busy cleaning up their own back yards.”

The state parks that are closed are: Palisades-Kepler, Pleasant Creek, Lake MacBride and Wapsipinicon. Parks that are partly open as cleanup is underway include: Big Creek, Ledges, Pine Lake, Walnut Woods and Rock Creek. Iowans are consistently generous with their time and eager volunteers want to help clear out the mess, yet Murphy says now is -not- the time. “We realize people really want to help, people really want to see what’s happened to their parks that they love and that they visit all the time, but just let staff have their space and get the areas cleaned up,” Murphy says. “The quicker they can do that, the more open these parks will be and we can open up the closed ones as well.”

The winds exceeded 100 miles an hour in some areas during the derecho, and the destruction is extensive. “We’re fortunate a lot of it is tree damage and we didn’t have any of our visitors that were injured or anything like that, so we’re very thankful in those areas,” Murphy says, “but I would have a hard time believing this wasn’t one of the worst straight-line wind damage storms that we’ve seen in our state parks.”

Assessment is still underway, so no dollar figures are available yet on repairs, or on the length of time it may take to reopen all facilities.

iowadnr.gov/Places-to-Go/State-Parks/Alerts-and-Closures