The Cass County Conservation Board is sponsoring a “Breakfast with the Birds” Program! The program will be held this Saturday, Aug. 15th at Sunnyside Park, Camblin’s Addition Shelter, beginning at 9-a.m. This year, due to COVID-19 there will not be breakfast available, feel free to bring your own breakfast. Officials encourage social distancing, with marked spaces for each family, during the program.

Kay Neuman, rehabilitator and Educator at S.O.A.R., Saving Our Avian Resources. Kay will show and discuss several of her permanently injured birds and will hopefully have one that is fully recovered and ready to release back into the wild!! Please help the CCCB support raptors and education! They hope you will join them for the program!

(Radio Iowa) – A quarter of a million Iowa homes and business are still without power this (Thursday) morning. Ames residents have been warned damage is so dense and significant, power may be out for a week in some areas. Governor Kim Reynolds toured Marshalltown Wednesday afternoon and told reporters the damage she saw may be worse than the devastating tornado that hit Marshalltown two years ago. “Just from a mental perspective of trying to deal with all of that, it’s just tough,” Reynolds says. “They’re hit pretty hard again.”

The governor has gotten an aerial view of crop damage this week and she visited a grain elevator that was critically damaged. With silos and bins smashed in areas that were hit Monday, Reynolds says storage for this year’s crop will be a significant issue. “There’s no way that they’re going to be able to rebuild the bins this fall — materials, construction — I mean, just across the board it’s not going to happen,” she says.

Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says farmers may have to resort to open-air storage — piling the grain on the ground.

Cass County residents and visitors celebrated Christmas in July at Lake Anita State Park and by joining in the Cass County Christmas Cookie Recipe Exchange facilitated by the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce.

A child talks to Santa at Lake Anita State Park, in July 2020 (Photo submitted)

Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh says at Lake Anita State Park, campers participated in a campsite Christmas decorating contest, and children got the chance to talk to Santa. Even though it was typical July weather, Santa still wore his red suit. Many people spending additional time at home to help slow the spread of COVID-19 have been baking, so the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce facilitated the Cass County Christmas Cookie Recipe Exchange.

Lake Anita State Park Christmas in July campsite decorating contest first place entry.
(Photo submitted)

Here are two of the shared recipes:

Decorated Sugar Cookies
Submitted by Beverly Johnson
Ingredients:
• 1/2 cup butter (not margarine)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon soda
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

1. Cream together sugar and margarine
2. Beat in egg, vanilla, and lemon zest
3. Stir in sour cream
4. Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, soda, nutmeg
5. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture
6. Chill dough (this is a rich dough and must be chilled)
7. On lightly floured surface, roll out to 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick and cut into desired shapes and place
   on ungreased cookie sheet
8. Bake in 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes – makes 1-2 dozen depending on size of cookie
   cutters.

NOTE: Before refrigerating, you can color the dough with a soft gel paste. Before baking, sprinkle with
colored sugar. Tips: It is a rich dough, so it is very important the dough is chilled and try to not use too much flour.

Grandma Suiter’s Gingersnap Recipe
Submitted by Ardyth Harris Gillespie
Ingredients:
• 1 c sugar
• 3/4 c butter
• 1 egg
• 1 T ginger (dried, ground)
• 1 t soda
• 3 ½ c sifted flour
• 1/4 t salt
• 3/4 c sweetened molasses

Directions:

1. Cream sugar and shortening.
2. Add well beaten egg.
3. Combine molasses and soda and add sifted dry ingredients.
4. Chill, then roll into balls and bake on cookie sheet at 350 degrees.

Tips: It takes about 6-8 minutes to bake for a chewy cooking. A little longer for a snap which is
harder and good for dipping in milk. A third variation, especially at Christmas time, is gingerbread men
and in my generation other cooking cutter shapes. It could be gingerbread women as well.
Depending upon the thickness, these take 4-6 minute.

For more information on local wellness events or resources, follow Healthy Cass County on Facebook @HealthyCassCounty.

w/Kate Olson.

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(Radio Iowa) – State Ag Secretary Mike Naig says some of the corn that was flattened by Monday’s storm will bounce back, but it’s anybody’s guess as to what percentage of damaged Iowa crops may be harvested. Grain bins, silos and elevators were damaged as well, so losses extend to the 2019 crop. “Tens of millions of bushels of commercial grain storage and millions of on-farm grain storage was impacted, destroyed or severely damaged,” he says.

Naig warns there will be storage issues for the 2020 crop, so farmers may have to truck their corn and soybeans further or resort to on-the-ground outdoor storage. “Certainly there’ll be a lot of effort to repair whatever storage can be repaired and brought back online before fall,” Naig says, “but it’s hard to imagine that any significant amount of the storage that’s been damaged will be able to be rebuilt before harvest this year.”

The state climatologist says Monday’s derecho passed through about a third of the state. Naig says localized crop losses in central and east central Iowa fields that were flattened by Monday’s storm will be severe, but it’s too soon to estimate the value of crop losses in those high damage areas. Naig says some livestock barns were damaged, too, but there have not yet been reports that hogs, cattle or poultry were killed in the storm.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — The family of a fourth worker who died of coronavirus during an outbreak at Tyson Foods’ largest pork processing plant is suing the company over his death.The lawsuit says Isidro Fernandez of Waterloo, Iowa died April 26 from complications of COVID-19, leaving behind a wife and children. The case was filed last week and is similar to one brought in June by the same lawyers on behalf of the estates of three other deceased Waterloo workers.

The lawsuits allege Tyson put employees at risk by downplaying concerns and covering up the outbreak in order to keep them on the job. Tyson says the deaths are tragic but that it vigorously disputes claims fo wrongdoing.

WEST LAKE OKOBOJI, Iowa – Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources report a Spirit Lake man was arrested Thursday in connection with a boating incident that took place at approximately 10:35 p.m., Tuesday, near Manhattan Point on West Lake Okoboji. DNR Conservation Officers, Thursday, located a damaged boat consistent with damage to the hit and run incident, which seriously injured Vaughn Wickham of Spirit Lake, during the August 4th incident.

The boat was located in a hoist at a private residence on the north end of West Lake Okoboji. Conservation Officers obtained a search warrant and seized a 2010 28 foot Boston Whaler.  Shortly after seizing the boat, 20-year old Zachery Kruse, of Spirit Lake, turned himself in to DNR Conservation Officers and admitted to operating the boat involved in the hit and run.  Kruse was booked into the Dickinson County Jail and charged with an aggravated misdemeanor for failing to give aid in a vessel resulting in a serious injury.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Bureau was assisted by the Dickinson County Sheriff’s office and numerous helpful citizens in the investigation.

(A-P) A federal judge in Iowa has dismissed a lawsuit California Rep. Devin Nunes filed against a major media organization that alleged he was defamed in a magazine story about his family’s Iowa dairy farm. Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, filed the $77.5 million lawsuit in September 2019 in federal court in Iowa against Esquire publisher Hearst Magazines and former reporter Ryan Lizza.

It alleges a Sept. 30, 2018, story about the farm has caused “injury to his good name and professional reputation.” Judge C.J. Williams says Nunes failed to prove that Lizza’s article contained false and defamatory statements about him.

HARLAN – Iowans interested in the results of a DNR study to improve water quality in Prairie Rose Lake in Shelby County can view a presentation on the Iowa DNR’s YouTube channel.

Prairie Rose Lake is on the state’s list of impaired waters for high levels of algae and turbidity. The current study, or DNR water quality improvement plan, shows how these problems are caused by too much phosphorus in the lake. The problems impact recreation on the lake and aquatic life.

The plan explores the amounts and sources of phosphorus entering the lake and offers potential solutions to reduce those levels and work toward fixing the problem. The document is designed as a guide for local resource agencies, partners, stakeholders and residents to improve the lake.

The presentation is available now at youtube.com/iowadnr through Sept. 8. The full document can be downloaded on the Iowa DNR’s website at the following: http://www.iowadnr.gov/Environment/WaterQuality/WatershedImprovement/WatershedResearchData/WaterImprovementPlans/PublicMeetingsPlans.aspx.

Public comments on the plan must be submitted by Sep. 8 to the following:

E-mail: jeff.berckes@dnr.iowa.gov
Mail:  Jeff Berckes, care of Iowa DNR, Wallace State Office Building, 502 E. Ninth St. Des Moines, Iowa 50319

After gathering Iowans’ comments, the DNR will forward the final plan, also called by its technical name of Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval.

The latest State of Iowa Drought Monitor information shows parts of nine area counties are in an Extreme Drought, while parts of several adjacent counties are in a severe-to-moderate drought. The dry conditions cover nearly two-thirds of the State, with eastern Iowa the least affected, with what is being called “Abnormally dry” conditions. Counties in an Extreme Drought include all of Audubon and Carroll Counties, 90% of Greene and Guthrie Counties, and about one-third of Cass, Dallas, Shelby and Crawford Counties. Portions of Calhoun, Sac and Boone Counties are also impacted by an Extreme Drought.

In Counties affected by an Extreme Drought:

• Pastures are dry; producers sell cattle; crops are tested for toxins; crops have pest infestation
• Seasonal allergies are worse; farmers are stressed about high feed prices
• Trees drop leaves; acorns are underdeveloped
• Warm water leads to fish kills; streambeds are low to dry

(More info. at https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?IA)