(Creston, Iowa) –  The Union County Sheriff’s Office says a man from Creston suffered suspected minor/non-incapacitating injuries, Wednesday morning, when the cabless tractor he was driving that was pulling a hay trailer and rake, was struck by a semi tractor-trailer. The accident happened at around 10:15-a.m. in the 1300 block of Cherry Street Road. (Photos by Chuck Spinder/Creston FD Facebook page)

Authorities report a 1968 John Deere Tractor driven by 44-year-old Levi Buxton, of Creston, was traveling north and had begun to turn into 1331 Cherry Street, when a 2004 Freightliner semi driven by 27-year-old Derrick McLuckie, of Stratford, started to pass on the left, at the beginning of a posted, “No Passing” zone.

As the semi was attempting to overtake the tractor, it struck the back tire of the machine, which caused the gooseneck portion of the hay trailer to come off, and strike Buxton on his back. Buxton was transported by EMS Ambulance to the hospital in Creston.

A Union County Sheriff’s Deputy cited McLuckie for Unsafe Passing. The tractor was declared a total loss, with the damage estimated at $15,000. The semi, registered to McLuckie Trucking, LLC., from Harcourt, sustained $3,000 damage. Creston Fire officials say the semi’s fuel tank was ruptured, resulting in a diesel spill. The Creston Fire Department (CFD) provided temporary fuel confinement.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has vetoed a bill that would have made it harder for Summit Carbon Solutions to seize land along the pipeline route from unwilling property owners. Reynolds says she respects both sides in the debate over the use of that eminent domain authority, but Reynolds says the bill is too broad and affects other types of energy infrastructure. The ethanol industry and the Iowa Corn Growers Association have been urging Reynolds to reject the legislation. Monte Shaw is with the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association.

“The governor did a really good job explaining there’s a lot of problems with this bill,” Shaw said. Shaw says the bill would have diminished Iowa’s ethanol industry as well as prospects for Iowa corn farmers.”Carbon capture and sequestration is the key to unlocking almost all of the new markets for biofuels demand and for corn demand,” Shaw said. House Speaker Pat Grassley, the top Republican in the House, has called for a special session of the legislature, to override the governor’s veto. Representative Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican from Wilton, helped craft the bill.

“Kim Reynolds has failed the state of Iowa. Kim Reynolds has soiled her legacy,” Kaufmann said, “and her legacy is now spitting in the face of landowners and being Bruce Rastetter’s errand girl.”Bruce Rastetter is the founder of Summit Carbon Solutions. Kaufmann says Reynolds has been steadfast in her defense of constitutional rights over her tenure as governor, and he’d expected her to sign the bill into law. “Clearly she has chosen special interests and Bruce Rastetter over private property rights,” Kaufmann said. “I vow today to work against and kill every single bill she comes up with because I no longer trust her judgement.”

Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison, led House debate on each piece of pipeline-related legislation over the past few years.  “The governor had three years to weigh in on this,” Holt said. “The governor could have given us her suggestions. She continues to say she wants to protect landowner rights, but she’s done nothing in three years to do that. The landowners have pleaded to meet with her. She didn’t meet with them until recently. She’s had ample opportunity, like the Senate had, to weigh in and protect landowners and they didn’t, so I’m profoundly disappointed.”

Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver says he supports the governor’s decision to veto the bill and he expects a majority of Senate Republicans would not be interested in any attempt to override her veto. Whitver says a significant majority of Senate Republicans support a better policy to protect landowner rights. Shaw, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association’s executive director, says the industry is open to negotiations. “We stand ready to work with people who want to improve the system, but not kill the carbon capture project,” Shaw said, “and if people are wanting to do that, we stand ready.”

Reynolds says the debate has highlighted areas were real progress is possible. The governor says she wants to work with lawmakers to strengthen landowner protections, modernize permitting and respect private property.

(Atlantic, Iowa/FFA Advisor Eric Miller) – Each year the Southwest District and Iowa FFA officers plan and facilitate Chapter Officer Leadership Training (COLT) Conferences for FFA members in the Southwest district. Atlantic welcomed FFA chapters from all over the Southwest district on June 3, 2025. This year 196 members from 32 chapters from across Southwest Iowa participated in this unique leadership training experience.

While at Atlantic on Tuesday, district and state officers lead four interactive workshops for FFA Chapter leaders, many of which are officers, for the annual COLT Conference. The workshops facilitated were local FFA Chapter programs focused in the areas of advocating for the agriculture industry, connecting with stakeholders, recruiting for the local chapter, and working as a cohesive team. FFA leaders also received training relative to their specific officer duties within the local chapter.

Iowa FFA President, Chloe Zittergruen, stated, “COLT conference provides a chance for FFA members to learn more about their responsibility as a local leader and is a conference for members to meet and connect with state, district and other chapter officers.”

COLT conference programming is designed as a two-year rotation of local leaders training. The focus areas of next year’s program include agriculture literacy, time management, professionalism, and self-confidence. The goal is to engage FFA members in learning about the tools that would allow them to be successful in anything they are part of through high school and beyond. Atlantic FFA President Lauren Comes said, ““The day was a lot of fun. The officer team learned a lot about our responsibilities as officer and what we can do to improve our abilities in that area.”

COLT conference is made possible with support from Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance of Iowa through the Iowa FFA Foundation. Atlantic Bottling provided drinks for all of the participants as well.

(Radio Iowa) – Volunteers in Le Mars are selling thousands of used books to support their local public library. A store in downtown Le Mars called “Second Chapter Gently Used Books” opens tomorrow (Thursday). Coordinator Mary Albrecht credits former Wells Blue Bunny C-E-O Mike Wells with setting up a conveyor belt system from the building’s basement to its first floor.

“It was in response to our concern about having storage in the basemen and sometimes we’ll take 20 loads of books in at once,” Albrecht said, “and Mike got on the problem and he solved it.” Mike Wells and his wife Cheryl also provided the building to the volunteer group. Albrecht says the Friends of the Le Mars Public Library Foundation in Le Mars has been selling used books for years, but they outgrew their previous location near a convenience store.

“It really wasn’t suiting our needs well,” she says, “and ‘Second Chapter’ is a result of that search.” The group’s creating a searchable inventory, so customers can ask if a certain book by a certain author is available for sale. Book prices range from a dollar to four dollars. “We help pay for some of the summer reading program items. We do adult winter reading, adult fall reading. We pay for speaker fees sometimes if they have speakers and we also pay for book marks, book pages,” Albrecht says. “We just support some of the fun things at the library that aren’t always in the city budget.”

The store will be open Thursdays through Saturdays.

(Radio Iowa) – The Ankeny-based Casey’s convenience store chain reported good earnings for the just completed fiscal year on the back of increased sales and more stores. Company C-E-O Darin Rebelez says the company set another record for diluted earnings per share, finishing at 14 dollars and 64 cents, ($14.64), a nine percent increase from the prior year.

The company also generated a record 547 million in net income. Rebelez says fiscal year 2025 was the largest store growth year in the company’s history with 35 new builds and 235 units purchase. He says the company expects to add around 80 new stores in the new fiscal year, with a continued mix of purchased stores and new ones.

(Audubon County, Iowa) – The Audubon County Secondary Roads Department reports, starting Monday, June 16th, 2,121-feet of 200th Street from 7th Avenue to Kingbird Ave., will be closed for road repairs until further notice. Residents located along the section of road will have access from the west.

(Des Moines) – The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is reporting the state’s third measles case of 2025 and is notifying the public due to potential exposure in public areas.  The investigation has determined this measles case is not related to the first two cases in Iowa.

The third case is in an unvaccinated child from the Eastern region of the state who was exposed during international travel. Iowa HHS and local health officials have identified locations visited by the individual while contagious, where the public might have been exposed to measles. Anyone born in or after 1957 who visited the following locations and is unvaccinated or unsure of their immune status should use this questionnaire https://johnsoncountyiowa.iad1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dpuuPT74KgoyycC and/or should call Johnson County Public Health at 319-356-6040.

• Costco – 2900 Heartland Dr, Coralville, IA 52241
  • June 4th between 11:30 AM and 4:15 PM
• Walmart – 919 Hwy 1 W, Iowa City, IA 52246
  • June 4th between 2:30 PM and 5:30 PM
• Marshalls – 1451 Coral Ridge Ave, Coralville, IA 52241
  • June 5th between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM

“Measles is the most contagious disease, but it’s also highly preventable,” said Dr. Robert Kruse, State Medical Director. “The MMR vaccine offers strong protection and helps stop the spread of illness. We encourage Iowans to check their vaccination records and take steps to protect themselves, their families, and their communities.”

Measles is a highly contagious viral illness that is spread through the air when an infectious person coughs, sneezes, or breathes. Symptoms of measles include fever, cough, red/watery eyes, runny nose, and a rash. The MMR vaccine is safe and highly effective. The first dose is recommended at 12 to 15 months of age, with a second dose at 4 to 6 years.

If you think you have been exposed to a measles case and have symptoms, call your medical provider or nearest emergency room ahead of time and tell them that you have been exposed to measles and have symptoms before arriving.

For the latest information on measles in Iowa, visit the Iowa HHS Center for Acute Disease Epidemiology disease information page. This page is updated weekly with current case counts and public health guidance. Iowa HHS will issue a press release when there is a confirmed public exposure that may pose a risk to others. When possible, individuals identified as close contacts will also be notified directly by public health officials.

(Radio Iowa) – The volume of U.S. pork exports is down about 9% compared to this time a year ago and it’s not just trade tensions with China that caused the drop. “While China’s a major market that is significantly down, we’re fewer sales into Mexico, South Korea, Japan, Canada, Australia,” said Iowa State University agricultural economist Chad Hart. “We’re seeing losses sort of across the board.”

It’s happening at a time when American’s pork industry needs to sell as much pork as possible, according to Hart. “Pork production has continued to hedge higher and higher over the past few years, meaning that we have plenty of pork to work with here,” Hart said, “and while the domestic market has been very good for the pork industry, we need international growth as well in order to help balance out the pork market.”

Hart indicated the U.S. is facing export competition from countries, but worries about the global economy. “When people are worried about their incomes worldwide, what they tend to do is slow their consumption down,” Hart said, “and I think we’re definitely seeing that when it comes to our pork market.”

In 2024, the United States told 3 million metric tons of pork, followed by the European Union, which sold 2.9 million metric tons of pork products. Brazil is the world’s third leading exporter of pork.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors held their regular weekly meeting this (Wednesday) morning, at the courthouse in Greenfield. The Board approved the founding of a local committee pertaining to the nation’s birthday on July 4^th. Adair County Auditor Mandy Berg…

Supervisor Matt Wedemeyer said he would take the initiative and reach out to find persons in the County to serve on the committee. The Board discussed the County’s Comprehensive Plan. Speaking by phone, Board Chair Nathan Baier said he would like to see Comp plan move forward at this time, and then tackle the zoning ordinances part of the plan, later on.

A motion to move forward having SICOG update the plan was approved, with an RFP (Request For Proposal) for the Zoning to take place at a future date. The Board then approved three new hires for the Secondary Roads Department. County Engineer Nick Kauffman updated the Supervisors on some bridge projects.

The Adair County Board of Supervisors will not be meeting next week (June 18^th). Their next regular meeting will be held June 25^th.