(Radio Iowa) – A bill that’s cleared the Iowa House would eliminate a tax on a product Iowans use daily — toilet paper. “House File 964 does exactly what you might guess. It wipes away the stain of sales tax.” That’s Representative Christian Hermanson of Mason City. He urged his colleagues to get this movement underway to rid Iowans of this tax on their T-P.) “The bill recognizes that toilet paper is not a luxury, it’s not a choice. It’s a necessity,” Hermanson said. “And I think we can all agree taxing it stinks.”

Representative Aime Wichtendahl of Cedar Rapids says the move will put more money in the pockets of Iowans. “I think it’s time we flush away this sales tax on the toilet paper,” Wichtendahl said.

The bill was approved on an 82-to-11 vote. The senate has to pass the bill, too, before the governor could consider making tax-free toilet paper purchases the going thing in Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House Ethics Committee has unanimously voted to reprimand a mother-daughter lobbying team for falsely claiming on a website that a member of the House was a former stripper. Republican Representative Samantha Fett of Carlisle filed the ethics complaint, alleging the pair had violated rules for lobbyists and their online post could harm her work and future prospects in the marketing and communications field.

“The purpose of this complaint was to keep professionalism in this building,” Fett said. “We have rules for a reason and it was the right thing to do not only for myself, but for others that are in this situation.” Heather Ryan says this is the first year she and her daughter, Heaven Chamberlain, have registered with the legislature as lobbyists and they created online profiles of all 150 legislators. Chamberlain told legislators she felt like she was on trial.

“We were working off a rumor and it was a reputable source and I don’t name my sources,” Chamberlain said. “…If Samantha had just reached out to us, we would have taken it down.” Ryan says she’s surprised lawmakers didn’t ask her and her daughter to remove the rumor from their website. “I’m wrestling with that now, now that I know that it annoys her so much,” Ryan said, “but you know if it’s not true I’ll probably just cross that part out.”

Ryan and her daughter have testified at a variety of hearings at the Iowa Capitol this year and lawmakers have asked them not to say the name of their organization aloud. It includes a word Chamberlain admits is “potty language.”

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – A woman was arrested on Attempted Murder and Assault charges, Wednesday afternoon, following an investigation into a shots-fired incident in Council Bluffs. Authorities say that at around 1:42 pm, Council Bluffs Police were dispatched to a shots fired call in the 3100 Block of Avenue A.

Arriving officers learned that the suspect, who was later identified as Brandy L. Blake, fired one shot from a handgun at a
car in the alley near 32nd Street in between West Broadway and Avenue A. The shot entered the vehicle and narrowly
missed the lone occupant, who was uninjured. The male victim is known to Blake.

Brandy L. Blake

She was taken into custody without incident by uniform officers at the scene. She was subsequently held in the Pottawattamie County Jail for one count of Attempted Murder, a Class B Felony, and one count of Domestic Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, an Aggravated Misdemeanor.

Thousands of dedicated volunteers in Iowa selflessly contribute their time and effort to enhance their communities. Cass County Extension works with over 100 adult volunteers in various roles, committees, and capacities each year. As we celebrate National Volunteer Week in late April, we want to say Thank You to all who contribute to and support Cass County Extension programs. From Youth programming in 4-H to Master Gardener activities, to keeping the fairgrounds updated and fair running. We could not provide half of the opportunities we offer to the community without these volunteers working behind the scenes all year long.

If you are interested about learning more about Cass County Extension programs or how you can get involved with one or more of these opportunities, contact the Cass County Extension Office at 712-243-1132, email xcass@iastate.edu or visit www.extension.iastate.edu/cass for program details and upcoming events.

Elected extension council members contribute immeasurably to the effectiveness of Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach by helping to develop and implement local programs and secure needed resources. Council member input ensures that a planned sequence of educational experiences addresses county needs. Every county in Iowa has an elected Extension Council- made up of 9 local residents who help determine budget and program priorities and manage local tax dollars for maximum benefit to their local communities.

Cass County Extension Council members include Chad Becker, JJ Bierbaum, Marcy Dorsey, Tony Orstad, Jeb Peck, Brad Pellett, Sue Riggs, Todd Weppler and Dave York.

Iowa 4-H Youth Development is the premier youth development program of ISU Extension and Outreach. Providing research-based education to K-12 youth, Iowa 4-H focuses on Healthy Living, STEM, Leadership and Civic Engagement, and Communication and the Arts. Iowa 4-H builds upon more than a century of experience in positive youth development partnering with youth to help them find their passion.

4-H and Clover Kid Leaders receive recognition for years of service to the Cass County 4-H Program at the 2024 County 4-H Awards Convention. Toni Rieck, Terri Hansen, Carrie Ohms, Diane Brahms.

Clover Kid Leaders include Kristen Alexander, Sarah Becker, Jessica Delage, Terri Hansen, Kaitlynn Walter, Braedi Wickard and Katie York. 4-H Club Leaders include Jess Barber, Diane Brahms, Carolyn Bruck, Carrie Harrison, Eva Jensen, Melissa Johnson, Jerry McCrory, Holly Oathoudt, Lea Anne Peterson, Darrin Petty, Troy Retallic, Toni Rieck, Jill Rudy, Crystal Schroder, Ashley Skow, Aubrey Stuart, Jenae Waters, Brittney Weirich, Amanda Will, Molly Wise, Dave York, Kristy York, and Hillary Zellmer. Club Volunteers include TJ Barber, Rio Johnson, Chuck Rudy, Logan Skow, and Kara Victor.

The Iowa 4-H Foundation offers County 4-H Programs the opportunity to hold an endowment fund as a way for donors to give locally and to invest in the long-term success of local 4-H Programs. County endowments can identify and prioritize investment in 4-H Programs that will have the greatest impact locally while growing for the future. The Cass County 4-H Endowment Committee hosts an annual Pancake Supper fundraising event in the spring and an annual online giving campaign in the fall. They use funds to support youth participating in 4-H opportunities and events that take them beyond Cass County, scholarships to graduates, and covering the $45 program development fee for 4-H members annual enrollment to be in 4-H.

Cass County 4-H Endowment Committee members include Stacie Euken, Jon Johnson, Lisa Woodward, Jenea Waters and Dave York. The 4-H Youth Action Committee is an active volunteer group of youth and adults that works in cooperation with Youth Program Specialists and County Extension Staff to provide leadership to the county 4-H program. The Youth Action Committee works to meet the developmental and educational needs of youth and is responsible for programming integrity. They provide county-wide workshops and opportunities including Fall Fest, Officer Training, various project workshops, and help develop and enforce the Cass County 4-H Participation Policy Guidelines for all members.

4-H Youth Action Committee members include Jeff Anderson, Shane DeBord, Melissa Johnson, Carrie Ohms, Tony Orstad, Ashley Skow, and Kristy York, along with high school 4-H Youth members.

Cass County also has a large group of active Master Gardeners that meet monthly to plan projects such as community garden spaces, food donation projects, educational activities, local project grants and community beautification efforts. The goal of the Master Gardener program is to support horticulture education and community service. Cass County Master Gardeners provide many hours of volunteer service and gardening education within their local communities. To raise funds for these activities, the group annually holds a spring and fall plant sale fundraiser.

Master Gardeners include Lori Anderson, Marla Anstey, Michelle Behrends, Catherine Booth, LaVon Eblem, Theresa Hansen, Carolyn Hartman, Jane Hayes-Johnk, Kolton Hewlett, Ciara Hoegh, Connie Jones, Judy Kennedy, Dottie Krogh, Alan Ladd, Sue Liston, Donna Reimers, Janice Steffen, Kay Stork, Mary Strong, Todd Turner, Karen Mailander, Vicki Nordskog, Kristy Pellett, and Brad Rassmussen.

Certified community volunteers prepare taxes with computer software and help with special tax credits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Child Tax Credit, and Credit for the Elderly or Disabled. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program provides free and accurate income tax assistance to qualifying low-to-moderate income individuals and working families, older adults, limited English speakers, and persons with a disability each spring. Vita Tax Prep Volunteers include Lori Rassmussen, and Connie Petersen.

The Cass County Grounds Committee oversees the fair grounds and the Cass County Community Building. They manage the grounds mowing and maintenance all year long while also setting up, cleaning, and managing rentals hosted in the Cass County Community Center throughout the year.

Cass County Grounds Committee members include Scot Bailey, Curt Behrends, Clint Freund, Paul Gade, Mike Henderson, Dennis Jipsen, Rick Larsen, Mike McDermott, Steve Myers, Dan Olsen, Stephen Ritter, Derek Sanny, Glen Sonntag, Nathan Steffen, Dave Williamson, Alan Zellmer and Greg Zellmer.

The Cass County Fairboard is a volunteer group that plans and hosts the annual Cass County Fair. Throughout the year they work to coordinate entertainment, plan food stand menus, review rules, coordinate with volunteer Fair Superintendents, and ensure youth and the local community have a fun and safe fair experience. The Fairboard works cooperatively with the Cass County Grounds Committee as they take over the fairgrounds for only one week of the year.

Fairboard members include Trevor Becker, Cutis Bierbaum, Natalie Bierbaum, Shane DeBord, Liz Denney, Mike Dreager, Eric Hansen, Paul Hocamp, Jon Johnson, Mike Jacobsen, Stephen Ritter, Cory Scholl, Grant Stuart, Wayne Victor and Drew Williams.

Fair Superintendents help the Cass County Fairboard with management and delegation of fair departments. Superintendents work cooperatively with FFA Advisors and the Cass County 4-H program to ensure youth have opportunities to learn and grow within their department. Superintendents are responsible for overseeing individual department rules, contest materials, committee helpers and planning/assisting with department needs throughout the year and all during fair week.

Fair Superintendents include Jeff Anderson, Whitney Baxter, Jackie Brokaw, Jordan Dailey, Liz Denney, Marcy Dorsey, Ashley Freund, Marjorie Frisbie, Melissa Johnson, Layne Kinney, Melissa Lingk, Tracy Marshall, Ann McCurdy, Dexter McDermott, Eric Miller, Kat Niemann, Holly Oathoudt, Darrin Petty, Justin Retallic, Troy Retallic, Hannah Richter, Haley Schmidt, Chris Scholl, Kara Victor, Duane Weirich, Julie Williamson, Molly Wise and Katie York.

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Nevada, Iowa man made his initial appearance before a United States Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa today.

According to allegations in the criminal complaint, between January and April 2025, Tanner Dean Bandy, 28, engaged in a pattern of threatening conduct against a former romantic partner through text messages and voicemails. Two days prior to his arrest, on April 17, 2025, Bandy left a voicemail message discussing his intention to conduct a mass shooting at an Iowa State University commencement ceremony. On April 17, 2025, law enforcement searched Bandy’s residence and vehicle and located two firearms and ammunition. Bandy will remain detained in federal custody pending further proceedings.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Federal Bureau of Investigations, Iowa State University Police Department, and Story County Sheriff’s Office are investigating this case.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

(Radio Iowa) – A standing-room only crowd of about 125 people jammed into a room in Northwood this morning (Wednesday) for a town hall meeting with Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley. There was a lot of back and forth among those in the crowd when the topic of the deportation of Abrego Garcia to a prison in El Salvador came up. Grassley faced tense town hall meetings in Hampton last month and in Fort Madison earlier this month. He says it is not much different than what he’s seen in past years on controversial topics.

“ I would say Obamacare in 2009, maybe when Trump was first elected in 2017, maybe things like that, it was tense times even then, ” he says. Republican leadership advised members of Congress to stop holding such town hall meetings. Grassley says he won’t be critical of his Senate colleagues adhering to that advice, but he says it’s probably more important than ever now to hold the meetings and show the principles of representative government.

After the meeting, Grassley was asked by reporters if having a civil discussion in town hall settings was a thing of the past. He says most of the discussions he has with Iowans are civil and don’t have people exchanging barbs using foul language, as was the case today.  “The bottom line of it is the language you heard here, and I heard, was stronger than it’s been anyplace I have been, and I don’t think it’s typical of Worth County. It’s not typical of most town meetings I have, and let’s just say this is an outlier,” Grassley says.

Grassley also addressed topics like the Farm Bill, tariffs, and DOGE cuts during the meeting.

(Radio Iowa) – A Drake University scholarship program aimed at students of color is the subject of a complaint submitted to the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Office. The Equal Protection Project argues that Drake’s program discriminates against students based on race because it’s open to students of color but not to white students.

Project president William Jacobson says scholarships must be based on factors other than race. “So if you want somebody who’s good at math, you have a scholarship for people who are good at math,” Jacobson says, “but you can’t say we have a scholarship for black students who are good at math, or only white students who are good at math, or only Hispanic students who are good at math.”

Jacobson says by giving preference to someone of a certain race, a school excludes someone else from a spot. He says there are other ways to diversify student populations that don’t rely on race. “This is a systemic discrimination that affects all students who do not qualify based on race,” he says.

The Equal Protection Project has filed dozens of similar complaints against colleges across the country, including the University of Northern Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – The legislature has sent the governor a bill to set an April 30th deadline for a tuition rate decision from the board that governs the three state-supported universities. “Ensuring that as students enroll for college each spring, they know the tuition price they’ll be paying that fall.” That’s Republican Representative Taylor Collins of Mediapolis, who led House debate of the “College Affordability Act.” The Board of Regents currently sets the next academic year’s tuition rate for the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa in June. The bill also calls for a study of a fixed tuition rate, so the rate charged in a student’s first year at one of the state universities would be the same rate they’d pay in the next three years.

Senator Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames, says there’s another way the legislature could help control tuition spikes by increasing state funding for the three universities. “So they could keep tuition rates down so that students wouldn’t have to spend as much time as some students have to…flipping burgers when they should be getting their engineering degrees and earning an order of magnitude more money.” Senator Jesse Green, a Republican from Boone, says the legislature is moving to control costs for students, since the Board of Regents has not.

“Last year we gave them $3 million less than their request,” Green said, “and yet they generated about $35 million more from tuition.” The bill directs each of the state universities to start offering — in the fall of 2027 — at least one undergraduate degree that can be completed in three years.

(Updated 4/25 w/citation mentioned)

(Creston, Iowa) – Two people were transported by ambulance to the Greater Regional Medical Center in Creston, following an accident that occurred this (Wednesday) morning. According to the Creston Police Department, the collision happened at the intersection of Highway 25 and Lincoln Street, at around 10:45-a.m.  Authorities say a 1998 Ford Ranger pickup driven by 55-year-old Sheila Ann Culbert, of Creston, was traveling west on Highway 25 (Townline St.), and a 2009 Infiniti G37 driven by 66-year-old Julia Lynn Thompson, of Creston, was traveling northbound on Lincoln Street.

Both drivers said they had a green light. When their vehicles proceeded into the intersection, the car was struck on the north end of the intersection, by the pickup. Damage from the collision amounted to $3,500. Creston Police say Culbert was cited for Failure to provide proof of liability (insurance) – accident related.

CLARINDA, IOWA, April 23, 2025: The Page County Attorney’s Office announced today (Wednesday), that 25-year-old Gavin Allen Sickler, of Clarinda, was found guilty of the crime of Burglary in the Third Degree in Page County District Court on April 22nd, 2025. Sickler was acquitted of one count of Theft in the Third Degree. The verdicts were returned by the jury after a one-day trial and a little over one hour of deliberations.

Gavin Sickler (Photo courtesy the Page County Attorney’s Office)

Sickler was charged after the investigation of a reported burglary of a car in Shenandoah where a gun was reportedly stolen on the afternoon of September 26, 2024. Sickler is currently free on a $4,000 bond and is awaiting a sentencing date. He faces up to two years of incarceration and a fine of up to $8,540.

This case was investigated by the Shenandoah Police Department and prosecuted by the Page County Attorney’s Office.