(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with the Cass County 4-H Endowment Foundation have accepted a $2,000 check from Atlantic Carriers to support Cass County Extension programs. That includes volunteers on committees, leading clubs, serving on committees or monetary donations. Local businesses are great supporters lending a helping hand or donation. Atlantic Carriers has donated to Cass County 4-H in the past two years by putting together a basket for the Endowment’s annual Pancake Supper in the past two years as well.

The Cass County 4-H Endowment is managed by a committee which delegates how the money is used. The committee distributes money to cover the 4-H Program Development Fee for all Cass County 4-H and Clover Kid members, financial aid for out-of-county events, senior scholarships, and start-up dollars for innovative youth programs.

Atlantic Carriers was established as a trucking company in 1971 with family-owned and small-town values. For over 50 years they have provided drivers with one-to-one communication and have been transformed to a nationwide general commodities carrier. Those small-town values have seen the benefits of 4-H in the local community and have graciously supported Cass County 4-H programs in recent years.

The 4-H Program Development Fee is $40 per youth each year to enroll. Instead of having individual 4-H’ers and families take on that expense, the Cass County Extension Council and the 4-H Endowment Committee pick up this cost for our members. “We are very fortunate in Cass County that our 4-H Endowment covers this cost for all members. That would not be possible for us to continue without the outstanding support from our community.” stated Bateman. The Cass County 4-H Endowment also offers grants for youth to attend 4-H camps or conferences outside of Cass County, encouraging them to take their 4-H experience to the next level. They also offer scholarships to graduating seniors 4-Hers.

For more information on the Cass County 4-H Program or Cass County 4-H Endowment contact Katie Bateman, Cass County Youth Coordinator, at 243-1132 or kbateman@iastate.edu.

CEDAR COUNTY, Iowa (Iowa Capital Dispatch) – A Cedar County farmer is suing a manufacturer of wind turbines, alleging three turbine fires scattered debris over hundreds of acres of land, damaging his crops. Alan Weets of Mechanicsville is suing the Chicago-based company Nordex USA, which does business as Acciona Windpower North America and Anchor Wind, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. Weets alleges that in 2010, he entered into an agreement with Acciona that gave the company an easement on his property for the installation of two wind turbines. Acciona, the lawsuit claims, was aware of “serious problems” with the turbines that it installed on Weets’ property but failed to repair or replace them in order to render them safe.

In March 2023, one of the turbines caught fire and spread debris across 160 acres of Weets’ land, the lawsuit alleges. The damage allegedly resulted in Weets having to restrict that section of the property to grain production rather than forage and fodder for livestock feed. In May 2024, a second turbine on Weets’ property allegedly caught fire, spreading additional debris across the land. Over the next several months, according to the lawsuit, Weets grew frustrated with a perceived lack of progress by Acciona contractors, who used farm-type equipment in an effort to clean up the property. “The crews created additional debris-damage issues arising from further destruction of plastics and fiberglass pieces, making pieces that were smaller and more difficult to pick up from the foil,” the lawsuit alleges.

In August 2024, the second wind turbine allegedly caught fire again, causing one of the massive blades to fall to the ground. Weets claims that shortly thereafter, the Cedar County Co-Operative informed him it would not accept any grain from him that was contaminated by turbine debris. In all, 230 acres of land were allegedly contaminated by the debris. Weets alleges that although he and Acciona never agreed on the cost or extent of the damages, the company issued him a check for $230,000 as compensation. The two sides have yet to come to terms on that issue, the lawsuit claims. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for alleged negligence, breach of contract, and consumer fraud. Nordex media representatives did not immediately respond Wednesday to requests for comment.

A 2014 study by Imperial College London, the University of Edinburg,h and SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden found that fires in wind turbines were occurring 10 times more often than were reported. At that time, the wind-power industry was reporting about 11 fires per year, while researchers determined that there were closer to 117 such fires annually among the 200,000 turbines examined. In 2023, a report from the Caithness Windfarm Information Forum identified 3,287 reported wind-turbine accidents, worldwide, between 2000 to March 2023 — an average of 143 accidents per year. Fires accounted for 14% of those accidents, just behind blade failure, which accounted for 15% of the accidents.

The most common cause of wind turbine fires is a lightning strike, although mechanical and electrical failures are also contributing factors.

POCAHONTAS COUNTY, Iowa (KTIV) – A woman who was working as a nurse at a Northwest Iowa care facility has been sentenced after being charged with neglect. KTIV in Sioux City says court documents show 70-year-old Becky Manning of Lake View, Iowa, was charged with wanton neglect of a resident of a care facility back in March 2024. The charge was filed after a man in a Fonda, Iowa, care facility died. After entering her plea months ago, Manning was in court on Monday, April 21, where a judge sentenced her to two years in prison and an $855 fine, along with other court costs. Manning had entered an Alford plea beforehand, which means she maintained her innocence but acknowledged there was enough evidence to convict her.

Court documents show the man under Manning’s care died back in February 2023 at the Fonda Special Care nursing home in Pocahontas County, Iowa. Investigators say the man had a condition requiring “frequent suctioning to maintain an open airway.” Authorities claim Manning refused to suction the resident’s airway even after at least four other staff members told her the resident was requesting and requiring suctioning. Manning reportedly started her shift on Feb. 18, 2023, and refused to suction the resident’s airway over the course of eight hours. The resident would later die sitting in his chair on Feb. 19, 2023.

Investigators say Manning was the only nurse on duty during this incident and they claim she was aware that the resident required his airway to be suctioned regularly. Court documents show, at the time, Manning was a licensed nurse with Grape Tree Medical Staffing and was contracted to provide nursing services at Fonda Specialty Care. The care facility was fined $6,500 for the death.

About a year after the death, Manning was arrested on the neglect charge and booked into the Pocahontas County Jail.

Atlantic, IA— For the fifth year in a row, Cass Health has been named one of the Top 20 Critical Access Hospitals in the United States by the National Rural Health Association (NRHA). This prestigious honor places Cass Health in the top 1% of more than 1,300 critical access hospitals across the country.

Cass Health CEO Brett Altman shared his pride in the organization’s continued success: “Earning a spot in the Top 20 is a tremendous honor—but achieving it five years in a row is simply remarkable. Very few hospitals have ever maintained this level of excellence over time. While we know we’re not perfect, we are always committed to improvement and delivering the best possible care, every single day.”

The Top 20 designation is based on the Chartis Rural Hospital Performance INDEX®, which evaluates rural and critical access hospitals using 36 publicly available metrics across eight performance pillars—including quality, outcomes, patient satisfaction, and financial performance. From this data, the Chartis Center for Rural Health identifies the Top 100, and the NRHA recognizes the highest-performing 20 hospitals from that group.

Altman added: “This recognition reflects the strength of our people. We hire and train the best, we work together to achieve excellence, and we continuously invest in both our organization and our community. We’re proud of our outstanding staff, our supportive board, and the volunteers who make our work possible. Our mission and vision—to provide superior experiences and be one of the best rural hospitals in the nation—are validated by national honors like this. And when you consider that 99.3% of hospitals rank below us in objective data, that’s something worth celebrating.”

Cass Health will be formally recognized at an awards ceremony during the NRHA’s Critical Access Hospital Conference this fall.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – The Adair-Casey/Guthrie Center School District Boards of Education will hold a Special (joint) Board meeting Friday morning, in Guthrie Center. The session will be held in the AC/GC Superintendent’s Office, beginning at 7:30-a.m.

On their combined agenda, is action on the 2025-26 Employment Benefit Program, and the 1st Reading of a Revised Board Policy (pertaining to graduation requirements). Separately, the AC Board will act on passing a resolution awarding a contract for the Adair-Casey Elementary School Roof Project, and a Contract Recommendation for Derek Davenport, AC/GC shared Technology Director.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has sent the Senate a bill to require that home builders install passive radon mitigation systems in new homes. It also would establish a state tax credit for the installation of radon mitigation systems in existing homes and buildings. Representative Hans Wilz, of Ottumwa says E-P-A ratings show every county in the state has an elevated level of radon. “Seven out of 10 homes in Iowa have radon levels that pose a health risk,” Wilz says. “This isn’t limited to old homes or those with basements. Radon can be found in any home — new, old, anywhere where in our state.”

Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer in Iowans who are not smokers. Wilz says radon mitigation systems can save the state and its citizens hundreds of millions of dollars that would be spent on health care costs. “Every dollar spent on radon mitigation is going to save $20-$40 of avoided health care costs,” Wilz says. The bill would set up a state tax credit of up to a thousand dollars for installation of a radon mitigation system in existing structures. Individuals could claim the credit on their personal income taxes.

The credit would be available to some businesses as well as the managers of estates or trusts working to prepare a property for sale after the owner’s death. Starting in 2027, state law already requires regular radon testing of Iowa school buildings and mitigation if unsafe levels are found.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Nishna Valley Trails President Dave Chase, Wednesday afternoon, addressed the Atlantic Parks and Rec Advisory Commission, with regard to the role trails play in the City’s of Atlantic’s 5-year Comprehensive Plan, and a proposal to connect the trails both inside of Atlantic and with the Trailhead near Interstate 80 and Highway 71.

Bike routes, lanes and connections are included in the Preliminary Comprehensive Plan, Chase said. The non-profit Nishna Valley Trails group helped to obtain a $100,000 grant for the bridge that crosses the Nishnabotna River just west of KJAN, and connects to the Schildberg Recreation Area. The City sponsored that grant application. Chase said it’s also possible to get a REAP grant for the hard surfacing or resurfacing some of the current connections and constructing others.

The big plan, has always been to connect the T-Bone Trail to Atlantic, Chase said, as part of the Great American Rail Trail.

Connecting the T-Bone Trail to Atlantic is something NishnaValley Trails is working to have accomplished in the next three-years. Chase said an Iowa Bicycle Coalition Study determined cycling has a $1.4-billion dollar economic impact on the State.

He says signage is another aspect of the trail.

He said connecting East Ridge Park in Atlantic to the Camblin Hills Addition is another idea he has. Officials hope to apply for a REAP grant in the next grant cycle.

The next Iowa Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) grant cycle for the FY 2026 regular grant cycle is May 1, 2025, so it’s too late to apply for it. Projects funded in this cycle will begin on July 1, 2025, and must be completed by November 30, 2027, with final reports due by December 31, 2027

(Lewis, Iowa) – An historic site near Lewis will host a Pioneer Skills Festival on May 3rd. Officials with the Cass County Conservation Board say if you’ve ever wondered how the pioneers made their own rope or dipped their own candles, or pondered using your hand at spinning wool, you should come to the Hitchcock Pioneer Skills Festival on Saturday, May 3rd, at the Hitchcock House, which is a National Historic Landmark built in 1856, and which features a secret room that hid persons escaping slavery via the Underground Railroad.

The Hitchcock House can be found six-miles south of Atlantic and 1.5-miles west of Lewis. The festivities will begin at 1:00 p.m. and end at 4:00 p.m. You will have an opportunity to visit the historic Hitchcock House and see many of the skills and crafts that people of the late 1800’s used in daily living. You could begin your visit with a tour of the Hitchcock House. This two-story home features thick sandstone walls, window seats, native hard wood trim. The secret room is located in the basement where there is also a stone fireplace where the freedom seekers could cook food and keep warm. It is said that the famous John Brown preached around this fireplace.

Once you’ve toured the home, head over to the barn, where the hub of the festival activities will take place. In the barn, you’ll observe skills and crafts of the past, and can try your hand at a few of them. There will be rope making, candle dipping, tin punching, and woodcarvings.

The festival will be held rain or shine. Families are encouraged to come and share the day together as they might have in the 1800’s. There is a $5 fee/adult for a tour of the Hitchcock House. All activities in the barn are free of charge; donations to the Hitchcock House will be accepted.

(Stanton, Iowa) – Montgomery County resident Jan Norris reports a “Carbon [capture] Pipeline Opposition Meeting” will be held April 28th, in Stanton. The meetings that are being held around the state, are hosted by the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club, Iowa Easement Team, and landowners who may be impacted by the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline and the possible use of Eminent Domain to acquire land for the pipeline to cross. Organizers say the meetings are intended to educate communities about carbon capture pipelines, and prepare affected landowners for Iowa Utilities Commission (IUC) proceedings.

On Monday, April 28th, local landowners and issue experts will provide an overview of the proposed pipeline projects, the latest updates from across the five-state pipeline footprint, and action steps to prepare for pending permit proceedings.

The meeting will be held at the Stanton Viking Center (501 Elliott St., Stanton, IA), beginning at 6:30-p.m., Monday (April 28th).

(Creston, Iowa) – If you travel on eastbound Interstate 80 west of Des Moines you need to be aware of an upcoming project that may slow down your trip, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Creston construction office. Eastbound I-80 between Grand Prairie Parkway (exit 118) and the West Mixmaster will be closed on the following nights so crews can shift lanes on the roadway for a new stage of bridge and pavement removals.

• Sunday, April 27 from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. on Monday, April 28
• Monday, April 28 from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. on Tuesday, April 29
• Tuesday, April 29 from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. on Wednesday, April 30

When the roadway is closed, you will follow a marked detour route (see map) using Grand Prairie Parkway (exit 118) up to University Avenue, Jordan Creek Parkway, Westown Parkway, 50th Street, and I-80/I-35 (exit 124).

The Iowa DOT reminds motorists to drive with caution, obey the posted speed limit and other signs in the work area, and be aware that traffic fines for moving violations are at least double in work zones. As in all work zones, drivers should stay alert, allow ample space between vehicles, and wear seat belts.