COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – A Council Bluffs woman and man were sentenced on March 20, 2025 to federal prison for their roles in conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

According to public court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, Heather Lee Vore, 34, and Nicholas Carl Thomas, 42, facilitated the distribution of methamphetamine in Council Bluffs, Omaha, and elsewhere. Vore sent money to a drug source of supply in Mexico, and recruited others, including Thomas, to communicate with the Mexican source of supply and send money to Mexico for meth.

On January 16, 2025, Vore received a ten-year prison sentence, followed by a five-year term of supervised release. On March 20, 2025, Thomas received a twelve-year sentence, followed by a five-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Council Bluffs Police Department.

( Greenfield, Iowa) – County Auditor Mandy Berg and Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate are alerting voters they may be receiving important mailers in the coming weeks as part of annual voter registration list maintenance and ongoing audit processes. Voters in Adair County may receive notices from the Iowa Secretary of State’s office as part of the National Change of Address (NCOA) process as well as ‘No Activity” notices. Both mailers are expected to reach affected Iowa voters in late March or early April. As part of the annual NCOA process, voters who have filed a change of address with the U.S. Postal Service will receive notices to update their voter registration. Iowa’s election officials encourage voters to respond to these mail cards quickly, confirm their correct address, and return them to the county auditor’s office.

This mailing establishes compliance with the National Voter Registration Act, which requires periodic contact with voters to confirm the most accurate information is on file. A separate mailer regarding voter activity may also be sent to voters in Adair County. Registered Iowa voters who did not participate in the 2024 General Election have been transferred to an “inactive” status and will receive a notice in the mail to confirm their current residential address. Voters can reactivate their activity status by simply responding to this notice—voters who do not respond will remain in “inactive” status.

Registered voters who are “inactive” can also return to “active” status by requesting an absentee ballot, voting in an election, submitting a new registration, or updating their voter registration. This procedure is part of the Secretary of State’s ongoing voter registration list audits and maintenance processes and is required under a state law passed in 2021.

“Ongoing voter registration list audits and maintenance processes are critical to keeping Iowa voter rolls clean and accurate,” said Secretary Pate. “While we encourage Iowans to keep their voter registrations up-to-date, Iowa’s Same-Day Voter Registration safeguard ensures Iowans can register and vote on Election Day—ensuring every eligible voter has the opportunity to cast a ballot.”

Voters who have any questions regarding their voter registration status should contact the Adair County Auditor’s office at (641) 743-2546. Iowa voters can check or update their voter registration status at any time at VoterReady.Iowa.Gov.

[Elk Horn, IA] – (In an update to our previous story posted this morning, Exira-EHK shared Superintendent Trevor Miller issued a press release:)

“After extensive research, community input, and careful deliberation, the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton CSD Board of Education has officially approved a transition to a four-day student instructional week, effective at the start of the 2025-2026 school year. The decision was made during the most recent board meeting on 3/24/25, where the action item was approved with a 6-1 vote.

“The change is designed to strengthen teacher retention and recruitment efforts, addressing instructional vacancies while maintaining high-quality education for students. In recent years, schools across the state have faced challenges in hiring and retaining qualified educators. The new schedule aims to provide a more supportive work environment while continuing to prioritize student learning.

“The decision followed an extensive research process, including multiple community-wide surveys and town hall style meetings. The survey results demonstrated strong support for the transition, with 85% of staff, parents, and community members in favor of the change. We deeply value the input of our community, and this decision reflects a collaborative effort to ensure our students receive the best possible education,” said Superintendent Trevor Miller. “Our goal is to maintain an environment where educators feel supported, and students continue to thrive.”

The district will provide additional details in the coming months regarding scheduling, academic adjustments, and support services for families. More information will be available through district communications.

Exira-EHK Administrative Team
Middle/High

(Ringgold County, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has canceled the upcoming Prairie Chicken Day due to the decline in the local population to the point where staff have only observed sporadic use by a few male prairie chickens of the main Kellerton Lek.

Prairie Chicken

The effort to return the prairie chicken to Ringgold County, Iowa, and Harrison County, Missouri, had begun in 1987, when wild birds captured primarily in Kansas and Nebraska, with a few coming from South Dakota, were released in the area. Ringgold and Decatur counties had been identified as offering the best habitat to support prairie chickens in Iowa.

The last significant translocation effort was in 2017. Since then, the population has shown a steady decline with a few years of stability, but no significant increases to indicate a growing population have been recorded.

(Radio Iowa) – The recent snow and rain could help Iowa improve drought conditions was we move out of March and into April. The Iowa D-N-R’s Jessica McIntyre says she sees changes when looking back at the Drought Monitor for the start of March. “Especially in central Iowa, where there was what was considered D-1 or moderate drought, has now been downgraded to D-zero, which is abnormally dry, so that’s an improvement. And there’s also another section in eastern Iowa that also had that similar trend,” she says. Several areas of the state with drought got snow and rain last week. McIntyre says there will be some help as the snow melts with warmer temperatures.

“Not sure how much impact it will have immediately, just because we’re still kind of in that transition time when the ground is still somewhat frozen,” she says. McIntire says things are looking okay as we head into what are normally wetter spring months. “We get normal or above normal precipitation over the next couple of months, yeah, I think we’ll be in pretty good shape, especially when we compare ourselves to a year or two years ago. We are sitting pretty good right now,” McIntire says.

McIntire says the driest months of the year are behind us and there should be improvement as we move toward spring planting.

(Elk Horn, Iowa) – Another Iowa School District has approved transitioning from a traditional five-day school week to four days, effective with the start of the 2025-26 school year. Exira-EHK shared Superintendent Trevor Miller said the Board’s 6-to-1 vote to go ahead with the change, followed discussion that was held during the Exira-EHK School Board meeting Monday evening (March 24th). The concept of a four-day school week for the district was first floated before the board and public back in Sept/Oct. 2024, and included additional meetings and district patron surveys.

The 25-26 School Year will start August 25th.

Miller says they will be working on ways to provide daycare opportunities for those needing it on Mondays.

According to the latest data, 18 public school districts now primarily use four-day school weeks. In southwest Iowa that includes the East Union and Sidney Community School Districts. More than 1,600 school districts in 24 U.S. states are operating a four-day school week. The Stanton Community School District is also exploring the possibility of a 4-day school week for the 2025-26 school year. The Stanton School Board will hold an informational parent meeting in the Stanton Gym on Wednesday, March 26th, at 6:00 pm.

In other business, the Exira-EHK School Board approved Non-Certified, Principal, SBO/HR and Superintendent raises, as well as one-year extension of Superintendent Miller’s contract. They also approved numerous personnel matters (resignations, hires and transfers), including some coaching positions.

The Board also passed a resolution to continue participation in the Instructional Support Program (ISL).

(Radio Iowa) – A “Freedom to Garden Act” has passed the Iowa Senate unanimously.  “This bill addresses a growing concern — literally growing our own food.” That’s Senator Cherielynn Westrich of Ottumwa, the bill’s floor manager. The bill would forbid state and local governments from regulating vegetable gardens on property the gardener owns or rents. “In other states, heavy handed regulators have used local zoning ordinances to explicitly ban home vegetable gardens or to put up unreasoable rules governing what homeowners may grow and where they can plant their food,” she said, “with heavy fines levied for violating these mandates”

The bill says Iowans have a right to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume food they grow in their own garden — and home gardeners would have a right to sell what they grow. “In my view, this is a basic human right,” Westrich said. “Wisconsin has similar legislation and has added protections into their constitution as well and legislation has sprouted up in states like Florida and Illinois and others.”

There are some exceptions to the bill. It would still be illegal to grow marijuana. A section of the bill would give Iowans who object to a neighbor’s garden a chance to go to court and get a judge to declare the garden a public nuisance. According to the National Gardening Association’s 2024 survey, over 43 percent of Americans grew some fruits or vegetables to eat at home.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A public hearing was held this (Tuesday) morning in Atlantic, with regard to the proposed Property Tax Levy in Cass County. Auditor Kathy Somers explained the tax rate, as proposed, and which property owners should have received by now.

The rate is lower, she said because of some reductions approved by the Board of Supervisors.

There were only two comments made by the public during the meeting, including from a former resident of the County, and another who said in general, taxes are “way out of hand,” as described in information from Iowans for Tax Relief.

The Board took no action on the proposed levy at this time.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley today (Tuesday) will be questioning President Trump’s nominee to head the Social Security Administration, what DOGE leader Elon Musk calls “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.” Grassley says he’s been hearing from Iowans who are upset about staffing cuts and the proposed closure of dozens of Social Security offices. “People call my offices in Iowa, ‘I didn’t get my Social Security check. Can you check it out for me?’ Now that’s before any offices have closed,” Grassley says. “If this closure of offices creates a further problem, we’ll just have to make sure everybody gets their Social Security check.” More than 70-million Americans receive Social Security benefits, including more than 530-thousand Iowans.

“For about a third of our Social Security recipients, it’s the only income they have,” Grassley says. “We’ve got to make sure that they’re served. And after you’ve worked maybe 40 years in the workforce and paid into the Social Security payroll tax, you ought to be getting your checks.” The president’s nominee for commissioner of Social Security is Frank Bisignano who’s facing a confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee. Grassley says he already met with Bisignano in private a few weeks ago, and now it’ll be a chance to have him on record in public.

“I’m going to ask questions about staffing,” Grassley says, “and their reorganization plans and ensuring that Iowans get their benefit on time.” Reports say some new regulations are scheduled to take effect as soon as next week, requiring new and existing Social Security applicants to make in-person visits, as they’ll no longer be allowed to just identify themselves over the phone. The hearing is scheduled to start at 9 A-M/Central.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Council Bluffs construction office said Monday (March 24th), that if you drive Iowa 2 between Interstate 29 and U.S. 275 in Fremont County, you need to be aware of an upcoming bridge replacement project that may slow down your trip. From April 7th through October 7th (weather permitting), crews will remove and replace three bridges on Iowa Highway 2.

At the early stages of the project, Iowa 2 will be intermittently closed, and you will be directed through the work zone by flaggers so the construction crew can set up their equipment and transport materials needed for the project. Iowa 2 will be closed to traffic starting on Wednesday, April 16, weather permitting. You will follow a marked detour route using southbound I-29, Iowa 333, U.S. 275, Iowa 2 (see map).

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. The latest traveler information can be found on the web at 511ia.org, calling 511 (within Iowa) or 800-288-1047 (nationwide).