DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Seven Midwest governors have sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency seeking regulation changes intended to increase sales of gasoline blended with a higher percentage of ethanol. The governors of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota sent a letter Tuesday to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy requesting new standards that would allow stations to sell more gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol rather than the current standard of 10 percent ethanol.

The letter says the current setup “is stifling the widespread adoption” of E15 ethanol blends. The governors — five Republicans and two Democrats — are all from leading ethanol-producing states. The letter was also sent to President Barack Obama.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office today (Tuesday) issued a report on recent arrests. Officials say last Friday, 30-year old Ivan Antonio Cervantes, of Omaha, was arrested on a District Court warrant for Failure to Appear. Cervantes was taken to the Cass County Jail and was later released on his own recognizance.

On Sunday, 69-year old Arma Re Fouts, of Atlantic, was arrested on a charge of Driving While Barred. Fouts was taken to the Cass County Jail and was released later that day on her own recognizance. Also arrested Sunday, was 21-year old Corey Allen Lee Whitt,  of Walnut, on a charge of Public Intoxication. Whitt was taken to the Cass County Jail where he later pled guilty and was released.

And today (Tuesday), Deputies with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office arrested 20-year old Andrew Jacob Roach, of Missouri Valley, on a warrant for Probation Violation. Roach was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $2,000 bond.

Thousands of people across the country are expected to participate in the inaugural Bike Your Park Day on Saturday, Sept. 24. This new national event promotes exploration of parks and public lands by bicycle. Iowa’s state parks make beautiful biking destinations for families and friends, especially now, with cooler temperatures and changing seasons. Many state parks connect to more extensive bike trail systems, giving cyclists choices of distance and difficulty.

Worth a consideration next time you want to pedal a park are the following:

Big Creek State Park is one Iowa state parks’ best biking destinations. Located just north of Polk City, the park hosts miles 23-26 of the Neal Smith Trail. Riders can explore the wooded areas, prairies and shorelines in the park or continue on to downtown Des Moines. From the parking lot at Big Creek Beach, riders can go two miles east on 142nd Avenue to access the High Trestle Trail. The park’s location between these trails makes it an ideal park for bicycling opportunities.

George Wyth State Park makes a great biking park because its trails adjoin the Cedar Valley Trail system with more than 100 paved miles. There are many looped routes ranging from 6.2 miles to 50+ miles. The park also has 10 miles of soft trails for biking.

The main “stem” of the Iowa Great Lakes Trail system is a 14-mile, ten-foot-wide, hard surface trail with many arteries to explore Iowa’s Great Lake and the vast array of parks, beaches, lakeshores and other public areas that surround them.

Green Valley State Park’s 3.5-mile paved trail starts in the campground, follows much of the lake’s east side and finishes near the Green Valley Lake dam. The trail connects with 3 miles of other paved trails south of the lake traveling through a wildlife management area, past Southwestern Community College and ending in the town of Creston. Other grass multi-purpose trails in Green Valley State Park also offer bikers a soft-trail experience.

Pine Lake State Park has 2.6 miles of beautiful paved bike trail connecting its cabins and campground to its beach and fishing accesses on the Upper and Lower Pine lakes. Bikers can add about 3 more miles to their ride by starting at Deer Park in the town of Eldora, crossing the Iowa River and heading north on the park’s bike trail to Hwy S56. The road will take riders to two Hardin County areas, where the bike trail picks up and goes through Tower Rock to Pine Ridge Park

Honey Creek State Park and Resort Guests at Honey Creek Resort, on Lake Rathbun, can choose from a variety of bike types to rent or bring their own to enjoy the surrounding beauty of the resort. The whole resort is bike-friendly. On the wooded peninsula across from the resort is Honey Creek State Park with miles of paved roads inviting cyclists to tour the 800-acre park and catch a glimpse of the wildlife it holds.

Discover new parks or experience your favorites in a new way. Whatever the case, celebrate them as great bicycling opportunities, on Bike Your Park Day, Sept. 24.

For more information about Iowa’s state parks visit www.iowadnr.gov/parks To find a nearby Bike Your Park ride, publicize your own ride for others to join, find a Bike Your Park ambassador for answers and suggestions.

MAXWELL, Iowa (AP) – The men and women who are growing what’s expected to be the biggest corn crop the United States has ever seen won’t benefit from the milestone. Prices are so low that for the third consecutive year, most corn farmers will spend more than they earn. It’s a similar story for soybean producers.

That’s left farmers across the country cutting costs, dipping into savings or going further into debt to make it through the year. Federal crop insurance and government payments will offer some help, and most farmers have an off-the-farm job or a spouse who supplements the family’s income.

But the drop in farm profits raises questions about agriculture’s boom-and-bust cycles and why people adhere to what at times is seemingly not a sustainable business model.

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is introducing legislation he says is designed to reform an economic development program which he describes as “out of control” with fraud and national security threats. The program, E-B-Five, was created in 1990 to prompt foreign investors into putting between 500-thousand and a million dollars into capital investment projects in rural America and in other job-starved areas.

Grassley says, “Many of the investments are going to projects in ritzy, well-to-do neighborhoods like those in Manhattan and Miami, instead of rural America and communities that need to boost employment and need help the most.”The program offers “green cards” to the foreign investors but over the decades, Grassley says significant problems have developed with the well-intended effort.

“The government has little ability to detect or prevent fraud,” Grassley says. “We don’t always know where the money for these projects is coming from and the government isn’t doing a good job of vetting the immigrant investors.” Grassley chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and says the E-B-Five program will expire at the end of this month and Congress has to decide whether to pass legislation to continue it or let it vanish.

Grassley says, “I introduced a bill with Senator Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on the committee I chair, to put rural America and economically-distressed neighborhoods back on an equal footing with wealthy, urban neighborhoods when competing for investors.”

The legislation would also improve oversight and accountability, according to Grassley, while reducing scams and addressing national security concerns.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with Atlantic Specialty Care, in Atlantic (1300 E. 19th St.), report the care facility has received a “Deficiency Free” result on its annual survey in September by the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals. Administrator Kellie Jimerson says that makes two years in a row for the deficiency free designation.

Jimerson says the past year has been one of many honors for Atlantic Specialty Care. In the fall of 2015, Atlantic Specialty Care was honored by the American Health Care Association with its Silver National Quality Award. Iowa Governor Terry Branstad will be in Atlantic on Sept. 23rd, to award Atlantic Specialty Care with the “2016 Governor’s Award for Quality Care in Health Care Facilities.” The event begins at 10:30-a.m.

The annual survey, which is conducted over several days, covers over 500 quality, safety and performance issues such as medication management, proper skin care, assessment of resident’s needs, respect for residents rights and dignity, food service, environment and administration. The complete evaluation includes a tour of the facility, review of residents’ clinical records, and interviews with residents and family members about life and the care they are receiving.

With the increase in regulations, achieving the distinction of a “deficiency-free” survey is very prestigious. It means Atlantic Specialty meets or exceeds all state and federal standards.

Jimserson says “Our entire facility, including residents, staff, families and volunteers work together as a team to make Atlantic Specialty Care a safe and comfortable living community. Our goal is to help people with life’s health transitions and we think we do a great job of that.”

Atlantic Specialty Care is a 90-bed skilled nursing facility offering outpatient rehabilitation services, skilled nursing care, long term care and hospice care. Atlantic Specialty Care is owned and operated by West Des Moines-based Care Initiatives, Iowa’s largest not-for-profit post-acute and senior care provider. Care Initiatives and Care Initiatives Hospice operate 55 skilled nursing, rehabilitation, Alzheimer’s/dementia, assisted living and hospice locations throughout Iowa.

For more information about Care Initiatives or Atlantic Specialty Care, visit careinitiatives.org or call 712-243-3952.

CLARINDA—The Iowa Department for the Blind (IDB) will collaborate with accessible technology vendors and local service providers at an event designed to reach out to Iowans who are experiencing vision loss and blindness. The Clarinda Vision Loss Resource Fair will be held on Thursday, September 22 from Noon until 2:00 p.m. at the Lied Public Library, 100 East Garfield St., in Clarinda.

Area residents will have the opportunity to learn how to perform tasks that have become frustrating or challenging because of vision loss and about the many ways the visually impaired maintain their independence. Attendees will also be able to ask questions of IDB staff and other service providers and see demonstrations of assistive technology devices in a friendly, low-pressure environment.

Information and items on display will include:

• Vocational rehabilitation services for retaining or seeking employment
• Tips on how to complete everyday tasks non-visually
• IDB’s Library service that provide large print, braille, and audio reading books by mail
• Resources to assist students with completing schoolwork
• Free newspaper reading services
• Computer screen readers, CCTV’s, and text-to-speech technology
• Aids and devices for everyday activities – talking clocks, magnifiers, and more.

The resource fair is part of an ongoing effort by the Iowa Department for the Blind to meet with Iowans in their communities to inform them and their families about the variety of services available. Officials say it’ss an excellent opportunity to learn about options and alternate techniques for performing everyday tasks that may not be immediately obvious when dealing with vision loss.

Demonstrations of devices and simple aids that can assist with those tasks, information about local transportation services, representatives from area service providers are just some of the exhibits that will be featured. The vision loss resource fair is not only for those persons experiencing vision loss. Family members, friends, service providers, and any interested area residents are encouraged to attend, too. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information about this event or the Iowa Department for the Blind, contact Rick Dressler, (515) 281-1314, rick.dressler@blind.state.ia.us.

No injuries were reported but one person was cited, following a collision Monday evening in Union County. The Sheriff’s Office reports 42-year old Travis Boyce, of Osceola, was traveling south in the 1700 block of Highway 169 at around 4:30-p.m., when he fell asleep at the wheel of a 2004 Ford F-150 pickup. The vehicle crossed the center line of the road and collided with a northbound 2007 International truck driven by 23-year old Andrew Stalcup, of Mt. Ayr.

Damage to the straight truck, registered to the Farmers Co-Op of Afton, was estimated at $15,000, while the pickup sustained $10,000 damage. Authorities cited Boyce for Failure to Maintain Control.