DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa utilities regulators have approved a permit for 346 miles of crude oil pipeline to be built under Iowa farmland. Over the objection of thousands of Iowa residents, the Iowa Utilities Board voted unanimously Thursday to let Texas-based company Dakota Access begin the so-called Bakken pipeline project. The board also will allow Dakota Access the ability to force hundreds of unwilling landowners into easements using eminent domain laws. That is expected to bring lawsuits.

The $3.78 billion pipeline will carry about a half-million barrels of oil per day from North Dakota to Illinois. Iowa was the only state that had not yet approved a permit for the project, which will stretch across 18 Iowa counties and 1,300 parcels of land. The project drew 3,700 letters of protest.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Farm and construction equipment manufacturer Deere & Co. says it will lay off about 125 workers at two Iowa factories. The Moline, Illinois-based company announced Thursday that about 75 workers would lose their jobs at Deere’s factory in Dubuque and 50 would be out of from their jobs in Ankeny.

The Dubuque layoffs are effective April 29 and the Ankeny cuts are effective April 15. Deere says it bases its manufacturing workforce based on market demand. The latest cuts follow an announcement by Deere last month that it would cut 100 manufacturing jobs in Davenport and Dubuque.

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers announced today (Thursday), that the Clarinda Police Department has officially switched to an auto-attendant telephone system. The change went into effect at 1-p.m. (Thursday). Brother says it was necessitated by the City of Clarinda’s 911 Dispatch Center closure and all operations being turned over to Page County.

Brothers says “We appreciate your cooperation as we switch to this new system. It is very user friendly and state of the art. If you have any questions or concerns about the system, feel free to contact [him].”

A man walking along Highway 25 in Adams County Wednesday afternoon, ended-up being arrested on a drug charge. The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports 32-year old Kyle Eugene Gile, of Lenox, was arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Gile was being held on $300 bond in the Adams County Jail.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A proposal to pay for water quality initiatives in Iowa and a bill that would expand access to medical marijuana are among several measures in the Iowa Legislature expected to survive a deadline for bills to advance this session.

The “second funnel” deadline Friday meant an uncertain future for state oversight of Medicaid privatization and unregulated boarding schools, though Democratic leaders vowed to revive those measures by adding them to a budget bill. Some lawmakers have been skeptical of Gov. Terry Branstad’s plan to pay for water quality initiatives through a 1-cent sales tax for school infrastructure. Branstad says it will create new funding for both issues.

The Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-majority Senate also announced a compromise Thursday on tax measures, but they remain apart on K-12 education spending.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Leaders of the Iowa Legislature say they’ve agreed on some budget issues for the upcoming fiscal year involving tax credit measures. Leaders for the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-majority Senate announced the development Thursday through the introduction of legislation. The bill includes a retroactive tax measure that would cut $95 million in state revenue from the current fiscal year but provide a tax break for some Iowa residents and businesses. House leaders have criticized Democratic lawmakers for weeks for not initially supporting the measure, known as tax coupling.

The measure also details a manufacturing tax exemption that is expected to cut revenue for the fiscal year that begins in July. Additional information wasn’t immediately available. Lawmakers didn’t explain how they would cover the revenue reductions.

An incident involving an armed man and authorities in Crawford County Wednesday evening resulted in the subject involved in a stand-off being shot. The unidentified man suffered what were described as non-life threatening injures, and was flown by helicopter to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, in Omaha.

According to reports, the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a concerned citizen requesting a welfare check on a male subject residing at the Schleswig Manor Apartments, in Schleswig. Deputies arrived at the apartment complex at around 6:20-p.m. and approached the apartment. A man inside the building pointed a long gun at the deputies and allegedly threatened to shoot them if they didn’t back away.

Deputies evacuated other residents of the apartment complex as a precaution. As a standoff with the suspect was underway, negotiators from the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa State Patrol tried to communicate with the subject and resolve the incident peacefully, but at around 11:45- p.m. (Nearly 4 1/2 hours after the stand-off began), the subject opened a door and pointed the long gun in the direction of officers before firing a single round.

A Crawford County deputy returned the fire, striking the man. The incident remains currently under investigation by the Crawford County Attorney’s Office , the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s Division of Criminal Investigation. The name of the man who was shot was being withheld, pending notification of family members.

The Cass County Health System (CCHS) is offering low-cost community blood screenings for people ages 18 and over in late March and early April in Atlantic, Anita, Griswold, and Massena. Mitch Whiley, CCMH Laboratory Director, says “Regular blood screenings are a valuable tool in the early detection and treatment of many chronic diseases.”

The screenings schedule is as follows:

CCMH Conference Room 6, Atlantic, 7 – 9 am
• Wednesday, March 30
• Thursday, March 31
• Friday, April 1
• Saturday, April 2
• Wednesday, April 6
• Thursday, April 7
• Friday, April 8
• Saturday, April 9

Anita Medical Center, 7 – 9 am
• April 11

Griswold Medical Center, 7 – 8 am
• April 12

Massena Medical Center, 7 – 8 am
• April 13

Appointments can be made by calling 712-250-8091. The cost for the blood profile is $35, and it includes the following: Lipid Panel (total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, LDL), Glucose, Complete Blood Count (CBC), Liver Function, Kidney Function, and Thyroid Screening. With the $35 blood profile, you can also add these screenings for an additional fee:
• A1c: $12
• PSA: $20
• Vitamin D: $30
Participants should fast overnight before their appointment, although a small amount of water or black coffee the morning of the blood draw is fine.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Officials with the Fremont County Sheriff’s office report that on Wednesday, Southwest Iowa Home Health Services (a Department of the George C. Grape Community Hospital and home of the Fremont County Public Health Department) presented Sheriff Kevin Aistrope with five brand new Automated External Defibrillator (AED) systems.

Jamie Behrends, RN, is the Director of Home and Community Based Services/Disaster Coordinator for SW IA Home Health. She said in a statement, that they learned there are a total of eight vehicles utilized by the Sheriff’s department. All of the deputies are deemed first responders and are CPR certified. Behrends says they were “A bit surprised to learn that not a single [Sheriff’s Department] vehicle is equipped with an Automated External Defibrillator.” She added, that “According to the CDC,less than 8% of people who experience a heart attack while outside of the hospital survive.”

Armed with that information, Behrends said they began the process of obtaining quotes and approval from both state emergency preparedness grant contacts as well from the other members of the Corner 3 Coalition (C3C) [which consists of public health departments and hospitals from Fremont, Page, and Montgomery counties], and used grant funds from both their own allotment as well as from the C3C pot of funds to cover the cost of new AED’s. Behrends said “Our hope is that this gift will reach many and assist our deputies in providing the best possible initial care to those in need.”

Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope said “The Sheriff’s Office couldn’t be more grateful for this donation, since the Deputies are first responders and will help the Deputies better serve the people of Fremont County. “