(Atlantic, Iowa) – Following a public hearing (during which there were no comments), the Cass County Board of Supervisors Tuesday (Today), approved an application for a Zoning Change by LANDUS Cooperative, from General Agricultural District to Heavy Industrial, for their property in the Pymosa Township, as previously approved by the Cass County Zoning Commission.

LANDUS purchased the former Wickman Chemical site northeast of Atlantic just west of Highway 71, last August. The sale was final in October. LANDUS plans to move their facility the Wickman site, which will include a 72,000-gallon anhydrous ammonia tank.

Erich Wickman, who formerly owned Wickman Chemical along with his wife Tammy, spoke at the meeting about the change, and benefits of having LANDUS’ operations on the site.

Cass County BOS mtg, 12-3-24

He said it’ll be good for Cass County by keeping those employees who are already here, and adding those employees coming in from other LANDUS locations. “Mainly, from a safety standpoint, it’s really good,” Wickman said. Cass County Zoning Commissioner Mike Kennon explained what the next steps are in the process.

In other business, the Cass County Supervisors passed a resolution amending the Secondary Roads Five-Year Program by moving a bridge project from 2027 to 2025, as the result of a funding change from Highway Bridge Program (HBP) to Farm-to-Market (FM). The new bridge – southwest of Massena – will be 30-feet wide instead of the current 16-feet wide.

They also approved the hiring of an Equipment Operator 1 position for the Anita District (Secondary Roads Dept.). Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken said there were seven applicants for the position and five interviews. The person selected has previous experience in a similar position with the Iowa DOT. Wolken said they are expected to start in about two-weeks.

The Cass County Supervisors passed the Second Reading of an ordinance “Imposing a Local Option Surtax for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) at a rate of One-percent on the State Individual Income Tax for 15-years” (in accordance with the Iowa Code), following the measure’s approval by voters in the General Election on November 5th, 2024.

They acknowledged the receipt of the EMS Advisory Council Annual Recommendation of an EMS Levy, as required by Iowa law. Public input on the matter will be allowed during the Supervisor’s meeting on Dec. 17th. And, the Board approved the hiring of a Treasurer’s Office Assistant, effective Dec. 2^nd, 2024.

DES MOINES—Secretary of State Paul Pate and Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird today announced a lawsuit against Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), demanding that the Biden-Harris Administration hand over information about known noncitizens on Iowa’s voter rolls.

The Biden-Harris Administration’s USCIS has refused the State’s repeated requests for information on the hundreds of noncitizens confirmed on Iowa’s voter rolls. USCIS’s failure meant that the State had to rely on the best—imperfect—data it had available to ensure that no Iowan’s vote was canceled by an illegal, noncitizen vote. The State was then sued, due to the Biden-Harris Administration’s failure, right before election day. Senators Grassley and Ernst also called for the election integrity data that the federal government continues to withhold from Iowans.

“I am suing for the Biden-Harris Administration to finally release the election integrity data that it has been hiding from Iowa,” said Attorney General Bird. “The Biden-Harris Administration knows who the hundreds of noncitizens are on our voter rolls and has repeatedly refused to tell us who they are. But the law is clear: voters must be American citizens. Together, with the Secretary of State, we will fight to maintain safe and secure elections that Iowans can count on.”

The lawsuit demands that the Biden-Harris Administration follow the law and give Iowa access to data on identified non-citizens on the State’s voter rolls.

“The role of Iowa Secretary of State requires balance between participation and integrity. We have identified solutions that will allow us to verify voter eligibility at registration – not at the time of voting,” said Secretary Pate. “The combination of access to the SAVE list, citizenship verification already completed by USCIS, and the ability to verify using social security numbers will not only make processes more efficient but will also provide another important tool in our toolbox to safeguard our elections process.”

Read the full lawsuit here.

(Radio Iowa) – People with hidden disabilities like autism, Crohn’s disease, diabetes or Alzheimer’s can now receive extra support at the Des Moines International Airport by wearing a sunflower lanyard or pin. The sunflower symbol is intended to subtly let staff know that an adult or child requires extra time due to a hidden disability. Airport executive director Kevin Foley says staff who interact with passengers at check-in counters, T-S-A and in restaurants have been trained on the program. “Even an individual with no disability that doesn’t travel frequently, oftentimes can need additional understanding,” Foley says, “so this just identifies those who we should be giving additional patience to.”

People can pick up lanyards or pins for free at places like Broadlawns Medical Center, ChildServe and the Alzheimer’s Association. People do not need to show proof of a diagnosis in order to receive a lanyard or pin. Foley says no changes were made to services the airport offers but the sunflower is meant to subtly notify staff. He says, “It just identifies them, not secretly but kind of covertly that, ‘Hey, I need some additional patience, some additional understanding,’ to help them get through this process.”

Hidden Disabilities Sunflower image

The airport is just the second place in Iowa to join the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Program and is one of more than 280 airports across the world taking part.

(Creston, Iowa) –  The Creston Police Department reports the arrest last Friday, of 28-year-old Joshua Daniel Mahoney, from Creston. Mahoney was arrested at the Greater Regional Hospital in Creston, under the authority of Des Moines Police Department warrant charging him with Domestic Abuse Assault causing bodily injury/mental illness (A Serious Misdemeanor) and Obstruction of Emergency Communications. Mahoney was taken to the Union County Jail and later transported to the Polk County Jail, where he was being held without bond.

Joshua Daniel Mahoney (Polk County Jail photo)

The Creston Police Department says also, a woman reported Monday an incident of burglary. A person or persons unknown damaged a door and door jamb at her residence in the 900 block of N. Sumner Street. The damage was estimated at $200.

(Harlan, Iowa) – Officials with the CDS Global, Incorporated – a subscription fulfillment company based in Des Moines –  have announced 94 employees at their location in Harlan will be losing their jobs in early 2025. The Iowa WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) website shows the job losses will take effect February 3rd, 2025. The company’s decision to close their Harlan facility was announced Nov. 26th, according to WARN.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Department of Education have announced an investment of over $3.5 million to provide first graders with books at home. According to a press release, every first-grade student will be provided with decodable book packs to take home and keep, reinforcing classroom instructions to support reading development at home. The decodable books are written for beginning readers and use simple words to help students connect letters and sounds. The books are sequential in nature and will progressively introduce more complex skills.

Kindergarten through second-grade students in need of support who attended a department-funded high-quality summer reading program or a Learning Beyond the Bell out-of-school program this year will also receive decodable book packs to further advance their reading gains. The book packs are customizable and available at multiple reading levels so students can practice reading outside the classroom, according to the release. Each decodable book includes a QR code with access to video lessons for active family engagement.

In total, more than 100,000 book packs will be sent to all public and accredited nonpublic schools across the state this winter. Schools and families do not need to apply as books will be sent directly to them.

For more information on literacy instruction in Iowa visit the Department’s Literacy Instruction webpage and for more information on the Just Right Reader, click here.

(Radio Iowa) – A survey finds Iowa’s economy further slumped during November following a “weak” showing in October, with little optimism for improvement. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says the monthly survey of business leaders and supply managers in Iowa and eight other Midwestern states found the state and regional economies sputtering. Goss says they were asked about the biggest challenges to business and manufacturing in the months ahead.

“Supply chain disruptions, by far, was the largest challenge that the manufacturers see going forward with 38.7% indicating that that was likely to be the greatest threat to their business,” Goss says. “Higher inflation was number two at 27.8%.” Other predicted challenges on the list include labor shortages and cyber threats. Goss says the leaders of many Midwestern manufacturing businesses are concerned about next month’s potential longshoremen’s strike for the 17 ports on the East and Gulf coasts.

Ernie Goss (Creighton University photo)

“And of course, with President Trump’s call for tariffs, that scares manufacturers and scares agricultural interests, and that’s a big concern,” Goss says. “That’s what this part of the country depends upon, and that’s a big issue going forward.” The report grades the economy on a zero-to-100 scale with a score of 50 being “growth neutral.” For the sixth time this year, the overall score fell below growth neutral during November, and for a second straight month, the wholesale price inflation gauge rose. Goss says hiring was also stagnant during the month.

“When you look at the overall reading for manufacturing this year alone, down about 90,000 jobs,” Goss says. “That’s about seven-tenths of 1%. The U.S. economy has lost jobs, manufacturing jobs, six of the last 10 months. The region’s only down slightly, 2,000 jobs or about two-tenths of 1% but the region’s lost jobs in four of the last five months.” The survey finds the Midwest’s employment index slumped below growth neutral for an 11th straight month during November. According to the latest U.S. International Trade Administration data, Goss says Iowa’s manufacturing sector experienced a $1.1 billion drop in 2024 year-to-date exports, compared to the same period in 2023, for an 8.5% decline.

The Iowa State Board of Canvass certified results from the 2024 general election Monday, finalizing results in races across the state. The Iowa Capital Dispatch says the board, consisting of Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate,  Gov. Kim Reynolds, Treasurer Roby Smith, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig and Auditor Rob Sand, met virtually Monday. For all results outside of the presidential election, the board’s certification is the final step to make results from the Nov. 5 contests official as county boards of supervisors certified election results and the requested recounts in the weeks following the election.

Iowa’s six electors will meet Dec. 17 at the Iowa State Capitol to cast their votes for President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, and results from the presidential race will be certified by Congress Jan. 6, 2025.

Pate told reporters Monday that 74.1% of registered Iowa voters cast their ballots in the 2024 election — a total of 1,674,011 ballots cast. This turnout was roughly in line with previous presidential election cycles, he said, but noted that there was a change in party absentee and early voting participation in 2024 compared to previous years.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate spoke with reporters in his office at the Iowa State Capitol Dec. 2, 2024 after he met virtually with other members of the Iowa State Board of Canvass to certify the results of the 2024 general election. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

According to Pate, a total of 268,629 registered Republicans voted early this year, more than the 257,634 Democrats who voted early. While Democrats historically have an edge in early and absentee voting, Pate said part of the shift to higher GOP participation this year was part of a deliberate push by GOP leadership to encourage voting prior to Election Day.

Pate called the high participation on and before Election Day “very impressive and significant,” thanking county auditors, election workers and volunteers for their work. He also thanked state lawmakers for recent changes to election law that helped make recount processes run more smoothly than previous years.

The recount process in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, where U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks won by 798 votes against Democrat Christina Bohannan, was conducted more quickly than previous recounts in the 1st Congressional District, he said. He said that was due in part to changes to Iowa Code and because of new guidance issued by his office calling for county auditors to avoid “hybrid” recounts, and either recount ballots either fully by hand or by tabulator machine.

The secretary of state said he plans to make requests to the state Legislature in 2025 that would require counties follow a uniform process, which Pate said would further speed up results. Additionally, Pate said he is in talks with lawmakers to take action on non-citizen voting in the upcoming legislative session. Pate’s guidance to county auditors in late October to challenge the ballots of more than 2,000 Iowans listed as potential non-citizens was upheld by a federal judge days before the general election.

Groups including the ACLU and the League of United Latin American Citizens said the measure intimidated immigrants who were legally able to participate in elections as naturalized citizens. But Pate argued that the measure was necessary because the federal U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office would not share access to the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database for the Iowa Secretary of State’s office to confirm the citizenship status of the individuals listed. The 2,000 people identified as potential noncitizens were people who identified themselves to the Iowa Department of Transportation or other government entities as noncitizens in the past 12 years, who later registered to vote or voted.

(Iowa Capital Dispatch) –  For the second time in two years, a Pottawattamie County nurse is facing disciplinary charges and is accused of prescribing or dispensing drugs in an unsafe manner. According to the Iowa Capital Dispatch, the Iowa Board of Nursing alleges advanced registered nurse practitioner James D. Dickerson of Neola is guilty of professional incompetence for a willful or repeated failure to practice within the scope his license or ability; professional incompetence for failure to meet the telehealth standards defined by Iowa law; behavior that constitutes unethical conduct or practicing in a manner that’s harmful to the public; and behavior that constitutes unethical conduct related to prescribing or dispensing drugs.

According to the board, Dickerson is certified as a family nurse practitioner who has practiced in Omaha, Nebraska, and provided telehealth services in Iowa during the period in which he allegedly violated state regulations.

As is customary with Iowa’s licensing boards, the Board of Nursing has not publicly disclosed when the alleged violations occurred, where they took place, or whether any patients were harmed. Some of that information may be publicly disclosed after the case is resolved through a settlement or board order. A hearing in the matter is scheduled for Jan. 16, 2025.

In 2021, the Board of Nursing charged Dickerson with performing services beyond his scope of practice and prescribing or dispensing drugs to people who either weren’t patients or were outside his area of specialty. In 2022, the board resolved that case by ordering Dickerson to immediately stop providing any treatment to patients with a complex mental health diagnosis until he received certification as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. The board also fined Dickerson $1,000 and ordered him to undergo five hours of consultation with a nurse practitioner.

Other Iowa nurses recently charged by the board with wrongdoing include:

— Dawn O’Neil, a registered nurse was charged with failing to document patients’ status and misappropriating patient medications. The board has not disclosed where O’Neil lives, where the alleged violations took place, or when they occurred. The board has, however, agreed to settle the case by ordering O’Neil to participate in the Iowa Nursing Assistance Program, which assist nurses with substance abuse issues.

— Linda Jay of Clarinda, a licensed practical nurse who was charged in July with failing to assess or evaluate the status of a patient and committing an act that might adversely affect a patient. According to the board, the violations occurred when Jay was working at an unspecified long-term care facility in November 2023 and a resident under her care experienced a change in condition that she failed to report to a physician.

In February of this year, she allegedly failed to properly document a patient’s condition and, 10 days later, she allegedly administered medication to a resident “outside of the notified blood pressure parameters.” Jay agreed to settle the case by paying a $300 civil penalty and completing 30 hours of educational training.

— Brandy Wicks, a registered nurse who is charged with misappropriating or attempting to misappropriate medications; failing to properly document or perform the disposal of medications; and failing to properly secure medications. The violations are alleged to have taken place when Wicks was working in an acute care hospital. The board has not disclosed where Wicks lives or when the alleged violations took place. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Jan. 17, 2025.

— Cassie Forde of Mechanicsville, a licensed practical nurse who is charged with misappropriating medications or supplies belonging to a patient or clinic; failing to properly document or perform the disposal of medications; performing nursing services beyond the authorized scope of practice; falsifying records related to nursing practice; and committing an act that might adversely affect the welfare of a patient. No other details in the case have been made public. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Jan. 15, 2025.