(Harlan, Iowa) – A Special Meeting of the Shelby County Board of Supervisors will take place 9-a.m. Tuesday (April 11), in the Supervisor’s Board Room at the Courthouse in Harlan. On their agenda is “Consideration of changing [the] effective date of the 28E Law Enforcement Agreement, to April 15, 2023.”

There will also be information with regard to a Secondary Roads Amendment, and related discussion.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors will hold their regular weekly meeting beginning at 9-a.m., Tuesday (April 11). The meeting is held in the Supervisor’s Board Room in the Cass County Courthouse. Here are the action and/or discussion items on their agenda:

1. Call to order
2. Approve Agenda
3. Approve minutes from the April 4, 2023 meeting
4. Public Comments
5. Declare April as Child Abuse Awareness month as encouraged by the Cass County Child Abuse Prevention Council
6. Proclamation of National Public Safety Telecommunications Week April 9 through 15, 2023
7. Update from Griswold housing development nonprofit organization on infrastructure and stormwater management projects and request for ARPA funds
8. Public Hearing on Proposed Maximum Property Tax Levy
9. Approve Resolution 2023-09 Setting Maximum Property Tax Dollars for Fiscal Year 2024
10. Set date of public hearing on proposed Fiscal Year 2024 budget for Tuesday, April 25, 2023
11. Discuss/Approve Resolution 2023-10 Amending Cass County’s Official Publication to Atlantic News Telegraph and use Anita Tribune and Griswold American as Information Sources for Constituents
12. Discuss/Approve Resolution 2023-11 to Support the Present Local Option Sales and Service Tax
13. Quarterly Report from Micah Lee, Cass County Conservation
14. Report from County Engineer, Trent Wolken
15. Appointments:
• Southwest Iowa Housing – Norma Hemphill

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors will meet in a regular session beginning at 8:30-a.m. Tuesday (April 11), in their Courthouse Meeting Room. Here’s a look at their agenda, under New Business:

a. Approve Engineer Contract
b. Approve Sheriff’s Report of Fees in the amount of $5,161.34 for the month of March
a. Approve Recorder’s Report of Fees in the amount of $21,550.34 for the month of March
b. Approve claims payable for Wednesday, April 12, 2023
c. Approve Amendment to Class F Retail Alcohol License (LF) License # LF0000308 for the Red Oak Country Club
d. Approve Agreement for Assignment of Montgomery County Tax Sale Certificate No. 2021-00279 parcel 641227251014000 to Apple Grove Investments, Inc

*Please note, this is a public meeting; however, it may be conducted via ZOOM
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(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop at around 1:30 this (Monday) morning, south of Red Oak, resulted in a woman’s arrest on a drug charge. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 29-year-old Ashley Nicole King, of Red Oak, was arrested for Possession of Methamphetamine/1st offense – a serious misdemeanor. King was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – The D-N-R expert who keeps tabs of waterflow levels in the state says March was dry, but overall we are heading into spring in good shape. Tim Hall says snow and rain have help cut down some dry areas. “It sets us in a much better position than we thought we might be coming out of last fall. Typically, we don’t see a lot of moisture in the wintertime, but we had a lot of moisture in December, January, February,” he says. “We were a little bit short for March, but it doesn’t put us in too bad of shape going into the growing season.”

Iowa’s new Drought Plan lists the state in a “Drought Watch,” which Hall says is a signal to keep a close eye on what’s happening.  “And what that really means is could have a wet April and the watch could go away and we could go back to normal,” Hall says. “We can have a dry April, and then we’d have to look at what would happen to those conditions. So it kind of puts us on the edge.” He says there are still some dry areas in the state, but things are much better thanks to those wetter months. “And what we have to watch carefully is the supply side of water. And hopefully, if we get normal to just slightly above normal rainfall in April, I think we’ll be okay,” he says. But if March was the start of a string of dry months, then we could be in a more challenging situation.”

Hall says the improvement is not a signal we have enough water not to worry about it. “There’s a difference between being smart about how we use water and sort of these extreme conservation measures. And as we’re into normal conditions across much of the state –that’s not a that’s not a call to start wasting water,” Hall says. “Be careful with what you do. And, and, you know, certainly people like their green lawns, but let’s just not get carried away. Fix your faucets that leak, fix your toilets that leak, you know, those are just generally responsible things to do with water.”

He says we should try to not waster water whether we are in a drought situation, or have normal levels.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans have seen several unseasonable snowstorms this spring, but none of them compare to what’s known as the Blizzard of ’73. It was 50 years ago on Sunday that a monster winter weather system blasted into Iowa. The storm hit on a Monday, April 9th, 1973. Meteorologist Craig Cogil, at the National Weather Service, says the powerful winds whipped up massive drifts that were so deep, they completely covered houses.  “Quite a massive storm that moved across the state, burying many locations across Iowa with a foot or more of snowfall,” Cogil says. “A few locations had the most snow ever, including Dubuque that had almost 20 inches of snow at 19.2.”

School was cancelled for several days in districts practically statewide. Many stores were closed and traffic was at a standstill due to the high drifts. State highways were littered with hundreds of stranded cars. “Around the Des Moines area, a foot of snow was pretty common and heading down to the southwest,” Cogil says. “There were even some drifts that got up to 15 feet, so for April, just an outstanding snowstorm for that time of year.” Cogil says the snow persisted for several days, but disappeared by the end of the week.

“It warms up this time of year pretty quickly, so the snow didn’t stick around too much, but unfortunately, when it was here, it sure caused a mess, shutting down a lot of highways,” Cogil says. “We had reports of at least seven people dying from heart attacks primarily from scooping the snow.” The Friday before the storm, temperatures were in the 70s, as golfers took advantage of the courses in the Des Moines area. The day of the storm, the high only made it to 29. Two weeks after the storm, temperatures returned to the 70s.

(Adair County, Iowa) – A collision between two vehicles Sunday afternoon in southeastern Adair County reportedly resulted in injuries to four people. The crash happened at around 3:30-p.m., at the intersection of 330th Street and Henry A. Wallace Road, northeast of Orient. Two paramedic units were initially requested to transport the injured, but the second was cancelled.

No other details are currently available.

(Radio Iowa) – A new initiative will be launched in eastern Iowa next month, to try to keep Iowans with severe mental illnesses out of county jails and state prisons. Leslie Carpenter, co-founder of Iowa Mental Health Advocacy, is leading the pilot project. “In Johnson County we are developing the state’s first civil mental health court,” she says, “that will run in conjunction with a program called assisted outpatient treatment.”

The nine counties in the East Central Mental Health Region are providing funding for the project over the next two years. Doctors will refer patients to the program as they’re being released from the hospital after intensive mental health treatment. Carpenter says it will be for people who repeatedly stop taking medication for chronic mental illnesses.

“Mental illnesses, some of them like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder — schizoaffective disorders, cause changes in the brain to make them unaware of their own mental illness and that’s why they repeatedly stop treatment,” Carpenter says. National data shows people with severe or chronic mental illnesses are four times more likely to be arrested than other adults. People in the new Johnson County program will have regular meetings with mental health professionals AND with a judge or probation officer to discuss their medications and whether they’re experiencing side effects. Carpenter says it’s patterned after a New York program that’s been shown to reduce future arrests.

“When they’re taking their medications and engaged in treatment, they’re able to stay out of the hospital and in some cases stay out of jail and more successfully manage their lives,” Carpenter says, “go to school, have jobs, have families.” In New York, a state law allows courts to issue orders for “assisted outpatient mental health treatment” for appointments with medical professional as well as someone from the court system.

(Harrison County, Iowa) – Three people were injured Sunday afternoon, during a collision southeast of Missouri Valley. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2004 Pontiac driven by 62-year-old Steven Geerdes, of Missouri Valley, was northbound on 335th Street at around 3:10-p.m., when the car crossed the center line at the intersection of Mound Trail. The car struck a 1966 Chevy head-on in the southbound lane of 335th.

The driver of the Chevy, 64-year-old Thomas Janecek, and his passenger, 61-year-old Angela Janecek, both of Omaha, suffered critical injuries and were flown by helicopter to the Nebraska Medical Center. Steve Geerdes was taken by Missouri Valley Rescue to Bergan Mercy Hospital, for treatment of serious injuries.

The Patrol says charges against Steve Geerdes are pending the results of chemical testing.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Red Oak Police, Sunday, arrested a man wanted on a Montgomery County warrant for Simple Assault. 22-year-old Noah Donald Groves, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 12:53-p.m. in the 1800 block of E. Summit Street. Groves was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 cash bond.