(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports 30-year-old Daevon Deshone Sanchez, of Omaha, was arrested Sunday night at the Douglas County, NE, Sheriff’s Office. Sanchez was arrested on a Mills County warrant for Failure to Appear (FTA). His bond was set at $2,000.

And, Michael Allen Wiggins, of Omaha, was arrested Monday night following a traffic stop on Interstate 29 in Mills County. Wiggins was charged with OWI/2nd offense, with bond set at $2,000.

(Radio Iowa) – A state legislator has won the slot to challenge the mayor of Iowa’s third largest city in November’s election. Just over four-thousand votes were cast in yesterday’s (Tuesday’s) primary for Davenport mayor. There were four candidates. Incumbent Mike Matson, who’s seeking a second term, got about 44 percent of the vote. His General Election challenger is Ken Croken, a former Scott County Supervisor who was elected to the Iowa House last year. Croken got about 35-and-a-half percent of the votes in the primary.

Croken is a lawyer who worked for the Genesis Health Care System in the Quad Cities. Matson, the current Davenport mayor, is an Army veteran who served on Davenport’s city council before being elected mayor in 2018. There were primary elections for city council races in Davenport and five other Iowa cities yesterday (Tuesday).

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors, today (Wednesday), acted on approving Homestead & Military Disallowances, a Child Abuse Prevention Grant draw-down in the amount of $1,874.68, and to begin the process of hiring of a Sheriff’s Department employee to replace an employee who resigned. Adair County Auditor Mandy Berg read a letter to the Board from Sheriff Jeff Vandewater who was unable to appear in-person, due to a prior commitment.

The Board also received an annual report from Weed Commissioner Nathan Jensen. He said overall, he had a pretty good year.

The Board approved the report as presented. Adair County Engineer Nick Kauffman reported on the Safety Program that was held Monday. He wasn’t too impressed by employee participation among the county’s staff.

The Board discussed options for making attendance mandatory. Supervisor John Twombly.

Kauffman also reported on Secondary Roads Dept. maintenance and activities. He provided the Board with updated photos on bridge and box culvert projects. One of the bridge projects involves beams being delivered and set on the Sec. 32 Washington bridge.

Sec. 32 Washington bridge (Screen capture from Adair Co. Engineer’s Office Facebook page)

Each beam is cast in a factory and reinforced with pre-tensioned steel wires to provide strength against tension forces experienced during loading. After the beams are set they will be bolted together with steel diaphragms and the crew will begin decking the bridge. He said also, his department is advertising for two positions within the Secondary Roads.

And, Environmental Health Director Jotham Arber presented his quarterly departmental update to the Supervisors. He said there is about a two-week wait on percolation tests right now. They’ve also been busy testing water.

He said also they started septic system drawings, beginning with Beacon, in Cass County.

The State of Iowa, he said, is backed-up two-years on grants for septic systems, but there may be additional monies coming down the pike from leftover ARPA funds, and, there are other options. Arber said also, they’ve developed a new septic system manual.

He says they’re printing 1,000 copies of the manual which should answer many new or existing homeowner questions about septic systems, inspections and repairs.

(Radio Iowa) – The prolonged drought is causing a critical water shortage in the southwest Iowa town of Shenandoah, where the city council voted last (Tuesday) night to enact what it’s calling “stage three water rationing.” It’s the first time in 23 years the city has gone to that level of rationing. Shenandoah Water Superintendent Tim Martin outlined the provisions, which includes restrictions for watering lawns. “There will be no hoses used to irrigate, except even houses would be Mondays, and odd houses would be Thursdays,” Martin says, “and the hours for the irrigation for those days for people would be 6 to 10 a.m. or 8 p.m. to midnight.”

The restrictions also include how residents can wash their cars. “Just use a bucket to wash your car at home,” he says. “Otherwise, you can go to the car wash. They’ll still be open. These restrictions don’t cover businesses like Earl May that rely on water for irrigating their plants, or car washes, themselves. So, you have to use a bucket to wash your car.”

Adding water to swimming pools or filling pools is also prohibited. Martin cites low water levels in the city’s wells as the reason for the city’s first stage three water conservation level since 2000. He says water levels are down 35-percent, based on a five-year average. “In a normal year, we could run three or four wells and get the amount of water we’re getting currently,” Martin says. “But, since water levels are low due to the river being low — and no rain — we have to run all of the wells together at a lower setting.”

Otherwise, the wells would draw the water down faster than it can be replenished and the pumps would shut off. Martin hopes residents use due diligence and abide by the water use restrictions. “I spoke to my engineer and he’s looked at the numbers. He thinks Shenandoah is fairly conservative residential-wise, roughly 110 gallons per day per person is pretty conservative,” Martin says. “So, I think people are pretty good with their water usage, as we speak.”

It’s unclear how long the restrictions will be in force. Forecasters are calling for widespread rain across much of Iowa both Thursday and Friday, with some areas expecting up to three inches.