(Radio Iowa) – A Fort Dodge woman has been sentenced to federal prison for a second time for selling meth. Thirty-five-year-old Amanda Johnson — formerly known as Amanda Adams — was convicted in 2020 of possessing and distributing meth. According to a news release from the U-S Attorney’s Office, she was on parole in 2023 when she helped distribute over 15-hundred grams of meth in the Fort Dodge area. In late 2023, she sold meth to undercover agent in Waterloo. This summer, she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute meth and has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.

A central Iowa woman has been sentenced to federal prison in connection with the death of a 16-year-old. Court records indicate 21-year-old Nevaeh Simone Botts of Des Moines sold pills containing fentanyl to a teenager who overdosed and died. According to a news release from the U-S Attorney’s Office, a search of her apartment found hundreds of fentanyl pills — and she sold fentanyl pills to an undercover police office three times.

(Lewis, Iowa) – Road conditions changed quickly this (Monday) morning from wet-to-icy, resulting in several accidents, including at least two on westbound Interstate 80, at one south of Lewis. Cass County Deputy Sheriff John Westering told KJAN News the accident happened around 7:24-a.m. on the curves at 580th Street and the Lewis Road, just south of Cold Springs Park.

The person transported was said to have been an 8-year-old female. Deputy Westering wasn’t sure whether she was transported from Cass Health to another facility. The driver of the 2015 Kia Sedona mini-van was identified as 30-year-old April Vanatta, of Atlantic. There were three children in the vehicle, in addition to Vanatta. Westering said he’s not sure, but she was probably taking the children to school. Most of the injuries appeared to have been minor, he said. Three of the accident victims refused treatment at the scene.

Deputy Westering said icy roads were the reason for that accident and several others in the area.

Other accidents were reported on westbound I-80 between Shelby and Minden, and near Stuart. He said of the accident near Lewis…

Westering said the curves on the Lewis Road are tricky to navigate when it’s dry, let alone icy. Griswold and Lewis Rescue along with Cass EMS responded to the scene.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A Public Hearing will be held Tuesday morning in Atlantic, with regard to the County EMS (Emergency Medical Service) Advisory Council’s recommendation of an EMS Levy (as required under the Code of Iowa), and later on action on approving the third-reading of an Ordinance imposing a Local Option Income Surtax for EMS at a a rate of One-percent on the State Individual Income Tax for 15-years (In accordance with the Code of Iowa). Both matters will take place as part of the Cass County Board of Supervisor’s meeting that begins at 9-a.m. in their Board Room at the Courthouse.

Other business on the Supervisor’s agenda includes the following:

Discuss repealing Urban Renewal Areas in Cass County with John Danos and Amy Bjork from Dorsey & Whitney LLP.

• • Cass County Cass-Audubon Border Econ Development Urban Renewal
  • Cass County Amazing Energy Urban Renewal

Monthly report by Jotham Arber, Executive Director of Cass/Guthrie County Environmental Health

Administer Oath of Office to the following:

John Westering, County Sheriff

Kathy Somers, County Auditor

Stephen Green, Supervisor, District 1

Bernard Pettinger, Supervisor, District 5

Steve Baier, Supervisor, District 4

Discuss/approve Cass County Wellness Program for January 1, 2025 – October 31, 2025

Discuss/approve the Cass County Health Insurance Rates policy designating participation and non-participation rates for January 1, 2026 – December 31, 2026 based on wellness plan participation in 2025.

Approve Class B Retail Alcohol License for Dollar General #20294 in Griswold, IA.

Discuss/Approve allocating the balance of ARPA funds designated to be used to purchase an ambulance for training new EMTs and Paramedics, strengthening the EMS system in Cass County.

Discuss/Approve plans to appropriate remaining ARPA funds.

Approve Resolution 2024-27 Setting Posted Weight Limits on Bridges that are Embargoed.

Approve Cass County Safety Action Plan in support of strategies outlined in Iowa’s Five-Year Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) 2024-2028 and the overall vision of Zero Fatalities on Iowa’s public roadways.

Report from Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken.

Discuss/approve courthouse hours for Christmas Eve.

Reports of Supervisors and Committees.

Filed Reports: Clerk of Court.

Approve claims.

Adjournment.

Next Regular Meeting: Thursday, January 2, 2025

(Lewis, Iowa) – Griswold Rescue & Cass EMS were dispatched this morning to the scene of a rollover accident at 580th St, & Lewis Road, south of Lewis. Dispatch reports said four subjects in the vehicle were unable to get out on their own. An 8-year-old female was complaining of back pain. (7:23-a.m.) The Lewis Road was said to be extremely icy.

(Creston, Iowa) –  The Creston Police Department reports two weekend arrests: At around 3-a.m. Saturday, 33-year-old Zackary Charles Huddleson, of Creston, was arrested near the Casey’s store on W. Taylor Street. Huddleson was charged with OWI/1st Offense, Urinating in Public, and Interference with Official Acts. He was taken to the Union County Jail and later posted a $1,600 bond before being released.

And, a little before 3-a.m. Sunday, 39-year-old John David Foster, of Creston, was arrested in the 400 block of S. Vine Street, for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana 1st offense. Foster was cited and released from the scene a promise to appear in court.

(Radio Iowa) – A first-in-the-state combination store and craft studio is now open in central Iowa that’s geared towards people with A-D-H-D. The Glitter Factory in Des Moines offers classes, crafts and activities like moss art, button making and beading at what are called “hyper fixation stations.” Store founder Britney Brown works as a neurodiversity consultant and says she’s constantly honing her techniques for making the place more neurodivergent-friendly.

“We shift, we find a new way, we figure out a new strategy, we figure out a new learning tool,” Brown says, “and that allows me to create a more accessible space in real time, which is different, but also very valuable.” Brown was diagnosed with autism and A-D-H-D as an adult and she says she saw the demand for a store like hers from the neurodivergent community online. “There was this meme that was floating around on the socials for the last year or so that’s like, best business idea ever: somebody take everybody’s ADHD craft hoards and turn them into a library,” Brown says, “and that’s almost exactly what I’ve done.”

The store also offers “Blind Date with a Hobby” sessions where people can sign up for a random craft that will be revealed to them in class. In addition, there’s a subscription service for $25 that will deliver a new craft to your home every month. The studio doubles as a sensory-friendly co-working space.

(Radio Iowa) – Today (November 16) is the 80th anniversary of the start of the “Battle of the Bulge, the last ditch effort by the Germans in World War Two that broke through American lines in 1945. The Iowa Goldstar Museum at Camp Dodge recently honored one of the Iowans in that battle. Museum board member Bob Holiday talked about First Lieutenant John Phillipps of Waterloo, who got involved in the battle while trying to get some rare rest in the village of Medell, Belgium. “He was woken up before daylight. Captain wants to see you. You take six men a mile east out of town, down the road, and you find a fire break on a hill. Go up that fire break to top the ridge and put a machine gun out, because the Germans are going to counter attack,” he says. Phillipps took his men to the area, but the Germans were already there.

“They opened up on the Americans, and there were five Americans killed instantly. If you go back in the back of our exhibit hall, back here towards the back, you’re going to find the shirt that John Phillipps had on that day he was hit five times by this German machine gun,” Holiday says. Phillipps and a sergeant survived, but the Germans wanted him because he was an officer. “One of these Germans spoke English, and he said, You’re coming with us. And John said, What about the sergeant? And the German who spoke English said, you’re going to bring him with you, or we’re going to shoot him right here. John said he drug this guy — now John’s been hit five times — and he drug this guy against a tree, gave him his canteen, and they went on,” Phillipps ended up in a prison camp, but never found out what happened to the sergeant.

Holiday met Phillipps through the museum and went looking for the sergeant in 2020. They found out he was Lawrence Lyon from Texas and had survived the war, but was now dead. Holiday was able to contact the man’s family in Texas so Phillipps could to talk to his kids before he died a few years ago. Phillipps’ daughter Sharon Monfredini says it took a long time before she found out about her dad’s heroic actions. “As a child, neither my sister or myself ever heard anything. Dad would not talk about it,” Monfredinisays. “And it wasn’t until we were much older, in fact, probably ten years before he passed away, that he started to share his story.” She says it was an amazing thing to learn about her dad. “It was just shocking that we didn’t know what he had gone through. It maybe explained some behavior,” she says, “if there was maybe some violence on T-V that was very hard for him to watch. He was a very quiet man, but internalized a lot. He was quite a thinker.”

Bob Holiday and Sharon Monfredini. (RI photo)

Monfredinisays her dad was so glad to be able find out the sergeant he saved made it through the war. “Oh, my goodness, it meant everything, because he had actually survived and gone on to have such a wonderful life, married with kids and was a professional, and he was just so thankful for that, but very sad that the two of them never reconnected,” Monfredini says. Phillipps went on to become a successful businessman after the war.

Governor Reynolds issued a proclamation recognizing the importance of the Battle of the Bulge in defeating the Germans and ending the war.

(Radio Iowa) – The University of Dubuque announced it will open a medical school after receiving a 50-million-dollar donation. The school announced Friday will be called the John and Alice Butler School of Osteopathic Medicine after the donors. Dubuque Mayor Brad Cavanagh said the influx of students will provide an economic boost to the city. “Not only will this initiative create a tremendous opportunity for workforce development for our already strong community of local healthcare providers, but the addition of more faculty and students to our increasingly vibrant downtown will be a true catalyst for the great momentum we’re already experiencing in our city” Cavanagh say.

The school plans to start accepting students in August of 2028. The University of Dubuque anticipates that the school will have 800 students in full enrollment. It will be Iowa’s first new medical school in 125 years.

(Red Oak, Iowa)  – The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest Sunday night, of 64-year-old Jill Renee Schmadeke, of Red Oak. She was arrested at around 10-p.m. on serious misdemeanor charges that include Possession of a Controlled Substance/1st offense, and OWI/1st offense. Schmadeke was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

(Iowa News Service story) – Livestock being raised with antibiotics is on the rise in Iowa, the nation’s number one hog producer. Doctors say the trend increases the risk of antibiotic-resistant infections for people who consume drug-treated meat.  Scientists have described drug-resistant infections as a growing crisis. The National Institutes of Health say the drugs are overused.  The Food Animal Concerns Trust’s Safe and Healthy Food Program Director and Senior Analyst, Steven Roach, said federal data show sales for antibiotics used in cattle and other animals is as high as it’s been in nearly a decade.

That’s especially important in Iowa. “In pigs in the U.S. – it’s up by 24%, and in cattle it’s up by 10%,” said Roach. “The chicken industry has continued to reduce their use, so it’s possible for the animal ag industry to make changes – but we haven’t seen that happen in cattle and pigs.” Data for 2024 show the use of antibiotics in chickens dropped by 50% over the last 7 years.

hog farming in iowa

In Iowa, livestock, including hogs, are mostly raised in large corporate confinements – which are known to pollute the air and nearby ground and surface water.  Confinement operators say they are trying to keep up with consumer demand for a high-quality, consistent source of meat. Roach said most of the meat available at grocery stores has been raised in confinements and treated with antibiotics.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates antibiotic-resistant infections kill at least 35,000 Americans every year. Roach said large-scale ag producers could help reduce that number by changing their philosophy of routinely using drugs in their operations. “We know we’re raising animals in unhealthy conditions,” said Roach, “so then we’re going to give them antibiotics independent of whether they’ve been diagnosed with an illness.”

Roach said meat in the grocery store that has been raised without antibiotics is identified as such on the packaging.