The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Wednesday morning, will hold the second of three scheduled public hearings on an Ordinance pertaining to the operation of All-terrain and Utility-terrain vehicles on county roads and trails. The hearing takes place at 8:35-a.m.

During last Wednesday’s Public Hearing on the proposed Ordinance, discussion lasted for about an hour, with the Board hearing from a room full of citizens who supported the Ordinance. There were some comments relayed to Supervisors Steve Green and Frank Waters, prior to the meeting, but those concerns were with regard to safety, especially during planting and harvest times, when large ag machinery will be on the roads. The fear is that the operators of those machines won’t see an ATV or UTV until it’s too late.

The Ordinance, as currently proposed, would not change the current Agricultural Exemption. It does NOT cover use of ATV’s or UTV’s within city limits, unless specifically allowed by local ordinances. If, after Wednesday’s Public Hearing the Board votes to move forward with the third and final reading, that would take place Feb. 7^th.

In other business, the Cass County Supervisors will receive reports (as available), from the Cass County Wellness Committee, County Attorney and Engineer, along with the Mental Health/General Assistance Director.

Over the past several weeks, the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) has received numerous reports of diarrhea and vomiting outbreaks caused by norovirus. While norovirus activity occurs year-round, it is traditionally higher in the colder months because people are indoors more and in closer contact. Norovirus spreads very easily when people fail to stay home when ill with diarrhea or vomiting, and when they don’t wash their hands after going to the bathroom. It can also easily spread to large numbers of people and cause large outbreaks when people prepare food while ill with vomiting and diarrhea.

IDPH Medical Director, Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, says  “Anyone with diarrhea or vomiting should not be handling any food items, regardless of how well they wash their hands. That rule is important no matter if you’re cooking for two or 200, whether it’s a regular family meal or at a restaurant.” Anyone with symptoms of norovirus should stay home from school, daycare, work or other events to help stop the spread to others. It’s also important that anyone who has been sick with symptoms of norovirus not prepare food for others for two days after their symptoms have gone away, since this virus can spread even after you start feeling better.

Symptoms of norovirus illness include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and low-grade fever. Although sometimes called the “stomach flu,” noroviruses are not the same as influenza and are not prevented by receiving the flu vaccine. The illness typically lasts for about two days and victims usually recover completely with no long-term health effects. If ill, the most important thing to do is stay home and keep drinking fluids. The most common health complication from norovirus is dehydration.

For more information on noroviruses, visit https://www.idph.iowa.gov/cade/disease-information/norovirus.

STORM LAKE, Iowa (AP) — A trial is scheduled to begin May 15 for a woman accused of stealing more than $7,000 while working at a Storm Lake store. Court records say 19-year-old Abigail Clark, of Early, entered a written plea of not guilty Saturday in Buena Vista County District Court. She’s charged with forgery, theft and ongoing criminal conduct.

Storm Lake police say Clark forged customer names and completed fraudulent returns for cash within the Bomgaars store where she worked, and then kept the money. Police say that during the investigation, officers recovered more than $400 in merchandise bought with the stolen money from Bomgaars.

It’s currently illegal to buy wine or beer in another country or EVEN another STATE and bring it into Iowa. Senator Roby Smith of Davenport is sponsoring a bill that, essentially, would let Iowans transport 48 cans of beer or six bottles of wine across the state line. “This would bring common sense regulations to Iowa,” Smith says. Smith’s proposal also would deal with wine collectors who live out of state and want to move to Iowa — with more than just six bottles of wine. Under current law, bringing just one bottle of wine into the state is against the law. Smith says he’s personally heard from people living in Illinois who say they can’t move to Iowa because of the current law. “This is something that just makes it common sense to welcome servicemen and welcome anybody to Iowa on this and that’s what we’re getting at with this bill,” Smith says.

Smith’s bill would have a state official issue permits for out-of-staters to move themselves and their wine collections into an Iowa home. Senator Jim Carlin of Sioux City was part of a three-member subcommittee that reviewed the bill and he signed off on all the changes. “This just recognizes consumer realities of purchasing beer, liquor and wine across state lines,” Carlin says.

Under current law you may bring one bottle of liquor into Iowa from another state and four bottles into Iowa from another country. Smith says it appears to him leaving beer and wine out of the mix was simply an oversight. Another border-state senator suggests Iowa retailers who sell beer and wine may resist the change because they don’t want their Iowa customers going across the border to a competitor to buy beer and wine.

(Radio Iowa)

Governor Kim Reynolds says she and her staff “spent a lot of time” developing her plan for trimming nearly 30 million dollars out of the current year’s budget — and she’s ready to negotiate with her fellow Republicans in the Iowa Senate over a plan that would cut more than 20 million dollars deeper. “It’s part of the process,” Reynolds says. “We’ve been working on this a lot longer than they have. We’ll continue to work through it and we’ll do that with both the House and the Senate and hopefully we’ll get to a responsible place.”

Reynolds is not criticizing any of the specific cuts Republicans in the Senate propose, like more than 24 million dollars in cuts to the state universities and community colleges. The Senate Republicans recommend a cut in the state’s court system that’s three times as much as the governor recommended, prompting court officials to warn court operations in 30 county courthouses would be suspended “indefinitely” if that deep a cut is approved. Reynolds says that “would have an impact” on “access to justice” in Iowa. “I think there’s ways that we can respect some of the things that are really important to them by really reducing the impact on Iowans and services,” Reynolds says. “And so that’s the conversation that we’ll have moving forward.”

Reynolds says Iowans expect state officials to be “fiscally responsible” and she says “there is a way” to make budget cuts without major disruptions in state services. The Senate Republicans’ plan for cutting the current year’s budget cleared a committee last week and is ready for debate in the full senate. House Republicans have not yet unveiled their budget-cutting priorities.

(Radio Iowa)