There won’t be a resolution governing the use of fireworks in the unincorporated areas of Cass County, but residents in those areas are asked to file an application for a permit. That was the word from this morning’s (Wednesday’s) Cass County Board of Supervisor’s meeting said instead of a Resolution, the County will do as other counties have done, and that is to follow the regulations set forth in Iowa Senate File 489.  (Information about the bill can be found here: https://legiscan.com/IA/bill/SF489/2017 )

Residents would be wise Green said, to familiarize themselves with the legislation. To do otherwise would risk a visit by Deputies with the Cass County Sheriff’s Department.

In other business, the Cass County Supervisors set June 30^th as the date and time for a public hearing on a proposal to enter into a General Obligation County Purpose Loan Agreement and the borrowing of not more $4.5-million dollars associated with the construction aspects of the Elite Octane Ethanol Plant.

Auditor Dale Sunderman explained it’s for the grey water supply system and road paving of Echo, Buck Creek and Glacier roads, along with a turn lane modification off of Olive Street a few miles north of Atlantic. Bid letting on the road paving is set for June 21^st. A recent RISE – Revitalize Iowa’s Sound Economy – Grant should help to reduce some of the costs, but the $4.5-million allows for an extra financial cushion, should it be needed.

The Board also passed a Resolution setting expense appropriations for Fiscal Year 2018 that begins July 1^st. The budget has already been set, so the Resolution allows the various County departments to spend their allotted dollars.

The Creston Police Department reports two arrests took place, Tuesday. 43-year old Kathryn West, of Creston, was arrested on a Union County warrant for Theft in the 2nd Degree. She was released from the Union County Jail on a $5,000 bond. And, 33-year old Noah Edge, of Creston, was arrested on a Daviess County, MO., warrant for Operating a vehicle without a valid license, and failure to wear a seat belt. Edge was being held in the Union County jail while awaiting extradition to Missouri.

Authorities said also, a Creston woman reported that sometime between 5-a.m. and 3-p.m. Monday, someone entered her home in the 800 block of N. Cherry Street, and stole two safes along with a class ring. The items were valued at $50.

Fireworks will continue to be banned on the state capitol grounds in Des Moines. Earlier this year, legislature voted to let Iowans buy and set off consumer-grade fireworks to celebrate around the 4th of July and at year’s end, but the director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services has decided to retain the ban on bottle rockets, smoke bombs and other kinds of fireworks from the capitol grounds. Dave Heuton is the agency’s deputy director. “If someone is injured on state grounds shooting fireworks, it definitely exposes the state to some liability,” Heuton says. “It’s definitely a fire hazard…Then, just in general, the public safety issue.”

In addition to the capitol building itself, a number of state-owned buildings as well as parking lots and a parking ramp occupy several blocks in the City of Des Moines. Heuton says fireworks have never been allowed in those spaces. “Nor has an open flame or any of those things that could cause damage to property owned by the taxpayer,” Heuton says.

The ban on fireworks is included in new operating rules for the “capitol complex” that were approved by a legislative committee on Tuesday afternoon. The new rules, as expected, also allow pistols and revolvers to be carried inside the state capitol building by people who have a permit to carry a concealed weapon. However, guns will NOT be allowed inside the nearby State Historical Building or other state office buildings.

“The determination was made that the capitol building was the legislature’s intent, that only the capitol building would be covered by that law,” Heuton says. The new state gun law then-Governor Branstad approved in mid-April included a stipulation that guns be allowed inside the capitol. The new operating rules also will allow people with a concealed weapon permit to carry their pistol or revolver in the designated parking areas around the capitol building.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A new lawsuit says Iowa’s privately run Medicaid program is violating federal laws and a U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring that disabled Americans have a right to live as independently as possible.

The federal lawsuit filed Tuesday by six Iowans named Gov. Kim Reynolds and the state Human Services Department director. It says the companies running Iowa’s Medicaid program have “engaged in a pattern and practice” of cutting payments to care providers without regard to whether those cuts ultimately will reduce services that people with disabilities rely on.

Reynolds’ spokeswoman Brenna Smith told The Des Moines Register on Tuesday that the governor’s office had not yet reviewed the lawsuit. A Human Services Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the legal matter.