Photo credit to Jill & Callie Rudy, Hade DeVore

Atlantic, IA- Seventeen high school’s teams competed in very tough conditions with Riverside student anglers Caden Forristall and Mason McCready capturing the top spot in Powerade High School Series at the Brocker, Karns, Karns / Danish Mutual Insurance SWIFT bass tournament at Lake Anita on Saturday. They hauled in an impressive bag of 5 fish weighing 17.04 pounds, with one fish weighing over seven pounds.

It was very competitive between the next five teams which was only separated by .36 lbs. Owen Brentyn Hoover from CAM, finished in the runner up stop, third was Joaquin and Jake Wailes, fourth was Cameron Hoden, Tri Center and Wyatt Conrad, AL and rounding out the top five was Grady Joens and Lucas Bose from Underwood.

Even with cold and windy weather conditions it didn’t stop the high school anglers from reeling in combined weight of 172 pounds and 73 total fish. Over 14 teams earned the Bass Pro Five Alive prize and the AM Cohron & Son Big was a battle, eight anglers’ big fish was over four pounds. Caden Forristall earned the Big Fish award with his 7.45 fish, Nathan Bentler was second at 6.12 and Joaquin Wailes was third with his 5.88 fish.

Other winners from the tournament were.

Big Bite Baits Fish On- (first fish caught)- Hannah Thomas
Fast Metal First Five in the Box- Jordan Robinson / Nathan Bentler
Ole Blue Bait & Tackle – Jordan Robisnson
Fishing Assault Beat your best- Caden Forristall, Joaquin Wailes, Nathan Bentler
Dump Truck Jig Haulin in the Bass- Caden Forristall / Mason McCready
Atlantic Auto Ag Boat Captain Move of the Tournament- Don Switzer
Middle River Buck Blinds Off the Hook- Conor Britten / Korben Brunt
Trevor Frederickson Leadership Award- Hunter Quist

Place     Team                                                  City

1          Mason McCready / Caden Forristall- Macedonia / Carson
2          Owen Hoover / Brentyn Hoover- Anita / Anita
3          Joaquin Wailes / Jake Wailes- Wiota / Wiota
4          Cameron Hoden / Wyatt Conard- Persia / Council Bluffs
5          Grady Joes / Lucas Bose- Underwood / Underwood
6          Jordon Robinson / Nathan Bentler- Menlo / Stuart
7          Colton Rudy / Colin Rudy- Atlantic / Atlantic
8          Jarrett Hansen / Christan Thompson- Atlantic / Atlantic
9          Emmett King / AJ Draper- Panora / Linden
10       Eli Becerra / Mason McIntosh- Honey Creek / Modale
11       Hannah Thomas / Kai Carritt- Little Sioux / Logan
12       Blake Schwartz / Gavin Lindstrom- Panora / Panora
13       Cody Swank / Gavin Dougherty- Harlan / Atlantic
14       Braxton Hass / Hunter Quist- Atlantic / Atlantic
15       Tegan Steinkuehler / Brock Limerick- Harlan / Harlan
16       Conor Britten / Korben Brunt- Red Oak / CAM
17       Evan Powell / Sawyer Nelson- Indianola / Indianola

The next event for SWIFT will be Sunday April 30^th at Prairie Rose Lake. This will be a Fair Life Junior division only.

Central Iowa Student Anglers will host a high schools and junior tournament on Saturday April 29^th at Big Creek Lake.

For complete details and updated information visit www.swifishingteam.com

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(Atlantic, Iowa) – Trees Forever spokesperson Dolly Bergmann reports Atlantic Trees Forever Spring tree vouchers are now available. “With the past year,” Bergmann says, “we have had there are many people needing trees this spring. We ask that you limit one voucher per homeowner so more people can get a start replacing trees that were destroyed or being removed.”

Tree vouchers are a great way to help with the cost of a tree to plant. The vouchers are worth $30 off the cost of a tree, and can be obtained at Pymosa Farms, north of Atlantic. There are a limited number of vouchers available. Those at Pymosa Farms can help you determine what kind of tree would work best in the location you would like to plant a tree. It is important to water the trees this spring and during the summer.

Pymosa Farms is located at 50979 Buck Creek Road, Atlantic, but Bergmann suggest calling owner Tim Reavis, at 402-659-1213 before driving out to the farm to ensure someone is available to help you.

(Radio Iowa) – One of the nation’s largest state gatherings of agricultural education students is getting underway at Iowa State University. Scott Johnson, executive director of the Iowa F-F-A Association, says it’s gratifying to see how membership in the organization has continued growing in recent years, and this 95th annual Iowa F-F-A Leadership Conference at I-S-U’s Hilton Coliseum promises to be the biggest yet. “I think we could be expecting an attendance record here for our conference this year,” Johnson says. “I don’t know if 7,000 is possible, but I think we’re in striking distance of that, and that would be around 200 more than our previous attendance record, which was set in 2019.”

F-F-A members can range in age from 12 to 21 and the statewide membership numbers recently reached a milestone, which Johnson says they’ll tout during the event. “We’re really excited to welcome 258 of our 260 FFA chapters, based on our online registration numbers,” Johnson says. “The 19,000 members actually represents record membership that we just set about a month ago and we’ll recognize the 19,000th member on stage as part of the conference on Tuesday.”

While there’s a focus on farming, Johnson says the organization makes a positive difference in students’ lives by developing their potential for leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. He says the conference provides ag-ed students the chance to take part in a wide range of career development and leadership skills-building events. “We have somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 different competitive events in a variety of structures, some things that are speaking-based, some things that are skills attainment, assessment and judging-based,” Johnson says. “What we would consider non-competitive events involves a career show that’s coordinated by the Iowa FFA Foundation. Some FFA chapters in attendance will go on tours.”

The conference opened Sunday in Ames and will conclude Tuesday night. The Iowa FFA Association was organized by delegates from 23 schools at Iowa State College on May 17, 1929.

(Radio Iowa) – An environmental advocacy group is launching a new river clean-up project with an event in Des Moines this week to introduce the effort and recruit volunteers. Luke Hoffman, is a native of Thurman, in Fremont County. He’s the executive director of Iowa Rivers Revival, and says the Service Squad program is designed to create a comprehensive service learning and action network that will clean up Iowa’s waterways.  “We’re doing that in a way that it’s not just another river cleanup,” Hoffman says. “It’s not just about picking up trash, there’s that component, too, but it’s also a family-friendly festival about building community, educating folks about the importance of water, and building access points so that people can really enjoy those rivers and streams.”

Through a quarter-million dollar grant, the Service Squad will host between eight and ten river clean up projects each year over the next three years. Hoffman says the program will create cleaner rivers, educate Iowans on the importance of clean waterways, and organize for legislative action on issues relating to water trails, water quality, river restoration and more. “The theme is all about building partnerships and collaboration,” Hoffman says. “We didn’t invent river cleanups but what we do want to do is, if your listeners go to our website, they can find any cleanup or submit one if they want to organize one themselves on our website. You can just do that at IowaRivers.org/squad.” A

As a southwest Iowa native, Hoffman says he developed a passion for the water early on. “One of the things that I really cherish about my childhood was following the stream with my dog,” Hoffman says. “I wasn’t thinking about was the river clean or not, I just was enjoying it. That experience of adventure, that sense of being able to appreciate and enjoy, that’s what we want all future generations to be able to have, free from the concern of whether or not that water is going to do you any harm.”

The kickoff event is today (Friday), from 5-7 P-M at Big Grove Brewery in Des Moines. RSVP for the event at: iowarivers.org. The first clean-up event is scheduled for Saturday on North Walnut Creek in Urbandale.

(Radio Iowa)- While Mason City set a record high temperature of 88 degrees on Wednesday, this week’s unseasonably warm weather is prompting many farmers in north-central Iowa to fire up their tractors and start planting. Angie Rieck-Hinz, a field agronomist with Iowa State University, says things are suddenly very busy, considering there was snow on the ground just a matter of several days ago.

“We have manure application, we have dry fertilizer, we have anhydrous, we have lime, we have tillage,” Rieck-Hinz says, “and there are a lot of people planting. Our soil conditions are, in most places, exceptionally good for this time of year.” Parts of Iowa have struggled with soil that may be too dry one month and flooded the next, but she says we’re in a sweet spot right now.

“It has warmed up and with all this wind and low humidity, our soils have dried out up in the top couple of inches,” Rieck-Hinz says. “While most people I think were thinking at the end of last week, they would hold off on planting because it was still a little wet, that has definitely changed this week.” After all the weather challenges farmers have been facing in recent years, she says it’s a nice reward to be able to get started on planting this week.

“I’m glad to see the soil conditions are in great shape. We want that soil temperature at 50 degrees and warming — which has been happening,” she says. “We want good, dry conditions so we make a good furrow for that seed and we can get good roots established, because all those things have an impact on what happens all growing season long.”

Forecasters say we’re in for a change as soon as this (Friday) afternoon, with cooler temperatures expected and the likelihood of rain through the weekend.

DES MOINES – The City of Atlantic was recently honored with the 2022 Tree City USA Award at the 32nd Annual Community Forestry Awards Luncheon in Ankeny. The award was presented by the Arbor Day Foundation and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources April 12th at the FFA Enrichment Center in Ankeny.

“The Tree City USA award is a symbol for communities who have made a commitment to the management of public trees,” says state forester Jeff Goerndt. “Your community has provided an outstanding example for other Iowa communities by enhancing our forest resources and demonstrating the great value of trees in providing multiple benefits for future generations.”

Dignitaries in the photo: Kayla Lyon, Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Jeff Goerndt, State Forester; Atlantic representatives are: Wyatt Adderton, Director of Parks and Recreation, Jeff Christensen, Assistant Director Parks and Recreation, and Dolly Bergmann with Atlantic Trees Forever

Atlantic was one of 74 Iowa communities to qualify for Tree City USA status. To receive the award, a city must, at a minimum, have either a city forester or an active city tree board; have a tree ordinance; spend at least $2 per capita annually for its community forestry program; and have a tree planting and maintenance plan.

(Radio Iowa) – The U-S District Court for the District of North Dakota has granted a preliminary injunction, stopping the Biden Administration’s new Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule for Iowa and 23 other states. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird issued a statement saying the ruling is a huge win for Iowa farmers, builders and landowners. She says the new rule expands the definition of “WOTUS” under the Clean Water Act and would impose additional federal regulations to as much as 97 percent of Iowa’s land.

Bird says that would likely raise costs and cause delays for infrastructure projects. She says they will continue to fight back against the Biden Administration’s aggressive federal overreach and will turn this into a permanent win.

(Radio Iowa) – After a long, snowy winter, this week’s warm weather has many Iowans leaping at the chance to get into their yards and start beautifying and landscaping for the seasons ahead. Adam Thoms, a turfgrass specialist at Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, says it’s probably still a little early for mowing our lawns, but when that time comes, he suggests you don’t sharpen the mower blade first thing.

“There’s a lot of debris in yards from the winter, whether it be rocks, if you had a gravel driveway and you moved snow, or twigs that have fallen over the winter,” Thoms says, “so if you spend the time sharpening your mower blades, you’re just going to go out and dull them up on that first mow, so just mow with it the first time and then sharpen them up.” The home improvement stores are stockpiling pallets of weed-and-seed products, and Thoms says now is an ideal time to start spreading those tiny pellets.

“Crabgrass is going to be germinating here in the next two to three weeks, especially with the warm weather we’re having,” Thoms says, “so we’d like to see you put that out here by the end of this week or by at least early part of May, at the latest.” Creeping Charlie, or ground ivy, is one of the hardest weeds to control in Iowa. Thoms says he gets calls about it almost daily, and there -is- a chemical out there that can kill Creeping Charlie. The problem is, now is not the best time to try.

“It’s going to be two to three weeks where you could start to try to get after it,” Thoms says. “Typically, you get best control if you wait until the fall. You’re going to want to try to treat it with something that contains a lot of Triclopyr in it. That seems to be what controls Creeping Charlie the best.” There may be a few dead spots in your yard where you need to plant new grass, and there are a variety of turf-building products on the market, but again, Thoms says the ideal season to do that is in several months.

“Springtime is not the best time to seed your yard, and a lot of people think it is,” Thoms says. “So we typically say wait on that until the fall. That’s the best time to seed your yard.” When it comes time to start mowing your lawn, he suggests the ideal cutting height is between three and three-and-a-half inches, and he recommends you never remove more than a-third of the leaf blade. Find more spring lawn care tips, here: https://hortnews.extension.iastate.edu/

(Iowa DNR News) – The new Armed Forces Hunting and Fishing licenses are now available to residents of Iowa who served in the armed forces of the United States on federal active duty. The new annual fishing license, or hunting and fishing combo license, is $5, with a $2 processing fee.

To qualify, veterans will need to submit a one-time application for the Iowa Hunting/Fishing License for Resident Armed Forces Veteran along with a copy of their DD214. The application is available online at
https://www.iowadnr.gov/Hunting/Hunting-Licenses-Laws/License-Applications under Residents Only Applications.

Upon approval, the applicant’s account will be updated to reflect their status. They may then purchase the new license anywhere Iowa hunting and fishing licenses are sold. Qualifying veterans who have already purchased a hunting or fishing license for 2023 may submit the application, and then purchase the veterans license once their current license expires.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa)  – A ban on outdoor burning is in place effective immediately, for Adair County and Guthrie Counties. The ban was implemented at 8-a.m. today (Wednesday, April 12, 2023). The ban prohibits open burning in Adair County and Guthrie County, including all the cities within the counties. The current dry conditions throughout the region have caused an increase in fire responses throughout Adair and Guthrie County. As dry conditions and winds persist, dead and drying vegetation is the perfect fuel to spread fires rapidly.

Adair-Guthrie County Emergency Management Deputy Coordinator Jeremy Cooper says “Adair and Guthrie County Fire Departments have seen the effects of fires in extreme conditions, and we want to do everything we can to help mitigate life threatening incidents from occurring. These Fire Departments are volunteer departments and are responding to numerous calls a day that pull them from their everyday life and work and becomes very taxing on those volunteers.”

During these dry conditions, he says, citizens are reminded to not throw out cigarettes from moving vehicles and to discontinue burning yard waste, piled tree debris or other items during the ban. Small recreational campfires are permitted only if they are conducted in a fireplace of brick, metal or heavy one-inch wire mesh. Any campfire not in an outdoor fireplace or left unattended is prohibited. Fire Departments will still be able to proceed with their scheduled controlled burns of CRP land and citizens can also obtain a burn permit from their local Fire Chief approves such a request and signs the permit.

Violation of a burn ban can subject a person to citation or arrest for reckless use of fire or disobeying a burn ban. For more information on burn bans and the law or to check the current status of burn bans statewide on the State Fire Marshal’s statewide burn ban website: https://dps.iowa.gov/divisions/state-fire-marshal/burn-bans.