A crowd of a little more than 40 people attended Monday night’s public hearing in Greenfield pertaining to the construction of a large hog confinement operation in Adair County. Auditor Mindy Schaefer says the meeting went “very well.”She says 15 people signed-up prior to the hearing to speak, and each said they were opposed to the factory farm.

Eric Taylor has applied for a permit to construct a 2,480 head hog confinement feeding facility in Adair County’s Richland Township. Past history has shown emotions can run high in opposition to factory farms, but Schaefer said those who spoke stuck to the time limit, and were very respectful of the rules.

She says they were given three-minutes to speak. Most took less than the allotted time, but those who took the full three-minutes were very respectful, and stopped when their time expired.

The Adair County Board of Supervisors are slated to discuss the permit application and, based upon the Master Matrix Scoring and written public comments, forward their recommendation to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. That portion of their meeting takes place at 10:15-a.m., Wednesday.

A person adjusting their radio was cited for Following too Close following a chain reaction accident Sunday evening about four-miles south of Shenandoah, in Fremont County. Sheriff’s officials say Alexandria Snyder, of Macedonia, was traveling north on Highway 59 at around 6:13-p.m., when she took her eyes off the road to tune her radio. She didn’t notice a vehicle in front of her was stopped, waiting for an unknown semi to turn left onto 250th Street, and ran into the back of the vehicle.

Following the collision between Snyder’s Ford F-150 pickup and the 2002 Hyundai, driven by Andrea Candamil, of Omaha, NE,  Candamil’s car slammed into a 2005 Lexus GX, driven by Elaine Baumann, of Town & Country, Missouri, who was also waiting for the semi to turn left. Candamil and Isle Candamil suffered minor injuriesin the crash, and were transported to the Shenandoah Hospital for treatment. No other injuries were reported.

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Corn supplies are projected to be higher than expected this fall. A bigger crop would ease concerns of a grain shortage and could slow food inflation later this year. The U.S. Agriculture Department says 880 million bushels of corn will be left over when the harvest begins. That’s an increase from the previous estimate of 730 million acres. Farmers planted the second biggest corn crop this year since World War II.

News of the big corn crop brought down global corn prices 20 percent over the last month. That means food inflation will likely slow in 2012, because it takes about six months for ingredient prices to be passed on from food processors to the grocery aisle.

• 1 can of whole kernel corn (drain and reserve the liquid)
• Milk
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg beaten

Add enough milk to the reserved corn liquid to measure one cup.  Sift together the dry ingredients.  Combine the egg, milk mizture and corn to the dry ingredients.  Mix until moistened.  Drop batter from a tablespoon into deep, hot oil.  Fry until fritters are golden brown, about 3-4 minutes.  Drain on a paper towel.

w/  Ric Hanson

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A 24-year-old Griswold woman convicted of setting a fatal fire when she was 17 is scheduled to have a commutation hearing before the Iowa Board of Parole. Tracey Dyess is serving a 45-year prison sentence for setting fire to the family’s home in Griswold in March 2005.  She told investigators she wanted to kill her stepfather, Brian Street, because of sexual abuse. He was later convicted. The fire killed her two siblings.

Dyess was given 45 years in prison after making a plea deal. The Des Moines Register says her hearing is scheduled for Friday. The board expects to make its recommendation within three weeks to Gov. Terry Branstad, who has three months to decide.

The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education will hold their regular meeting this evening, at the high school. On their agenda are special presentations by School Resource Officer Corey Larsen, with the Cass County Sheriff’s Department, and Jerry Purdy, with the architectural firm of Design Alliance.

Action items on the agenda include various administrative matters, such as General- and Special- Education contracts, other contracts and letters of assignment, as well as resignations; the appointment of a Board Secretary and Treasurer; consideration of sealed bids which will be opened a few hours prior to the meeting, for renovations and improvements to the Atlantic Middle School, and a resolution directing the sale of bonds for the project.

The Board is also expected to act on approving: an agreement with the Nishna Valley Family YMCA for sharing facilities, mowing & snow removal; a 5-year Capital Needs plan; and a Memorandum of Understanding with the School Resource Officer for 2011-2012.

The meeting begins at 7:30-p.m., in the high school media center.

A gust of wind from a passing semi-tractor trailer contributed to the cause of a rollover accident Sunday night, in Adair County. The Iowa State Patrol says 27-year old Olga Farnsworth, of Logan, Utah, was traveling east on Interstate 80 at around 11:23-p.m., when the accident occurred.

Officials say her 2002 Toyota Tacoma pickup was pulling a U-Haul trailer near the Casey exit when she was passed by a semi. The woman told the investigating officer she could feel the wind created by the semi blow the pickup and trailer.

She then lost control of the vehicle, which entered the median. Both the pickup and the trailer rolled onto their sides, facing west in the median. Farnsworth, who was wearing her seatbelt, was not injured during the mishap, which resulted in her being cited for Failure to Maintain Control.

Her pickup was totaled in the crash, while the U-Haul trailer sustained an estimated $200 damage.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports 34-year old Richelle Ann Smith, of Atlantic, was arrested Sunday, on a charge of OWI 1st Offense. Smith was taken to the Cass County Jail, and released on her own recognizance later in the day.

And, on Saturday,  Police in Anita arrested 24-year old Matthew Quinn Bonnesen, of Anita, on a charge of Domestic Abuse/Serious Assault. Bonnesen was taken to the Cass County Jail, and also released later that day, on his own recognizance.

The Harlan FFA has been voted as a top chapter in their state by area farmers in the FFA Chapter Challenge pilot program, sponsored by Monsanto Company. FFA members in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Georgia and Alabama took this opportunity to make meaningful connections with area farmers, and farmers then voted for their favorite FFA chapter.

John Raines, vice president of Monsanto customer advocacy, said “Monsanto is proud to be a partner with the National FFA and help these local chapters generate new and stronger relationships with their area farmers.” He congratulated the Harlan FFA on their accomplishment and for opening dialogue with the farming community “That billions depend on everyday.”

Twenty-five FFA chapters across Iowa were in the running for the FFA Chapter Challenge Grand Prize, which was made possible through National FFA and Monsanto.
The chapter that received the most votes won a trip to this year’s National FFA Convention in Indianapolis Oct. 19-22, for six students and one adviser. The trip is valued at $6,500.

The top 10 chapters in each state were awarded a $1,500 certificate of credit as first prize. The remaining 55 prizes were awarded to the overall top chapters, not
to include those that ranked in the top 10 for their state. The second prize chapters received FFA merchandise gift certificates.  The certificates of credit
can be used with the national office for items such as blue jackets, convention fees and more.

To see a full list of 2011 FFA Chapter Challenge winners, visit ffachapterchalllenge.com.