(Radio Iowa) – The four Iowa Republicans who serve in the U-S House say over 18-thousand federal employees in Iowa have been furloughed or are working without pay. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Ashley Hinson, Zach Nunn and Randy Feenstra have signed on to letter, calling on Senate Democrats to set aside partisanship, pass the House plan for temporary funding and end the government shutdown.

The letter says the shutdown is inflicting real harm on Iowans and the people of Iowa deserve a functioning government.

The group cites delays in federal food assistance and warns over 680-thousand Iowa Medicare recipients are at risk of losing access to telehealth services.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak this (Monday) afternoon arrested a man on numerous charges. Authorities say 21-year-old Brayden Eugene Johnson, of Red Oak, was arrested a little after 1-p.m. in the vicinity of Broadway and Ohio Streets in Red Oak.

He faces charges that include: Child endangerment; Possession of a controlled substance/1st offense, and Domestic abuse assault/1st offense.

Johnson was being held in the Montgomery County Jail without bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Interviews started today (Monday) of candidates who want to be the next president of Iowa State University. All the Board of Regents interviews of the candidates are being held in closed sessions. The Board will continue the interviews Tuesday and then will announce the number of finalists they have selected.

The names of the finalists will be revealed the day before they are to visit campus for a public forum. The Regents hope to select a the replacement for retiring president Wendy Wintersteen by November.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – The Page County Sheriff’s Office today (Monday) issued a report on arrests that took place from Oct. 8th through the 20th.

20-year-old Savannah Christine Vacanti, of Villisca, was arrested in Clarinda at around 2:10-a.m., Monday (Oct. 20), for Driving Under Suspension.

37-year-old Elizabeth Marie Merriett, of Shenandoah, was arrested Oct. 17th in Council Bluffs, for Violation of Probation.

On Oct. 12th: Page County Deputies arrested 49-year-old Michael Scott Morton, of Clarinda, for Driving Under Suspension. (He was released the following day); 43-year-old Andrew Christopher Polk, of Shenandoah, was arrested in Shenandoah for OWI/1st offense. (He was released a few hours later)

On the 11th of October: 20-year-old Noah Robert Comer, of New Market (IA) was arrested in Clarinda for Interference with Official Acts. (He was released about an hour later); 19-year-old Nathan Riley Hughes, of Randolph (IA) was also arrested in Clarinda for Interference with Official Acts. (He was released from custody about 35-minutes later)

Deputies in Page County arrested 27-year-old Spencer Pratt Westman, of Omaha, in Shenandoah on Oct. 9th, for Theft in the 5th Degree (<$300); Separately, 55-year-old John David Stone, of Braddyville, was arrested in Braddyville at around 12:35-a.m. Oct. 9th, on charges that include: Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Driving While Barred, OWI/1st Offense, and on two-counts Possession of a Controlled Substance, 3rd or subsequent offense.

And, on Oct. 8th at around 1-a.m., 39-year-old Brandy Nicole Strange, of Farragut, was arrested in Coin, for Public Intoxication. She was released later that same day per the magistrate’s order.

(Sheriff’s disclaimer: “It should be noted that a criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocents until and unless proven guilty.”)

(Radio Iowa) – President Donald Trump says the U-S may buy beef from Argentina to bring beef prices down for consumers. Bill Bullard is C-E-O of R-CALF USA, the largest trade group for cattle producers. He says the president’s attention is welcome because the U-S cattle market has been broken for decades. “The share of the consumer’s beef dollar flowing back to the producers has been reduced,” Bullard said, “while at the same time the share captured by the packers and retailers in this highly concentrated industry have been increasing.”

Bullard says importing more beef in the U.S. absolutely the wrong thing to do. “It has been imports that have displaced our domestic cow herd over the last several decades, bringing us to the brink of having the lowest, smallest herd size in the history of our industry,” Bullard said. Bullard says the Trump Administration needs to focus on concentration in the meat packing industry.

Four companies are buying 85 percent of the cattle that are slaughtered in the U-S, plus the Food Industry Association says meat sales in mega-retailers like Walmart are growing, while the amount of meat sold in local grocery stores is falling. “We have a handful of packers, a handful of retailers that are interfering with competitive market forces and they are exploiting producers on end of the food supply chain and consumers on the other,” Bullard said.

Bullard says Trump could help cattle producers by placing a quota on imported beef and impose higher tariffs on beef imports once that quota is reached.

Atlantic, IA — Cass Health invites the public to attend a Halloween Trick or Treat event on Thursday, October 30, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM.

Parents and children are invited to come to Cass Health for an afternoon of indoor trick-or-treating and fun. Seventeen departments will be participating in this event.

Attendees are encouraged to use Parking Lot C and enter through either the Rehab Services or Rapid Care Entrances. For a map with parking and participating departments, visit casshealth.org.

(Radio Iowa) – Authorities in Iowa and Minnesota say a pregnant woman was threatened with a knife and seriously injured during a car jacking in northwest Iowa. Okoboji Police say the pregnant woman fell out of a pick-up and was run over as two suspects stole the vehicle last Monday from the Lake Okoboji Resort. The stolen vehicle was later spotted in southern Minnesota. Authorities starting chasing it and were able to arrested 27-year-old Vaughn Harris and 40-year-old Jessica Nordrum after the pickup wound up in a ditch. Both are from the Minneapolis area.

Deputies say the man driving the stolen vehicle was overdosing on fentanyl when he was captured. He was released from a local hospital four days later and booked into a southern Minnesota jail. The woman in the stolen pickup was initially charged with aiding an offender to avoid arrest.

The Okoboji Police Department says both are being charged with first degree robbery, first degree theft, assault with a deadly weapon, assault causing serious injury and operating without the owner’s consent.

CORRECTION per CC Landfill: The schedule change is only in regards to the Saturday schedule. The Landfill will still be open during the regular Monday thru Friday hours of 8:00 am to 4:00pm. as usual. Only the weekend schedule will change on Nov. 1st.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with the Cass County (IA) Transfer Station (Cass Co. Landfill), report the Landfill hours will be changing, effective November 1st. On that date, the Cass County Landfill/Transfer Station will only be open on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month. The change will be PERMANENT and YEAR ‘ROUND, moving forward. THE WEEKDAY HOURS ARE NOT AFFECTED!

Officials say they are making the adjustment to improve operational efficiency, and to better serve you (their customer), whenever you use the facility. If you have questions, please call 712-243-0990.

The Cass County Transfer Station Team thanks you for your understanding and continued support.