(Atlantic, IA) – The driver of a semi tractor-trailer died in a crash this (Wednesday) morning on Interstate 80, in Cass County. The Iowa State Patrol says the semi, driven by 69-year-old Robert M. Johnson, Jr., of Crescent, was traveling westbound on I-80 at around 5:25-a.m., when for reasons unknown, the vehicle entered the north ditch and struck a tree.

The Patrol says Johnson was ejected from the cab of the truck and died at the scene. The accident happened about a mile east of the Olive Street exit (620th St.) to Atlantic (mile marker 58).

(Radio Iowa) – The Powerball jackpot is now estimated at more than one BILLION dollars for tonight’s drawing. Iowa Lottery C-E-O Matt Strawn says they always remind everyone that buying more tickets doesn’t increase your odds of winning. “It just takes one two-dollar ticket to win a jackpot prize, a life-changing prize of this amount,” he says. The jackpot ins at one-point-two-five BILLION dollars for the drawing at 9:59 tonight. Strawn talked about the issue during Tuesday’s Lottery Commission meeting and says the big numbers draw in people who don’t normally play.

He says the message is the same regardless of the size of the jackpot. “Play responsibly, even in these billion-dollar jackpot announcements,” her says.

Whoever wins the jackpot has the option of taking a one-time payment of 572 million dollars. The drawing is at 9:59 p-m Iowa time and you must buy a ticket in Iowa by 8:59 p-m.

(Red Oak, IA) – Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report a man from Pottawattamie County was arrested today (Wednesday) on a felony charge of Burglary in the 3rd Degree. Authorities say 41-year-old Matthew Lawrence Magers, of Council Bluffs, was found to be unlawfully inside one of the work vehicles owned by ESB Construction, at 2154 Hickory Avenue, in Red Oak. The business owner confronted Magers and contacted law enforcement.

Deputies arrived on the scene and arrested Magers without incident. He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on full bond associated with the Class-D felony charge.

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa lawmaker who made history by returning to the baseball diamond is retiring from the game. State Representative J.D Scholten of Sioux City was an emergency call up by the Sioux City Explorers of the American Association on July 6th of 2024, and made his first start in 17 years with less than three hours notice. He won that game and then pitched again last season. “It’s one of those things where I would love to try to play one more year, but I think that will always be the case,” Scholten says, “and I just think it was the last two years have just been so special and I can’t thank the Explorers enough and I can’t thank the fans and just Sioux City enough for everything. It’s been pretty special for me.”

Scholten was 44 and went on to tie for the number of wins on the team with a 6-2 record in 11 starts. Each win added to his own record for oldest person in league history to earn a win and he drew large crowds to both home and away games when he was on the mound. “I just got caught up in emotions every time I was just at awe at how much the crowd got behind me and everything, and it was just really, really special. I mean, a place where I grew up, the stadium that I played in high school and college and previously with the X’s,” he says. Scholten went 1-1 in four starts this year after returning to the team when the Iowa Legislature adjourned for the year. His last win came late in the season at Winnipeg.

“When I got to start up there, a lot of the position players were like, hey, we got you. They put up some runs and when that’s the case, I just go up there and just throw strikes and allow them to get themselves out,” he says. “I don’t have the most overpowering stuff. I don’t have the best stuff, but I am as big as competitor as there is in the league and so just grinding it out and doing the best I can and accept the outcome and going seven and three, the last two years is pretty special.” Scholten is a Democrat and is preparing to return to Des Moines for the Legislative session in January.

“I loved having Sioux City across my chest on our uniforms with the Explorers, and I love being able to represent Sioux City down at the Capitol. It’s it’s something pretty special to be able to do both and have be have been able to do both the past couple of years. It’s going to be an interesting session is too with the governor being a lame duck not running for reelection. It’s going to change the dynamic of the legislature a little bit and we’ll see what happens,” Scholten says.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York requested a game worn jersey from Scholten as the oldest person in league history to win and the only elected official to play professional baseball while serving. Scholten hand delivered the jersey. He pitched for the Explorers in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007 before returning in 2024. He ends with a career pitching record of 19-11.

(Radio Iowa) – Many Christmas tree farms in Iowa are seeing a drop in sales this year, largely due to repeated weekend snowstorms and bitter cold temperatures. Their prime season typically lasts just two-to-three weeks in late November and early December, with most of the sales happening the weekend after Thanksgiving. Brian Moulds manages Wapsie Pines Christmas Tree Farm in Bremer County. “It’s almost sad,” Moulds says, “because you do all this work for a whole year, and it’s almost all done in less than two weeks.” Moulds says sales were higher than normal on Black Friday but they’ve mostly been below average since then. He estimates the farm’s gross sales are roughly 10 percent less this year compared to last year.

Joe Heintz, manager of Strautman Tree Farm in Story County, says most of their revenue is generated by customers who drive through their farm, choose a tree, and cut it down to take home. “So it was a unique season,” Heintz says, as ten inches of snow forced them to close their fields the weekend after Thanksgiving. “And those are our some of our busiest days of our season,” he says. “So, tree sales numbers this year were obviously down compared to previous years.”

Still, Heintz says tree farmers plan six to seven years ahead, so harvesting fewer trees this year helps bump up their supply for future seasons.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra says if he’s elected governor, he’ll pursue changes in special taxing districts designed to spur development. Iowa cities and counties create these “tax increment financing” districts and property taxes for the targeted business or industry are frozen at the pre-development level. The property taxes collected based on the improvements at the site go into a fund used to pay off city or county bonds for things like roads and sewers installed to attract the development. “There’s constructive ways to use it,” Feenstra said, “and there’s also a lot of abuses.” Feenstra says some local officials have chosen to make the districts permanent.

“What you’re going is usurping money, taking money away from your school districts, from your county and your city when you put things in a Tax Increment Financing area,” Feenstra says. “And there’s a way to do this and yet allow allow some TIF to grow because we need that economic growth lever in some of these communities.” Feenstra says tax increment financing districts are useful and sometimes critical in rural areas of the state trying to attract commercial development. “I was a city administrator for eight years in Hull. It’s a small town,” Feenstra said. “I understand small business. I understand how property taxes work.”

Tax increment financing was enacted in Iowa in 1969 to help cities develop blighted, rundown neighborhoods. It was expanded to all 99 counties in 1985. City and county officials say the districts are a valuable way to finance the infrastructure needed to attract new businesses. Critics cite abuses, like Altoona’s decision to create a tax increment financing district for a Bass Pro Shop superstore or districts that finance road improvements around wind farms.

(Atlantic, IA) – A representative of the Apex Energy/Coyote Willow Wind farm project, Tuesday, updated the Cass County Board of Supervisors on the status of the wind turbine farm affecting Audubon and Cass Counties. According to the company’s website, based on transmission capacity and local wind data, Coyote Willow Wind has the potential to generate up to 400 megawatts of clean, homegrown Iowa energy, enough to power up to 151,000 U.S. homes.

Coyote Willow Wind Public Engagement organizer Cory Eberling said the company is actively involved in becoming part of the communities in both counties.

He told the Supervisors also, the company delivered holiday turkeys and hams to food banks in Cass and Audubon Counties, and has awarded STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) grants that help to build healthy communities.

In other news, Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken updated the Supervisors on Secondary Roads Department maintenance and activities. He mentioned a bridge deck was being poured south of Massena on Rockport Road. Another bridge deck was being poured on 620th Street, north of the County line. He said also, the County received an award last week for the amount of asphalt that was poured during various project work in the Cass County.

He said also, work on the middle and south sections of County road N-28 is finished.

The Cass County Supervisors received a monthly report, Tuesday, from Cass/Guthrie County Environmental Health Director Jotham Arber. He said their crews have wrapped-up their seasonal percolation tests for new septic systems.

The big thing they’re working on, he said, is a request for funding proposal (RFP) to the State to try and get funding for new radon testing units.

The devices cost the department $50 each. Homeowners can also find them online.

He says the devices are simple to set-up and operate. Arber says if they get the grant, they can place one device in anywhere from 10-to 100-homes in each county the department serves.

(Atlantic, IA)  – The Atlantic Rotary Club is reminding 2026 graduating seniors of Atlantic Community School, that scholarships are available through the Atlantic Rotary Club. The Club will award six (6) $1,000 scholarships to graduating seniors from Atlantic High School, distributed across three educational pathways:

• Four-Year College or University:
  Two (2) $1,000 scholarships will be awarded to students planning to attend a four-year college or university. To be eligible, students must be enrolled in a four-year college or university on or before October 1, 2026, the year in which the scholarship is awarded.
• Community College:
  Two (2) $1,000 scholarships will be awarded to students planning to attend a community college and pursuing an Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degree. To be eligible, students must be enrolled in the program on or before October 1, 2026, the year in which the scholarship is awarded.
• Vocational or Technical Institution (New This Year):
  New this year, the Atlantic Rotary Club will award two (2) $1,000 scholarships to students planning to attend a vocational or technical institution. Applicants must be pursuing a program certificate, diploma, or license and must be enrolled in the program on or before October 1, 2026, the year in which the scholarship is awarded.

Applications are available on the Atlantic Community School website and must be postmarked by March 30, 2026. Completed applications should be mailed to:

Atlantic Rotary Club
PO Box 82
Atlantic, IA 50022

For more information, contact Rotarian Dolly Bergmann at 712-249-9275 or via email at bsktcola@gmail.com.

(Greenfield, IA) – The Adair County Board of Supervisor’s today (Wednesday) received the County Compensation Board’s recommendations for FY27 elected officials’ compensation. Jayne Lents, a member of the Compensation Board, says their recommendation essentially amounts to a four-percent across-the-board increase.

The Supervisors acknowledged receipt of the recommendations for consideration during the budgeting process. In other business, the Board approved:

• A 2026 ISAC Wellness Agreement (renewal), and
• A raise for Secondary Roads employee Mason Barkley, upon recommendation by County Engineer Nick Kauffman.

Kauffman presented also, his weekly report on Secondary Roads Department maintenance and activities, which includes a just shy of 22-inch thick slab for a bridge deck that’s being poured on the North 7 Eureka bridge. He said he’s working with Mid-American Energy with regard to an agreement for Orient wind turbine roads and related project construction.

Mid-American, Kauffman said, is paying for the road work. Kauffman said also, he’s been busy working on his department’s budget, and he has been researching the cost of a new motor grader.

Kauffman mentioned a lot of the counties around Adair County have gone to all-wheel drive, when ordering their motor graders, which is more expensive, but the machines come with more horsepower and added weight, which helps when it comes to traction.

(Creston, IA) – No injuries were reported, but a woman was cited, after a car crashed into a house Tuesday afternoon, in Creston. According to the Creston Police Department, 61-year-old Nickie Rae Stovie, of Creston, told investigating officers that she was trying to pull into the parking spot near 505 Maple Street at around 4:05-p.m., but the 2012 Suzuki SX 4 she was driving went over the curb and down a hill before hitting the residence owned by Ronald Beasley, of Creston.

While speaking with Stovie, officers detected an order of a consumed alcoholic beverage coming from her. Stovie initially denied having consumed alcohol, but then changed her story. An empty shooter-style bottle of alcohol was located by police under the front passenger side seat of the vehicle. Police gave Stovie a Standard Field Sobriety Test and Preliminary Breath Test, which registered a Breath Alcohol Content of under .08% (the legal limit for intoxication).

Stovie was cited for Open Container and Failure to Maintain Control. Her vehicle sustained a police-estimated $6,000 damage, and was declared a total loss. The house sustained an estimated $4,000 damage.