(Radio Iowa) – A bill that would ban simulcasts of greyhound races for gamblers at Iowa casinos has cleared initial review in the Iowa Senate and House. Iowa ended live greyhound racing in Dubuque in mid-2022 and there are only two greyhound tracks still operating in the U.S. Both are in West Virginia. Carey Theil is with Grey 2-K Racing, an organization that has been lobbying to end greyhound racing worldwide.”There was only $2.4 million wagered on greyhound simulcasting last year,” Theil said. “That’s declined by 70% since 2018.” Forty-four states have banned live greyhound racing and lawmakers in seven other states have taken the step of banning simulcasting of dog races into casinos in their states.

“When greyhound simulcasting has ended at other facilities, there has been a migration from greyhound simulcasting to horse simulcasting. I believe,” Theil said. “If you look at simulcasting in total, 86% of all simulcasting in Iowa is on horse, not dog, so this is a very small piece of the overall simulcasting pie.” Doug Struyk is a lobbyist for Caeser’s Entertainment, which operates the Harrah’s and Horseshow Casinos in Council Bluffs. The company opposes the bill. “We have a not insignificant amount of traffic that comes from Omaha, where they do not simulcast dog races,” Struyk said. “We simulcast dog races and horse races. That allows us to bring traffic from Omaha that has recently legalized wagering.”

John Moss is executive director of the Iowa Horsemens Benevolent and Protective Association, which represents over 12-hundred thoroughbred owners who race their horses at Prairie Meadows. The group ALSO operates all the simulcasts at the casino in Clinton. He says 18 percent of the bets on simulcasts of horse and dog races in Clinton are placed on greyhounds. “We significant flow from out of state that actually contributes to that,” Moss said. “We have a big group of individuals who come down from Wisconsin…We’re actually seeing an influx of people from Illinois.” Moss says the Clinton casino would take a half a million dollar hit if greyhound simulcasts end. Jeff Boeyink, is a lobbyist for Wild Rose Casinos, which operates the Clinton facility.

Boeyink says a number of people from Dubuque who used to watch live greyhound races there drive to Clinton to bet on the simulcast dog races. “The margins are not super great in these facilities, so you’re always fighting for traffic and so any amenity that brings traffic into the building is an amenity you want to keep,” Boeyink said. “It’s not a huge revenue source for us and I’m not here to argue the ethics of dog racing. I’m just telling you it brings people into our facility. That’s meaningful to us and if this sport is going to die, let it die on its own. Iowa doesn’t need to be a part of that.”

Boeyink also told lawmakers his reading of the bill indicates simulcasts of greyhound races could continue at Prairie Meadows in Altoona and a Council Bluffs casino if the bill becomes law. Live greyhound races at the Horseshoe in Council Bluffs ended in December of 2015.

(Atlantic, IA) – A large crowd filled a conference room at the Atlantic Middle (this) Wednesday morning, where the Atlantic School Board was set to act on approving the resignation of High School Counselor Jesse McCann. School Board President Josh McLaren read a statement when the meeting got underway at 7:30-a.m. His statement is as follows:

“After careful consideration as the Board President, I decided last night (Tuesday night) that the Board would not hold this meeting this morning. Director (Gini) Jordan and I still wanted to be here to inform everyone of the situation…decision in-person. While we understand that there may be questions concerning the facts and circumstances related to current ongoing employment matters occurring within the District, the Board of the District cannot provide specific information regarding personnel matters, as this information is considered confidential under State law.

“We can assure you that the District takes any concerns for students, families or staff seriously and appropriately addresses concerns consistent with legal requirements and best practices. This includes investigating and working closely with outside legal counsel to evaluate any necessary and appropriate next steps. The Board of the District considers the safety and well-being of our students and staff to be the highest priority, and will continuously act in the best interest of our school community. Thank you for your support and understanding.”

As mentioned Tuesday, a social media post from the Atlantic Police Department said “The Atlantic Police Department has been made aware of an incident involving a school staff member and students. The Atlantic Police Department has been investigating and looking into the information that has been provided.” Their post did not name the employee who is being investigated.

(Red Oak, IA) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a man from Elliott was arrested at around 7:46-a.m. today (Wednesday), in Elliott. 41-year-old Cory Ross Smith was taken into custody on a Fremont County warrant for Failure to Appear on charges of Driving While License is barred.

Smith was turned-over to Deputies in Fremont County and held on a $2,000 bond.

(Greenfield, IA) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors have set March 3rd at 9:15-a.m., as the date and time for a public hearing on the vacating the Level-B portion of 350th Street, east of Stuart off of Whitepole Road. They also passed a resolution to that effect.

In addition, the Board acknowledged receipt of a Prestage Farms Manure Management Plan for their facility off of Gibbon Avenue, and the FY25 Southern Iowa Trolley Audit.

The Supervisors authorized Board Chair Jerry Walker to sign the contract and performance bond for the Orient Energy Center (OEC) paving project, the front page of plans for the FY26 Granular Surfacing Plans, and, they received a weekly Secondary Roads Department report from Adair County Engineer Nick Kauffman.

(Creston, IA) –  The driver of a vehicle that was struck Tuesday afternoon in Creston, was checked-out by medics after displaying an apparent shortness of breath, but was otherwise not transported to the hospital. According to the Creston Police Department, 21-year-old Anjel De Jesus Saturno-Hernandez, of Creston, was traveling south on S. Oak Street at around 4:35-p.m.  He told police he looked but did not see a full-size pickup truck being driven by 22-year-old Wyatt Beebe, of Creston, approaching from the east on Highway 34.

When he proceeded into the intersection, Hernandez’ vehicle was hit on the rear passenger side by the pickup. Damage from the collision amounted to $9,000 altogether. The SUV sustained disabling damage and was towed from the scene.

No citations were issued.

(Onawa, IA) – The Monona County Sheriff’s Office reports a suspect is charged in connection with a series of suspicious fires that were deemed to have been the result of arson. 43-year-old David Ira Bryan is charged with Arson in the 2nd Degree following an investigation that began after two fires occurred during the evening of January 26th in Onawa, and a third fire at the Monona County Fairgrounds on January 28th.

The Monona County Sheriff’s Office was joined by members of the State Fire Marshal’s Office and ATF in the investigative efforts. Authorities thank members of the community who came forward with crucial information. They added that the two fires in Onawa on Jan. 26th remain under investigation.

Anyone with information on those incidents is urged to contact the Monona County Sheriff’s Office at 712-433-2525.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s in the midst of a what’s called a snow drought, according to the state climatologist. While we had three weekends in a row of heavy snows starting right after Thanksgiving, Justin Glisan says there’s been very little statewide snowfall since then. While some Iowans may rejoice at having to do less shoveling, Glisan says it may become a problem once spring arrives — especially for farmers — if there’s little snowmelt and runoff in our rivers. “We’re in a snow drought across the upper Midwest,” Glisan says. “We’ve been running, after a fast start at the end of November and into December, we’re about 2.3 inches statewide average, and that’s about 6 inches below average.”

The new year started out warmer than normal in Iowa, which meant winter storms were dropping more rain than snow. “The interesting thing on the precipitation side is the rainfall event we had early in January,” Glisan says. “We had a wide swath of rainfall — in January — that amounted to, through the state, over nine-tenths of an inch for the monthly average, and that’s about 4/100ths below average.” January was something of a roller-coaster month for temperatures, Glisan says, but we ended up with an average statewide temp of 19-point-3 degrees, just two-tenths of a degree below average. “If you look at the first half of the month, we were running six degrees warmer than average, and then the cold snap through the end of the month dropped that average by about six degrees,” Glisan says, “so here we are, just right around average in terms of temperature.”

Long-range forecasts point to that groundhog being correct, he says, with six more weeks of winter ahead. “If you look at the short-term outlooks for the first half of the month, though, they tell a different story on the temperature side,” Glisan says, “higher probabilities of warmer-than-average temperatures, and we’ll see the temperatures rise through this week and into next week.”

Forecasts call for parts of Iowa to see temps climb into the 50s next week. While the calendar shows winter will last through March 19th, meteorological winter ends February 28th.

(Atlantic, IA) – The Board of Supervisors in Cass County, Tuesday morning, discussed the issue of farmland transition within farm families. The discussion was spearheaded by Jim Steffen, President of the Massena Corporation, who Board Chair Steve Baier acknowledged has worked over the years to help shape rural development projects and the future of rural counties. Steffen said his family owns two farms in the area.

Steffen, who is 83-years-old, said those properties will be sold unless they can do something different with them. The solution, he hopes is for he and his business partners with the Massena Corporation, to work with what are called “production units.”

He says the idea is not to “aggregate a whole lot of land and a whole lot of legal and operating responsibility.”

Massena Corp. President Jim Steffen speaks w/the Cass County BOS, 2-3-26

Steffen didn’t ask the Board for any contribution from the County or County services, but he is looking for local investors to help build-out the production units.

He said the only thing he would ask from the Supervisors, is to think about what the Massena Corporation is trying to accomplish, and perhaps help to sponsor or facilitate land owner meetings on the topic.

Board Chair Steve Baier said, “If there’s something we can do from an economic development standpoint,” he’s interested, especially if it gets younger people interested in production agriculture and cattle, including the possibility of working with local lockers, to form some sort of consortium for livestock producers.

Additional information on the Massena Corporation production unit concept is expected to be forthcoming.

(Radio Iowa) – A report by the State Auditor’s Office has identified concerns with financial transactions processed by the former Tama County Human Resources Manager. The report lists more than 81-thousand dollars in unsupported payments by Tamara Wise to vendors using federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. It also identified nearly 169-thousand dollars in unsupported payments where some of the money was going for personal expenses for Wise. State auditor Rob Sand said the investigation shows Wise did not have enough oversight when making county purchases.

“Credit card statements weren’t getting reviewed on a regular basis, they should be. Purchases were not getting pre-approved, they should be. And they did not have a formal policy in place for a lot of different things,” he says. Wise made the purchases between 2020 and early 2025, before she was fired. “This report, like most of our reports, underscores the need for effective oversight. We have got to make sure that we’ve got checks and balances operating at the local level. It also outlines the need for important for accountability and transparency,” Sand says.

Sand says his office is going to leave it up to state and county prosecutors to determine if they will file charges.

(Des Moines, IA (via the IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – Survivors of domestic violence will be able to receive free Ring door cameras through a partnership with the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Amazon, the Iowa Attorney General’s office announced Tuesday. Ring, owned by Amazon, has donated 1,000 Ring X Line Devices with lifetime subscriptions, in addition to a $25,000 monetary donation, to the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ICADV) to provide support for domestic violence victims.

Raquel Medrano, a program manager and community engagement lead for Amazon’s public policy team, said this donation is part of an ongoing effort from Amazon and Ring to provide support for domestic violence survivors, which started in 2021 when a Houston, Texas, organization reached out to the business requesting support.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said at the news conference the company has been working with national domestic abuse organizations for several years, but that as Ring has started to work with states directly through attorneys general in this effort, “I’m happy to say Iowa is one of the first.” Bird said her office has been working to expand victim assistance efforts, and the partnership with Ring will help victims and survivors feel safe at home.

Dr. Maria Corona, ICADV executive director, said the Ring devices are being distributed throughout the state through the organization’s network of 25 victim service providers on a first-come, first-served basis. She said these community nonprofits will work with domestic violence survivors to ensure that these Ring devices are incorporated effectively into individuals’ safety plans, providing “an added layer of security and peace of mind as they work to rebuild their lives and feel safer, whether it’s monitoring who approaches their home, having evidence if they need it, or simply feeling more secure in their own space.”

According to the ICADV’s Domestic Violence Homicide fact sheet, 88 Iowans were killed due to domestic violence between Oct. 1, 2021 and Sept. 30, 2024 — a figure that Corona called an “alarming and an unprecedented increase” in the rate of domestic violence deaths.