The Iowa 4-H Foundation sponsors annual the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Iowa State Fair.  Counties nominate volunteers, community leaders and Extension staff members who have exemplified outstanding service and dedication to the 4-H youth program in their county.  Only one individual or couple per county can be nominated each year.  Inductees can be recognized posthumously.

Nominations for Washington County 4-H Hall of Fame recipients are now being accepted and can be sent to Washington County Extension Office or to Amy Green at amygreen@iastate.edu.  Please include a description sharing the nominee’s involvement and years of service to the Washington County 4-H program.  Nominations are being accepted until April 15.  Please contact Amy at the Extension Office, 319-653-4811 or washington4h@iastate.edu, with any questions.

At its February 28 meeting, the Fairfield Community School District Board of Education reached a consensus on the appointment of Zach Wigle as superintendent.

FCSD worked in partnership with a dedicated search firm to conduct the selection process. The search firm initially contacted 60 individuals. Of that group, 23 candidates submitted applications to the board. In addition to board member input, the district received invaluable feedback from more than 150 community members, including a candidate forum with both candidates.

“We were incredibly fortunate to have several excellent candidates to choose from in our search for our next superintendent,” said Tai Ward, Board President. “Zach impressed the board and the community during his interviews. He was ultimately selected because of his strong vision for building our district’s positive momentum into the future.”

Wigle has spent nearly two decades serving in education across Iowa. He has held various administrative roles, including district activities director, intermediate school principal, special education director, and, most recently, high school principal in Solon, Iowa.

During his tenure as high school principal in Keokuk CSD, he implemented strategies that significantly improved student outcomes, as evidenced by various metrics, including achievement data, dropout rates, and culture surveys. In Solon, Wigle spearheaded initiatives to enhance the district’s career and academic planning program, emphasizing the importance of the learning process at the secondary level and identifying essential skills for every graduate.

Wigle holds a master’s degree in education administration from Grand Canyon University, an advanced studies certification-superintendency from the University of Northern Iowa, and a bachelor’s degree from Luther College. He and his wife, Julie, have two children: Mallory and Brady.

“It is an honor to be selected as the next superintendent,” said Wigle. “My family and I hold a strong affinity for southeast Iowa, and look forward to working alongside others who call this community home. I envision a future in which I can contribute to the growth and development of the Fairfield community as a whole.”

Wigle will officially begin his role as superintendent on July 1, 2024.

60 years is the charge for a Keokuk man sentenced on February 27^th, in federal prison for Producing, Receiving, and Possessing Child Pornography.

According to public court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, on or about December 21, 2021, a minor was reported missing from the Keokuk area. Law enforcement identified Christopher Douglas Black, 45, as an individual with knowledge relating to the missing minor. The missing minor was found with Black in Minnesota. Following Black’s arrest, a forensic review of Black’s cell phone was conducted and revealed child sexual assault materials.

Following his term of imprisonment, Black will be required to serve ten years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which was started in 2006 as a nation-wide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children. Any persons having knowledge of a child being sexually abused are encouraged to call the Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline at 1-800-284-7821.

A Burlington man was sentenced on February 28, 2024 to 200 months in federal prison for Conspiracy to Distribute 50 Grams or More of Methamphetamine

According to public court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, between January and October 2022, Hardy Pegues III, 62, conspired with others to distribute large amounts of methamphetamine in the Burlington, Iowa area. One of the other subjects was Larry Keith Knotts III.

Larry Keith Knotts III, 36, was sentenced on January 23, 2024, to 25 years in federal prison for Conspiracy to Distribute 50 grams or more of Methamphetamine. The press release for Knotts’ sentencing can be found at Knotts Press Release.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Pegues will be required to serve five years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Southeast Iowa Narcotics Task Force.

As Week Eight played out, we saw many bills passing back and forth between the two houses of the Iowa Legislature. Bills passed out of the House were brought up for discussion in the Senate and vice versa. We will soon be coming up on our second legislative deadline of the year.

Protecting Our Valuable Resource – Land

The past two weeks has included conversations about protecting one of our most treasured resources in Iowa, our land. Since we rely so heavily on agriculture in Iowa, the best stewards of Iowa’s farmland are its farmers, and SF 2324 and SF 2204 will ensure that farmers are able to do just that.

A founding principle of this nation is the ability of Americans to buy land and improve their lot in life. This week the Senate passed Senate File 2324 to protect that opportunity for future generations. It prevents state government from bidding against farmers to purchase land. This bill does not eliminate the ability of landowners to sell land to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) if they wish. However, it does prevent state government from bidding on land in an auction and using farmers’ tax dollars to compete against them to purchase land.

Last week, the Senate unanimously passed Senate File 2204, making Iowa’s land protection laws even stronger and ensuring we know who is buying land in our state. The House passed the bill this week, and it is one of the first pieces of legislation this session to be sent to the governor’s desk for her signature. Amid the international uncertainty and the security threats we are constantly experiencing, this bill is one way Iowa can protect our greatest resource from bad actors.

Helping our Farmers Ensure that “Meat” Means Meat

I remember my wife at the dinner table coaxing our young kids to eat their “chicken”, even though we both knew it was really a pork chop or a small piece of steak cut into bite-sized pieces. Small children sometimes have to be encouraged with what is familiar to them. I never dreamed there would come a day when we in the Senate would have to discuss and pass legislation to define and protect what is meant by “meat”. This week the Senate unanimously passed a bill to protect Iowa’s hardworking livestock farmers and support our state’s agriculture industry. Senate File 2391 ensures food products that come from a cell-cultivated, plant, or insect protein cannot be labeled as beef, chicken, goat, pork, lamb, sheep, or turkey. This does not apply to products labeled as imitation or substitutes according to federal law. A cell-cultivated, insect, or plant protein product is permitted to use an identifiable meat term such as “drumstick” or “sausage” if the label includes a clear qualifying term such as “meatless”, “lab-grown”, or “plant-based.”

Iowa is the number one pork, corn, and egg producer in the country, and the second top producer of soybeans. In 2023, we had over 86,000 farms in Iowa, totaling 30 million acres. Our farmers work hard, day and night, to provide quality food products for our country and for the world. While providing for us, they have been dealing with high land prices and high costs for the things they need, like seed, feed, and equipment.

This legislation helps support Iowa farmers and ensures their work is not undermined by food products made in a lab. As a relatively new product, there is a lack of research on cell-cultivated protein, which has raised questions about the safety of these products. This bill requires products with these new types of proteins to market with integrity and make sure they cannot be confused with the quality meat farmers across the state are raising.

Appropriation of Opiod Settlement Funds

SF 2395 annually appropriates 75% of the moneys in the Opiod Settlement Fund to the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services and 25% to the Office of the Attorney General in accordance with any settlement agreement. The bill appropriates $18,825,000 to HHS and $6,275,000 to the AF’s Office upon enactment. Future contributions to the fund are nearly $8 million annually for the next fifteen years.

Unemployment Rules Prove Worthy and Become Law

In 2021, the Iowa Legislature reformed Iowa’s unemployment insurance program in an effort to get Iowans who lost their jobs back to work faster. Part of the implementation of that reform, as with many state policies, has been the adoption of rules at the agency level. This week the Senate passed Senate File 2106 to put those rules into law.

Data released last fall show this reform has been extraordinarily successful. The number of Iowans filing for unemployment fell almost in half, as did the time people spent on unemployment. Getting Iowans back to work faster helps address the workforce shortage and improves the lives of Iowans who lost their job.

Since fewer people are receiving assistance for a shorter amount of time, the unemployment trust fund has grown. Unemployment taxes paid by small businesses to fill the fund can now be reduced to their lowest level possible. Lower business taxes mean Iowa employers all across the state have more money to reward the work of their employees and expand their businesses, creating more career opportunities for all Iowans.

Attempting to understand Medicare can be a headache for many. With multiple pieces of mail piling up, trying to make sense of it all is not easy. Thankfully, Henry County has counselors that are able to provide assistance to those with questions.

SHIIP, Senior Health Insurance Information Program, offers one-on-one counseling that is completely free. The State of Iowa offers this confidential service to help Iowans make informed decisions about Medicare and other health coverage. These individuals do not sell or promote any insurance companies, policies, or agents.

Unfortunately, fraud is a real thing and people will call posing as Medicare volunteers. Some red flags of fraud that you should watch out for are charges on your Medicare Summary Notice (MSN0 or Explanation of Benefits (EOB) that you don’t recognize, High-pressure sales for Medicare Advantage (Part C) or drug plans, or a caller requesting your information. Medicare will never call you requesting your information, they will always mail a letter for official business. Make sure not to give out your Medicare number, as that is very important. If you have any questions, call a SHIIP counselor!

Counselors can be trusted because they once had the same questions that you have. They go through extensive training in order to best serve others. With multiple training sessions, homework, quizzes, and education on all topics related to Medicare, they certainly know what they are doing.

There are five SHIIP counselors currently, and they are expecting to bring a 6^th in 2024. An office assistant also helps to answer the phone, as this is a call-in program. If you’d like to request an appointment with a counselor, please call 319 385 6774 to set one up.

The next Welcome to Medicare Seminar is fast approaching, Tuesday April 2^nd at Health Education Center in HCHC from 6:30-8:30pm. They cover all the different aspects of Medicare. If you’d like to register for this Welcome to Medicare Seminar, please call 319 385 6774 and leave a message saying that you wish to enroll, and a volunteer will call you back.