On Sunday, June 26 at approximately 9:59pm, the Henry County Sheriff’s Office received reports of a motor vehicle accident in the 1300 Grid of Salem Road with unknown injuries. Deputies responded to the scene and located a single vehicle in the ditch facing north. The driver of the vehicle, Levi Scott Vaughn Wolfe of Batavia, Iowa, had swerved to avoid a collision with an animal in the roadway and over corrected thus losing control of the vehicle. Upon further investigation, it appeared that the vehicle was traveling east bound and spun across the center of the road and into the ditch on the north side of the road. The vehicle went through a fence and continued through the ditch area before colliding with a tree. Levi was uninjured and declined medical attention on scene. The vehicle sustained disabling damage and was removed from the scene later that night.

Mount Pleasant Police were part of the pursuit that took place on Hwy 218 Tuesday morning. Police say a call came in just after 11 am reporting a truck southbound but not staying in the correct lane. The truck’s yellow hazard lights were also illuminated.  A police officer attempted to make contact with the driver, identified as Jesse Yount of Florissant, Missouri.  However, Yount continued south on 218 at speeds of up to 100 miles an hour.  At one point the chase led officers onto West Washington Street and then south on Grand Avenue before the driver returned to 218. Yount continued south into Lee County where law enforcement agencies were alerted that Yount was still headed south but in the northbound lanes of 218. At one point the vehicle crossed thru the median and back into the southbound lanes. Stop sticks were deployed in an effort to stop the vehicle. Yount lost control of the truck causing it to flip several times. Yount got out of the truck and ran south before being apprehended. Yount was transported to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries. He is charged with reckless driving and eluding, improper or erratic lane changing and failure to yield to emergency vehicles.

Andi Scott and Elsie Lange of Mount Pleasant recently participated in the Youth Tour of Washington, D.C., sponsored by Access Energy Cooperative. They spent June 19-24 in Washington, D.C., with 33 other student leaders from Iowa.

Each year in June, this weeklong leadership development program provides high school students opportunities to learn first-hand about government, the electric cooperative business model, and today’s pressing issues in the energy industry. Students met their elected representatives in the U.S. House and Senate, toured historic sites, and ran their very own snack cooperative.

Andi and Elsie were chosen from applicants representing the entire 10-county service area of the cooperative to represent Access Energy Cooperative for the 2022 Youth Tour. In the fall, Andi will be a senior at Mount Pleasant Community High School. She is the daughter of Nathan and Danielle Scott. She participates in basketball, show choir, competition cheer, Chamber Ambassadors, church events and volunteers at Midwest Old Threshers. During the summer she works at the Mt. Pleasant Aquatic Center and mows lawns.

Elsie Lange, daughter of Nathan and Kelly Lange, will be a junior at Mount Pleasant Community High School. She participates in basketball, cross county, track, marching band, student council, Silver Cord, and helps tutor middle school students. Elsie is active in the Chamber Ambassadors program, Fellowship of Christian Athletes Club, Youth of Christ events, and is the leader of the Youthify Movement in Mount Pleasant. When she is not volunteering, she works at Jane Anne Boutique and babysits for several families.

During Youth Tour the IAEC was able to arrange for Iowa students to place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns during their visit to Arlington National Cemetery. Elsie Lange was among the students chosen to represent Iowa in this ceremony.

The Electric Cooperative Youth Tour has been a joint effort of locally-owned electric cooperatives, such as Access Energy Cooperative, their statewide trade associations, and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) for nearly 60 years.

Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report

June 20 – 26, 2022

DES MOINES, Iowa (June 27, 2022) – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig commented today on the Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. The report is released weekly April through November.

“The long stretch of hot days finally ended late last week as a shift in the weather pattern moderated temperatures over the weekend,” said Secretary Naig. “In the presence of below-normal rainfall and warmer-than-average conditions, drought expanded in northwest Iowa, where precipitation deficits have persisted for almost two years. Short-term outlooks into July show better chances of wetter conditions, which would be beneficial as we reach a critical stage in crop development.”

The weekly report is also available on the USDA’s website at nass.usda.gov.

Crop Report

Mostly warm and dry conditions resulted in 5.8 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending June 26, 2022, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Fieldwork activities included cutting hay and spraying crops.

Topsoil moisture condition rated 6 percent very short, 22 percent short, 67 percent adequate and 5 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture condition rated 5 percent very short, 22 percent short, 68 percent adequate and 5 percent surplus.

Corn condition rating was 80 percent good to excellent. Ninety-seven percent of soybeans have emerged, 4 days behind last year but 3 days ahead of the 5-year average. Two percent of soybeans were blooming, 12 days behind last year and 1 week behind the average. Iowa’s soybean condition rating remained 80 percent good to excellent. Eighty percent of the oat crop has headed, 2 days behind last year. Twelve percent of oats were turning color, 6 days behind last year. Iowa’s oat condition was 81 percent good to excellent.

Ninety-one percent of the State’s first cutting of alfalfa hay has been completed and the second cutting has started with 6 percent complete. All hay condition rated 72 percent good to excellent. Pasture condition rated 62 percent good to excellent.

Weather Summary

Provided by Justin Glisan, Ph.D., State Climatologist, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship

Temperatures across Iowa were cooler than the previous reporting period, though still several degrees above normal. Portions of northern Iowa reported positive departures of up to six degrees; the statewide average temperature was 75.4 degrees, 3.1 degrees above normal. Moderate to heavy rain fell across eastern Iowa where several stations measured at least two inches of above average totals. Western Iowa remained unseasonably dry with departures approaching two inches below normal.

Southerly winds and cloudless skies boosted Sunday (19^th) afternoon temperatures into the mid 90s in western Iowa while eastern Iowa experienced mid to upper 80s. Stars were shining overnight into Monday (20^th) with morning temperatures well above average, ranging from the upper 70s northwest to low 60s southwest. Sweltering conditions developed into the afternoon hours as dewpoint temperatures pushed into the low to mid 70s, creating triple-digit heat index values in the presence of mid 90-degree air temperatures and clear skies; the statewide average high was 93 degrees, 11 degrees above normal. Anomalously warm morning temperatures remained into Tuesday (21^st) with lows in the mid to upper 70s over most of Iowa under starry skies. A dry cold front pushed through Iowa during the daytime hours, shifting winds to a northwesterly direction and lowering the humidity. Temperatures remained in the upper 80s north to mid 90s south, though conditions were appreciably less muggy behind the front. Ample instability was present in southeastern Iowa to fire strong to severe thunderstorms along the surface boundary later in the evening. Several stations in south-central Iowa measured at least 0.50 inch of rainfall with Rathbun Dam (Appanoose County) reporting 1.36 inches. Skies cleared overnight into Wednesday (22^nd) with winds becoming light and northwesterly. The incoming airmass was dry and pleasant, allowing afternoon highs to peak in the mid to upper 80s. Partly cloudy conditions developed in southwestern Iowa into Thursday (23^rd) with overnight lows dropping into the low to mid 60s statewide. Showers skirted to the Iowa-Missouri border just after noon before dissipating in the late evening. Daytime highs varied from the upper 70s southwest to the low 90s north and west.

Thunderstorms formed in western Iowa later in the night and persisted across central Iowa into Friday (24^th) morning. The complex lost some energy as showers moved into eastern Iowa into the afternoon hours. Several stations in Polk and Story counties measured from 1.07 inches to 1.50 inches. A secondary, narrow line popped up in southern Iowa during the evening hours. The main disturbance fired thunderstorms in the northwest and stretched over northern Iowa overnight into Saturday (25^th) leading to flooding in Sioux and O’Brien counties. Heavy rainfall associated with stronger thunderstorms was also reported in eastern Iowa with 44 stations across the state observing at least an inch of rainfall; Iowa City (Johnson County) measured 3.75 inches while the statewide average total was 0.81 inch. An additional line of thunderstorms formed along and ahead of a cold front during the late afternoon hours dropping heavier rainfall in eastern Iowa with Muscatine (Muscatine County) picking up 1.36 inches. Overnight lows into Sunday (26^th) cooled into the upper 50s in western Iowa while low to mid 60s were observed in eastern Iowa.

Weekly precipitation totals ranged from no accumulation at several western Iowa stations to 4.25 inches at Iowa City (Johnson County). The statewide weekly average precipitation was 0.91 inch while the normal is 1.05 inches. Multiple stations reported the week’s high temperature of 99 degrees on the 20^th, 21^st and 22^nd, on average 16 degrees above normal. Audubon (Audubon County) reported the week’s low temperature of 50 degrees on the 26^th, six degrees below normal.