Joni Ernst’s hosted a town hall Friday, August 4 at Access Energy Cooperative on her River to River Tour across the state of Iowa. The room was full as Mayor Steve Brimhall led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance and introduced the senator. Ernst said she was there to “take the heat” and immediately opened the conversation up for questions.

Out of the gate, a question on what can be done to restore citizens’ trust and belief in our government was asked. While Ernst admitted it can be a bit depressing working on these issues and fighting through the corruption surfacing in our government agencies, she said, “I’ve done a lot of traveling around the globe and folks, we still live in the best nation on the face of the planet…we can get through this. I’m an eternal optimist.”

The theme continued when a question was raised about election reform and trust in the election process. Joni Ernst mentioned her previous role as a county auditor and said, “I trust our elections we have here in the state of Iowa.” She went on to say she believes it is up to the states to come up with their own election process and while not all states have the best system, it would be detrimental if the federal government was to take over the election process. Claiming again, Iowa may have one of, if not the best election processes in the country.

States rights was a common thread in the Senator’s remarks and reasoning in her voting and support for certain bills. A question about Critical Race Theory in schools was brought up and in response Senator Ernst feels it is up to local and state departments to handle, not the federal government. States rights were a major part of her decision in her support for the Respect for Marriage Act. Joni Ernst feels the bill returns the choice to each state. So, because the state of Iowa recognizes same sex marriage, government actors in Iowa must respect the law and give the same rights to all married couples stating, “If you don’t like same sex marriage, talk to your state officials here in Iowa about that.”

When interviewing Ernst after the town hall, KILJ asked if there was something on her mind she was surprised was not mentioned during this particular town hall. Ernst said, “Of course we’re working on the farm bill. And the farm bill wasn’t brought up at all today which is really unusual….there will be some push and pull as we work through this…..it may not be done by the end of September, but I anticipate by the early part of next year we’ll be able to get it done and signed into law.”

Henry County Public Health, the Henry County Health Center, and ISU Extension and Outreach partnered to complete a new community health assessment of Henry County. This assessment will allow them to form a 3-year action plan to improve the health of Henry County.

They began by surveying the community and results were shared at a recent Healthy Henry County Communities meeting. A few of the findings from this survey include:

– The top health concerns in Henry County are Mental Health, Obesity, Substance Abuse, and Aging Problems.

– One of the questions asked of surveyors in Henry County was the five most Important factors for a healthy community and good quality of life. The top five answers were access to health care, good schools, low crime/safe neighborhoods, good jobs and healthy economy, and quality and affordable housing.

– When asked which barriers keep individuals and their families from being healthy, Henry County residents top 5 concerns were low wages, access to mental health care, lack of free recreational opportunities, health insurance coverage, and access to specialty care. Similarly, Henry County residents reported mental health services, specialty physicians, healthier food, wellness services, and affordable health insurance as missing or most needed in our community to improve their health.

– Residents were also asked what things our community does well. The five top answers were locally owned and operated businesses, parks and recreation, trails and sidewalks, quality schools, and reasonable commutes. The top five answers in areas our community could improve comprised of affordable and quality housing, affordable and quality childcare, variety of food options, good jobs, and transportation options (such as taxi, bus, and bike).

Healthy Henry County Communities members also reviewed local health data related to findings in the survey. That data showed the following:

– Henry County ranked lower than both the state of Iowa and the United States in cases of Diabetes and Prediabetes. 7.8% of adults age 20+ diagnosed with diabetes, this is 0.6% lower than the state of Iowa and 1.2% lower than the United States percentage at 9%.

– In the category of Heart Disease and Stroke, Henry County ranked higher in percentage of Medicare beneficiaries with heart disease at 30.1% (6.1% higher than Iowa, 3.2% higher than national), coronary heart disease mortality at 129.5 cases per 100,000 people (27.2 higher than Iowa, 38 higher than national), and stroke mortality at 47.8 per 100,000 residents (5.4 higher than Iowa, 10.2 higher than national).

– In Henry County 18% of adults are smokers compared to 17% in the state of Iowa.

– The leading causes of death under age 75 in Henry County are

o Cancer, the top 5 most common being lung & bronchus, breast, prostate, colon & rectum, and melanoma of the skin. (Risk Factors: Obesity, diet, physical activity, alcohol, cigarette smoking and tobacco use, infections, radiation, and environmental risk factors)

o Heart Disease (Risk Factors: High Blood Pressure, High LDL Cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and secondhand smoke exposure, obesity, unhealthy diet, and physical activity)

o Accidents

Kelly Carr, Community Outreach Coordinator with Henry County Public Health, states that looking at both the survey results and related statistics helps give them an overview of the major health concerns and contributing factors for Henry County. They will then use this information to create a 3-year health improvement plan that Henry County Public Health, Healthy Henry County Communities, Henry County Health Center and ISU Extension and Outreach will work on together. The Community Health Assessment and Health Improvement Plan will be posted when completed at HealthyHenryCounty.org/PublicHealth.

Mount Pleasant Community School District residents should mark down their calendars for September 12th after the school board approved a resolution to call for an election on their revenue purpose statement.

The revenue purpose statement governs how the district can utilize the statewide penny sales tax for school infrastructure. The money collected from this pre-existing statewide tax is divided up by the Department of Revenue on a per people statewide basis then given to the school districts.

Some examples of what the money is used for are the elementary air conditioning, school bus purchases, the parking lot at the middle school, and the general upkeep of the schools.

John Henriksen, Superintendent of the Mt. Pleasant Community School District, stated that right now the district has the “broadest use that is available.” Moreover, the state legislature extended the statewide penny sales tax until 2049.

The election is looking to renew their revenue purpose statement to still allow for the flexibility that the school district has right now for the future. According to Mr. Henriksen, this is important in that the penny sales tax allocates about 2 million dollars a year for the district.

The school district will be asking the community to participate in the election on September 12th. KILJ will have more information as the date draws closer.

Big Hollow Lake
The water temperature is 83 degrees. Thermocline is bottoming out at 6 feet. Water clarity is 30 inches. Black Crappie – Slow: Crappies remain in 6 feet of water in the flooded timber. Vertical jigging works best. Slip bobber and minnows are also picking up a few fish. Bluegill – Slow: Look for bluegill in 5-6 feet of water. Some of the bigger brush piles at the upper end of the lake are good for that depth. Worm and bobber works best in the dense cover. Channel Catfish – Fair: Look for catfish along the face of the dam and in the old creek channel, especially out from the boat ramp bay where the old bridge was.  Largemouth Bass – Slow: Look for bass down at about 6 feet, no deeper. Flip soft plastics and jigs back into the flooded timber at 4-6 feet down to find them.

Lake Belva Deer
Water clarity is a couple of feet. Thermocline is at 5 to 7 feet. Water temperature is 83 degrees. Black Crappie – Slow: A few anglers early in the morning are still picking up a few in about 6 to 7 feet along the trees out from the beach. Bluegill – Slow: Try vertically jigging around the trees to a depth of about 6-7 feet.  Drift quietly from spot to spot; use a 1/64 oz jig tipped with a waxworm. Try the bays on the south side where there is more shade on the water. Channel Catfish – Fair: Along the face of the dam is always a good place to catch nice catfish. Don’t forget to try the “Old Pond”. Largemouth Bass – Slow: Bass are suspended down about 6-7 feet out in the trees. Try soft plastic or weedless jigs early in the morning.

Lake Darling
Water temperature is 82 degrees. Water clarity is about 20 inches. Water remains a green color. The thermocline bottoms out at 9 feet. Most fish are hanging out at between 6.5 and 7.5 feet to stay cool. Bluegill – Slow: Try slow trolling a small (1/64 oz) jig tipped with a waxworm over tops of the rock piles. Channel Catfish – Fair: Use chicken liver just off where the rip-rap ends underwater. Catfish like to cruise along this edge looking for food. It also keeps them in 6-7 feet of water. Largemouth Bass – Slow: Water is fairly clear below the phytoplankton layer (about 2.5 feet). Run a shallow diving crankbait (0-4 feet) just below that in the morning or a medium diver (5-9 feet) trolled a little later in the day.

Lake Geode
The water temperature is 85-86 degrees. Water clarity is down to 24 inches with the phytoplankton. The bottom of the thermocline is holding out at 9 feet. Black Crappie – Slow: Crappies are out in deeper water for the summer. Try slow trolling in 8 to 10 feet of water along the drop-offs. Bluegill – Slow: Work the rock piles and flats in 8-9 feet of water or try slow trolling along the drop-offs with a small jig tipped with a waxworm. Largemouth Bass – Slow: Bass are out at the drop-offs; they have slid down the slope a little to cooler water to avoid the heat. They have decent oxygen at about 8-9 feet of water. Best bite is early or just as the sun goes down.

Lost Grove Lake
Water clarity has remained fairly good this summer at 7 1/2 feet. Water temperature is in the low 80s. The thermocline starts at 7 feet and bottoms out at 12 feet. Lost Grove Lake has Eurasian Watermilfoil; be sure to clean all vegetation off your boat and trailer before leaving the boat ramp area. Black Crappie – Slow: Crappies are out along the edge of the flooded timber in 8 to 10 feet of water. Try vertical jigging or slow trolling until you find them. Bluegill – Fair: Try slip bobbers and worms off the jetties in 5-6 feet of water. Channel Catfish – Fair: A few anglers are catching catfish along the face of the dam down along the rocks in about 10 feet of water using cut bait or stink bait. Largemouth Bass – Slow: Try vertically jigging in or along the outer edge of the flooded timber in 10-12 feet of water. Water temperature down there is about 5 to 6 degrees cooler. Weedless rigged soft plastics can help you keep out of the snags.

Skunk River (Rose Hill to Coppock)
Water levels continue to drop. The riffle above Brighton is visible above the water. The water temperature was up to 86 at the end of last week. Channel Catfish – Fair: With the drop in water levels, find the deeper water and the fish will be there. Use stink baits and chicken livers.

For more information on the above lakes and rivers call the Lake Darling Fisheries Office at 319- 694-2430.

After concluding its investigation into the Ottumwa Fire Department, the city of Ottumwa has fired three firefighters. Firefighters Derek Fye, Dillon McPherson, along with Captain Bill Keith have all been relieved of their responsibilities.

The city reports that McPherson has chosen to resign rather than be fired. His and Fye’s dismissal was the result of their actions and behaviors that violated department rules, safe practices, and the values and standards of the City of Ottumwa.

Keith was fired for what the city describes as his “failure to adequately lead those under his command and displaying an attitude of indifference toward holding employees accountable to the values and standards of the department and the city of Ottumwa.”

The city says it would try to temporarily divide the duties among the remaining employees as it searches for long-term replacements for the three departing workers.