STEEL ON WHEELS
BEST SHOT WINNERS
Brothers Doug North and Carson Whittington teamed up to defeat Chad Dryden and TJ Redding on the second playoff hole of the Crestmoor Best Shot Tournament. For more on the tournament, see SPORTS, page 5A. >>
Lenox hosted the sixth-annual Steel on Wheels celebration Saturday. For results from the barbecue contest and photos from the celebration, see page 10A. >>
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MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016
Adair County group looking to expand wind turbine project
CNA photo by SCOTT VICKER
The second Bulldog Turbine, located north of Orient, generates power Friday afternoon. The first Bulldog Turbine was built in 2009 and the second Bulldog Turbine was built in 2012. The Bulldog Turbines are two of 10 wind turbines built in Adair and Cass counties, providing power to the local communities.
Informational meetings will be 7 p.m. Wednesday in Mount Ayr and 7 p.m. Thursday in Osceola. ■
By SCOTT VICKER
CNA managing editor svicker@crestonnews.com
Over the past nine years, 10 wind turbines have been erected in Adair and Cass counties, providing the local communities with power and an added tax base. Project organizers are now looking at Ringgold and Clarke counties as possible locations to expand that project before tax credits run out at the end of 2017.
The 10 turbines currently up and running in Adair and Cass counties are limited liability companies owned by more than 200 individuals who have invested more than $10 million in the different projects. Informational meetings are being held this week in Osceola and Mount Ayr for people interested in investing in projects in those areas. An informational meeting will be 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Southwest Iowa Rural Electric Co-op meeting room in Mount Ayr and 7 p.m. Thursday at The Meeting Place, 1003 N. Main St., in Osceola. “We’re going to see if we can put up around eight or
10 new turbines between now and the end of next year,” said Randy Caviness, project manager. “To do that, we’re g o i n g to have meetings around the com- Caviness munities and let people invest if they want; let people take advantage of the things the billionaires have been taking advantage of for years.” In addition to providing more than 62 million kilowatt-hours of power last year – enough power for 6,000 households – the 10 current turbines also earned
member owners more than $1 million in tax credits last year. “From a utility perspective, it reduces the overall carbon footprint,” said Charlie Dunn, general manager of Farmers Electric Co-op in Greenfield. “One thing in the utility industry we like is having a mix of sources. We like to have a generation mix that includes the more standard resources such as nuclear, coal and gas plants, but renewable resources like solar and wind are certainly important, as well.” The wind turbines hook into the local company’s rural electric substations to WIND | 2A
Fire roars into California town, destroying more than 100 homes LOWER LAKE, Calif. (AP) — A wind-whipped wildfire roared through a Northern California town still recovering from a devastating blaze nearly a year ago, destroying more than 100 homes and forcing thousands of people to flee, authorities said Monday. The fire seemed calm Sunday before gusts kicked up the flames that tore through neighborhoods in Lower Lake, a town of 1,200 about 90 miles north of San Francisco, officials said. It reached Main Street and burned the post office, a winery, a Habitat for Humanity office and several businesses as thick, black smoke loomed over the small downtown strip. Staff at a hospital in Clearlake, a neighboring town of about 15,000, rushed to transfer 16 patients to another hospital and firefighters carried goats and other animals to safety as homes burned around them. The blaze was one of 11 large wildfires in California, where high temperatures and parched conditions brought on by a five-year drought raised the fire danger. In central California, a day-old wildfire burned 20 structures and threatened 150 homes. The Lower Lake fire broke out Saturday afternoon and exploded to nearly 5 square miles as it fed on bone-dry vegetation. Besides the wind, 100-degree heat hindered firefighters struggling to get a handle on the largely out-of-control blaze. “This fire roared through the city like a wave of water — it was a wave of fire that came through here,” said Lt. Doug Pittman, a Marin County sheriff’s spokesman working on behalf of the
“THIS fire roared through the city like a wave of water – it was a wave of fire that came through here.”
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LT. DOUG PITTMAN
Marin County sheriff’s spokesman
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Well over 100 homes were destroyed, Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said Monday. Officials did not immediately know how many businesses and other buildings were lost but say thousands are still threatened. No one was injured, and officials were hopeful the wind won’t pick up again like it did the day before. Residents who thought the fire was under control earlier Sunday went on errands in town and came back to roaring flames and smoke. Some used hoses or water from their pools to try to protect their houses. Rick Davis, 40, told the San Francisco Chronicle that he went to lunch in Lower Lake and rushed home when he heard the fire exploded. He used a hose to wet down his roof. “I’m just scared,” he said. “The wind can just change.” Nearby, Garrett Reed, 43, made similar preparations. “If I see embers and ash rain down, I will turn the sprinklers on the roof and get out,” he told the newspaper. “But this is my grandfather’s house, and I’m not going to lose it.” FIRE | 2A
CNA photo by KELSEY HAUGEN
Memorial poker run:
Stephanie Gelbowitz of Ankeny arrives on her motorcycle at CNA photo by SCOTT VICKER Creston Elks Lodge, the meal stop on the sixth-annual Josh Davis Memorial Poker Run, Saturday afternoon. The poker run was started to honor the late Josh Davis, a U.S. Marine from Perry who Checking out: Tractor Supply Company employee Leah Schuler scans an item for Gene died at age 19 while serving in Afghanistan. The route always begins at Perry Elks Lodge, and Cook of Creston during Creston Tractor Supply Company’s “private preview party” Friday evethis year, it included a stop in Creston for the first time. About 106 bikes and 175 people from all ning. Tractor Supply Company opened its doors from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday to preview the store to over Iowa participated. customers. The store opened for business Saturday.
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Copyright 2016
Volume 133 No. 53
2016
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