! e d i s n I e e S Senior Living
July 24, 2014
www.thebuchanancountynews.com
China trade mission
Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) and agribusiness leaders are in China this week to bolster bonds with soybean buyers and explore new growth opportunities. Participants will get updates on soybean demand and policy, visit farms and soybean processors and learn how soybean products can help the country’s growing dairy industry through a first-ever trip by ISA representatives to Inner Mongolia. The ISA delegation includes farmers Brian Kemp of Sibley and Tom Oswald of Cleghorn. More than one out of every four rows of U.S. soybeans are exported to China, the world’s largest soybean buyer. U.S. exported a record 1.58 billion bushels in 2013, valued at nearly $28 billion. Soybean exports this year are on pace to set a new record. U.S. clean Diesel sales diesel increase 25% car sales increased 25% during the first six months of 2014 while the overall U.S. car market has increased by 4.2%. This includes double digit increases in March (+ 39.5%), April (+ 60.4%) and May (+26.8%). While diesel cars and pickups make up only 3% of the overall U.S. vehicle market, most analysts predict the diesel market will double by 2018.
Largest producer of crude oil
Four years into the shale revolution, the U.S. is on track to pass Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world's largest producer of crude oil, according to Reuters. When that happens and by how much, though, has produced disparate estimates that depend on factors ranging from progress in drilling technology to the availability of financing and the price of oil itself. Forecasts for U.S. shale oil production vary from an increase of 7.5 million barrels per day by 2020 – almost doubling current domestic output of 8.5 bpd – to a gain of 1.5 million bpd, or less than half of what Iraq now produces. Thousands of bicyclists on RAGBRAI this week may wonder why some stretches of road are hilly, while others are flat. The answer is just a click away at www.iihr.uiowa.edu/igs/newsevents, which has seven online brochures – one for each day of RAGBRAI – that tell about the geological, cultural and natural features of the Iowa countryside. The brochures were developed by Iowa Geological Survey (IGS), Iowa Limestone Producers, Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources and University of Iowa.
RAGBRAI hills ...
75 Cents
Alana Platte crowned 2014 Buchanan County Fair Queen
City council considers options on buying former high school property By Steven C. Smith
Alana Platte of Fairbank will serve Buchanan County as the 2014 Fair Queen. She will be awarded a $500 scholarship and compete at the Iowa State Fair next month. The ceremony was held in Black Pavilion at the fairgrounds last Thursday. Stephanie McMillan, a 2014 Independence High School graduate, was named Miss Congeniality and Princess. She will receive a $250 scholarship. Pictured, top from left: Sydney Cindrich of Fairbank, Amanda Riniker of Winthrop, Alyssa Riniker of Winthrop, 2014 Fair Queen Alana Platte of Fairbank, Princess/Miss Congeniality Stephanie McMillan of Independence, Amanda Crow of Lamont, Jenny Adams of Lamont, and 2013 Fair Queen Suzanne Flexsenhar. Suzanne Flexsenhar crowns Alana Platte. 2014 Fair Queen Alana Platte and Princess/Miss Congeniality Stephanie McMillan. (Steven C. Smith Photos)
Supervisors hear more on mowing/spraying ditches and from new EDC director By Steven C. Smith
Buchanan County Supervisors Ellen Gaffney, Ralph Kremer and Gary Gissel met in regular session on Monday morning. Roadside Management Director Sherlyn Hazen reported there is a significant amount of mowing being done in the ditches around the county. She hopes to find a way to emphasize to county landowners that it is beneficial to wildlife and wild flowers not to mow ditches. Gaffney also noted that she knows of at least one farmer who is mowing and baling in the ditches. Residents must obtain a permit from the county engineer’s office to work in county rightsof-way. Iowa Code 314.17 prohibits mowing roadside vegetation on public rights-of-way or medians before July 15 each year except near city corporate limits, within 200 yards of inhabited dwellings, and areas requiring mowing for visibility and safety. Iowa Code 318.3 prohibits growing crops within a right-of-way. The codes are vague on procedure and penalty of violators. Hazen has also received calls about spraying weeds along ditches marked or requested as “no spray” areas. She pointed out that there are now over 50 properties in the county that request to not have ditches sprayed due to being adjacent to organic production areas or those with wild flowers in the ditch. Often, areas that have been sprayed in error have signs that are not visible due to vegetation growth. Roadside Management will provide “Do not spray” signs for those requesting them and emphasizes the landowner has responsibility to maintain the ditch in such a way that the signs are visible. Story continues on page 26.
Independence City Council held a work session Tuesday morning to discuss possible purchase of the former high school building in Independence. The meeting was attended by Mayor Davis, council members (Dallenbach and Grover absent) and Gary Gissel, a local contractor and developer who had also had the site inspected with an idea to develop the property into residential homes. The city had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Independence Community School District (ISCD) on March 10, 2014. The agreement called for the city to purchase the school and property for $1.00 pending an inspection period of 60 days and exclusivity for 90 days. Council approved $12,290 for services from Veenstra and Kimm, Inc. (V&K), to investigate the cost of repurposing the old high school building. The Memorandum of Understanding with the school shows ICSD willing to pay up to $5,000 of this cost. The report from V&K addresses existing conditions of the building and property including civil, structural, mechanical and electrical systems. Structural components of the building are all listed as “Good” on a scale of “Good/Fair/Poor.” Story continues on page 4.
EB tackles student proficiency goals By Christine Dale, Assistant Editor
Long range and annual goals were two of many agenda items discussed at the East Buchanan (EB) School Board meeting held July 14. Superintendent Dan Fox stated the School Improvement Advisory Committee (SIAC) chose to not modify last year’s goals. Although the district met its annual goals, it did not meet the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals tied to No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation approved in 2001. Fox said not meeting the goals “wasn’t for lack of trying.” Although overall scores are still good, EB is now on a NCLB watch list due to a dip in student proficiency in some areas compared to 2012-13. NCLB requires districts receiving Title I funding to meet APY proficiency targets for its total student population. Schools failing to meet these goals for two years are classified as “schools in need of improvement.” Many Iowa schools are on the watch or need of assistance list and in the past the Iowa Department of Education has requested a waiver to bypass federally determined target scores. Fox noted EB is moving in the right direction overall. In schools with smaller student populations, just one or two special education children added to a grade can cause the percentage of students proficient in a subject to drop. Initiatives are already in place to generate improvement according to Fox, and the math curriculum will be updated to fill in gaps. Board President Aaron Cook suggested pulling together scores from the last five years to evaluate progress. Story continues on page 26.