A large portion of Woodbury County will be in a burn ban starting today at 6 p.m. The areas included in the ban are: Anthon, Bronson, Correctionville, Cushing, Danbury, Lawton, Moville, Oto, Pierson, Salix, Sergeant Bluff, Sloan and Smithland.
This only applies to the portions within Woodbury County, according to the Iowa State Fire Marshall.
The National Drought Monitor shows Woodbury County and much of Northwest Iowa continue to experience conditions ranging from abnormally dry to extreme drought. Some locations in northeast Nebraska and southeast South Dakota are one step further, reaching exceptional drought.
The University of Nebraska Board of Regents on Friday signed off on a plan to allow for the sale of beer, wine and liquor at Husker men's and women's basketball games beginning this season.
The board met at the University of Nebraska at Kearney and approved the change on a 7-0 vote.
Under terms of the pilot project, which lasts through the 2023-24 season, 90% of the net revenue from alcohol sales would go to the city.
The city holds the liquor license for the arena, as well as a $10 million alcohol liability insurance policy, and is responsible for choosing what concessions are sold -- including alcoholic drinks.
Last week, Husker athletic director Trev Alberts said UNL expects its 10% share of the net revenue will generate roughly $100,000 this year.
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission is planning to raise the penalty against casinos for underage gambling and violations of the self-ban.
During their meeting Thursday they discussed raising the minimum penalty from one to three thousand dollars.
Large Iowa energy users said Thursday they're exploring buying electricity on the open market, potentially bypassing the state's utilities in an effort to lower their power costs.
A representative of Iowa's utilities said they are concerned the move is an effort to deregulate their markets and could lead to a less-reliable energy supply and higher costs for other customers.
Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says a “significant” percentage of landowners should agree to let carbon pipelines run through their property before any developer is granted eminent domain authority to acquire land from unwilling property owners.
John Norwood, a small business owner and Polk County Soil and Water Commissioner, is the Democrat who’s running against Naig.
Norwood says the pipelines aren’t the right answer for the long term success of the ethanol industry.
