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www.charlescitypress.com • facebook.com/charlescitypress • 641-228-3211 $ 1.25 • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2021 Vol. 124, No. 76 2 sections, 28 pages SSN:1049-7242 Weather brought to you by 72/39 DETAILS, PAGE 2 TODAY LOCAL CALENDAR .... 2 LOTTERIES................. 2 JOURNAL .................... 4 COMMUNITY .............. 6 CHURCH ..................... 7 CLASSIFIED ADS ....... 8 SPORTS ................. 9-10 COMICS ............... 11-12 Cedar Valley Iowa Realty & Auction Co. 1206 Gilbert Street Charles City, IA 50616 Office (641) 228-4262 Cell (641) 330-2566 Fax (641) 228-4265 Gene LaBounty Broker Associate www.cedarvalleyiowarealty.com Home Improvement & Car Care Fall 2021 Remodeling Ideas for your Kitchen & Dining room Tips before deciding to do DIY demolition in your home Winter is coming are your gutters ready? What to look for when test driving preowned vehicles A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE SEPT. 24TH2021 CHARLES CITY PRESS INSIDE TODAY! Property owners question pipeline impact public informational meeting clears the way for co2 storage project to begin negotiating for easements By Bob Steenson [email protected] More than 100 people gath- ered at the Floyd Community Center Monday evening to hear about a proposed carbon diox- ide pipeline running through Floyd County — and potentially through their properties. The meeting, held by the Iowa Utilities Board, was the first opportunity for Summit Carbon Solutions to present de- tails of its planned $4.5 billion, 2,000-mile, five-state pipeline network to Floyd County land- owners who are in its path. Josh Byrnes, a former area legislator from Osage who is now a member of the Iowa Util- ities Board, started off the meet- ing explaining some of the legal process that Summit Carbon will need to go through in Iowa. It includes holding meetings similar to Monday night’s gath- ering in each of the 30 coun- ties that the project will impact in the state. The Floyd County meeting was the eighth meet- ing the Iowa Utilities Board and Summit Carbon Solutions have held, beginning with Hardin County a week earlier. The last in-person meeting is scheduled for Oct. 15 in Web- ster County, and there will also be an online virtual meeting held Tuesday, Oct. 12. Thirty days after the final meeting, PIPELINE, turn to page 17 Press photo by Bob Steenson A Floyd County property owner asks several questions at a meeting Monday evening at the Floyd Community Center. Submitted photo 2021 Charles City High School Homecoming royalty are, front, Alyvia Vance, Hannah Lahner, Lydia Staudt, Rachel Chambers and Michellel Jones; back, Colton Crooks, Chase Crooks, Tino Tamayo, Ian Collins and Mario Hoefer. CCHS Homecoming Week is next week. The theme for Homecoming this year is “Night of the Comet.” Homecoming week ahead activities start tuesday, culminate friday with parade, game, dance By James Grob [email protected] Charles City High School is ready to paint the town “Orange and Black.” CCHS Homecoming will get back into full swing next week, with pep rallies, ball games, Comet decor, spe- cial days and festivities and the annual crowning of the CCHS Homecoming king and queen. Homecoming royalty, announced Thursday, are queen candidates Alyvia Vance, Hannah Lahner, Lydia Staudt, Rachel Chambers and Michellel Jones, and king candidates Colton Crooks, Chase Crooks, Tino Tamayo, Ian Col- lins and Mario Hoefer. The fun gets started on Tuesday, as there are no classes Monday due to a teacher professional development day. The theme for Homecoming this year is “Night of the Comet.” The Charles City High School student tailgate will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, with the pep rally at Comet Gym starting at 1:30 p.m. The coronation will be at 2:55 p.m. on Friday, and the parade will start at 4:15 and run down Main Street. Dress-up days at the high school and middle school this year will be “Color Day” on Tuesday, “Dress Like Your Favorite Teacher Day” on Wednesday, “Generation Day” on Thursday and “Orange and Black Day” on Friday. The community tailgate will be at 5 p.m. on Friday, which is when the fresh- man/sophomore football game will start. ACTIVITIES, turn to page 18 Hearing Tuesday may ok simply Essentials’ sale bankruptcy court judge set to rule on several motions By Bob Steenson [email protected] A hearing that may settle several questions regarding the sale of the Simply Essentials chicken process- ing plant in Charles City is sched- uled for next Tuesday morning, Sept. 28, in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Cedar Rapids. The main purpose of the hearing will be to consider a motion by the federal bankruptcy court trustee in the case to sell the Simply Essen- tials assets for $9.5 million to In- ternational Poultry Breeders LLC, which will be doing business as The Best Dressed Chicken. International Poultry Breeders (IPB) is a U.S. company affiliated with Wincorp International Inc., and both companies are subsidiaries of Jamaica Broilers Group Ltd. IPB/Wincorp was the only bidder for the Simply Essentials assets at an auction that was held Aug. 11. After that auction, bankruptcy trust- ee Larry Eide, a Mason City attor- ney, filed a motion for permission to make the sale, and a hearing on that motion was set for Sept. 9. Soon after, however, an objection to the sale was filed by a group of eight Simply Essentials creditors who had been among the farms and farm- ers contracted to provide chickens to Simply Essentials. After the objec- tion was filed, Eide requested that the hearing on the sale be continued (postponed) until later this month. Last Friday the U.S. Bankruptcy Court announced that the new hear- ing date is Sept. 28 The creditors who filed the objec- tion to the sale argued that another group, Pure Prairie Farms Inc., had previously made an offer of $9.5 million that Eide had accepted as HEARING, turn to page 19 COVID delays murder trial until next year By Bob Steenson [email protected] A Charles City man whose trial on charges including first-degree murder was supposed to have start- ed last week will now wait until January for the trial to begin. Shane Michael Morris, age 26, had been charged with first degree murder and child endangerment resulting in death for his alleged involvement in the death of his 3½-month-old son in August 2019. The trial had been scheduled to begin Tuesday, Sept. 14, but was continued last week because “sever- al individuals necessary for the trial have been exposed to COVID-19,” according to an order by Judge James Drew filed in Floyd County District Court. On Tuesday this week a notice was filed in District Court saying the trial has been rescheduled to begin Jan. 24, 2022. Two weeks has been allotted for the trial, the notice said, the same length of time that had been scheduled originally. Morris is accused of being re- sponsible for the death of his son, Xander Michael Morris, who was taken to Floyd County Medical Center on the morning of Aug. 3, 2019. The boy was intubated at the Floyd County hospital, then transferred by air ambulance to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minne- sota, where he died on Aug. 4, al- legedly as the result of injuries. An autopsy was performed at the Southern Minnesota Region- al Medical Examiner’s Office on Aug. 5, and concluded the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and the manner was homicide, according to the criminal complaint filed in Floyd County District Court. CCADC resuming furnace program funds found for 18-19 projects in low income homes By Bob Steenson [email protected] The Charles City Area Development Corp. will resume a popular furnace replacement program for awhile, using money it has on hand, now that the pro- gram is no longer eligible for funding through an area Housing Trust Fund. The program, which began in 2016, offered free furnace replacements to low-income homeowners, and re- duced-price furnace replacements to moderate-income homeowners. The program was offered through the Floyd County Housing Trust Fund and administered by the CCADC. Funding came through a USDA Rural Development Grant and from the Iowa Finance Authority. When the county had its own Hous- ing Trust Fund Board it decided to place its emphasis on the furnace replacement program, and over the years 489 homes throughout the county have received new furnaces, representing an invest- ment of more than $1.5 million, said Tim Fox, CCADC executive director. Several years ago, however the Floyd County Housing Trust Fund was merged with the North Iowa Council of Govern- ments Housing Trust Fund. The purpose of the merger was to enable the group to receive more state funding, but the NI- ACOG group also wanted to emphasize housing rehabilitation and do away with the furnace replacement program. The Floyd County Housing Trust Fund furnace replacement program ran its final year in 2020. Although the organization is no longer receiving funding for furnace replacements, the Area Development Corp. still has a little more than FURNACES, turn to page 3
