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Guthrie County Deputy Sheriff Kent Gries reported a car vs. deer accident occurring on Nov. 13 at 5:45 p.m. on Highway 25. James Matthew Shultz, 64, of Casey, was driving a 2018 Mazda CX5 southbound in the 1500 block of Highway 25 and struck a deer in the roadway, causing an estimated $7,500 in damage. No injuries were reported.
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Guthrie County Deputy Sheriff Blake Michelsen reported an abandoned vehicle incident on Nov. 29 at 12:36 p.m. on 280th Road. When on the scene, Deputy Sheriff Michelsen reported discovering a 1995 Buick Regal Custom driven by Donald Paul Felgate, 39, of Panora, had been in a collision due to evidence present and the disabling damage to the vehicle. The vehicle was towed from the scene, and a hold was put in place. When Deputy Sheriff Michelsen spoke to Felgate, he advised that he was the driver and that he drove straight off the curve due to the fog. Estimated damage to the Buick is $10,000. Estimated damage to the culvert on the property of Linda Smithson is estimated at $1,000.
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Guthrie County Deputy Sheriff Blake Michelsen reported a two-vehicle collision occurring on Nov. 24 on Highway 25. Darin Robert Barker, 60, of Coon Rapids, was driving a 2023 Mack semi and rear-ended a 2014 Ram 3500 pickup driven by Nicholas, Joseph Miller, 67, of Lake City on or near the railroad bridge underpass. Estimated damage to the Mach semi is $10, 0000, and estimated damage to the Ram pickup is also $10,000.
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Guthrie County Deputy Sheriff Jason Gray reported a car vs. deer accident occurring on Nov. 20 at 8:51 p.m. on Luna Avenue. Angel Bernardo Gonzales Rodriguez, 21, of Omaha, Nebraska, was driving a 2023 Nissan Altima northbound on Luna Avenue when a deer came from the east ditch and struck the vehicle on the driver side. Estimated damage to the Nissan is $1,500.
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Guthrie County Deputy Sheriff Kent Gries reported a single-vehicle accident occurring on Nov. 27 at 4:20 p.m. on Wax Trail. Collin Trent Adams, 19, of Stuart, was driving a 2008 Hyundai Accent eastbound on 340th Street and was turning northbound onto Wax Trail. Adams was driving too fast for the gravel, lost control and overturned onto the vehicle’s top in the east ditch. Three occupants were in the vehicle, and none were injured. The Iowa State patrol assisted at the scene and with the follow-up investigation. Damage to the Hyundai is estimated at $5,000.
Becky Simpson (center) of Redfield is presented the 2025 National Hereford Woman of the Year award by incoming National Hereford Women (NHW) President Bellana Putz (left) and outgoing NHW President Beth Mansfield (right).
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Becky Simpson of Redfield was honored as the 2025 National Hereford Woman of the Year during the annual meeting of the American Hereford Association, held in Kansas City during the World Hereford Conference. Each year, the National Hereford Women recognize an outstanding woman who tirelessly promotes the Hereford breed and supports the organization. Selection is based on contributions to the breed, service and philanthropy.
Simpson, who retired a year ago as administrative secretary of the Iowa Hereford Breeders Association (IHBA), has been around Hereford cattle her entire life. Her family raised purebred Herefords on their farm in central Illinois, and she showed her first 4-H heifer in 1959. A charter member of the Illinois Junior Hereford Association, she showed cattle at the state and national levels. Her biggest showring accomplishment was winning the 1967 Illinois State Fair reserve grand champion steer title with a homebred calf, the day after being crowned Illinois Hereford Queen.
She and her husband, Mike, whom she met when they both worked at the American Polled Hereford Association, became involved with Iowa Herefords in the 1980s through their two sons’ participation in the junior association. Around the same time, she became an active supporter of Panora-Linden/Panorama Community Schools, where she served as a volunteer aide in second grade for more than 20 years, helped start the Panorama PTO and worked on several bond issues
In 1997, Becky began nearly three decades of service to the IHBA, beginning with producing the association’s newsletter, a task that afforded her the opportunity to make use of her communications degree from the University of Illinois. What started as a black-and-white newsletter hand-folded at her kitchen table grew into 118 issues that connected and inspired Hereford breeders across the state. In addition, she and Mike managed the state sale for five years and the association’s directory for more than 20 years. She was inducted into the Iowa Hereford Hall of Fame in 2014.
She served two terms on the IHBA board of directors beginning in 2001, often as the only woman at the table. Her steady leadership as secretary prepared her for what would become her calling: serving as the IHBA’s first paid administrative secretary beginning in 2007. For the next 17 years, Becky worked alongside 10 presidents and more than 50 board members, with her trademark attention to details, respect for rules and commitment to doing things right, all fueled by her love of Herefords and the people who raise them. She says that her father, a lifelong Hereford enthusiast, was right when he would say, “You meet the best people through cattle.”
Mike and Becky dispersed their Simpson Polled Herefords herd in December 2024 but stay involved with the IHBA and the breed in an unofficial capacity — which this past summer included their annual vacation trip to the Junior National Hereford Expo and assisting in the ring at the Iowa State Fair.