DES MOINES – Gov. Kim Reynolds has issued a disaster proclamation for Monona and Woodbury Counties in response to severe weather that occurred June 12 through 13. The governor’s proclamation allows state resources to be utilized to respond to and recover from the effects of this severe weather and activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program and Disaster Case Advocacy Program. 

The Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program provides grants of up to $5,000 for households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Grants are available for home or car repairs, replacement of clothing or food, and temporary housing expenses. The grant application and instructions are available on the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management website.

The Disaster Case Advocacy Program addresses serious needs related to disaster-related hardship, injury, or adverse conditions. There are no income eligibility requirements for this program.

(Radio Iowa) – The president of the Iowa State Association of Counties says county officials are hoping the state legislature makes changes in the 2023 law that capped property tax assessments. Barry Anderson, a Republican from Greenville, is a member of the Clay County Board of Supervisors.

Under the law, county officials must abide by limits on the general property tax levy as well as the levy for rural services.

Officials in about a dozen counties say their county’s share of money from the state’s Road Use Tax Fund is being reduced because of the new property tax calculations. Anderson says he hopes discussions with state lawmakers can be less adversarial, so changes can be made in 2025.

Anderson made his comments during a recent episode of “Iowa Press” on Iowa P-B-S. The 2023 state law says if the total assessed value of property in a county grows by more than three percent, some of the excess revenue must be used to reduce that county’s main property tax levy. In 2024, lawmakers reduced the required property tax cut in counties where growth in property tax assessments was under six percent.

(Radio Iowa) – Dozens of military veterans on motorcycles are riding from west to east on Highway 20 in northern Iowa today in an effort to voice concerns about their brothers and sisters in uniform who are struggling with mental health. Veteran and rider Matt DeSario says 22 veterans die by suicide daily in this country and they’re staging these rides to raise awareness. “This specific trip is riding from Casper, Wyoming,” DeSario says, “with a group of veterans from Kansas who rode up from Kansas, spent a day in Casper, Wyoming, and then now is traveling to Milwaukee where the Harley Davidson Museum will be sort of the finish line for this caravan.”

DeSario says the goal is to encourage others to get involved nationwide by showing veteran appreciation by Americans for Americans. He notes the near-900 mile route was chosen very specifically and the motorcyclists are adding to their numbers as they go. “Any bikers who want to join, any members of the general public who want to ride with us, whether they’re on a motorcycle or not, everyone is welcome,” “or if they just want to set up shop along Highway 20, it’s the Medal of Honor Highway, of course.”

Today’s portion of the trek across Iowa is 333 miles. They should reach Milwaukee tomorrow. Learn more about the journey and the motivations HERE.

(Radio Iowa) – A northwest Iowa art gallery is one of just three national stops for a traveling exhibit of over 40 paintings by international artists. The American Watercolor Society debuted the works in New York City in April before they were shipped to the Le Mars Arts Center. Nancy Thoma, president of the Arts Council in Le Mars, says it’s an amazing array. “There’s something for everyone in this exhibit. You don’t have to be an art lover or even an art appreciator to come in there and know that there was some major talent that produced some of these pieces,” she says. “You just wonder: ‘How did they do that?'”

The artworks will be on display in Le Mars through July 14th before being shipped to a museum in California. The traveling exhibit’s final stop will be early next year in Florida. Draven Haegs is the recently hired director of the Le Mars Arts Center. “To be perfectly honest, it’s a little bit daunting coming in and my first exhibit is this massive, prestigious organization that I studied a bit in college, so it’s an interesting exhibit to be a part of,” he says, “but it’s also one that I’m also so ecstatic to be a part of.”

The American Watercolor Society was founded in 1866. Famed artists Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth were members of the group, which holds an annual exhibition. The traveling exhibit’s opening this week in Le Mars is happening during the community’s annual “Ice Cream Days” celebration.