DES MOINES – Gov. Reynolds has approved more than $440,000 to cover a backlog of Iowa Veterans Trust Fund (IVTF) grants that were approved by the Iowa Commission of Veterans Affairs between March 3, 2021, and November 3, 2022, before the program was temporarily suspended due to insufficient funds. The funds are from the state’s allocation of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, through the American Rescue Plan Act.

The IVTF, which is funded by the Iowa Lottery Authority and managed by the commission, receives a $500,000 annual appropriation from the Iowa Legislature to help eligible veterans and their families with expenses related to dental care, education, or emergency needs.  Over time, the commission obligated funding beyond the program’s appropriation, recently resulting in a backlog of applications and insufficient funds to reimburse veterans’ expenses.

“I’m pleased that this funding will finally provide veterans the financial assistance they were approved to receive,” Gov. Reynolds stated. “We owe Iowa’s veterans a debt of gratitude and we must ensure that the services we offer them are available when needed.” Todd Jacobus, Commandant of the Iowa Veterans Home and Interim Director of the Department of Veterans Affairs, said “I’m grateful to Governor Reynolds for providing these funds. This will have a significant and very positive impact on veterans in need of emergency support and assistance.”

The Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs will begin processing payments immediately to fulfill any outstanding grants that were approved between March 3, 2021, and November 3, 2022. No further action is required by veterans whose applications have been approved by the commission and are awaiting payment.

Veterans who have questions about an application or the program should contact Melissa Miller at Melissa.Miller2@iowa.gov or 515-727-3443.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest Monday afternoon, of a Council Bluffs man. 55-year-old Derrell Dewayne Jenkins, Jr., was arrested following a traffic stop on 188th Street in Mills County. Jenkins, Jr., was charged with OWI/2nd offense, with bond set at $2,000.

There were two accidents Monday afternoon in Mills County. The first happened at 189th Street & Bunge Avenue, at around 3:10-p.m. Officials say a 2019 Toyota driven by 66-year-old James Withrow, of Papillion, NE., was stopped at the controlled intersection, on 189th Street, with his turn signal on, indicating his intent to turn right onto westbound Bunge Avenue. A 2020 Chevy, driven by 25-year-old Mason George, of Council Bluffs, was westbound on Bunge, approaching 189th. Authorities say Withrow failed to yield from the stop sign, and entered the intersection before striking the right rear bumper of the Chevy. No injuries were reported.

The second accident happened at around 5:07-p.m. Monday, at 195th & Eastman Road, in Mills County. Authorities say the driver of a 1996 Toyota, 59-year-old Mark Ratzlaff, of Glenwood, was traveling east on Eastman Road, when he lost control of his car, which went into the north ditch. He thought his car rolled about three times, because he heard three loud crashes after he entered the ditch. Because he didn’t have cell phone reception, Ratzlaff waited until he got home to call 911 and report the accident.

He refused any medical assistance, but the Sheriff’s Deputy investigating the crash, strongly urged Ratzlaff to have his wife take him to the hospital to be checked-out.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston report the arrest at around 2:30-p.m., Monday, of 41-year-old Jessie Wade Stauffer, of rural Creston. Stauffer was pulled over at Lucas and Elm Streets, and charged with Driving while Barred. He was transported to the Union County Jail and held on a $2,000 cash or surety bond.

(Radio Iowa) – State Racing and Gaming administrator, Brian Ohorilko, says the amount of revenue at the state’s traditional casinos went against the recent trend in December. “We did see for the first time in quite some time the month of December year over year we had seen a decline in revenue,” Ohorilko says. The gross revenue in December was down by more than five million dollars. “So maybe they’re starting to see some signs of softening with casino revenue here in this state — and so that will be important to kind of watch,” he says. The drop in the December 2022 revenue comes halfway through this new fiscal year, and Ohorilko says things had been holding pretty steady.

“Up until that point, numbers have been strong and we’re actually seeing increases year over year from a record year the year before,” Ohorilko says. Ohorilko says the weather can have a big impact on casinos, especially when there’s poor weather on Fridays and through the weekend.

The Catfish Bend, Isle of Capri Bettendorf, Prairie Meadows, Riverside and Wild Rose in Clinton each saw small increases in December compared to December of 2021. All of the other casinos saw a drop in gross revenue.

(Creston, Iowa) – A collision in Creston, Monday afternoon between an SUV and a pickup truck, resulted in the driver of the SUV being transported to the hospital. Creston Police report a 2022 Ford Explorer driven by 80-year-old Joyce Elaine England, of Mount Ayr, was traveling east on Highway 34 at around 3:30-p.m., Monday. Near the intersection with Patriotic Parkway, she turned on her left turn signal and crossed the east inside lane and the west inside lane.

A 2007 Dodge RAM 1600 pickup driven by 16-year-old Dylan Robert Hoepker, of Cromwell, was westbound on Highway 34 in the inside lane, when the SUV struck the pickup. England was transported by medics to the helipad at the Greater Regional Medical Center in Creston. She was transferred by helicopter to another medical facility. She was said to have suspected serious/incapacitating injuries. Both drivers were wearing their seat belts.

Damage from the crash amounted to $3,000. No citations were issued as of this report.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak have arrested a man on two Class-D Felony counts of Theft in the 2nd Degree. Officials say 36-year-old Jesse Ray Nelson, of Red Oak, was arrested Monday evening in the 1500 block of Forest Avenue. His bond at the Montgomery County Jail, was set at $5,000.

(Radio Iowa) – A St. Ansgar man who was convicted in the January 6th riots at the U-S Capitol is facing new charges of invasion of privacy and interference with official acts after an incident in Clear Lake. Clear Lake police say 52-year-old Daryl Johnson was arrested on Friday after an ongoing investigation regarding a report of Johnson secretly recording patrons of a local tanning business. Investigators say they determined a digital recording device was placed by Johnson to intentionally record customers without their knowledge or consent.

The police department’s investigation remains open at this time. Johnson and his 31-year-old son Daniel admitted to entering the Capitol building through a broken window and pushing through a police line once inside. Daryl Johnson was sentenced to 30 days in jail while Daniel Johnson was sentenced to four months.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Ag Expo opens today (Tuesday) in Des Moines for its 103rd year, with a forecast economic impact of 19-million dollars over its three-day run. Katie Stien, with Catch Des Moines, says there will be more than 700 exhibitors traveling from 26 states and five Canadian provinces to display their latest products and services to farmers from across Iowa and the Midwest.

Spanning more than seven acres, Stien says the expo is the third-largest indoor ag show in the country, featuring everything from tractors to tech. The event opens at 9 A-M and will draw an expected 18-thousand people through Thursday afternoon at the Iowa Events Center.

(Radio Iowa) – Newly-elected Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart says there’s still a chance national party leaders will relent and let the Iowa Democratic Party’s Caucuses go first in the 2024 presidential election. This weekend, the Democratic National Committee is scheduled to vote on a 2024 presidential campaign schedule that would prohibit Iowa Democrats from having Caucuses before any other state holds a Democratic primary. Hart says that is certainly not a done deal and national party leaders need to sure their decisions are practical.

Hart, who was elected state party chair on Saturday, says the Caucuses are a tradition worth preserving and she’s talking with people who’ve been working for the past two years to try to keep the Democrats’ Caucuses first. The Republican National Committee ratified a plan this summer that keeps the Iowa G-O-P’s Caucuses first as Republicans nominate a presidential candidate in 2024.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill in the Iowa Senate would prevent the collection of up to 127 million dollars in property taxes and force local officials to make cuts in city and county budget plans. Last fall, Iowa Department of Revenue officials discovered a mistake in a 2021 state law caused the miscalculation of residential property taxes — but local officials were only recently notified of the discrepancy and have been drafting local budgets based on the higher numbers.

Pleasant Hill Mayor Sara Kurovski and other city officials have held four public meetings as they developed Pleasant Hill’s next budget and will have to cut out about 200-thousand dollars due to the mistake. “All of us know that in these inflationary times, it is very difficult to keep up the costs while providing these services,” she said. “…Give us a year to prepare correctly.”

Leaders from Iowa’s larger cities say they’ll be forced to quickly cut millions from budget plans that must be released for public input and finalized by March 31st. Republican Senator Dan Dawson supports giving local officials two more weeks to make those decisions, but Dawson says the residential property tax formula is going to be fixed this spring.  “We’re always advocating on behalf of the taxpayers,” Dawson says. “A delay would be a tax increase to the residential property taxpayers.”

The bill to fix the miscalculation of residential property taxes has cleared a Senate subcommittee and is eligible for debate in the Senate Ways and Means Committee.