Small towns located in the far southeast and southwest corners of the state were awarded at total of $633,000 in Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) grants, Wednesday. Jessica O’Riley is spokesperson for the Vision Iowa Board, which approved the grants — including a $480,000 award to a project in Malvern. She says “That’s a community center. It’s going to be a multi-purpose facility located on the fairgrounds in Mills County.”

The Mills County Charles E. Lakin Community Center carries a total project cost of just over $2.5 million. The 16,000-square-foot building will include a large multi-purpose room, a kitchen and catering area and meeting spaces. The other grant, worth $153,000, was awarded to a project in Des Moines County known as Danville Station.

“It’s a library/community center/museum in Danville,” O’Riley said. “It really has a great story connected to it. Two young girls from Danville happened to be pen pals with Anne Frank and her sister, so they’re going to be able to tell the story of Anne Frank. They’re going to have bookcase that you go behind and into this ‘secret’ attic to see that exhibit.” The Danville Station project is expected to cost around $678,000 to complete. It involves the purchase and renovation of a building.

Wednesday’s Vision Iowa Board meeting was held in Algona.

(Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Wednesday) approved a portion of the funds requested by the Nishna Valley Trails group, for their Troublesome Creek Connector Trail project. The Board agreed to use $12,500 from the Local Option Sales Tax Fund (LOST) for the project, instead of the $50,000 NVT representative Dave Chase had requested during a meeting with the Board on March 11th. The Board cited the County’s outstanding debt (including funding for the Valley Business Park and Communications Center) as the reason for not funding the full amount requested.

The Supervisors said they would try to make additional funds available during Fiscal Year 2015-16. NVT currently has $345,000 committed toward the estimated $550,000 to $600,000 cost of the project.

The Board also approved the securing of a $324,000 loan to pay for the communications center equipment, and a bid from Academy Roofing from Des Moines in the amount of $44,000 to replace the courthouse east roof.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The House has passed legislation that would make sweeping changes to Iowa’s gun laws, a vote that drew criticism from some lawmakers. The House voted 73-25 Wednesday for the bill, which would allow children younger than 14 to use a handgun under a parent’s supervision. The House voted for the changes through another bill earlier in the session, but the Senate failed to take it up for a vote.

The bill Wednesday adds back many of the proposed changes through a separate, more limited gun bill. A provision that would have taken away a de factor three-day waiting period on a permit to acquire a handgun was removed.

Rep. Matt Windschitl says the legislation respects the Second Amendment rights of Iowa residents. Some lawmakers criticized the age limit removal.

A contest will be launched in Iowa and four other states next week that offers to bolster players’ financial literacy while offering a chance to win a one-thousand dollar prize. JoAnne Kuster is the multi-state coordinator of Dash for the Stash, which sends people to their nearest public library starting April 15th to find a series of four posters that offer advice about things like investing for retirement.  “The point is, you read a poster, you scan a QR code and it leads you to a question that you answer,” Kuster says. “Now, in a scavenger hunt, you’re usually picking up and collecting things, but in our hunt, you are collecting investor education information and leaving your answer.”

The goal is to impart some financial knowledge in a fun way. Dozens of libraries are taking part in the contest, but Kuster says you should first log on to “i-invest-dot-org” to make sure your local facility is participating. Then, you can head to the library in person to find the four posters.  “Topic #1 is finding a good financial advisor and how you sort that out,” Kuster says. “Number 2 is investment fees and what you think you should be paying, or shouldn’t, and some clues on that. Number 3 is investor fraud because there’s so many ways that people like to have you part with your money, and number 4, building a nest egg.”

Iowa first hosted the contest last year as a pilot project and it’s being expanded this year to Connecticut, Illinois, Missouri, and Nebraska, as well as the District of Columbia. One winner in each state — who answers all four questions correctly — will be chosen at random and awarded one-thousand dollars to open or add to an Individual Retirement Account, or I-R-A. The contest winners will be named on May 16th.

(Radio Iowa)

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports a Lenox man was arrested Tuesday evening on a Department of Corrections warrant revoking pre-trial release. 35-year old Shane Allen DeWees was transported from the Adams County Jail and was being held in the Union County Jail on $10,000 bond.

Iowa Congressman David Young was in Atlantic this (Wednesday) morning, along with members of the Southwest Iowa Housing Trust Fund (SWIHTF), Federal Home Loan Bank (FLHB) in Des Moines and other dignitaries, to present checks totaling $532,000 to officials with the Houghton State Bank in Red Oak and MidStates Bank, to assist near 100 residents in Red Oak and others in an eight-county region, in making vital home repairs. The monies are in the form of Federal Home Loan Bank grants.

Chris Grimm, member of the FHLB Board of Directors, said he was pleased to be a part of the process of helping low-income persons in making repairs to their homes and give them pride in ownership. He said the highly effective partnership with its member financial institutions, more than $2.8-million dollars has been received in Strong Community Fund Grants that have enabled 458 families to be assisted in making home repairs. Since the 1st affordable housing program awards were made 25-years, well over 250-million dollars, of which Iowa has received $52.7-million.

Those grants to Iowa, he says, have been “Used to support more than 13,000 families and almost one-half billion dollars in total development costs that translates to jobs in the construction industry, as well as the economic impact of the increased stability of families served by the grants.” Grimm, and Congressman Young, who is on the U-S House Appropriations Subcommittee, stressed that funds for the grant program do not come from taxpayer dollars.

Congressman David Young (R-IA)

Young said the money comes from Iowans “Who recognize the value and strength of our rural communities, and the impact that just caring for one another and investing in our local communities can have.”

The first award was for $420,000 to repair 75 owner occupied homes throughout the eight-county region. It was presented to representatives with Midstates Bank and SWIHTF. The second award was to the Southwest Iowa Housing Trust Fund, the City of Red Oak, and Houghton State Bank. The $112,000 grant will be used to repair 20 homes. The repair program is a continuation of previous housing repair projects funded by Houghton State Bank, Midstates Bank and FHLB in Des Moines.

Conditions of the grant include an owner-occupied home; repairs must be for the health, safety, or energy efficiency, and the homeowner at or below the 50% county median income guidelines. The funding is a five year forgivable loan with an average of $5,000 spent per home. The SWIHTF awards are two out of eight within the state of Iowa, and accounts for 32% of the $1.64 million granted. The grants were made through FHLB Des Moines members Houghton State Bank and Midstates Bank.