(Radio Iowa) – Iowans can be very generous with their donations when disaster strikes elsewhere, but they’re warned to look very closely before they leap into sending any money toward hurricane relief.

Lisa Schiller, spokeswoman for the Better Business Bureau, says it’s wise to work with established agencies like the Red Cross which can be trusted to deliver help to places like Florida and North Carolina.

“See if the disaster relief charity that you are interested in has an on-the-ground presence in the impacted areas,” Schiller says. “Unless they already have staff there, honestly, it may be difficult to provide quick assistance.”

Schiller says the best way to help most organizations is often with money, since it can be hard to transport in-kind gifts to areas with ruined roads and no infrastructure. That’s especially true after the widespread and severe damage caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

“A lot of people in times like this want to donate clothing or food or other types of donations,” she says, “and this may not actually be the best way to help unless the charity has the ability to properly distribute this type of aid.”

Criminals will try to prey on people’s good will during disasters, so Schiller says to be very cautious if you get a random phone call or social media message seeking donations.

“Go to their website, make sure that they’re legitimate,” she says. “A lot of times we see charities that pop up that have very similar names to legitimate charities and there can be a lot of confusion.”

Schiller says a good way to find a reputable charity is on the BBB’s charity tracker, Give.org.

(Radio Iowa) – The C-E-O of the Casey’s Convenience store chain says customers are continuing to weather the economy with a few changes in spending. C-E-O Darin Rebelez says 75 percent of their customers are upper income, or make 50-thousand dollars or more a year. “We’re in a very affordable geography so that 50-thousand dollars goes a lot further in our footprint than it might in some other geographies,” he says. “So all that being said, in the upper end, we’re not seeing much change with the consumer. They’re visiting the store as frequently buying as they have historically bought.” Rebelez says those on the lower end of the economics have made some changes.

“We’re not seeing a change in frequency of visits, but we are seeing a change in decisions that they are making. In some cases, that basket is shrinking a little bit, so they may forego that one extra item that they might have bought,” Rebelez says. He says candy seems to be one area where customers are looking for more of a bargain.”One of the things I thought was interesting when we dug into this is that consumers have been trading out of candy because candy’s been a lot more expensive, particularly chocolate, with a rise in cocoa prices and shifting over to our fresh bakery products, like cookies and brownies, that sort of thing,” Rebelez says.”

It’s still a sweet indulgence, but about half of the cost on the prepared side, as it is on the candy side.” Rebelez says the candy trade off helps the customer and the company. “Those guests are looking for that indulgence. They still want to get it. They’re just finding a more affordable way to do that,” he says, “and we’ll take that trade all day long because the penny profit is better on our prepared side and the margins higher.”

Rebelez spoke at the company’s “Analyst Day” on Tuesday at their headquarters in Ankeny. Casey’s operates around 26-hundred stores in 17 states, with most of the stores in the Midwest.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak say no one was injured during a collision Tuesday morning at N. 4th Street and E. Sunset Avenue. Authorities report a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven  by 63-year-old Judith Hardy, of Red Oak, was traveling south on N. 4th Street and approaching E. Sunset Avenue, at around 9:35-a.m.  A 2020 Ford EcoSport SUV driven by 84-year-old Karen Blue, of Red Oak, was stopped at the intersection yield sign, waiting for Hardy to turn.

When Hardy turned too soon and cut the corner short, her vehicle struck the Ford on the left front side. Both vehicles were driveable afterward. Damage from the collision amounted to a police estimated $4,000 altogether. Red Oak Police cited Hardy for making an improper turn.

[Council Bluffs, Iowa] – Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Agency officials today (Wednesday), said Pottawattamie County residents affected by severe storms, tornadoes and flooding on June 16 through July 23, 2024, have until next Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, to apply for FEMA assistance (Disaster #4796). If you have flood or severe weather-related damage or storm-caused expenses or are self-employed and live in Pottawattamie County, FEMA assistance may provide grants to help cover temporary housing, home repairs and other disaster related needs. U.S. Small Business Administration provides may also loans to help cover home repairs and other disaster-related needs along with business impacts.

How to apply with FEMA:
• Visiting DisasterAssistance.gov
• Calling FEMA directly at 800-621-FEMA (3362)
• Downloading and use the FEMA app.

Ongoing and Unmet Needs:

Residents impacted by any of the 2024 disasters who need ongoing recovery assistance, provide documentation for their FEMA applications, have unmet needs, or need to speak with a FEMA or SBA representative can do so at the Pottawattamie County Long-term Disaster Recovery Center (LT-DRC).

Long-term Disaster Recovery Center:

Pottawattamie County Emergency Management
205 South Main St., Council Bluffs, IA 51503
Open: Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm (closed holidays)

Disaster survivors can meet with a Disaster Case Advocate who can help guide them through the recovery process, assist in developing a recovery plan, and help source and make contact with assistance programs to help survivors fill gaps in their recovery. A representative from the U.S. Small Business Administration is also on-site to assist. If you need to meet directly with a FEMA representative, a disaster case advocate or emergency management staff member can help you get in contact with FEMA to get assistance or set up a face-to-face appointment. You will need your FEMA registration ID number.

Disaster survivors from Pottawattamie County with ongoing or unmet needs can also get connected to assistance by completing the online Pottawattamie County Needs Assessment Survey. You can find more information on the emergency management agency’s website.

(Iowa County, Iowa) – A woman from Des Moines died early this (Wednesday) morning, while another – also from Des Moines – was injured during  a single-vehicle crash north of Millersburg, in east central Iowa. The crash happened at around 6:55-a.m.

The State Patrol reports a 2012 KIA Sportage SUV driven by 53-year-old Jeanne Kashindi was traveling east on Iowa County road F-52 and approaching the intersection with H Avenue, when Kashindi failed to stop at the posted stop sign, for reasons unknown. The SUV entered a downhill driveway into a county gravel storage area and struck broken-up pieces of concrete.

The vehicle landed on the driver’s side. Kashindi died at the scene. Her passenger, 18-year-old Rachel Happy, was injured and transported by ambulance to the University of Iowa Hospital. Both women were wearing their seat belts.

(Radio Iowa) – Top Republicans in the Iowa House are asking why State Auditor Rob Sand, a Democrat, did not alert them or investigate a computer programming error in the state court system that improperly distributed 53 million dollars in court fines and fees. House Speaker Pat Grassley says the Iowa D-O-T’s legal counsel notified State Auditor Sand about the problem two years ago, but lawmakers didn’t learn about the issue until last month. Kraig Paulsen, the governor’s budget director, says the error shorted the Victims Compensation Fund by over three-and-a-half MILLION dollars and the state fund for maintaining and building roads and bridges failed to get deposits totalling 10 MILLION dollars.

Paulsen says Sand should have included these and other discrepancies in the last two audits of the state Judicial Branch. The House Speaker says Sand’s inaction on the issue is baffling and inexcusable. Sand says Republicans are engaging in partisan politics because the Reynolds administration has known of the issue since it began and the Auditor’s Office is the only one of the entities involved that has no power to fix the problem.

Iowa Judicial Branch Bldg.

The governor’s budget director is calling on the State Auditor’s Office to audit the court system’s discrepancies. Sand says the law Governor Reynolds signed last year prevents the State Auditor’s Office from auditing I-T-related issues like this. According to the governor’s budget director, state court officials have notified his office that they have no plan to recover 26 million dollars worth of overpayments to some programs and redirect that money to the proper accounts. The spokesman for the Iowa Judicial Branch is out of the office until next week and unavailable for comment.

(Radio Iowa) – More than three months after historic flooding hit northwest Iowa, residents in one community still need help — and they’re getting it. When the Little Sioux River hit record levels, half of Correctionville’s 300 houses ended up with some damage, including Mayor Ken Bauer’s home.  “It was a nightmare,” Bauer says. “For three days, they kept saying, well, it will only get to here, it’ll only get to here, and it kept going, and it kept going.” Bauer says his town pulled together for the clean-up that took about a month. The focus on recovery continues, as FEMA and non-profits met Tuesday with residents who are still trying to repair their properties and lives.

Woodbury County Emergency Management Director Michael Montino says he’s proud of the strong support. Montino says, “Particularly our community members, our nonprofits, our government organizations for pooling together and putting forth the effort that they did as part of the response and recovery process.” In addition to some 150 homes being impacted by water or sewage in Correctionville, Montino says other damage in Woodbury County included 150 homes in Sioux City and 30 properties in the tiny town of Smithland — population 181.

File photo of this summer’s flooding in Sioux City’s Riverside neighborhood. (KSCJ photo)

“To see that we’re this far out and we still have all of these organizations willing to come out and help in force is really admirable,” he says. “I’m happy and proud to see such a strong response from our community.” The deadline to apply for FEMA assistance in Woodbury and 14 other western Iowa counties is October 22nd.