A small town in west-central Iowa was awarded a 220-thousand dollar ($220,000) state grant Wednesday for the construction of a new community center. Diane Wise has helped lead the fundraising effort in Grand Junction. She says the town’s old community center was shut down this summer. “It had black mold, the ceiling was falling in, the floor was falling in, it was just an old, old building,” Wise said. “It is the center of everything in Grand Junction…and it was closed just because it was no longer useable.” The Vision Iowa Board awarded Grand Junction with a Community Attraction and Tourism grant. The total cost of building the new community center is estimated at one-point-one million dollars ($1.1 million).

Grand Junction – proposed Community Center

The building will house the city hall and council chambers and will include a kitchen, a meeting room, and a larger space to accommodate groups of roughly 200 people. Wise has high hopes for the project’s ability to revitalize the town of 800 people. “We’ve got new businesses approaching us about coming into town and this building is just going to draw more and more to the community,” Wise said. “This is a catalyst to a new community.”

While she’s been the driving force behind the project, the 63-year-old Wise is not even a resident of Grand Junction. Her address is rural Jefferson. Wise’s husband, David, died in 2002. He grew up in Grand Junction and Wise has been pushing for the new community center as a way to honor her late husband. David Wise, a Vietnam War veteran, died of lung cancer likely linked to exposure to Agent Orange.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Legal Aid wants the state’s lawyers to be required to contribute $100 annually to the charity, which represents people with low incomes. Some lawyers say it’s wrong to require such contributions, even to a valuable organization that provides legal services in civil cases. The group’s executive director says the number of people eligible for services has increased by almost 40 percent between 2000 and 2010.

According to a report from Supreme Court staff, the money the nonprofit receives from two big donors has declined. The Des Moines Register reports the mandatory fee could raise $903,400 of about $1.8 million needed to increase the number of staff attorneys.

Eight other states currently require attorneys to pay similar fees.

Atlantic Area Chamber Ambassadors visited the Atlantic High School recently, to learn about hands-on programs for students in the Agriculture, Industrial Technology and Culinary Arts departments. Eric Miller, Agricultural Instructor and FFA Advisor at AHS, explained the variety of classes he instructs. Miller instructs two welding classes that are hands-on and take place in the shop located within the school.

Pictured: Dolly Bergmann, JoAnn Runyan, Chelsea Amundson, Matt Alexander, Heather
McKay, Connie Wailes, Janet Cappel, Nedra Perry, Rich Perry, Pat McCurdy, Tammy
Waters, Sue Muri, Lana Westphalen, Debbie Leistad, Renee Wilson, Home Sweet Home, Crystal Christensen, Julie May, Dr. Keith Leonard, Russell Joyce, Kate Olsen, JoAnne Mueller, Dr. Haley Kickland, Carole Schuler, Melanie Petty, Dr. Jim Kickland, Lucas Mosier, Chip Hansen, Dr. Mitch Peerbolte.

Miller also instructs Ag Processes, a course focused on turning livestock and crops into food, Ag Business, and Agronomy. Ambassadors were also educated on student projects taking place in Industrial Technology by Mr. Derek Bair – Industrial Tech Instructor and Culinary Arts by Mrs. Meryl Hopper-Henningsen, Culinary Arts Instructor.