AMES, Iowa— The Iowa 4-H Foundation and Cass County 4-H is launching its annual special 24-hour event, Iowa 4-H Giving Day (www.iowa4Hgivingday.org), on October 4th and 5th from Noon to Noon during National 4-H Week. Each year on Iowa 4-H Giving Day, supporters across the country come together to financially support Iowa’s largest youth organization, to ensure these opportunities continue to be available to youth across the state and at the county level.

Iowa 4-H Foundation Executive Director Emily Saveraid says “On Iowa 4-H Giving Day, we’re celebrating all that 4-H’ers have accomplished, how they’ve grown and how they support their communities. It’s great opportunity for 4-H supporters and alumni to give back and celebrate the program that is making a difference in every zip code in Iowa.”

Cass County 4-H supporters can go directly to the county giving day page to make a gift at https://www.iowa4hgivingday.org/organizations/cass-county-4-h-f319ebef-8748-431a-b9c5-133416766a9d simply scan the QR Code. 

Dollars raised on Iowa 4-H Giving Day go directly to the Cass County 4-H Program delivered by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and to provide other opportunities– state recognition, national 4-H trips, college scholarships and special programs, which enhance the Iowa 4-H experience. Iowa 4-H Giving Day is proudly sponsored by Farm Bureau Financial Services.

The Iowa 4-H Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that provides private financial resources to develop and deliver quality 4-H youth programs to nearly 100,000 young people throughout the state of Iowa. These programs and opportunities help enhance 4-H’ers’ ability to use critical thinking, leadership, communication, and social skills.

For more information and to make a gift, visit www.iowa4Hgivingday.org. For the latest updates and stories on Iowa 4-H Giving Day, follow the Iowa 4-H Foundation on Facebook and Instagram.

DES MOINES, IA – A woman from Arizona woman was sentenced Thursday (today) in a Des Moines federal court, to six years in prison for Conspiracy to Damage an Energy Facility. According to the U-S Attorney’s Office, 32-year-old Ruby Katherine Montoya was ordered to serve three years of supervised release to follow her prison term and pay $3,198,512.70 in restitution.

According to court documents, Montoya, and co-defendant Jessica Reznicek, as early as November 8, 2016, and continuing until May 2, 2017, conspired with other individuals to damage the Dakota Access Pipeline at several locations within the Southern District of Iowa, Northern District of Iowa, and the District of South Dakota. Specifically, Montoya admitted to damaging and attempting to damage the pipeline by: (1) using an oxyacetylene cutting torch to burn holes in the pipeline, and (2) setting fire to pipeline instrumentation and equipment in Mahaska, Boone, and Wapello Counties within the Southern District of Iowa. Reznicek, was sentenced to 96 months imprisonment on June 30, 2021.

U.S. Attorney Richard D. Westphal said, “The sentence imposed today demonstrates that any crime of domestic terrorism will be aggressively investigated and prosecuted by the federal government. The seriousness of the defendant’s actions – that occurred multiple times, at different locations, resulting in over $3 million dollars in restitution – warranted the significant prison sentence imposed by the Court and should deter others who think of engaging in such criminal acts.”

Following the sentencing, FBI Omaha Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel said, “The sentence received by Ruby Montoya sends a clear message that those who commit violence through an act of domestic terrorism will be identified, investigated, and prosecuted. The FBI is committed to protecting the American people. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to bring domestic terrorists to justice.”

The matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Iowa Department of Public Safety, Fusion Center; Iowa State Fire Marshall; Des Moines Police Department; Sheriff’s Departments in Mahaska, Boone, Buena Vista, Cherokee, Jasper, Polk, Sioux, and Wapello Counties in Iowa; Lincoln County in South Dakota; and Minnehaha County in Minnesota. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – A new exhibit at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art focuses on the fantastical dream world of surrealism with some very rare and familiar works now on display.

Museum curator Kate Kunau says surrealism encompassed writing, poetry, and theatre, not just the visual arts. She says the surrealist movement emerged in the wake of World War One and was a reaction to the monumental loss of life and the futility of war.

“Surreal comes from the French ‘sur’ or above, so they were looking for an ultimate super-reality,” Kunau says, “so they were very into dreams and the unconscious mind and searching for something beyond the reality of this world.” The exhibition is called, “Dreamscape: Surrealism from the Collection,” and it includes works dating back to the 1930s and running up through contemporary, modern artists who are still inspired by the genre.

Convex and Concave. (CR Museum of Art photo)

“Salvador Dali, who is perhaps the best known surrealist artist today, created these really wild dreamscapes, famously with the soft clocks representing memory,” Kunau says. “Rene Magritte really famously did the painting of the man with the apple in front of his face. There’s just a lot of different artists who interpreted it in different ways.”

The exhibit also features several works from M.C. Escher, who created intricately detailed works like “The Staircases to Nowhere” which defy gravity and reality. “They’re very classical Escher with his impossible figures, based off of actual mathematical principles,” Kunau says. “M.C. Escher is one of those really interesting artists that didn’t really fit in a genre and so he gets put in a lot of different ones. He’s in op art or optical art, obviously, because he does a lot with perspective and optical illusion. I find his work very surreal.”

Several lectures on the exhibit and on surrealism are scheduled over the coming weeks. “Dreamscapes” is on display through December 31st.

(Radio Iowa) – The state archeologist has determined a jawbone found in a remote area of the Iowa River likely belonged to a prehistoric man. Someone on the Marshall County Conservation Staff discovered the bone in early August while conducting a wildlife survey. The jawbone, which is the strongest bone on the human face, was sent to the State Medical Examiners Office. It was confirmed to be human, but with no modern significance. The bone was transferred to the Office of the State Archaeologist at the University of Iowa.

According to a news release from the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, experts have determined the bone likely belonged to a prehistoric Native American adult male.

The Iowa Archeology director says testing will be done to try to trace the bone to one of 26 tribes that lived in Iowa before Europeans settled in the area. If an ancestry link is found to a tribe, the bone will be returned over for burial. If not, it will be housed in the Office of the State Archeologist, a repository for bones that are 150 years old or older.

(Radio Iowa) – New Hampton police have arrested a 15-year-old student after the investigation into a threat against the school. Authorities say they were notified by administration of the threat Wednesday and began an investigation. Police say they arrested the 15-year-old juvenile male Thursday morning and charged him with threat of terrorism.

Authorities say they believe there is no credible evidence of an active threat to the school, students or staff.

(Radio Iowa) – The U-S-D-A has awarded a co-op in the southeast corner of Minnesota a five-point-six MILLION dollar grant to extend broadband access to farms and businesses in two counties in northeast Iowa. The project in Allamakee and Winneshiek Counties and a neighboring county in Minnesota will connect nearly a thousand people, 42 business and 122 farms to high-speed internet. U-S Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says applicants for this round of the agency’s “ReConnect” grants had to show they’ll meet certain thresholds.

“So that the download and upload speeds are significantly greater and there’s capacity to increase them even more,” Vilsack says.

The grant money comes from the infrastructure bill congress and the president approved last year. In this latest round of funding, a total of 502-million dollars in grants are going to projects in Iowa and 19 other states.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Association of Business and Industry (ABI) finds continued uncertainty about factors impacting business as they survey members on their outlook for the fourth quarter. A-B-I President, Mike Ralston, sums it up this way. “The bottom line with the survey is folks are continuing to see a strong business cycle. But boy, there’s a lot of concern about what lies ahead,” Ralston says.

Ralston says finding employees continues to be a concern and has been for several years. He says one other item was more prominent in the latest survey. “A lot of talk about supply chain issues and inflation and the impact that has on materials costs.” Ralston says. “Many, many more respondents mentioned those than is typical, so the business cycle was strong. But I’d say folks are pretty cautious and watching a couple of issues to see what happens.”  He says businesses have been doing a lot of creative things to deal with the supply chain problems. “Certainly looking for new vendors and have had some luck in that regard. But we’ve even seen manufacturers who were sort of combining their efforts. By that, I mean, they’re, they’re placing a joint order. So if they need a certain product, they’ll be able to hire, they’ll be able to purchase at a greater quantity, which brings the price down some,” according to Ralston.

He says it doesn’t look like supply chain issues are going to go away anytime soon. “In fact, I was looking over some information that we had from some other sources about supply chain issues, and the first time we talked about it, I think in a big way, was 2019. And one of the economists said, well, it won’t happen soon, but it should be over by the end of 2020,” he says, “And here we are, you know, approaching the end of 2022. And it’s still there. And so I think our folks are going to expect that supply chain issues continue for a while yet.”

A-B-I 15-hundred member companies of all types and sizes in all 99 counties employing more than 330-thousand workers. Ralston says one thing stands out among all the concerns about supply chain issues, inflation, and finding workers. “Despite all this talk about concern and caution — 60 percent of those who replied said that they expect to make capital expenditures in the fourth quarter of this year. I mean, that continues to amaze me.” Ralston says. “And, you know, business folks are pretty cautious. They wouldn’t do that if they didn’t think there was going to be a good business cycle ahead. So there’s some real hope and that number for sure.”

Thirty-seven percent of respondents expect sales to expand in the third quarter of the year. That’s a decrease from 48 percent in the third quarter and 60 percent for the second quarter of 2022. Eighteen percent expect sales to retract, a five percent increase from last quarter.

(Dexter, Iowa) – Officials in the Dallas County community of Dexter, late Wednesday, issued a WATER EMERGENCY for residents, and asked them to conserve water as much as possible. Officials say the declaration is due to a water main break. The City of Dexter is implementing Stage 4 of the Water Conservation Plan.

Officials ask residents to “Please refrain from any non essential use of water at this time, including washing of automobiles, driveways and sidewalks, and irrigation of lawns or gardens.” Restaurants may only serve water to customers when they request it. The city hasn’t said how long it will be in a Stage 4 emergency.

A copy of the Ordinance detailing stage 4 of the water conservation can be found in Chapter 94 of the City’s Code of Ordinances, and can be found HERE.

(Radio Iowa) – The Capitol Police officer who diverted a mob of rioters away from the U.S. Senate on January 6th, 2021 has testified at an Iowa man’s trial in Washington, D.C.   Doug Jensen of Des Moines is charged with a number of felonies and four Capitol Police officers testified at his trial yesterday (Wednesday). Video widely broadcast and shared on social media last year showed Jensen leading a line of rioters confronting Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman.

Goodman testified that as Jensen and the mob advanced up flights of stairs, ignoring his orders to halt it felt like they were going to rush (him) any time. Prosecutors say Jensen was among the first 10 rioters to breach the Capitol. He was escorted out of the building once, but went back in through a broken window and had to be escorted out a second time.

Jensen’s attorney has urged the jury to consider Jensen’s attire for the day when making their decision — arguing Jensen was not dressed for battle, but was dressed in costume. Jensen was wearing a t-shirt to show his support of an online conspiracy theory.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), Wednesday, announced $35 million in workforce housing tax credits to develop new housing across Iowa. The awards were made to support the construction of 57 housing projects in 30 counties statewide.

In our area, among the projects receiving tax credits for fiscal year 2023, is:

• 106 E. Madison, in Mount Ayr – Was awarded $27,271, for the rehabiliation of a Single Family Attached rental home with four units.
• Western Ridge on Valley View Drive, in Council Bluffs – Receives a $1-million tax credit for the new construction of 102 rental unit properties.
• A Manilla Plus Single Family Detached Home Construction project will receive a $111,731 tax credit from IEDA, for four units in an owner-occupied home.
• And, a multi-family rental property – Manilla Woodland Park Apartments – is receiving a $171,715 award for new construction of 25 units.

Debi Durham, executive director of IEDA and the Iowa Finance Authority, says “Housing is a critical part of Iowa’s efforts to attract and keep a skilled workforce, strengthen quality of life in our communities and grow the economy.” “The awards,” she said, “will help more communities thrive and more families move where opportunities await them.”

IEDA received 133 applications requesting nearly $79 million in tax credits. IEDA had $35 million available for fiscal year 2023. Of that amount, $17.5 million in credits were set aside for projects in small communities defined as those in Iowa’s 88 least populated counties. Projects were scored competitively based on readiness, documented financing, need, local support and participation.

Tax credits will assist projects statewide. For more information and a break-down of the awarded projects, go to https://www.iowaeda.com/iowa-news/ieda-awards-35-million-in-credits-to-workforce-housing-tax-credit-projects/

The Workforce Housing Tax Credit program provides tax benefits to developers to build new housing in Iowa communities, focusing especially on those projects using abandoned, empty or dilapidated properties.