(Radio Iowa) – The annual Iowa State University survey has found the average price of an acre of farmland set a record again at 11-thousand-411 dollars. I-S-U’s Wendong Zhang oversees the survey. “This represents a 17 percent growth over the past year, and this is really phenomenal because that when you’re thinking about over the past few years — last year 2021 Iowa will farmland values rose 29 percent — and so this is a ramp up that is that we haven’t seen since the 1980s, essentially,” Zhang says.

Zhang says the inflation adjusted farmland value was a nearly nine percent increase — which is also a record. He says it is the first time since they since they started collecting information in the 1940s that both the regular and inflation adjust values have set records. He says overall medium quality ground rose the most at 17-point-seven percent, the high quality ground rose about 17 percent, and the low quality ground rose 15 percent. Each county saw an increase. “All 99 counties rose 10 percent or more — so it all rose between 10 percent to about 22 percent,” he says.

Zhang says landowners are happy to see an increase in their land value — but do wonder how long it will last. “There are more growing concerns about the sustainability of the land market growth, and also the elevated entry barriers for beginning farmers and less resource to farmers to enter the market because of the higher prices,” he says. Zhang says commodity prices are the number one reason those in the survey say prices have increased — as everyone was thinking four-dollar a bushel corn would be good — and nobody was expecting corn to get to six and seven dollars. He says there are several reasons for that rise — including the conflict in Ukraine.

“The Russia Ukraine war, the geopolitical uncertainty essentially further pushed up the commodity prices,” he says. “And the strengths and the stability in the U-S market, and the consistency and the quantity of the U-S agricultural markets sort of benefited from that.” He says corn and beans aren’t the only commodities seeing the impact. “This is happening for soybeans and for hay as well. But also this time, we are also seeing tremendous growth in terms of the livestock prices as well. And when you are thinking about especially cattle prices,” Zhang says.

He says this has shown up in the increased growth in land values in the northwest part of the state as there’s a significant presence of cattle producers, and to a lesser extent hogs. He says producers need to have land to spread manure on for nutrient management purposes, so they are more aggressive in bidding nearby grounds.

(Radio Iowa) – Marijuana has been sold for recreational use in Illinois for nearly two years and just this month it became legal to sell, use and possess marijuana in Missouri — but the Republican-led Iowa legislature is unlikely to mimic those moves. House Speaker Pat Grassley says marijuana legalization just wasn’t a campaign issue.  “That is not what we heard from Iowans in this election,” Grassley says. “…I don’t think there was a lot of murkiness in the results and the path forward for the state.”

Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver says under federal law, it’s still illegal to bring marijuana across state lines — and he doesn’t expect any changes in Iowa’s program that licenses growers and the dispensaries which sell cannabis products for a list of specific medical conditions. “I mean I’m sure there’ll be a debate, there’ll be a conversation,” Whitver says. “I don’t envision any drastic changes to either one of those.”

the cannabis leaf and judge gavel

In October, Democrats running for seats in the Iowa House called for legalizing marijuana in Iowa. House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst says it will still be a priority issue for Democrats in 2023.  “This is wildly popular. There are tax benefits. There are opportunities for economic growth in the state, not losing revenue to other states,” Konfrst says. “I’m just getting the sense that there’s not a lot of appetite for it at the leadership level or in the governor’s office.”

A Des Moines Register Iowa Poll conducted last March found 54 percent of the adults surveyed were in favor of legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Last month, 53 percent of Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment that legalized recreational marijuana in Missouri.

(Radio Iowa) – There were brutally cold temperatures overnight in Iowa. Blizzard and Winter Storm Warnings from the National Weather will expire at 6 a.m. Saturday. Travel conditions remain difficult, if not impossible in much of Iowa as strong winds cause whiteout conditions. Craig Bargfrede, the Iowa D-O-T’s winter operations administrator, says more than a third of Iowa counties have issued towing bans.

“So if folks are out traveling right now and they do get stranded…we may be able to get emergency help out to them, but as far as getting their vehicle out of the ditch or wherever it’s stuck, that’s probably not going to happen,” Bargfrede says. In addition to blowing snow, icy conditions are causing wrecks. Bargfrede says it’s too cold to treat the roads with salt.

“We’re just basically resorting now to using a sand-salt mixture just to get some material out there and provide some friction, traction to the vehicles as they’re traveling,” Bargfrede says. Bargfrede says it will be a few more days before temperatures warm up enough for salt to be effective in treating ice. Crews at Iowa airports have been de-icing planes, but cancellations and significant delays in departure times were common.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled a Dubuque man convicted of rape will get a new trial because his 2021 trial was closed to the public due to COVID concerns.

A jury found 25-year-old Ronald James Brimmer guilty of second degree sexual abuse. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison for drinking with a 16 year old and forcing her to have sex when she was intoxicated. Brimmer appealed, arguing his right to a public trial was violated when the district court judge prevented members of the public, including his mother, from
attending. The judge cited concerns about maintaining six feet of distancing between people in the courtroom.

All seven justices on the Iowa Supreme Court agreed there was enough evidence to support Brimmer’s conviction, but a narrow majority said the constitutional right to a public trial is important to uphold, even in an “unsavory case.” A dissenting justice wrote that he saw no reason to put the rape victim through another trial simply to make “an academic point” about the importance of having trials accessible to the public.

(Radio Iowa) – Colder temperatures are here and that means some Iowans can qualify for financial assistance for their heating bills. from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program or LIHEAP.

State energy assistance bureau Chief, Bill Marquess the program was still using extra funds last year that it got through federal pandemic relief. “During the pandemic, we were able to offer up to $3,000 to assist with a crisis. And now we’re maxed at 500 on that. And, and that’s a significant difference,” he says. There were a record 90,000 applicants last year and the program issued payments to about 83,000. He says so far this year, the program has about half the amount of applications they did at the end of the season last year.

“Our goal is always to get as much out into the community as possible,” Marquess says.” And the last two years showed us that even when, when we’re handed an enormous amount of money, we were able to funnel that into the community.” The LIHEAP helped is based on income, and you can apply through your local community action agency. Applications are open through April.

(By Catherine Wheeler, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – The forecast indicates wind speeds tonight will range between 35 to 45 and perhaps even 50 miles per hour across Iowa, creating bitter cold and blizzard conditions. Meteorologist Roger Vachalek at the National Weather Service office in central Iowa says over the past 24 hours, snow fell in most of the state. “Because of all the wind and the cold weather, you’re not going to get the most accurate snowfall reports for this type of a system,” he says, “just because of the wind blowing around quite a bit.”

A high pressure system is pushing cold air across Iowa. “The cold air that’s coming in, because it’s high pressure, it’s going to increase what we call the pressure gradient across the central plains and Iowa and that actually drives the wind speed at the surface,” Vachalek says. “Then we also have another component that happens where we get some higher wind aloft that gets brought down to the surface and so that produces wind gusts that are higher.”

By 10 o’clock this morning, the wind chill index had already dropped to minus 46 degrees in Storm Lake and minus 45 in Sioux City, Sheldon and Spencer. “That’s extremely dangerous to be outside for any period of time. Even 10 minutes will cause problems for most people. You can get frostbite,” Vachalek says, “…so we’re advising people to just avoid being outdoors in this type of situation or be very, very, very careful.” Blizzard conditions are being forecast because of the snow that’s already fallen and the strong winds behind it.

“We may get lucky and maybe things aren’t quite as bad all the time in the next 24-36 hours, but there will be periods where you’ve got some very low visibilities and travel will be difficult across the region,” Vachalek says. “we’re again asking people that if you can delay your travel plans until either late Saturday or Christmas Day itself, especially if it’s only a couple hours’ drive here across the state, that would probably be best than trying to venture out either later today or tomorrow for sure.”

The Iowa State Patrol responded to 70 accidents between noon on Wednesday and 6 a.m. this morning. Trooper Paul Gardner says at least 140 motorists have gotten some type of assistance from a trooper so far. “It’s Christmas season and people want to go see friends, they want to go see family and loved ones,” he says. “Hopefully this will be wrapped up by Saturday, which that will probably make for still somewhat of a sort of heavily traveled day…We still want to emphasize that some of these roadways may not be completely cleared off by then, but hopefully we’ll be past the brunt of it.”

Gardner says by mid-morning snow was drifting across Highway 20 and temperatures were causing problems for truckers. “We’ve seen some calls for service of semis that are jelling up, so we’re responding to those to get drivers to somewhere warm, getting them to a truck stop,” he says. “So far traffic is somewhat lights on our main traffic corridors like I-35 and I-80.” At 11:15 a.m., the Iowa DOT said several accidents and stalled vehicles were blocking areas of Interstate 80 and travel was not advised on I-80 from eastern Iowa through the Stuart exit in central Iowa.

According to the DOT, the number of roads marked “travel not advised” has been growing as winds blow snow off highways, uncovering the ice below and creating drifts in other areas.

(Radio Iowa) – The leader of a Christian conservative group has added chapters to a book he wrote in 2007 about his profoundly disabled son, Lucas. “Unfortunately last year Lucas came down with non-COVID pneumonia and we fully expected him to beat the odds again because he’s beat it so many times, but this one he just couldn’t beat,” The Family Leader president and CEO Bob Vander Plaats says, “so when he passed away on November 22 last year, I said to Darla this would be the right time to finish the story, so to speak.”

Lucas — the third son of Vander Plaats and his wife, Darla — was born with a rare brain disorder that required 24 hour care. He died just before Thanksgiving last year at the age of 28. The book “Light from Lucas” has the subtitle of “Lessons in Faith from a Fragile Life.” “Don’t take life for granted. It’s not for us to understand,” Vander Plaats says. “We have an opportunity to make a difference.”

In the book’s recently added chapters, Vander Plaats discusses his son’s final days and his family’s farewell. “Lucas’ life had a dynamic impact,” Vander Plaats says. “It’s like I told one of our pastors, I said: ‘Isn’t it ironic that the young man who could never say a word delivers the most powerful sermon.’” Vander Plaats says the book’s publisher is making plans for him, his wife and sons as well as Lucas’ caregiver to read their story aloud — since audio books are a growing market. Vander Plaats says one of his sons recently spoke about a lesson he learned of having a brother with profound disabilities.

“He said in order to impact Lucas’ life or Lucas to impact your life, you had to be there,” Vander Plaats says. “You couldn’t phone it in, you couldn’t Zoom it in, you couldn’t do anything else. You had to be there.” Vander Plaats was a high school principle and coach when Lucas was born in 1993. Vander Plaats switched careers and took a job as executive of a Sioux City based organization that provides therapy and residential services to individuals with profound physical and intellectual disabilities. Vander Plaats ran for governor in 2002 and 2006. He’s been president and CEO of the The Family Leader since 2010.

(Radio Iowa) – Thousands of Christmas presents are being left by mail carriers and package delivery people outside Iowans’ homes this week and porch pirates may be watching and waiting to steal those boxes. Jason Cloudt, with S-E-I Security Solutions, says if you’re not home to monitor what’s delivered to your doorstep, you should take steps to protect your purchases. “The most popular things out there today are video doorbells,” Cloudt says. “They’re simple little devices that can replace the button you have by your front door now. They have a camera built in.”

Those video doorbells come in a wide range of prices with a host of associated monitoring services and security systems. The doorbells can also be purchased as stand-alone devices. “The do-it-yourself items can start under $100. The professionally-installed video doorbells that we install are between $250 and $350,” Cloudt says. Many of the video doorbell systems can be linked to your smartphone.

“Some of the less expensive options may not be tied to your smart device, but the most common devices have the ability for you to just launch an app on your phone and watch live or get an alert when there is live video – someone either pushing the button or someone who is within view of that camera on your front door,” Cloudt says. If you’d rather not spend money on a camera system, police suggest having packages delivered to your workplace.

S-E-I has offices in Des Moines, Iowa City and Omaha/Council Bluffs.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Police Chief Devin Hogue reports that on Saturday December 17th, Reserve Officers from the Atlantic Police Department held their annual “Family Dream Christmas” program. The Chief says “This year the APD Reserves were assisted by the SWI Chaplains Association, and a Harlan Police Reserve. The Atlantic Girls Basketball Team were back once again this year and did a great job setting up, taking down, and organizing the toy room.”

There were a total of 13 families helped in the program this year. Eight families were taken shopping to local businesses in Atlantic. This included shopping for all members of their families. They also received a full Christmas Dinner. The families also received a gift card to a local grocery store to help with food and meat cost during the holiday season. According to Chief Hogue, the Department “Provided five additional families with a trip through the Reserve Departments toy room, which includes new toys that are donated throughout the year. The children in these families were brought through the toy room and picked out a few items each that they would like to have. These families were also provided with the same Christmas dinner and gift card.”

And then, on Sunday, December 18th, the Atlantic Police Department sponsored the “Shop with a Cop” program. The program was run exclusively at Walmart in Atlantic. Chief Hogue says
“This year we were assisted by The Atlantic Police Reserves, The Cass County Sheriff’s Office, The Iowa State Patrol, The SWI Chaplain’s Association, Iowa DNR, Iowa DOT, Retires from the Iowa State Patrol and Cass County Sheriff’s Office, as well as officers wives and children. In total twenty-six officers/helpers were present and took **THIRTY-SEVEN** children shopping. All of the children were paired up with officers, and sent out into the store to find items they were in need of, as well a couple items on their want list. We would also like to thank Subway for having “sack lunches” made and ready for them to take home.”

Just some of the many photos from the “Shop With a Cop” program (Pics from the Atlantic Police Dept. Facebook page)

All together, during the “Family Dream Christmas” and “Shop with a Cop” programs the Atlantic Police and Reserve Departments were able to help a total of 73 children and 20 adults within 27 families to have a much more joyful Christmas experience!! We would not be able to run these programs without the wonderful donations we receive each year. Atlantic Police Chief Hogue extends a “Thank you to all of the MANY generous PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS that contributed to our cause and to the following companies and groups.”

That includes the “Let’s Make them Smile” Pool Tournament, Richter & Son Towing, OSI “Oakland Foods” Women in leadership group, JBG Farms, The Atlantic High School Student Council, Atlantic Carriers, Cappel’s Ace Hardware, Meyer & Gross Real Estate, Pymosa Lodge #271, First Interstate Bank, Community 1^st Credit Union, Own Today Better Tomorrow, The LuAnn Gipple Memorial American Legion Post 43, Atlantic Hy-Vee, Greg Young Chevrolet, Atlantic Wal-Mart, The Atlantic News & Telegraph, KSOM, KJAN, Atlantic Subway, Brown’s Shoe Fit, as well as MANY MANY more!

(Radio Iowa) – The four Iowans who’ll be serving in the U.S. House next year all back California Congressman Kevin McCarthy’s bid for House Speaker. A few conservative House Republicans say they won’t vote for McCarthy and their opposition currently blocks his ability to win the speakership next month. Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion says McCarthy put in the work to secure a G-O-P majority in the House and he’ll ensure House Republicans deliver on their campaign promises.

“I think he’s going to be a really good speaker,” Hinson says. “He has done an incredible job of helping our conference unite, not only to be the check on the Biden Administration and fire Nancy Pelosi, but unite behind an agenda that we want to deliver and execute on, starting on January 3rd, so I’m hopeful we’re able to get moving on that as quickly as possible, get through some of the drama of the leadership elections and get down to business.” Hinson, who’ll be representing Iowa’s new second congressional district next year, made her comments on “Iowa Press” on Iowa P-B-S. Iowa Congressman-elect Zach Nunn of Bondurant, just elected to represent Iowa’s new third district, says McCarthy is a pragmatic leader who has his vote.

“I strongly support a Speaker McCarthy,” Nunn says. “I want someone who’s going to hold D.C. accountable.” McCarthy has been making promises to pick up conservatives’ votes, like promising to put a Republican congresswoman back on House committees and removing some high-profile Democrats from others next year. Nunn applauds those moves. “I salute him on those fronts and being speaker, you know, whether you’re Speaker Pelosi (who is stepping down as House Democrats’ leader) or a potential Speaker-elect here in McCarthy, it’s a hard job,” Nunn says. “What has resonated with me is the ‘one team, one fight’ mentality of the leadership. I think that’s how we’re going to do the best work for the American people.”

Nunn made his comments during an interview with Radio Iowa. First district Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Le Claire and fourth district Congressman Randy Feenstra of Hull are also backing McCarthy for speaker. A few weeks ago, about three dozen House Republicans did not support nominating McCarthy as House Speaker next year — but none were from Iowa.