(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission had planned to announce the date it would begin accepting applications for a new Iowa casino, but given recent legislative action, that plan was tabled at today’s (Thursday’s) commission meeting.

Late last year, Linn County voters approved a gambling referendum. Earlier this week a group of developers announced plans for a 250-million casino and entertainment complex in Cedar Rapids. But last week the legislature overwhelmingly approved a two-year moratorium that blocks applications for new casino licenses through June 30th of 2024. The governor has not said whether she intends to sign or veto the casino moratorium, but state gambling regulators are proceeding as if it were in force, saying if anything changes, they could open the application window for a Cedar Rapids casino license later.

Cedar Rapids has applied for a state casino license twice before and been denied. The commission cited studies indicating
casinos in Riverside and Waterloo would lose customers to a casino in Cedar Rapids.

MODALE, Iowa — (UPDATED)  Authorities in Harrison County say the body of a missing 20-year-old Omaha woman who went missing when a boat on the Missouri River sank Sunday night has been found. A statement from the Harrison County Emergency Management Agency reads as follows:

(Radio Iowa) – The presidents of the University of Iowa and Iowa State University are each getting a 50-thousand dollar increase in their annual salaries, but the salary for the University of Northern Iowa’s president will remain the same after July 1. The Board of Regents approved the salary hikes late this morning, along with deferred compensation packages for ISU president Wendy Winterstein, Iowa president Barbara Wilson and for UNI president Mark Nook. “We’re very pleased with our university leadership,” said Board of Regents president Michael Richards.

He suggested the extra compensation sends a signal. “We want to continue with the same leadership team,” Richards said, “and this is an indication of our willingness and interest in keeping a steady course as we go forward.”

The board has also approved a $20,000 performance incentive for the superintendent of the Iowa School for the Deaf in Council Bluffs. Mark Braun, the executive director of the Board of Regents, will be getting a $50,000 retention bonus on July 1 and — if Braun stays in the job for the next year — he’ll get another $50,000 retention bonus on July 1st of 2023.

“Other people say it differently, but I think that we like the team,” Richards said. Mark Nook has been UNI’s leader for over five years. Wendy Winterstein has been ISU’s president since November of 2017. Barbara Wilson was hired last year to lead the University of Iowa.

AMES, Iowa – JUNE 2, 2022 – The Iowa Department of Transportation, Thursday (today) announced $100M in grant awards for Iowa commercial airports. In March, Governor Reynolds announced a historic investment to modernize and strengthen Iowa’s air transportation system through the $100M Iowa Commercial Aviation Infrastructure Fund (ICAIF). The fund aggressively targets some of Iowa’s largest aviation system needs: terminal buildings, parking structures, and hangar infrastructure at commercial service airports. Iowa’s eight commercial service airports were eligible to apply for projects that support modernization and expansion.

All of Iowa’s commercial airports applied, and have been approved for their fully allocated amount announced in the ICAIF program, including:

• Des Moines International Airport: $58.7-million, to construct a 5-story parking garage, a new commercial multi-lane drive adjacent to the parking garage, and complete 30% design phase for the new phased Airport Terminal Project.
• The Eastern Iowa Airport (Cedar Rapids): $28.3-million serves to complete the final phase (Phase 4) of the Terminal Modernization that began in 2014.
• Sioux Gateway Airport: $3.1-million to begin Phase 1 of the North T-hangar Development project with T-hangar buildings.
• Dubuque Regional Airport: $2.7-million to construct a box hangar.
• Waterloo Regional Airport: Nearly $2.2-million to construct a parking lot canopy system for ticketing lane, pay station lanes, as well as parking structure for disabled and high-use parking spaces.
• Mason City Municipal Airport: $1.5-million to construct T-hangar units.
• Fort Dodge Regional Airport: Nearly $1.6-million to construct box hangars.
• And, Southeast Iowa Regional Airport (Burlington): Nearly $1.6-million to construct a box hangar.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Last month, Cass County adopted a Recreational Trails Plan that serves as a guide to expanding recreational opportunities for residents of southwest Iowa. Officials with the Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO), say on an often-overlooked piece of rural infrastructure, bicyclists come into view as they traverse the abandoned rail route that runs between Atlantic and Audubon. Seeing cyclists here is commonplace now—but it didn’t happen by accident. And, according to Nishna Valley Trails President Dave Chase, “The increased relevance of trail networks is a longstanding project, with a goal of connecting folks to nature and giving them more recreational opportunities right here at home.”

Nishna Valley Trail is a nonprofit organization that engages in advocacy of the development of recreational trails, including promoting development of the T-Bone Trail that will connect Atlantic and Cass County to national and state networks of recreational throughways. Chase says also, “It’s hard to understate how the development of these trails brings people together and makes our communities more desirable,” and, “With any desire to expand recreational opportunities comes the need for money,” he says.

With the influx of federal dollars via COVID-19 relief and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the potential for increased investment energizes conversations about the way forward for communities seeking to boost safe outdoor recreation. Last month, with the help of SWIPCO planning professionals, Cass County adopted its 2022 Recreational Trails Plan, a document that lays out plans for trails across the county and in each community—including multi-use pedestrian and bike trails (both paved and un-paved), as well as water trails and equestrian trails. The trail plan provides important context for individuals, government entities, and non-governmental organizations who have an interest in outdoor recreation and non-motorized transportation in the region.

No financial obligations for Cass County are attached to the plan—but the document itself is a crucial piece of a funding puzzle when it comes to state and federal grant opportunities. SWIPCO Planning Technician Dani Briggs says “While this document is largely non-binding and serves as a framework, many grants for trails and recreational development require counties to have an updated trail plan.” Briggs and SWIPCO worked to develop the plan with community stakeholders. She says “The Recreational Trails Plan lets folks know where your community wants to go as they decide whether to fund your proposed projects.” Briggs also notes that the group tasked with writing the Recreational Trails Plan solicited community input in an outdoor recreation survey of Cass County residents, which showed recreational trails among the top-desired amenities by respondents.

Stakeholders involved in the plan’s creation include municipal and county leaders, Cass County Iowa State University Extension, Atlantic Parks and Recreation, Cass County Conservation, Healthy Cass County, Golden Hills Resource Conservation and Development, Nishna Valley Trails, and community members who are committed to the development of recreational trails in the region. Over many months, they worked together to identify strengths and opportunities inherent in recreational trail development, seeking community input and, finally, approval from Cass County supervisors—who adopted the plan unanimously. Dave Chase says “This is really a project aimed at bringing people together in a way that’s fair, equitable, and accessible to anyone who wants to experience all of Cass County and southwest Iowa. That’s what it’s all about—taking this wonderful place and making it an even more attractive place to live, work, and raise a family.”

The complete 2022 Cass County Recreational Trails Plan can be found at the Cass County Conservation Office website (https://www.casscountyia.gov/county-departments/conservation-office/) under the Parks/Wildlife Information tab. Printed copies of the trails plan can be found at the Cass County Extension Office (805 W. 10th St. Atlantic, IA 50022), at the public library in Atlantic (407 Poplar St. Atlantic, IA 50022), and at City Hall in Massena (100 Main St. Massena, IA 50853).

(Radio Iowa) – Some Iowa ingenuity will be going into orbit and eventually onto the surface of the Moon. Collins Aerospace in Cedar Rapids is the choice to produce the next generation of spacesuits for American astronauts. Collins officials say their design offers enhanced mobility, they’re lighter than the current suits and will allow for longer missions. The suits are to be used by astronauts working outside the International Space Station and, in the next decade, on the Moon.

Collins Aerospace photo

The suits boast being able to accommodate nearly every body type and they can rapidly incorporate new technologies. Collins also designed the first spacesuits used by Apollo astronauts in the 1960s and ’70s.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a man was arrested on a felony warrant Wednesday afternoon, in Carter Lake. An on-duty Sheriff’s Deputy noticed the male passenger in a 2007 Saturn Ion was violating the seatbelt law, and conducted a traffic stop. As a result, a records checked revealed the passenger, 44-year-old Chad Ray Delezene was wanted for Violation of Probation. He was taken into custody and transported to the Pott. County Jail and later released.

And two people being held in separate Nebraska jails were transported to the Pott. County Jail, Wednesday, to answer to their Iowa charges. 45-year-old Rhonda Kay Tabler was picked-up from the Cass County, NE jail on an outstanding Theft in the 2nd Degree, warrant. 21-year-old Marc Anthony Aviles, of Council Bluffs, was taken into custody at the Sarpy County, NE, Jail, on a warrant for Violation of Probation.

(Radio Iowa) – An organization that evaluates the reliability of the nation’s electric grid says there’s a high risk of energy shortfalls in Iowa this summer. The Des Moines Register reports the Iowa Utilities Board is urging the companies that provide electricity to Iowans to prepare customers for what may be ahead. A non-profit that analyzes the North American power grid note temperatures and drought conditions are predicted to be above normal this summer in the western half of the United States. That will drive up peak demand for electricity. The Electric Reliability Organization for North America warns there’s a high risk of power outages in Iowa and 14 other states over the summer months.

(Washington, D-C) – A federal judge in Washington, D-C, Wednesday, ordered a father and son from northern Iowa serve time in prison for their participation in the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. The men, 51-year-old Daryl Johnson and his son, 30-year-old Daniel Johnson, both of St. Ansgar, admitted to entering the building through a broken window and pushing through a police line once inside.

While the entire encounter lasted roughly twenty seconds, the pair were in the Capitol for 26 minutes. The pair were sentenced on one felony count of civil disorder, because of their guilty plea to that charge the other counts they faced were dismissed.

Daryl Johnson will serve 30 days in jail and Daniel Johnson with serve four months. Defense attorneys for both men sought probation and no jail time. Daniel Johnson has three prior convictions, all misdemeanors.

Both men expressed their apologies to Judge Dabney Friedrich and those at the capitol, for their actions on that day.

(Radio Iowa) – This week’s temperatures in Iowa are fairly on target for the season, but soon enough, we’ll be getting into the hot, humid days of summer. Today (Thursday) is Heat Awareness Day in Iowa and meteorologist Donna Dubberke, at the National Weather Service, explains the goals. “Heat awareness is really important because it’s an underrated hazard,” Dubberke says. “We know it’s going to be hot in the summer and sometimes we don’t take it seriously and you can have serious injury and even fatalities in extreme cases if you don’t do the right things.” She notes that spending too much time outside can mean more than just a bad case of sunburn.

“When we get hot and humid in the summer, it becomes really difficult for your body to make the necessary adjustments and stay cool enough,” Dubberke says. “If your body gets overheated, you can have heat illnesses, heat exhaustion, heat stroke. That’s why we’re encouraging people to learn what you need to do and to be ready for when it does get hot, even though it’s not going to be that hot this week.” Iowa motorists need to take special care with their passengers when the weather starts to warm up.

“Never leave a pet or a child and in a hot car,” she says. “It can heat up so quickly, so much hotter and so much faster than you think it normally would.” Find more tips about heat awareness at www.weather.gov/dmx