(Atlantic, Iowa) – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) held a Town Hall meeting this (Tuesday) morning (May 28th) at Iowa Western Community College, in Atlantic. After he answered questions and spoke about a variety of topics with those in attendance, Grassley took some time to speak with reporters. He was asked what are people asking about lately, during the meetings?

The economy and workforce are also topics of concern to his constituents. Senator Grassley spoke in particular about an immigration parole reform bill.

He said the Democrats don’t want an immigration bill to be discussed on the floor of the Senate unless it’s their bill. Grassley said his message is that there’s enough work to be done in the Senate, but there’s not enough time allotted by leaders of the congressional delegation.

Sen. Grassley

The Town Hall meeting is part of Iowa’s Senior Senator’s annual 99 county tour across the State.

He was scheduled to hold a similar meeting Tuesday afternoon in Glenwood, and in Corning on Wednesday. The sessions mark Grassley’s 44^th consecutive year of holding at least one meeting in each Iowa County.

(Radio Iowa) – The search for a missing kayaker in northeast Iowa has ended in tragedy. Monday, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources reported seeing what they believed was a body in the Upper Iowa River near Lundy Bridge in Winneshiek County. Authorities say the Decorah Fire Department confirmed a short time later that was the body of 39-year-old Justin Limkemann of Frederika.

Limkemann was last seen May 18th when he went kayaking on the Upper Iowa River near Decorah. A capsized kayak and several items belonging to Limkemann were found on the 19th.

(Radio Iowa) – A recreational boater was rescued late Saturday from the flooded Boone River in Hamilton County. The Webster City Fire Department received a call after the individual had fallen off of a kayak. The fire department used a rescue boat to rescue the person. The rescue was reported in the Boone River between Webster City and Stratford. The individual was hanging on to the kayak at the time of the rescue.

Once the person was rescued, the person was taken to Van Diest Medical Center in Webster City for further care and evaluation. The Boone River is not safe for a boat or kayak to be on due to the river cresting over 10 feet.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic RAGBRAI® Committee continues to sell Atlantipalooza merchandise, a collection of tee shirts, sweatshirts, tank tops, and stickers. The Atlantipalooza merchandise was launched during a Town Hall meeting early this May. The committee chose a music festival theme and came up with Atlantipalooza as a play off the well-known music festival Lalapalooza.

The merchandise features the bold “Atlantipalooza” logo on brightly colored tank tops, tee shirts, sweatshirts, and stickers. The committee has limited designs and sizes on hand at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, but the full line of merchandise can be viewed and purchased online at www. AtlanticRAGBRAI.com

The Atlantic RAGBRAI Committee will continue to meet regularly to plan for Atlantipalooza on July 22nd. All forms and information available can be accessed on the website www.atlanticragbrai.com. Community members and riders alike are encouraged to follow Atlantic RAGBRAI on Facebook and Instagram for all things Atlantic RAGBRAI.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Montgomery County Emergency Management Director Brian Hamman, today (Tuesday), updated the status of repairs following tornadoes that caused damage last week. He started his report on the latest information on the number and strength of the tornadoes. A lot of the information is still in the preliminary stages. Hamman said there were four tornadoes.

He said there was extensive, scattered damage throughout the County, along the twister’s paths.

Montgomery County Emergency Management Coordinator Brian Hamman (5/28/24)

Hamman said as with any storms, there was extensive tree damage. He’s said they’re still working on getting a dollar amount of the damage to homes, property and infrastructure from the tornadoes and flooding, altogether. Brian Hamman said Secondary Roads also took a big hit, including the destruction of a road, gravel loss, signs and tree removal. The Conservation Department, he said, also has a lot of damage to contend with, estimated “On the lower side of $100,000,” Hamman said. He’s working to get volunteers organized to help clear the trails later this week. The City of Red Oak’s Public Works Department building was damaged in the storms.

Montgomery County’s Communications tower located west of Villisca, was topped in the storm, and another was damaged. It was an emotional topic for him to discuss.

It’s not clear when the tower will be replaced, but the best case scenario, would be about one-year. The north site tower, Hamman said, was still standing, but the micro-wave link is out-of-alignment, and is scheduled to be aligned later this week. He said with the one tower down, there will be a loss of communications in the County, especially in the southeast part of the County, but there are work-around solutions, including fiber optics.

Montgomery County Engineer Karen Albert said there is still a road closed due to a washout resulting from the storms.

Montgomery County Engineer Karen Albert

She said they lost 50 signs to the storms. President Biden has approved a Disaster Declaration for the County.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Police in Glenwood say there were two arrests over the weekend. On Sunday, 19-year-old Josiah Franklin, of Omaha, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance. He posted a $1,000 bond and was released. And, on Friday, 25-year-old Montana Garbez, of Glenwood, was arrested for Driving Under Suspension. Garbez posted a $300 bond, and was released.

(Radio Iowa) – A former Storm Lake resident will be featured on the season premiere of “America’s Got Talent.” Amy Freese (Freeze) will be on the show Tuesday with her basset hound Daisy, who does obstacle course runs. “We’ve been practicing together for about four to five years and what we’ve been doing is posting our videos on our social media just because she’s funny but also it’s just really nice to showcase that, a little tiny dog like her can do something that typically big dogs have an easier time doing,” she says.

Freese says one of her social media followers works on the show. “Sent me a message that he had a basset himself and he knew how hard it was to train a basset hound to go through a tunnel and go over jumps and even just listen,” she says, “because basset hounds do tend to be a little stubborn. And he just said, ‘Hey, it’s amazing what she does,’ and he just suggested that we audition for America’s Got Talent.”  She decided to do it. “In December and January, we created a video audition. Later in January, we heard that they wanted us to come and do a live audition. So very quickly had to kind of pull our act together,” Freese says. “My husband drove the dog all the way out to California. I flew and then you’re there for two days. You’re there for a day of practice, and then you’re there for a day of filming your act in front of a live audience.”

Freese says you face a lot of competition to get on the show. “I’ve heard there’s approximately 6,500 video auditions each season and then about 120 to 130 make it to the stage in front of the judges, so that’s very exciting,” she says. “From there, the judges vote on you, yes or no. And then of the 130 that get on stage, maybe 30 go to the live show, which will happen later in the season.”

Freese’s act also includes her other dog, a bloodhound named Clifford. Her audition will be part of the “America’s Got Talent” season premiere at 7 pm on NBC. Freese graduated from Storm Lake High School in 1993, and graduated from Buena Vista University in 1997. She lives in Chicago and works as a special education administrator.