(Radio Iowa) – Nearly 120 unionized workers at the Ingredion grain processing plant in Cedar Rapids have reached a tentative agreement with the company. The workers have been on strike since August first. Mike Moore, president of Local 100-G of the Baking, Confectionery, Tobacco, and Grain Milling Union, wouldn’t discuss specifics of the deal, but says it’s a good contract.  “Nobody wins in the strike,” Moore says. “Obviously, the union doesn’t win, the company doesn’t win. Everybody suffers losses, and everybody suffers disappointment but hopefully, come Sunday, they have time to look at and we go through it with them, and then we’ll take a vote and see what happens.”

Moore says it’s been a long road for workers on strike. “I’m very, very proud of my members. Every member stood tall and stood strong,” he says. “I said back on August 1st, when we voted this contract down, that we went out as one and we go back in that plant as one. We’re not 116, 117 people, separate. We’re all one.”

Moore says if all goes well, he can present the tentative agreement to the workers sometime today (Friday) and they will likely hold a vote on Sunday.
(Catherine Wheeler, Iowa Public Radio)

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Shelby County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, passed a Resolution imposing restrictions on the weight of vehicles (load limits) crossing certain bridges on designated highways or highway structures under the County’s jurisdiction.(See the list below)

In Auditor Mark Maxwell’s minutes of the meeting, he noted the Board agreed the County Engineer may enact a 10-ton load limit, on his discretion, on all granular surfaced roadways within Shelby County, until further notice.

In other business, the Shelby County Supervisors passed a resolution with regard to new livestock construction facilities evaluation, utilizing the Master Matrix. And, the Board approved a 28E Agreement between Shelby County, The City of Harlan, and Shelby County Myrtue Memorial Hospital, with regard to the governing and the creation of the Shelby County Ambulance Commission, of Harlan, Iowa.

(West Des Moines, Iowa) – Officials with Hy-Vee have announced the recall of some pot roast meals. Hy-Vee said a wheat allergen was not listed on the ingredients label. The recall covers two Mealtime Beef Pot Roast Dinners produced between Dec. 26 and Jan. 17.

The dinners were sold in grocery stores, Fast and Fresh locations, and Fresh Markets. No one has been reported sick, but Hy-Vee says it proactively issued the recall.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa representatives have been assigned to the U.S. House committees that write tax and spending plans. The week-long voting for speaker pushed back the process of committee assignments in the U.S. House. Congressman Randy Feenstra of Hull is now a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion will remain on the Appropriations Committee.

Congressman Zach Nunn of Bondurant is on the House Ag Committee, which will be writing the next Farm Bill. Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of LeClaire is now on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. That committee oversees the wide range of issues in congress, including public health and telecommunications.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council, this past Wednesday, received a presentation from Alexsis Fleener, with Atlantic’s Community Promotion Commission (CPC). Fleener said in the recent past, the CPC commissioned a video about Atlantic that was posted to various websites, but they wanted to determine how to really use the video and further market Atlantic. Through various conferences Fleener, Chamber Director Bailey Smith and CADCO Executive Director Jen McEntaffer attended, they learned about a company that helps small towns to promote themselves online, and for businesses to work together and cross-promote. That resulted in the DiscoverAtlanticIowa.com Project.

They developed a “Brand” that goes along with the City’s colors, logo, etc.

The website helps those who want to stay in Atlantic, whether it’s just for a few days, over the weekend, or those who may want to relocate here. It will be especially helpful for persons wanting to hold an event here.

The visitors and community guides that have been developed and are available at area business, will be incorporated into the DiscoverAtlanticIowa.com website. The site is still a work in progress, but Fleener says for the most part all the business are listed. The next step is connecting with area businesses in order to link their websites to page, or creating a website for business that don’t have one.

While the foundation for the website has been established, the discoveratlanticiowa.com “launch date” has not been set, so the site is not yet up-and-running for public viewing. Fleener said the earliest the site would be ready to incorporate all the elements is expected to be sometime in March.

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department report the arrest at around 3-p.m. Thursday, of a man on a Theft charge. 37-year-old David Wayne Giles, of Afton, was arrested for Theft in the 5th Degree. He was booked into the Union County Jail and has since posted bond.

(Radio Iowa) – A spokesperson for the T-S-A says the number of guns found at Iowa airport security checkpoints was up in 2022. T-S-A spokesperson, Jessica Mayle says 22 guns were found in Iowa, compared to 14 in 2021. “Not what we see in many other parts of the country– but, you know, it’s incredibly dangerous, we just want to remind people that you should never bring a gun through the checkpoint, it’s never going to make its way onto the aircraft in the cabin,” she says “And if you do need to travel with a firearm, there is a way to do it safely.”

Fifteen guns were found at the Des Moines Airport, up six from the previous year. Six guns were found in Cedar Rapids, one Waterloo, which was an increase of one gun for each airport. The nationwide number of guns found was a record for the second year in a row. “Overwhelmingly, when we find a guy and on the X-ray, and we say ‘whose the bag is this’ and we identify the passenger, they say, ‘Oh, my gosh, I totally forgot I had that I did not mean to do that, I did not mean to bring that bag or that item in that bag’, Mayle says. “And we always say responsible firearm owners always know where their firearms are.”

Mayle says having a gun in the airport is dangerous, and when one is found it can back things up. “The entire screening process stops, we don’t even take the gun out of the X-ray machine. Everything stops until the police arrive. They’re the ones who come and take the gun out and handle it,” she says. “So don’t just think about yourself and slowing yourself down and having a big fine on yourself. But everyone in line behind you is going to have their day disturbed as well. So just don’t do it.” Mayle says each city handles the process a little differently when a gun is found — but you can be sure you will hear later from the T-S-A.

(File Photo image from tsa.gov (Not the actual gun seized at Dsm Int’l. Airport)

“You are going to get a fine in the mail. It doesn’t happen that day when you’re at the airport. You get a ticket in the mail, and then you have the option to contest it later. But it can be in the hundreds or even thousands of dollars. So it’s not a cheap mistake by any means,” she says. Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are unloaded, packed separately from ammunition in a locked hardback case, and declared at the airline check-in counter. Mayle says they advise you to start packing with an empty bag to avoid any mistakes. “If you start with an empty bag, you’re much less likely to put one of those items you shouldn’t have in, and you just you’re a lot more conscious of your decisions,” Mayle says. “And I think all of these people who we caught with firearms probably really wish they had just started with an empty bag that day because they never would have put it in.”

The Atlanta airport had the most guns found in 2022 at 448, followed by Dallas/Fort Worth at 385 and Houston at 298.