(Radio Iowa) – With Thanksgiving behind us now, Iowa food pantries are bracing for the winter ahead and a dramatic boost in demand as the year-end holidays near. Matt Unger, C-E-O of the Des Moines Area Religious Council, says while pandemic-era assistance, like extra SNAP benefits and increased unemployment benefits, helped for a while, it didn’t address the underlying problems with food insecurity.

“We have this growth now, and the number of folks that are needing this kind of assistance, and we don’t have the same spotlight on the issue that we did during the pandemic,” Unger says, “so I think there’s the risk that we’ve got some complacency.” So far this month, Unger says DMARC has helped 14-thousand individuals. Zuli Garcia is the founding president of Knock and Drop Iowa, the first-ever Latino food pantry in Des Moines’s metro, which provides culturally-specific foods. Garcia says higher food prices are having an impact and lately, they’ve had to dip into reserves to make sure those in need have enough to take home.

“That’s what our fear is, that we’re going to get to the point where unfortunately, we’re going to have to start turning people away because things are getting expensive, not just out there for everyone, but even for the nonprofits,” Garcia says. “We can’t find the food that’s needed to be able to feed families.” Garcia says for just one day of the pantry being open, Knock and Drop spent 48-hundred dollars on food for 387 families. Officials with the Food Bank of Iowa say they are continuing to see historic need from communities around the state, serving about 150-thousand individuals each month since spring.

(reporting by Catherine Wheeler, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – A half dozen Iowans who’ve led their public libraries through disasters will be featured in an online discussion tomorrow morning. “The hope is that people watching or listening to the webinar can learn from our disasters instead of having to have their own before they learn those lessons,” says Cedar Rapids Public Library director Dara Schmidt, who’ll be one of the panelists.

Like the city it serves, the Cedar Rapids Public Library has had a recent run of emergencies, starting with flooding in 2016. “(That flood) was smaller than predicted and so we ended up not sustaining damage even though we were closed because we were in the inundation zone and then we had, just like everybody else, the pandemic and then the derecho,” Schmidt says, “and then a couple of months ago we had a fire.”

The fire started in late July in a large light fixture in the lobby of the library in downtown Cedar Rapids. The 200 people inside the library were safely evacuated and the fire was doused in a matter of minutes, but the library was closed for a month — to deal with smoke damage. Schmidt says given that history, she and her staff have developed plans that not only focus on responding the moment a disaster might strike, but how to restore services as quickly as possible.

“With everything that we’ve been through, what we understand is out community needs us and in times of great challenge our community needs us even more,” Schmidt says. “…Maybe our building does have to close, but how can we continue to provide service, even when those terrible things are happening to us?”

For example, Schmidt says this summer the library set up a computer lab in a vacant space across the street from the temporarily closed downtown library. Librarians from Bettendorf, Clinton, Marion, Sioux City and West Des Moines will join Schmidt in tomorrow’s panel discussion about disaster planning.

(Radio Iowa) – The Governor announced today (Monday), that a Mitchellville Elementary School teacher is the 2023 Iowa Teacher of the Year.

Krystal Colbert says she knew from a young age that she wanted to be a teacher. “I had a lot of amazing educators in my own life who helped kind of shape that for me. I remember from a very young age, I had teachers who made me feel valued, and loved and respected,” Colbert says. “And I could really tell that they cared about me as a person, and they cared about my success in the future.”

She says every child learns in a different way, and it’s her job to help them understand that. “I believe that student empowerment is when children are able to be in control of their actions and their learning environment. I think it’s really important to help students set goals and to help them know what steps come in reaching those goals. And I always think that children need to be involved in what they’re learning and how they’re learning it,” Colbert says.

Teacher of the Year, Krystal Colbert. (Dept. of Ed photo)

She says it’s important to have a one-on-one connection with every student, and that helps build a trusting community. “I really take the time to invest in the relationships that I have with my students, as well as their families. I like to keep them connected to what we’re doing in our classroom through weekly emails and newsletters,” she says. “And I think it’s also very vital to stay connected and build those relationships with my colleagues as well.”

Colbert has been teaching for 16 years and says she’s still excited to get up and go to work every day. She’s also happy to take on the challenge of being the teacher of the year. “I am so excited and honored to be the 2023 Iowa Teacher of the Year. And I look forward to being able to travel the state of Iowa, as well as do a little traveling throughout the United States and just be able to meet amazing educators,” she says.

Colbert lives in Altoona and made her comments in a Department of Education video.

(Pottawattamie County, Iowa) – Leaders in Pottawattamie County and the City of Underwood have come together to create a plan to greatly assist travelers in the west-central part of the county. The proposed project calls for reconstruction of Magnolia Road (G30) from Railroad Highway to the intersection of L52. The project will also include a two-way left turn lane (TWLTL) from the railroad tracks to the interstate ramps. This will require reconstruction of the Mosquito Creek Bridge to provide the additional lane and maintain two-way traffic during reconstruction.

“This project has community and regional significance as a popular commuter route, an emergency interstate detour, and provides vital interstate access for services and commerce,” said John Rasmussen, Pottawattamie County Secondary Roads Engineer. “Traffic has increased dramatically during the service life of the existing infrastructure and exceeds the capacity of the current design. It’s time for reconstruction to improve deteriorating conditions, traffic capacity, and safety.”

Rasmussen credits Tina Treantos, Operations Manager for Pottawattamie County Secondary Roads, and Cindy Sorlien, Underwood’s City Administrator for fostering the partnership. “It’s a great example of community teamwork,” said Rasmussen. “Our staff worked closely with the City of Underwood to address a real need and its leaders have been open-minded and exceptionally supportive.”

Treantos completed the process for a Competitive City Bridge Grant application, with the City of Underwood as the applicant. The City was awarded up to $1.5 million, and on Tuesday, November 22nd, Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors signed an agreement to utilize that grant on a joint City/ County project.

“We’re grateful for the incredible collaboration that’s gone into this project,” said Underwood Mayor Dennis Bardsley. “As a city, we’re blessed to work with Pottawattamie County. We understand its leaders have our residents’ best interests in mind.” The $5.5 million project is programmed for FY24 but may be delayed until additional funding is secured. The design is in the preliminary stages and will be shared at public meetings once plans are more adequately developed.

Pottawattamie County Secondary Roads Department encourages residents to subscribe to the Road Notification System. The Road Notification System provides advanced warning of projects as well as project completion updates for County residents. Subscribe at: https://www.iceasb.org/road-notifications/subscribe/