(Radio Iowa) – Emergency repairs are underway to stabilize a flood-damaged pedestrian trail in the Sioux City metro area. Jessica Felix, an engineer with the Iowa Department of Transportation, says the agency plans to spend about eight-million dollars to make repairs to the trail along the Big Sioux River and Interstate 29.

She estimates flooding caused 22-million dollars damage to the primary roadway system in northwest Iowa, which doesn’t include county or city costs. Felix says the rugged terrain makes work on this project very challenging.

The emergency repairs are expected to be finished this fall, and Felix says part of the trail could reopen for pedestrians next year. With flooding throughout northwest Iowa, she says people need to stay out of construction zones and not go around barricades. Violators could face a $10,000 fine and jail time.

(Radio Iowa) – The co-founder of the company operating a baby formula factory in southern Iowa says there’s an opportunity for significant growth in production capacity and the workforce at the plant in Allerton. Ron Belldegrun is C-E-O of ByHeart, which bought the DairiConcepts plant in Allerton after using the facility in 2019 during trials of its new recipe for baby formula.

Baby formula recalls and subsequent shortages in 2022 highlighted the fact that three companies controlled 90 percent of the market. ByHeart’s production of baby formula began in March of 2022. It bought the Allerton plant in 2023.

ByHeart uses whole milk from grass-fed cows and other ingredients in the powder that’s currently produced in Allerton, but canned and packaged at a facility in Pennsylvania. Belldegrun says ByHeart invested very heavily in the Allerton plant to make it a state of the art baby formula factory and there are now 100 people employed at the facility.

ByHeart, which owns plants in Pennsylvania and Oregon as well, currently produces enough formula to feed half a million babies a year. Belldegrun says the company has a big vision for what’s next in Allerton.

ByHeart engineers are drawing up plans to add packaging and canning to the Allerton plant and Belldegrun says he’s had productive discussions with government officials, university researchers, farmers and other ingredient suppliers about creating what he describes as an ecosystem around the southern Iowa facility.

(Radio Iowa) – State Treasurer Roby Smith says it’s not just individuals who may find money in the “Great Iowa Treasure Hunt” managed by his office. By law, unclaimed assets in Iowa are to be turned over to the State Treasurer’s office.

Smith went to the Des Moines Community Playhouse Monday afternoon to present some unclaimed property to the non-profit.

David Kilpatrick, executive director of the Des Moines Community Playhouse, accepted the 316 dollars.

Kilpatrick says the unclaimed funds came from a school district that set aside money for students to attend a performance at the Playhouse, but somehow never paid for the tickets.

Smith says the state treasurer’s office returned 34 million dollars in unclaimed property last year.

Smith says about one in 10 Iowans has some unclaimed property in the state treasurer’s office.

(Radio Iowa) – One of the Iowa delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago says her friends in other countries are paying close attention to the presidential race. Janice Weiner, a state senator from Iowa City, joined the U-S State Department in 1987 and had assignments in seven foreign countries.

Weiner says one reason she wanted to be a delegate at this week’s convention was because of President Biden’s foreign policy initiatives.

Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart says for the past two weeks she’s been thinking about Biden’s convention speech and how it would solidify his legacy.

Iowa delegates on the floor of the Democratic National Convention on August 19, 2024. (Iowa Democratic Party photo)