(Radio Iowa) – The project to restore a historic Iowa train depot will include new exhibits to show the influence of railroads on population growth and tourism. The 140-year-old depot in Spirit Lake has been home to the Dickinson County Historical Museum for five decades. Mary Drier, the museum’s curator, says the first rail line to reach the shore of Big Spirit Lake was the Burlington-Cedar Rapids-Northern Railway and it began bringing tourists to the Great Lakes region.

“That railroad also built the magnificent Orleans Hotel and the original ‘Queen’ steamboat,” she says. A different rail line then connected Spirit Lake and Spencer. The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Depot opened in Spirit Lake in 1884. “Our first depot agent was a 16-year-old girl named Eva Ballou. Her father started out as the depot agent, but he was in ill health, so she took over,” Drier says. “She actually lived in a shack on the grounds while the depot was being built.” Eva’s story, along with others, will be featured in the new exhibits.

“What we’ve learned from kids visiting the depot and the museum is that kids of today don’t understand how important and vital railroads were to the early communities,” Drier says. “If a community had a railroad going through it, it would thrive. If it did not have a railroad going through it, it probably became non-existent.” A brick addition was built onto the depot in 1995 because the depot had no heat or air conditioning and could not be used year-round. Drier says the depot is now properly insulated, with a new H-VAC system in place. There’s been a 10-fold increase in visitors to the museum since 2021 and Drier credits new programming.

“That brings people in through the door and then once they’re in through that door, they come back,” Drier says. “We’ve spent the last year improving our exhibits in our exhibit hall, really focusing on the stories of the area, more than the stuff and the artifacts of the area. We make sure we all tell stories that help bring people and visitors into relationship with the history of the county.”A quarter of a million dollars has been raised so far to finance the upgrades to the museum.

(Radio Iowa) – Sioux Central agriculture teacher Melanie Bloom is the 2025 Iowa Teacher of the Year. The governor and Department of Education director made the announcement during an assembly at the school in Sioux Rapids this (Monday) morning. Bloom said she was shocked when she learned she was named the Iowa Teacher of the Year. “Humbled and really flattered, this is just really, really special” she says.

The Teacher of the Year award recognizes exceptional teachers who demonstrate excellence in the classroom, and who have made a significant impact on student outcomes and their fellow educators. The Teacher of the Year will spend the year traveling the state to work with other teachers. “I’m so excited to be bale to advocate for teachers and the profession like this,” Bloom says.

Bloom said her favorite part of teaching is seeing student’s faces light up and smile when they solve a problem. Bloom has been a teacher for 16 years. She established Sioux Central’s first full-time agriculture program, and serves as the F-F-A advisor. Bloom says keeping up with the technology and changes in the ag industry is a challenge.

Governor Reynolds, Teacher of the Year Bloom, Dept. of Ed Director MacKenzie Snow. (KAYL photo)

“I really rely a lot on our alumni and our community and the agriculture industry as a whole to help me bring kids up on the topics of importance,” she says. “It’s not possible for me to be a master of all trades, and so I really depend on outside help and industry experts to help me get our students where they need to be so they’re ready for careers in agriculture.”

Bloom was one of nine Regional Teacher of the Year winners who were finalists for Teacher of the Year. The Iowa Teacher of the Year award was established in 1958.

BELLEVUE – On Sunday, December 8th, at approximately 11 a.m., a boat with three occupants capsized below Lock and Dam No. 12 in Bellevue on the Mississippi River. The victims were fishing in a restricted area directly beneath the dam when their boat overturned.

Despite lifesaving measures all occupants drowned. The incident continues to be investigated.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has identified the victims as:

• Mitchell Thomson, 30, Stanwood, Iowa
• Nicholas Thomson, 40, Tipton, Iowa
• Kirk Stout Sr, 61, Marion, Iowa

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Glenwood Police Department reports 21-year-old Kyrsten Rohmeyer-Clemons, of Omaha, was arrested on drug charges, Sunday. Rohmeyer-Clemons was charged with Possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. She posted a $1,300 bond and was released.

WATERLOO, Iowa – The Iowa Dept. of Corrections reports 20-year-old Daeonnis Javir Gates, who was convicted of Willful Injury – Causing Serious Injury and Intimidation with a Dangerous Weapon in Black Hawk County, failed to report back to the Waterloo Residential Correctional Facility as required Sunday (yesterday).

Gates is a 6-foot tall, 188-pound Black male. He was admitted to the work release facility on March 12, 2024.

Daeonnis Javir Gates

Persons with information on Gates’ whereabouts should contact local police.

(Radio Iowa) – The leaders of food assistance groups in Iowa say they’re seeing record numbers at the state’s food pantries. A network of 14 central Iowa food pantries served 30-thousand people in November — the highest number in the organization’s 50 year history. Blake Willadsen is a spokesman for the Des Moines Area Religious Council. “We’ve got a line out the door as we open and a line out the door as we close.” Di Daniels is a board member of SALUD!, a coalition that coordinates feeding programs in Storm Lake.

“COVID hit and it just blew us away and since then it feels like we are still operating in crisis mode,” Daniels says. “In talking to the different organizations, the different churches that are in this arena, our numbers have doubled and tripled.” Michelle Book, C-E-O of the Food Bank of Iowa, says since April of 2022, the amount of food it has distributed to food pantries in 55 counties has grown each month.

Food Bank of Iowa CEO Michelle Book on “Iowa Press” set on Dec. 6, 2024. (Iowa PBS photo)

“In the last two months, we’ve distributed 2.5 million pounds of food each month, in October and November,” Book says. “Those are record setting distributions for Food Bank of Iowa over the court of our our 42 year history.”

Book and Daniels made their comments during a weekend appearance on “Iowa Press” on Iowa P-B-S.