(Radio Iowa) – The president of Coe College in Cedar Rapids is announcing he’ll identify a senior staffer to oversee diversity, equity and inclusion — or D-E-I — initiatives on campus. It follows a protest march and rally by hundreds of students and at least one faculty member on Thursday. Coe student Angelina Ramirez called for diversifying the school’s board of trustees.  “To fix structural issues we need structural reform. That is necessary. That is why we are here today,” Ramirez says. “Our demands will result in accountability and representation. Again, that is necessary and that is why we are here today.”

Coe faculty member Anthony Kelley joined the demonstration and protested with the students. “We’re sick and tired of being sick and tired,” Kelley said. “We’re sick and tired of a board of trustees composed of mostly wealthy white men who do not reflect the racial, ethnic and gender diversity of our broader campus community. We’re sick and tired of feeling unwelcome.”

The students were galvanized by the resignation of a longtime trustee who criticized the school’s recent presidential search process as lacking diversity.

(Kate Payne, Iowa Public Radio)

Davenport, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Corrections reports a man convicted of Intimidation with a Dangerous Weapon and other crimes in Scott County, failed to return to the Davenport Residential Corrections Facility as required, Thursday. Authorities say 23-year-old Corionte Crishawn Williams is a black male, 5-feet 9-inches tall. He weighs 183 pounds. Williams was admitted to the work release facility on August 17, 2021.

C.C. WIlliams

Persons with information on his whereabouts should contact local police.

Council Bluffs, Iowa — Authorities in Pottawattamie County said in an update to a death investigation in Council Bluffs, the incident was a murder-suicide, and the case is closed.

As we’ve previously reported, Sheriff’s Deputies and Police were called to home on the far east side of Council Bluffs at around 7:45-a.m. November 7th., on a report of a domestic disturbance. When law enforcement arrived on the scene, the found the body of 83-year-old Bonnie Rankin, dead from a gunshot wound.

Her husband, 86-year-old Harvey Rankin was suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center for treatment, but died Nov. 16th.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s U.S. House delegation has voted along party lines as Democrats passed their Build Back Better Act. Congresswoman Cindy Axne, a Democrat from Des Moines, calls the bill transformational. “I don’t look at this as a bill for Democrats,” Axne says. “I look at this as a bill for Iowans and a bill for Americans because it fulfills the promises I made to the people here in the state when I decided to run which was putting money in people’s pockets and bringing more opportunity to the people that live here.”

The bill extends the enhanced child tax credits parents have been receiving since July and aims to lower the cost of some prescription drugs for seniors and for diabetics who rely on insulin. The legislation also provides federal funding to a variety of clean energy and climate initiatives. The House Republican leader spoke against the bill for eight-and-a-half hours, ending his remarks at about 4 a.m. Iowa time. Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Marion, says the bill is a monstrosity. “I can tell you from all the town halls on the road, the folks at home are frustrated by runaway government spending,” Hinson says. “They don’t want to see their hard-earned paychecks spent like Monopoly money.”

Congressman Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull, says the bill is a complete disaster. “We can’t continue to go down this path of continuing to see increases in our gas and our groceries and our hardware supplies,” Feenstra says, “all because of this reckless spending that continues to happen.” Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa, the other Republican in Iowa’s U.S. House delegation, also voted no on the bill. Miller-Meeks says increasing government spending will make inflation worse.

(Radio Iowa) – Students at the Iowa Culinary Institute’s Baking & Pastry Arts Program at the DMACC Newton Campus are using the upcoming holiday as a learning experience. Chef Ryan Binney says they are selling Thanksgiving Dinner rolls and have had to learn about the whole process beyond baking. “We ran into some glitches in finding things. I involved the students in trying to order up all the ingredients and get everything in in time. Especially with the supply issues that we are going through right now — it’s definitely a challenge — and I want them to know what that looks like in the real world,” Binney says.

It is the second year of the program and they are selling the rolls by the dozen in either white or whole wheat. “Both of the rolls are made from scratch, there’s no preservatives at all,” according to Binney. “They are a lot better for you. They don’t really keep for a long time — so I would say if you have extra you can freeze them. I find that most people eat them all on Thanksgiving — or make some sandwiches after.”

Rolls cooked by students. (photo from DMACC.)

The rolls cost six dollars for a dozen and they come in a foil pan to make them easy to heat up. But Binney says these are much better than the traditional frozen rolls you buy to heat up for dinner. “A lot of times the students are surprised when you take all those preservatives and enzymes and stuff out of there just how good it actually tastes when you are actually tasting the wheat and the fermentation and the alcohol,” he says.

The Baking and Pastry Arts program is a one-year course. “So in the fall, they take artesian breads and fundamentals baking. And in the spring they take plated desserts and international pastries. And in the summer they take chocolate and sugar and cake decorating,” Binney says.  The money raised from selling the rolls is used to send students on a trip to a baking exposition show. Binney says there is a great demand for their skills in the food industry. “Students that I graduated in August, they are landing some of the top jobs in Des Moines and beyond,” he says. “I had a student who got a job offer at Disney and students who are really excelling in the field and becoming successful pastry chefs and bakers.”

Online orders for the rolls are being accepted now through noon on Monday, November 22nd. You can order by visiting baking.dmacc.edu. Rolls will be available for pickup between 10 a-m. until noon on Wednesday, November 24th at either the DMACC Campus in Newton or the DMACC Urban Campus in downtown Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa) – Four Iowans have pleaded guilty to a scheme that prosecutors say led the U.S. Small Business Administration to lose more than four-and-a-half million dollars on bank loans.
Three of the people who pleaded guilty worked for Valley Bank, based in the Quad Cities and shut down by regulators in 2014. Seventy-year-old Larry Henson of Davenport, the bank’s president, and two other bank employees have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution. The president of a company that provided lending services to Valley Bank has pleaded guilty to the same charge.

According to a news release from the U.S. Justice Department, the group altered loan payment histories, renamed businesses and hid the fact that borrowers had previously defaulted on loans. Court records indicate the scheme involved getting the Small Business Administration to guarantee the failed loans. Each of the four defendants face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

Valley Bank had six Quad Cities locations, plus banks or loan offices in Altoona, Ames, Clive, Ankeny, Pleasant Hill, Knoxville, Oskaloosa and Cedar Falls when regulators declared it “unsound” in 2014. Great Southern acquired the banks assets, but not its losses, estimated to be in the range of 81 million dollars.