(Radio Iowa) – Officials say as many as 13-hundred Afghans who were evacuated from their Asian homeland this summer could be relocated to central Iowa by June of 2022. Three weeks ago, the Pentagon announced nearly 67-hundred Afghans had been resettled throughout the country, but more than 53-thousand remained at U.S. military facilities in six different states. Polk County Supervisor Robert Brownell has been leading efforts to make arrangements for Afghans who’re being sent to the Des Moines area.

“I know that the military bases are wanting these folks off military bases ASAP,” Brownell says, “and so time frame keeps getting compressed a little bit because they want these folks resettled.” Brownell says the coalition working on the resettlement project has secured warehouse space for beds and other furniture.  “My understanding is Catholic Charities is about out of beds, if not out, so we’re in the process of going through our procurement folks to see what it would cost to get a lot of beds in here for our future Afghans.”

Pashto and Dari are the two official languages of Afghanistan and Brownell says they’re also working on a contract with a call-in translation service so Afghans can communicate with English-speaking Iowans as soon as they arrive.

(Marne, Iowa) – Officials with the Marne-Elk Horn Telephone Company announced Thursday, that in the next several years, underserved Internet customers in western Iowa will be served with Marne Elk Horn fiber Internet after the company completes fiber projects in the region. The company announced that they have accepted the $4.5 million grant award from the Empower Rural Iowa Broadband Grant program, which was announced in September, as well as the locations of the fiber projects they will be doing.

According to Rachel Hamilton, CEO of Marne Elk Horn, in 2022 the company will complete the fiber project in the City of Neola, which it started in 2021 as part of the company’s vision to serve all customers in their services areas with fiber. Also next year, they will begin work in the community of Exira and the Iowa grant awarded area near Underwood (see map for details of the project area). The company already has fiber to the community and rural areas of Brayton, Elk Horn, Marne, McClelland, Kimballton, and Walnut. Additionally, in the communities (and some rural areas) of Avoca, Underwood &
Neola.

“Projects like this are tremendous for customers and exciting for us to do, and we’re pleased to announce details of all we have been working on,” said Hamilton. “It’s important to remember that under normal circumstances projects of this size take a couple of construction seasons to complete. Right now things aren’t normal. It’s more difficult to acquire materials, electronics and contractor crews, which impacts our ability to build these projects as quickly as we’d like. But we won’t let that hinder our efforts.”

Today, broadband (fiber Internet) is as important as electricity was in the 1930s. The disparity of available broadband Internet offerings across the state has left many rural residents and businesses without the reliable, ultra-fast fiber Internet that most Marne Elk Horn customers already have. This fact was exacerbated and exposed further by the pandemic when people needed to work and attend school from home.

“Rural Underwood is in need of internet options and upgrades in order for our regional community to stay progressive and competitive with the shift to remote workforce and the need for speed to run more technologically advanced applications. Marne Elk Horn’s project will meet this need, and we are thrilled,” said Angie and Jim J. of rural Underwood. “Marne Elk Horn’s investment will also benefit Underwood Schools and our rural student population.”

Zach Kerber, who has Marne Elk Horn service at his machine & design shop in McClelland said, “I was very happy to hear that they are expanding their fiber and soon I’ll be able to get service from them at my home. At the office, Marne Elk Horn saved us from very poor service from a previous provider, and I can’t wait to have Marne Elk Horn fiber at home too.”

Hamilton said that Marne Elk Horn is excited to continue to bridge broadband gaps with these projects, some made possible only because of grant funds. “Because of the tremendous cost to build fiber networks, without grants or other low-cost funding sources, it would be tough to make a business case to build fiber into these rural neighborhoods,” stated Hamilton.

“The Marne Elk Horn team is excited about 2022. We know our fiber projects will positively impact the day-to-day activities of rural residents who live here and we can’t wait to welcome you to our services and team. If you live in one of these areas you will be hearing more from us soon,” concluded Hamilton.

This project was supported by funds made available through the State of Iowa, acting by and through the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO). Points of view expressed herein are those of the author and speaker and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the State of Iowa or endorsement of the project. 68.69% ($4,550,861.64) of this project was financed with State funds.

(Radio Iowa) – Forecasters say much of Iowa should have mostly clear skies tonight (Thursday), allowing a good view of what promises to be the longest partial lunar eclipse in centuries. Professor Siobahn Morgan, who heads the Astronomy Department at the University of Northern Iowa, says the full moon will be almost completely covered by the shadow of the Earth, causing what’s called a Blood Moon.

“It will mainly turn red. The part of it that will not be eclipsed, of course, will be kind of muted and grayish color or dimmed out, not as colorful as most of the moon,” Morgan says. “It would be very cool to see, especially with binoculars.” The Earth’s shadow should start covering the moon around 1:18 A-M and will eventually darken about 98-percent of our natural satellite’s surface.

A blood moon should be visible tonight & early Friday morning.

“The lunar eclipse duration, when it first starts to enter the outer shadow of the Earth and then leave it is about three-and-a-half hours,” Morgan says. “The fuller, darker part of the eclipse is much less duration.” Given the position of the Earth and moon, the experts say this will be the longest-lasting partial lunar eclipse since the year 1440, while there won’t be a longer similar event until 2669. That’s reason enough to set the alarm, bundle up, go outside and take a gander, right?

“The peak of the eclipse happens just a little bit after 3 AM,” Morgan says. “Anytime between about 2 AM and 4 AM would give you an interesting view. The closest you are to 3 AM, the better.” In addition to the full moon, the partial lunar eclipse and the Blood Moon, tonight’s glowing orb in the sky is also referred to as a Beaver Moon — the first full moon in November. The origins of the name are thought to come from Native Americans who set traps for beavers during this month prior to the freezing of rivers and streams to guarantee a good supply of winter furs.

(Fremont, NE) – A Montgomery County (IA) man is dead following a crash Wednesday afternoon in Dodge County, Nebraska. According to the Nebraska State Patrol, 32-year-old Anthony Branam, of Villisca died when the vehicle rear-ended a semi-tractor trailer at around 3:30-p.m., Wednesday, on Highway 77, north of Fremont, NE.

The driver of the semi was not injured. Authorities say the crash closed a stretch of the highway for about three hours.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion says political rhetoric has become too heated on both sides of the partisan divide, but she voted against the formal reprimand of a fellow Republican because House Democrats haven’t taken similar action against other Democrats. Hinson voted against censuring Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar for posting an animated video online that depicted him attaching President Biden and killing a New York Congresswoman.  “It’s absolutely wrong to depict violence against another member of congress and the president and there’s no excuse or justification for that behavior,” Hinson says. “…Violent rhetoric is unacceptable.”

But Hinson says Democrats failed to censure a California Congresswoman last year who had called on protesters to get more confrontational. “Accountability for wrongdoing shouldn’t be determined by your party, but Speaker Pelosi has set that unequal standard,” Hinson says. “…I’m commuted to making sure we lower the temperature in our nation’s political discourse and that’s the way I’m choosing to lead on this issue in Iowa’s first district.”

Randy Feenstra of Hull and Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa — the other Republicans in Iowa’s U.S. House delegation — also voted against removing a fellow Republican from his committee assignments, but did not make public statements about their votes. Nor did Democratic Congresswoman Cindy Axne of West Des Moines, who voted to censure the G-O-P congressman for his social media postings.

(Radio Iowa) – The state Board of Education has approved rules for the new law that makes it easier to form publicly-funded charter schools. The board’s attorney, Thomas Mayes, told them this process will be quite different than what they’ve seen in the past. “I don’t think that the educators, the general public has fully processed the change this statute made. It’s big and bold — as some things should be — but when something is big and bold, the butterfly effect, it’s major,” Mayes says.

He says it will be a different process when the charter schools come to the board for approval. “Ordinarily, we think about waiving statutory requirements. Or I am seeking a waiver of X. The default rule for the charters is they are exempt from that. They don’t have to prove that they need a waiver — they’re just exempt from it,” Mayes explains. “Except, unless it’s specifically listed or two areas where they are required to seek a waiver. That language is critical, because a waiver implies that somebody has a burden to prove something.”

Mayes talked about some of the other exemptions in the charter school law. “They are exempt from limitations regarding year-round schools. they are exempt from the August 23rd start state. Because those were not specifically listed as things to which they either must comply or must seek your permission,” he says.

May says they received several public comments on the new rules and many were helpful in moving them forward. Board staff say they have received around six requests for information on charter schools. Groups that want to open a new charter school in Iowa next fall now have until February to submit an application.