(West Des Moines, Iowa)- With 1 in 8 Iowa children facing food insecurity, Iowa Select Farms, under the leadership of the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation, are driving the change to help end childhood hunger. Through the Power Snack program, Iowa Select Farms employees are giving ham and bread coupons, along with pork sticks, to teachers and schools for distribution to their students. The program is expected to supply enough coupons to total over 1-million ham sandwiches, as well as 20,000 pork snack sticks, to help end childhood hunger, which the Foundation’s Power Snack program has been trying to tackle for 9 years.

Beginning October 20th and continuing until November 15th, Iowa Select Farms employees will distribute Power Snack Teacher Supply Kits to schools across Iowa. In total, 89 school districts will be recipients of the program. Power Snack helps reduce childhood hunger in Iowa by providing kids the means to purchase nutritious food to prepare at home. Four different times throughout the school year, children identified by the school as food insecure receive a $5 coupon for deli ham and $3 coupon for a loaf of whole wheat bread.

Pork sticks were added by the Foundation to the deliveries to provide a non-perishable, immediate infusion of protein for students, resulting in hunger relief and an open door to engagement in the classroom.  Among the area school districts participating in the program, is:

• Afton/East Union Community Schools
• Bedford Community School District
• Carroll Community School District
• Charter Oak-Ute Community School District
• Coon Rapids-Bayard Community Schools
• Corning Elementary
• Creston Elementary/Middle School
• In Denison: Zion Lutheran School
• Diagonal Community SchoolsLenox Community School District
• IKM-Manning Community School District
• Mount Ayr Community Schools
• Schleswig Community School District
• In Villisca: Enarson Elementary

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors held two Public Hearings in front of an overflow audience at the Cass County Courthouse this (Friday) morning. Members of the Public and others were able to teleconference-in from the Courthouse basement meeting room, in addition to the Supervisors’ Board Room. The crowd primarily consisted of area law enforcement, Fire/EMS, dispatchers and Cass County Emergency Management.

The first public hearing was with regard to authorizing a Loan Agreement and Issuing of Notes for the Agreement with regard to ISICS. Board Chair Steve Baier…

Cass County Fireman’s Association President J-C Wyman spoke on the importance of the Board’s support for ISICS. And, Atlantic Police Lt. Devin Hogue discussed the spotty coverage of the current system.

The Board voted 5-0 in favor of a Resolution instituting he proceedings necessary to take additional action on “not to exceed $2-million in General Obligation Capital Loan Notes.”

The second hearing was with regard to the vacating and closing about 500-feet of 570th Street under Interstate 80, north of Wiota. Nine people were in attendance. It lasted for more than an hour. The State wants to eventually make I-80 three lanes in both directions. Closing the road is a part of that process. Robert “Bob” Christensen, is part of a generation of a family that has lived in Cass County for 150-years. He was emotional in evoking memories of his family farming land that would be affected by the proposed change.

He said he would be willing to file an injunction to stop the road from being closed, because he feels there had been no open attempt at negotiating the offer. Jayden Smith and his wife Cathy own land on either side of I-80 in the affected area. He said closing the road would make for longer routes to the properties and increased wear and tear on bridges in the area, from traffic and heavier loads than what they would normally handle.

Iowa DOT District Transportation Planner Scott Suhr, from Atlantic, assured those at the hearing, that if the County doesn’t take advantage of the financial incentive of vacating the road and accepting funds for bridge infrastructure in the County, the DOT will not seek to incorporate “Eminent domain.” The actual conversion of I-80 into six lanes in Cass County is not going to happen soon, he said. The focus now is on the urban areas of the State. If the County were to decide against vacating the road, the DOT would continue with it’s plan to rehabilitate the current bridge in I-80 over 570th. That would likely occur sometime in 2023 at the earliest.

In the end, the Board voted 5-0 to table action until further notice, on passing a Resolution to vacate and closing that portion of 570th, until the County can get an opinion on how the change would affect the property values of the affected landowners.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Gov. Kim Reynolds, today (Friday), signed a bipartisan vaccine mandate bill (HF902). The bill that outlines how workers may claim a religious or medical exemption from a private employer’s Covid vaccination mandate, without a doctor or cleric signing off on the document. Afterward, she said “I am proud to sign this bipartisan piece of legislation today. This is a major step forward in protecting Iowans’ freedoms and their abilities to make healthcare decisions based on what’s best for themselves and their families. This legislation also gives employees the assurance that they will still receive unemployment benefits despite being fired for standing up for their beliefs.   

Reynolds said also, “As I’ve stated publicly numerous times, I believe the vaccine is the best defense against COVID-19 and we’ve provided Iowans with the information they need to determine what’s best for themselves and their families, but no Iowan should be forced to lose their job or livelihood over the COVID-19 vaccine.  This is only the first step. We will be taking other legal actions against the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate.” 

The bill that passed the House and Senate Thursday says workers are eligible for unemployment if they’re fired for failing to get vaccinated. Senator Jason Schultz, a Republican from Schleswig, says it’s a partial answer to looming federal vaccination mandates. “I don’t want to have to do this. Nobody does,” he said. “We’re reacting to authoritarianism.” Representative Henry Stone, a Republican from Forest City, says there are fast-approaching deadlines for Iowans faced with taking a vaccination they don’t agree with or getting fired. “We needed to take this action now,” Stone says. “January will be too late for Iowans. That’s why we have to act today.”

Democrats who voted for the bill said they did so to ensure Iowans who lose their jobs get unemployment. But Senator Tony Bisignano, a Democrat from Des Moines, voted for the bill, but accused Republicans of trying to buy off Iowans who don’t want to get a Covid shot. “All this bill says if you lose your job — which you’re going to, because you’re not dealing with the mandate,” Bisignano said, “you’re going to give them their measly weekly unemployment check.”

Business groups say the bill puts Iowa businesses in the terrible position of trying to figure out if they must follow state or federal regulations when it comes to Covid vaccinations among employees. Representative Steve Hanson, a Democrat from Sioux City, says Republicans had months to craft a bill and would up with a bill that creates too many unanswered questions. “Rather sloppy legislation,” he says. “…It’s very loosey goosey.”

Opponents of vaccine mandates who rallied at the Capitol yesterday called the bill unacceptable. Representative Jeff Shipley, a Republican from Fairfield, says while there is more work to do on the issue, the bill is a good first step. “There are people in Illinois, in New York and in every other Democratic cesspool in the United States that would love to have these legal protections,” Shipley says. Governor Reynolds says she’s committed to doing more on the topic. Last week the governor said she may join a lawsuit challenging federal Covid vaccine mandates.

(Parts of this story are courtesy Radio Iowa)

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two separate arrests. Thursday night, 39-year-old Chad Michael Gerren, of Sgt. Bluffs, was arrested in Woodbury County, on a Mills County warrant for Pre-Trial Revocation. His bond was set at $5,000. And, Wednesday afternoon, 34-year-old Myles Dustin Longcor, of Henderson, was arrested in Mills County for Possession of a Controlled Substance. His bond was set at $1,000.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Chamber Ambassadors met with Lavon Eblen & Steve Livengood on Thursday, October 28th, 2021, to view the newly renovated kitchen and other miscellaneous improvements to the American Legion Memorial Building.

The American Legion Memorial Building is a National Historic Site and former National Guard Armory. It is now home to Memorial Hall, Military Museum, Military Library, Atlantic History Center, and flag room. The building’s every day happenings are overseen by members of ARISE (Atlantic Rock Island Society Enterprise) and volunteers. The building houses many veteran organizations and provides the members a meeting space and a few offices. ARISE hosts frequent educational and remembrance-based programs in Memorial Hall that are open to the public.

Ambassadors Left to Right: Colt Doherty, Jim Kickland, Scott Bennett, Donnie Drennan, Lana Westphalen, Dolly Bergmann, Dave Bergmann, Dawn Marnin, Dr. Keith Leonard, Kennedy Freund, Hailey Kickland, Steve Livengood, Lavon Eblen, Bob Boots, Mike Cook, Grace Garrett, Rachel Czaja, Hector Vela and Kelsey Beschorner.

The building also acts as rental space for the community. Memorial Hall has an open concept that allows for many options for setting up tables and chairs for any occasion. The organization has completed many renovation projects such as adding spacious restrooms, placing new tile throughout the building, and renovating the kitchen with bright lights and countertops. The kitchen has multiple entrances along with a serving counter and window which makes it perfect to bring in food or accommodate a caterer.

The American Legion Memorial Building is located at 201 Poplar Street in Atlantic. Visit https://ariseatlantic.org to view the rental calendar and contract.

To tour the American Legion Memorial Building, please contact Bob Boots at 712-243-2694.

(Radio Iowa) – One person was killed in a single-vehicle accident in rural Webster County early Thursday. Webster County Sheriff Luke Fleener reported a 2008 Chrysler Aspen operated by Jeremy Bruns, of Fort Dodge, left the road at 120th Street near U.S. Highway 69 north of Fort Dodge. The vehicle struck a utility pole ejecting Bruns from it. Bruns died at the accident scene. The accident remains under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – State Auditor Rob Sand is calling on his fellow Democrats to think carefully about how they talk about politics and be focused on having reasonable conversations. “When was the last time you got convinced that you were wrong because somebody yelled at you about it?” Sand asks. Sand was among the speakers at this week’s Progress Iowa virtual fundraiser that was, in part, a training session for activists in how to create social media content that gets positive online reactions.

Sand says needling and yelling aren’t ways to get people to consider a different point of view. “I like the TV show Ted Lasso and I’m going just to be totally honest I didn’t know that Walt Whitman said to be curious, not judgmental until I heard about it from Ted Lasso,” Sand said, “but I really like that quote.”

Rob Sand

Sand says most of the people scrolling through Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites aren’t posting comments, they’re reading what others have typed.  “I’m not saying that we can’t be mad. I’m not saying that we don’t get angry at times,” Sand says. “I’m not saying any of that, but we have to be careful if we really care about this world and about making people’s lives better as opposed to just ourselves and expressing ourselves.”

Sand has not yet announced whether he will seek a second term as state auditor in 2022 or run for governor.