(Radio Iowa) – All of the Iowa State Education Association’s local unions representing teachers and staff in an Iowa school district have voted to recertify with the union, while more than a dozen union locals representing county and city employees in Iowa have been decertified. A state law passed in 2017 requires a majority of public sector employees to vote “yes” to retain their local union every year. Iowa State Education Association president Mike Beranek says thousands of Iowa educators are loudly and firmly telling Republican lawmakers that public employees want collective bargaining rights and have overcome the obstacle of having any person who doesn’t vote counted as a no.

Results for all public sector union votes are posted on the Iowa Public Employment Relations Board website. It shows unions will no longer represent 15 bargaining units for city and county employees, while more than 150 other union locals were recertified for the next round of contract negotiations.

The recertification votes failed in the following bargaining units: City of Algona AFSCAME Council 61 (police), Calhoun County CWA Local 7173, Cerro Gordo County PPME Local 2003 (Roads), Cerro Gordo County Board of Health PPME Local 2003, Dallas County EMS Professionals, Henry County PPME Local 2003, Ida County PPME Local 2003 (Roads), Independence Municipal Utility IBEW Local 55, Jackson County Detention Center Employees Association, Jackson County Employees Association, Lee County PPME Local 2003 (Roads), Pocahontas County CWA Local 7173 (Roads), Pottawattamie County Teamsters Local 554 (Detention Officers), Ringgold County PPME Local 2003 (Roads), Scott County Library System Teamsters Local 238.

(Greenfield) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors met Wednesday morning in their Board Room at the Courthouse, in Greenfield. During their session, Auditor Mandy Berg discussed some recent webinars she attended, with regard to the S.3011 Bill – re: The State, Local, Tribal & Territorial Fiscal Recovery, Infrastructure & Disaster Relief Act (COVID relief). The bill was passed in the Senate and was sent to the House for review and later action.

The funds can be used just as if the County had lost revenue, for such things as building repairs, roads and infrastructure and public safety, for example. The Board discussed, but made no concrete plans for the money, once it’s received. Board Chair Steve Shelley said if the funds could be used “100-percent to relieve taxpayer’s costs, it would be what we’re here for.”

The Board will take the information home and study it. The Board thanked Berg for attending those informational sessions. Afterward, Berg presented the FY21 Annual Urban Report with regard to Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for the Debt Service Fund.

The report showed each TIF taxing district, showing the values for each district and the TIF revenue received for each district. The number of Taxing Districts next year, she said, will increase from eight to 21. Adair County Weed Commissioner Nathan Jensen presented his Annual Report. He said it wasn’t too bad of a year overall, but he did have to send a couple of notices out to property owners, asking them to get their noxious weeds under control. The problem areas are basically the same as last year, he said. And, County Engineer Nick Kauffman presented the front page of plans for the W20 Jackson 16×10 Reinforced Concrete Box Culvert (RCB) Project on a Farm-To-Market road. After the Board Chair signed the page, which allows the County to solicit bids, Kauffman said the scheduled bid letting will be held March 15, 2022.

Kauffman also provided a report on the Secondary Roads Dept. activities. He said some things that were planned for this week, had been rained-out.

(Radio Iowa) – The telehealth company Twenty-eight is expanding into Iowa, offering a new option for reproductive health. Co-founder Amy Fan wants to focus on traditionally underserved women, like those who are lower-income, live in rural areas and women of color. More than half of Iowa’s counties are labeled “contraceptive deserts” and Fan says reducing that number can help address other health disparities. “Black and Latinx women, unfortunately, have a much higher maternal mortality rate than white women in the U.S.,” Fan says, “and I think it’s really stemming from access and providing culturally competent access as well.” Twenty-eight says it aims to help the estimated 170-thousand Iowa women in need of some sort of birth control.

Although there are active groups in Iowa to provide birth control to this population, Fan says another option can only help. “I really hope that the more telehealth players there are, the more options women have,” Fan says, “and at the end of the day, the better access will be.” She says there are still additional steps Iowa needs to take in increasing affordability.

(reporting by Kassidy Arena, Iowa Public Radio)

Officials with the Creston Police report two people were arrested on separate drug charges, Tuesday, and one person was arrested this (Wednesday) morning, for assault with a dangerous weapon. At around 10-a.m. Tuesday, 19-year-old Stiller Niles Melton-Clardy, of Des Moines, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a Union County warrant for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Melton-Clardy was also charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance-Marijuana/1st offense. He was later released on bond.

At around 11:20-p.m. Tuesday, 19-year-old Amber Danielle Lacina, of Shannon City, was arrested at the Summit Boat Ramp, and charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She was cited at the scene, and released.

At around 1-a.m. today (Wednesday), 24-year-old Adam Edward Lee Austin, of Creston, was arrested for Interference with Official Acts and Assault with a dangerous weapon. Austin was being held in the Union County Jail on a $2,300 cash/surety bond.  Creston Police said also, Brett Street Power Washing Services on Elm Street in Creston, reported a padlock was cut on one of their trailers, and a brand new red and black Predictor Generator was stolen, along with two gas cans. The loss was estimated at $590.

(Radio Iowa) – The Wright County community of Clarion is in the process of becoming a sister city to a community in the southeastern European nation of Kosovo. Clarion Mayor Duane Asbe (AS-be) says the agreement was passed last week by the city council. “We did sign a resolution to pursue a sister city relationship,” Asbe says, “so that would indicate to Kosovo that we are willing and supportive of creating a sister city relationship from our side.” While Clarion is the county seat, it’s a rural community of only 28-hundred. Asbe is hoping officials in Kosovo will match them up with a similar-sized town.

“There are four or five different sister cities within the state of Iowa, namely, Johnston, Sioux City, Cedar Falls and actually nearby, Fort Dodge, but we would be the first smaller rural community to pursue this process (in Kosovo).” This past summer, Kosovo’s minister of agriculture visited Clarion and rural areas nearby. The name of the sister city will be announced at a later date. A delegation of Iowans plans to visit Kosovo next spring.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s “pleaded” with ranking officials at General Electric to reconsider plans to buy wind turbine blades from a company in Denmark instead of its long-time partner in Iowa. G-E’s plan to shift production overseas has resulted in T-P-I Composites of Newton announcing the plant’s shutdown in December, eliminating more than 700 jobs. Grassley says G-E listened to his case. “It was a conversation that went well. They said they would look into it but no certainty from it,” Grassley says. “They did say they were going to get back to us but so far, they haven’t gotten back to us on that.”

G-E bought a Denmark-based wind turbine blade maker in 2017 and has placed no orders with T-P-I for 2022. G-E was T-P-I’s biggest customer, and T-P-I is Newton’s largest employer since the pullout of appliance giant Maytag’s headquarters and factory in 2007. Grassley is hoping some of the “green energy” jobs in Newton can still be salvaged. “It’s one thing to shut down a plant and lay off 700 people,” Grassley says, “as opposed to cutting back production and maybe laying off half of it.” Grassley also sent a letter to President Biden, asking him to consider using T-P-I for the manufacturing of blades for a massive offshore wind farm project.

The administration announced earlier this month a plan to build large-scale wind farms all along the East and West Coasts and in the Gulf of Mexico. As yet, Grassley says he’s had no response from the White House about using the Iowa factory for that proposal.

(Radio Iowa) – Forest City-based outdoor lifestyle manufacturer Winnebago Industries is setting a goal to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of this century. C-E-O Michael Happe says the company is making the pledge through a campaign led by the Science-Based Targets Initiative.  “We recently strengthened our commitment to sustainability by joining the Business Ambition for 1.5 Degree Celsius, a United Nations-backed global coalition of business leaders,” Happe says. “As part of this program, we are committing to help limit the impact of climate change by setting a goal to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. We also announced additional goals on water, waste and product sustainability.”

Happe says the company’s goals include: zero waste to landfills, with 90% diversion of waste by 2030; net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050; reduce freshwater use by 30% by 2050; have eco-friendly upgrade options on all their new products by 2025; and product life-cycle assessments by 2030. “We look forward to working with the Science-Based Target Initiative and external validators to develop and enact a plan for achieving this net-zero goal, which represents an important focus of our corporate responsibility strategy,” Happe says.

Winnebago Industries last week reported a record fiscal year with a profit of almost $282 million for the manufacturer of Winnebago, Grand Design and Newmar recreational vehicles as well as Chris-Craft and Barletta boats.