(Radio Iowa) – We could see an increase in prices at the gas pump in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. Triple-A Iowa spokesperson Meredith Mitts says the storm forced the oil industry to take action. “The rig workers were pulled off those rigs to make sure we keep everybody as safe as possible. And because of that, we did have to shut down some of those pipelines and rigs temporarily,” Mitts says. She says it is hoped this will be a temporary slowdown in the supply.

“This is a fairly standard and routine thing that happens, it happens every year during hurricane season,” according to Mitts. “So as soon as the power is back online and those rigs and pipelines can be inspected for any damage, and then the roadways are clear and things are returning to normal, we should be getting all of those operations back to normal.” Mitts says the resumption of normal operations is based on crews being able to get to work quickly.

“The only thing that could change that is if there was some major damage — which I haven’t heard of any yet. Or, it takes a really long time to restore power for some reason,” she says. Gas in Iowa right now is averaging three dollars for one gallon.

(Radio Iowa) – Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the third place finisher in the Iowa Republican Party’s 2016 Caucuses, is in Iowa helping local Republicans raise money. As for whether he’ll run for president again, Rubio says he doesn’t know what the future holds. “I imagine in 2024 I, like others, will have to view what the opportunities are and I’ve run for president before, so clearly it’s something that’s interested me, but it’s certainly not something that right now I’m either planning or not planning,” Rubio says. “I don’t know what my life, the world, the country or politics will look like in two years.”

Rubio says his focus right now is on winning reelection to his U.S. Senate seat in 2022. Rubio, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says there should be some accountability in the Biden Administration for its handling of withdrawal from Afghanistan. “It didn’t have to be this way,” Rubio says. “…Afghanistan now presents a vast, ungoverned space for not just al-Qaida to now return, but even elements like ISIS khorasan to come in and create a place where they can begin to recruit and plot against America and our allies.”

Earlier this month, President Biden said America has developed “over the horizon” capacity to deal with terrorist networks. Rubio, who is also the top Republican on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, sent Biden a letter last week, asking for details on how the U.S. will rebuild its counter terrorism activities in the Afghanistan and tribal regions of Pakistan. Rubio says the closest state department consulate to assist Americans and our allies still trying to get out of Afghanistan is nearly 24-hundred miles away in Doha. “At this point, unfortunately, we’re in the ‘beggars can’t be choosers’ situation. I mean we have to figure out which countries in the region are willing to assist us not just in housing refugees, but in the ability to process paperwork and so forth,” Rubio says. “…I would hope that more places would step forward and provide us the capability to do that, but all of this should have been done a long time ago. I mean, it really was just poorly planned.”

Rubio was the keynote at a Story County G-O-P breakfast fundraiser this (Tuesday) morning and then visited a business in Ankeny to discuss supply chain issues. A spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee says Rubio is in Iowa teasing another presidential run rather than addressing the spike in Covid hospitalizations in his home state of Florida.

(Radio Iowa) – It’s been more than a month since thousands of bicyclists on RAGBRAI pedaled through the northwestern Iowa town of Lytton, but the benefits are still rolling in. Scott Matter, who helped organize Lytton’s events during the annual ride, says about 30-thousand dollars was raised that one day, money that will be split between helping to offset the cost of a new fire station and another local project. “One that people really rallied around is helping pay for a new community sign or digital sign,” Matter says. “With Lytton not having its own newspaper anymore, it’s a great way to let people know about what’s happening in town, whether it be a Legion meeting, a church supper, somebody’s anniversary or whatever. We don’t really have that and that’s something people are hoping we can contribute to.”

Lytton Mayor Jeff Ellerbrock says a member of the fire department’s board of trustees approached him shortly after the cyclists went through town on July 26th. “He came in all smiles and said, ‘Guess what? The fire station’s paid for,'” Ellerbrock says, laughing. “It just floored me. It was fantastic. I was just thrilled.”  Lytton RAGBRAI collected more than 15-thousand dollars earmarked for the fire station. Ellerbrock says one of the cyclists who stopped there during the ride remembered the town’s fund drive when he got home. “The fella’s name is Aaron Thompson and he lives in Chesapeake, Virginia,” Ellerbrock says. “He’s retired Navy, he was a SEAL for 30 years. He heard that we got the fire station out of debt and he still wanted to donate so he sent us $2,000 for Emanuel St. John’s Church in Lytton.”

In addition to the money raised by local organizations, another 54-thousand dollars has come in for local organizations. Matter says it took the entire community, and then some, pulling together to make it happen. More than 300 volunteers were in Lytton during RAGBRAI, a town with a population of only around 275. People from across Iowa and as far away as Florida came in to help out.

A man from Pottawattamie County was arrested Monday in Mills County, for OWI/3rd offense, and on a warrant for two counts of Indecent Contact with a Child. The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports 46-year-old Craig Raymond Janssen, of Council Bluffs, was taken into custody at around 2:15-p.m. His bond was set at $9,000.

(Creston, Iowa) – An apartment building in Creston sustained about $10,000 damage Tuesday morning, after it was struck by a white SUV. Creston Police say a witness reported the vehicle ran over a grassy area next to an apartment building east of the T-intersection of Laurel and S. Sumner Street. The vehicle continued until striking the side of an apartment at 1001 Sumner. When The incident occurred at around 8:20-a.m. When Police arrived, the vehicle was not on the scene, and they did not see it while enroute. The driver was not immediately known.

The wall of the building that was hit had a visible brick indentation, enough so that the vehicle broke through into the inside of an apartment. No injuries were reported. Due to the damage, the tenants door was jammed shut, and required the services of the Creston Fire Department to pry it open.

A collision this (Tuesday) morning in Guthrie County caused a total of $6,500 damage, but there were no injuries. According to the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office, a 2012 Ford Focus driven by 15-year-old Tage Jordan Monahan, of Bayard, was stopped at the stop sign for 200th Street and Highway 4 at around 7:30-a.m.  A 2019 Chevy Traverse driven by 27-year-old Jacey Lyn Tuel, also of Bayard, was southbound on Highway 4.

Monahan took off from the intersection, and failed to yield to the SUV, striking it on the passenger side.

(Audubon, Iowa) – The Audubon School Board held a special meeting Monday evening, and along with it, a public hearing on the Proposed Issuance of approximately $3.4-million in school infrastructure sales, services and use, tax revenue and refunding bond. Superintendent Eric Trager explains…

Trager says this time around, they hope they have the necessary authority to proceed with the process.

The monies are sales tax dollars they are able to bond against because the sales tax is pretty much guaranteed through 2052, and not an increase in your taxes.

He said asking for money again from the taxpayers was not an option the Board wanted to consider. The Board passed the Resolution supporting the issuance of the bonds. Eric Trager said also, the school year is off to a good start, they’re happy to see the kids in the building and having things get back to normal as possible. He said “We’re off and running, so that’s a good thing.”