Council Bluffs, IA) – Volunteers for local southwest Iowa fire departments went above and beyond in the aftermath of recent tornadoes that damaged homes and businesses in Pottawattamie County.  According to Jacob Nelson with the Minden Volunteer Fire Department, his colleagues immediately sprang into action checking on residents and their homes, ensuring safety, assisting with gas shut offs, and clearing streets among other duties. Several first responders did so even though their own homes were directly affected, according to Jacob Nelson with the Minden Fire Department.

“Our first responders -in the following hours, days, and weeks – put their lives on hold, taking time from work to assist in the daunting task of cleanup efforts and ensure our residents felt cared for,” he said. “We are so proud to call this our hometown.”

To recognize and support these efforts, the Iowa West Foundation board of directors approved a $10,000 grant to each volunteer fire department that aided in the disaster response. In addition to Minden, 10 other southwest Iowa departments responded including Avoca, Carson, Crescent, Lewis Township, McClelland, Neola, Oakland, Treynor, Underwood, and Walnut. IWF also awarded a $4,000 grant to Shelby County Volunteer Fire Department for their response in Shelby County.

“The Minden Fire Department is beyond grateful to all those who came from all over the county, state, and country to assist in clean-up efforts,” Nelson said. “The outpouring of support for our community is something magical and brings tears to our eyes. There are so many people, businesses, and entire communities to thank.”

Iowa West Foundation’s contribution to local fire department’s is in addition to its commitment of $50,000 to match donations to the Community Foundation for Western Iowa’s Southwest Iowa Disaster Relief fund.

“We’re fully committed to bolstering the immediate relief efforts in the affected regions and aiding those who have been impacted. Our dedication extends beyond the immediate crisis, as we remain steadfast in our commitment to stand by these communities and their residents throughout the rebuilding process,” said Brenda Mainwaring, President, and CEO of the Iowa West Foundation. “It’s inspiring to witness the outpouring of support from individuals rallying to assist their neighbors, and the Iowa West Foundation is privileged to play a role in supporting these commendable endeavors.”
About the Iowa West Foundation

The Iowa West Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the Midwest. It has awarded more than $550 million to nonprofits and governmental agencies throughout southwest Iowa. Funding for the grants comes from investment earnings and the Iowa West Racing Association, which receives contractual fees from casino operators, Ameristar and Harrah’s. The Foundation targets resources into programs and projects that focus on belonging, financial stability, opportunity, and wellbeing.

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI] — Bridgestone will be laying off some employees at its Des Moines plant. In a statement, Bridgestone confirmed the layoffs but would not specify how many workers would be impacted.

“Bridgestone regularly evaluates all aspects of its business to ensure we remain competitive and resources are allocated in a manner that best supports our business strategy,” the company said in a statement.

Bridgestone says it notified United Steelworkers (USW) leadership in Des Moines about the workforce reduction, citing “demand constraints in the agriculture tire sector.”

More athletes than ever before are taking part in this year’s edition of the Iowa Senior Games. Cory Kennedy, spokesman for the 38th annual event, says it’s gratifying to see the popularity continue to grow, year after year.

The games opened Wednesday, with many events underway at Waukee High School in metro Des Moines.

Tennis is among the 30 sports at the games. (Iowa Senior Games 2023 photo)

The sports range from football and tennis to pickleball and granny basketball.

The events run through Sunday. You have to be at least 50 years old to participate in the Iowa Senior Games, though Kennedy says they have a good number of competitors who are well into their 90s.

Originally known as the Iowa Senior Olympics, Kennedy says the event provides a venue for competition among peers with the chance to earn the gold, silver, or bronze medals awarded to the top three individuals in each age group event. Winners have the opportunity to advance to the National Senior Games and world competition.

One the web at www.iowaseniorgames.org

(Radio Iowa) – As the experts study the damage, satellite photos and other data, the number of tornadoes that have hit Iowa this year continues to rise. The National Weather Service now says Iowa has had 94 tornadoes touch down in the state this year, in what’s still considered a preliminary count.

That includes 45 tornadoes during April, which broke the record for the month of 40, set in April of 2001. We had 48 more tornadoes in May, and one confirmed so far in June. The yearly total record for Iowa is 120 tornadoes, set in 2004.

There’s still roughly three weeks left in the three-month tornado season, though twisters can strike during any month.
Back in 2021, Iowa had a record of 63 tornadoes in a single day — in December.

Each dot or streak represents a tornado, color-coded for severity. The lone red slash is the EF-4 that hit Greenfield. (National Weather Service image)

(Radio Iowa) – State Auditor Rob Sand says auditors have identified major concerns about how a city clerk in a small southwest Iowa town handled city funds.  “Cities have multiple accounts,” Sand says, “and if funds are not properly attributed to the accounts where they are due, then you can end up in a messy situation like this.” In August of 2022, Doris Loy was fired from her job as city clerk of Lorimor, a town in Union County with fewer than 400 residents.

The state auditor’s report shows there was a quarter of a million dollar deficit in the town’s General Fund budget — and Sand says auditors found Lorimor residents were being overcharged for natural gas service and had paid 44 percent more in property taxes than was called for in city records. The report also cites Loy’s request for back-pay after she was fired. “Someone asking for payouts when they are terminated and the basis that they are asking for that on is a handbook where electronic evidence shows it was edited just shortly before that person was terminated,” Sand says. The report identified over two dozen concerns about Loy’s bookkeeping, like checks getting signed before she had authority to do so. “This is a red flag,” Sand says. “That just shouldn’t ever happen.”

State Auditor Rob Sand, speaking at a recent news conference in his statehouse office. (RI file photo)

Auditors could not find two computers the city acquired about eight months before the clerk was fired. Loy has recently been city clerk in the small communities of Woodburn and Patterson as well. In 2013, Loy was fired after working for about a decade as city clerk in Grand River. A special investigation by the State Auditor’s office in 2013 found Loy was responsible for mishandling 27-thousand dollars worth of city funds.

SHENANDOAH, Iowa – A new memorial honoring Veterans from Page County, Iowa, will be dedicated during a 10 a.m. ceremony at Rapp Park Recreation Area in Shenandoah, Iowa, on June 15th, 2024. The public is invited to attend the free event. The memorial is located at 1769 State Highway 48 – Rapp Park & Recreation Area, in Shenandoah. The Veteran Memorial Rock is located at the West end of the park between the campground and the lake.

The memorial consists of a large Veteran rock with an inscribed plaque, new flag poles and several benches constructed by local community school students. The Page County Veterans Memorial at Rapp Park Committee is hosting the ceremony. The memorial’s genesis occurred at the Shenandoah VA Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in 2023 when Kala Varellas, a VA Whole Health coach, hosted a discussion with a local Veteran about his desire to see a memorial honoring local area Veterans. Following the discussion, Varellas met with several community members, including the then director of Page County Conservation — who is also a Veteran — who decided to pursue having a Veteran rock placed at the park. He said they “just kind of ran with it.”

The initial idea soon developed into a larger community project with numerous individuals and organizations donating their time and resources to the final design and installation of the memorial. Varellas said this included Schildberg Construction – Braddyville Iowa Quarry, which offered a discount on the rock; Wallick Family Trucking, which donated the delivery of the rock; and Benefiel Towing, which donated the unloading of the truck and the movement of the rock to its current location.

Other donors included the Essex and Shenandoah High School shop classes, which built the benches; Twin Oaks Landscaping, which donated three trees and hours of landscaping maintenance work; Page County Conservation, which donated money for the purchase of the rock, a flag, flagpole, and accompanying plaque; and a local area Veteran who donated money for the purchase of two flags and flagpoles.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Board of Supervisors in Adair County, Wednesday, were introduced to the County Conservation Department’s Summer, seasonal Naturalist. Ashlynn Schubert talked about what some of the plans she has for this Summer.

Ashlynn Schubert

A full list of the activities can be found on the Adair County Conservation Board’s Facebook page. Schubert teaches 6th through 8th grade science at the Coon Rapids-Bayard School District during the school year. She’s originally from Cherokee, in northwest Iowa, but she and her husband moved to Adair last Summer, for the opportunity to work in the same school district.

Adair County Conservation Director Dominic Johnson reminds citizens of the County about the free fishing weekend this weekend, in Iowa.

Johnson said $700 in door prizes have been donated for the fishing clinic, which runs from 9-until 11-a.m., Saturday, and includes lunch, with all you can eat hot dogs. The event begins with at 8-a.m. with registration, followed by a presentation from DNR officials. The clinic is free to kids of all ages.

Fishing clinic door prizes

The next meeting of the Adair County Board of Supervisors is Tuesday, June 11th, at 9-a.m.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Montgomery County Auditor Jill Ozuna reports per State Code, the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office has ordered a post-election audit of the June 4, 2024, Primary Election. Such audits are standard procedure following an election. The race to be audited will be the U.S. House contest for each political party in Precinct 7: The Scott East/Frankfort/Washington Township & Villisca. The precinct essentially covers the east central, southeast and a portion of southern, Montgomery County. The polling place location for Precinct 7 is the Villisca Community Building.

The Montgomery County Auditor’s Office will conduct the audit on Wednesday, June 12, beginning at 9-a.m. The audit takes place in the old Supervisor’s meeting room on the first floor of the Courthouse, at 105 E. Coolbaugh Street, in Red Oak. The proceedings are open to the public.

(Radio Iowa) – The emergency management coordinator for Dickinson County says they are keeping a close eye on high water levels on the Great Lakes. Michael Ehret says they may have to put a speed restriction on Big Spirit, and East and West Lake Okoboji lake.  “With the continued rain we’ve had over the last several weeks, the river levels and lake levels have come up significantly from where we started in the spring. Like a lot of the state, we went from drought to flood in a matter of a couple of weeks,” he says.

He says they can restrict boat speeds to five-miles-an-hour rule.  “That minimizes the wake that your vessel creates, which then, in turn, minimizes damage, you know, the wave action and damages to the shoreline,” Ehret says. Ehret says the wake in high water can also damage property, docks, and boat hoists.

The D-N-R restricts boaters from causing a wake 300 feet from the shore, but Ehret suggests they stay even farther away until lake levels start falling. He is thankful the current forecast calls for dry conditions for the next week to allow levels to stabilize. The haven’t had to put these type of boating restrictions into place in the Iowa Great Lakes Area due to flooding since 2018.