(Radio Iowa) – Independent filmmakers in Iowa are appealing to the public for help in getting a movie made in several locations in the state with an all Iowa-cast and crew. Co-director Jake Daniels, founder of Mediaverse Studios in Marengo, says the feature-length film is to be called “Operation: Crimson Night.” It will follow a team of soldiers working for a shadow organization who are sent to find and kill a creature that escaped from its containment area in a small town in Romania. “It’s kind of a mystery and kind of a suspenseful thriller, but there’s also a lot of character-driven aspects to it,” Daniels says. “When we see these kind of movies, we basically just see the action and shoot ’em up stuff, but what we’re trying to create is something that’s more character-driven and has a little bit more heart, and leans more to the horror than the action.”

Daniels says filmmakers don’t need to go to Hollywood, Atlanta or New York to create quality entertainment, as there’s exceptional talent and creativity thriving within the state of Iowa. “The goal of this is mostly to show the film industry that Iowa is here and we are making really good movies,” Daniels says, “and while we have a small budget, we’re able to make it look like something way larger. We’re hoping for film festival releases and then eventually, we’re going to try to get it onto some streaming platforms.” Daniels says he’s also planning for screenings of the film in Iowa theaters. The crowdfunding campaign effort via the website Indiegogo is seeking $7,500 as seed money to make this movie a reality.

Mediaverse Studios image

“We have all of our own cameras and lighting and we’re actually building some sets at our studio, so we’re able to eat a lot of the costs that way ourselves,” he says. “The funding is basically going to the cast and crew to get them fed, get them paid a little bit, and then hopefully on the back end, if we get good distribution, then all that money will go back to the cast and crew.”

It’s hoped the movie will be shot in May and June in locations around Des Moines, Mason City and at the studio in Marengo.

Learn more at: www.indiegogo.com/projects/operation-crimson-night.

(Radio Iowa) – A state expert says the snow this month is going to be a help after months of drought. Iowa D-N-R hydrologist, Tim Hall, says there are some indications melting snow will provide some help for depleted soil moisture. “The numbers I’ve seen suggest that the ground frost is not particularly deep in the state because the really cold weather we just came through happened after we had a pretty decent snow cover on the ground, which tends to insulate the soil a little bit,” he says. Hall the ground is often frozen in January and there isn’t any seeping into the subsoil “So if we were to have a rapid melt off, most of the snow would end up in runoff off the top of the ground. So that’s not the best for soil moisture replenishment,” he says.

Hall says the snow melt will be beneficial one way or another. “That moisture is going to go somewhere, and right now whether it goes into the soil or goes into the streams, either one is a good thing for the state of Iowa,” Hall says. Snow runoff will help bring the water levels back up in rivers, streams and lakes. “Those communities that are working hard to keep up with their water demand, this will be helpful,” he says. “Now it still is the time of the year when there isn’t a lot of water demand, so we’ll just keep sticking water into the system and hopefully we can save it up to the growing season next year.” Hall says there could be some flooding if the snow melts rapidly, but he says the drought has created a lot of capacity in lakes and rivers.

“If you recall about a year ago, we were sitting on record snowpack in Minnesota in Wisconsin. And that snow melted off and we had flooding on the Mississippi River in late spring of last year. But because the overall Midwest has been so dry, that flooding came and went and the Mississippi River was back in low flow conditions by summer,” he says. Hall says that something could happen this year in Iowa if the runoff happens quickly.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report a man from Villisca was arrested Monday night on an Adams County warrant. 36-year-old Jacob Tanner Franson was arrested at around 8:20-p.m. on the warrant for Failure to Appear on an original charge of OWI/2nd offense, and aggravated misdemeanor.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill that’s cleared a Senate subcommittee would require Iowa schools to create expense accounts to help teachers pay for classroom supplies. Senator Kerry Gruenhagen, a Republican from Walcott, is the bill’s sponsor. “Currently they’re using their own funds and this is an attempt to set up a funding stream to assist them with that endeavor as opposed to a lot of them going onto Facebook or setting other fundraising efforts to supply their classroom.”

Under the bill, new teachers would get 500 dollars their first year and all other teachers would get 200 dollars a year. The program would cost eight million dollars statewide for the next academic year and schools would have to shift money from their general budget to cover the expense accounts.

Melissa Peterson, a lobbyist for the Iowa State Education Association, says the teachers’ union isn’t registered in opposition to the bill, but is concerned there’s no new state funding for the program.  “We do appreciate that this bill acknowledges teachers need more resources in their classrooms,” Peterson says, “because we don’t have enough resources.” Margaret Buckton, a lobbyist for Rural School Advocates of Iowa and the Urban Educators Network, says not all classroom needs are equal.  “And we just don’t want to invade on local control and how this might be determined at the local level,” Buckton says.
Senator Lynn Evans, a Republican from Aurelia who’s a retired superintendent, agreed to advance the bill, but he says it needs work.

“Schools are going to budget differently based on their school’s needs, their students’ needs and their school board expectations. This tends to mandate how they’re going to develop their budget,” Evans says. “I don’t disagree that teachers need more financial support in the classroom. I would like to have some further discussion on this bill, on how it would be funded and what the long range, maybe, impact of it would be.”

And Senator Sarah Trone-Garriot, a Democrat from West Des Moines, notes the bill calls for any money teachers don’t spend on classroom supplies to be redirected to raises for all teachers in the district.  “Teachers need to be paid more,” Trone-Garriott says. “We’re not going to accomplish that by just moving the same money around.”

According to a national non-profit that helps raise money for classroom supplies, teachers spent an average of 860 dollars of their own money on supplies for this current school year.

(Radio Iowa) – A Dallas, Texas resident who is a Nigerian national will spend 87 months in federal prison on wire fraud charges involving Iowa businesses. Court documents showed 28-year-old Emmanuel Ogbeide (Ogg-be-eyed) created a fraudulent business email scheme with his father and his girlfriend in the Southern District of Iowa.

The information says the three knowingly falsified bank accounts and got employees at businesses to move money into them. It says Ogbeide actively participated in moving large sums of money between fraudulent accounts to avoid detection.

His father and girlfriend were each sentenced to 121 months in prison in September. The three were ordered to pay restitution of nearly one-point-six million dollars to the business.

(Radio Iowa) – Forecasters say tomorrow (Tuesday) morning’s commute could be a mess, as a mix or rain, snow and ice is expected tonight across much of eastern and central Iowa. A Winter Weather Advisory is posted for cities including Ames, Waterloo and Dubuque and all points south.

AAA-Iowa spokesman Brian Ortner says the three snowstorms that hit Iowa in the past two weeks dumped more than two feet of snow in many places, which created serious challenges.

“The folks who work for AAA who are out there responding to calls for Roadside Service, they were busy but the good thing was that people adhered to staying home, which was good,” Ortner says. “It freed up the roadways for them to do their work and it freed up the roadways for the road crews to get their work done as well.”

Some Iowans are still trying to navigate with a deep pile of snow on the hood and roof of their vehicle, which Ortner says can pose a dangerous hazard for themselves and others.

If your car looks like this, AAA says to clean all the snow off before trying to drive. (Radio Iowa photo)

“Take time to remove the snow from your entire car,” Ortner says. “If you’re out driving around, you want to do that so it doesn’t blow onto your windshield or the windshield of other drivers. Make sure your mirrors and lights are clean because that’s going to help other drivers see you. And having your windows clean will make sure that you have full vision of what’s going on around you when you hit the road.”

Also, slow down. Ortner says posted speed limits are only for ideal conditions, and Iowa’s road conditions haven’t been ideal in quite a while.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s governor and attorney general say nothing is more important than the pro-life cause. Governor Kim Reynolds signed bills in 2018 and again last summer to ban nearly all abortions after the sixth week of a pregnancy, but the Iowa Supreme Court is reviewing a legal challenge to the law, which would ban nearly all abortions in Iowa. “I will never back down from protecting the innocent and unborn,” Reynolds said, to cheers.

Reynolds addressed the crowd gathered in the capitol rotunda today (Monday) for the annual Iowa Rally for Life. “Go out there and continue to fight for the unborn. Thank you for what you do. Thank you for being here and thank you for never, ever ever backing down,” Reynolds said, as the crowd applauded and cheered.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said “all life has value and must be protected. “…We know that we’re going to be successful. We just have to keep working and never give up. We’re never going to give up when it comes to doing the right thing.” Bird told the crowd all the legal briefs from supporters and opponents of Iowa’s fetal heartbeat law are due to be filed with the Iowa Supreme Court by the end of this month and a ruling is “likely” by the end of June.

Governor Kim Reynolds speaks at 2024 Iowa Rally for Life in capitol rotunda. (RI photo)

More than a dozen people spoke at today’s rally. Republican Representative Shannon Lundgren of Peosta guided the policy through the Iowa House in 2018 and again in 2023. “We’ve made a difference and never in my lifetime as a legislator did I ever think we’d see Roe v Wade overturned, but we have and what a joyous day that was,” Lundgren said, “so we’re going to continue to move the needle and do what we can to defend lives and support the moms that have tough decisions to make.” For example, Republicans are considering a bill that would ban city ordinances that prevent organizations from operating homes for pregnant women in residential neighborhoods.

Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart said the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that overturned Roe v Wade is “a stark reminder of just how important it is to vote in every election.” Hart said Iowa Democrats “stand with the vast majority of Iowans” who oppose the six week abortion ban.

DES MOINES, Iowa, Jan. 22, 2024 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director in Iowa Theresa Greenfield today (Monday) announced that USDA is investing $18,211,903 in 183 projects across the state to lower energy bills, generate new income, create jobs, and strengthen competition for Iowa agricultural producers and rural small business owners with funding through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).

“Producers and small businesses across the state are saving money, growing their businesses, and addressing climate change by investing in solar projects and making energy efficiency improvements through the USDA Rural Energy for America Program,” said Director Greenfield. “The Biden-Harris Administration is hard at work making sure as many Iowans as possible can access the historic Inflation Reduction Act funding to make clean energy improvements at their farms and businesses.”

Today’s projects are part of a larger nation-wide announcement for the REAP program. A list of the nationwide investments may be found online here.

On Nov. 9, 2021, Xochitl Torres Small, USDA Rural Development Under Secretary, visited a farm in Audubon County, Iowa. She met a farmer who received a USDA Rural Energy for America (REAP) program grant and looked at the grain drying system the grant helped provide for the farm business there. USDA photo by Cecilia Lynch

Latest REAP grants in Iowa

A full list of today’s awards in Iowa is available online here and includes these five examples:

-CS Solar LLC received a $206,792 grant to help install a 29 kilowatt rooftop solar system and a 164 kW ground solar system on city property in Decorah. This project in Winneshiek County is expected to generate $40,987 per year in energy sales, which is enough electricity to power 23 homes.

–Red Lion Creston Schools Solar LLC, an electric generation company, received a $1,000,000 grant to help install solar arrays totaling 1,771 kilowatts in Creston. This project in Union County will generate 2,346,020 kilowatt hours per year, amounting to $151,822 per year. This is enough electricity to power 216 homes.

–Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy LLC received a $1,000,000 grant to install a slurry heating and reduced backset system at its dry-mill ethanol production facility in rural Pottawattamie County. This project is expected to realize $3,181,600 per year in savings and to replace 36,688,453 kilowatt hours per year, which is enough electricity to power 3,385 homes.

-Red Lion Knoxville Waterworks Solar LLC, an electric generation company, received a $800,000 grant to help install solar arrays totaling 1,056 kilowatts at six locations in Knoxville, in Marion County. This project is expected to generate 1,340,560 kilowatt hours per year, amounting to $81,499 per year. This is enough electricity to power 123 homes.

-Mara Transport Inc., a family-owned and operated over-the-road trucking business located in Marshall County, received a $21,949 grant to help install a 34.6 kilowatt solar array for business needs. This project is expected to save $5,584.67 per year and to replace 33,968 kilowatt hours—100 percent of the business energy usage—per year, which is enough energy to power three homes.

(Carroll, Iowa) – A single vehicle accident north of Carroll this (Monday) morning claimed the life of an adult and a female juvenile. The Iowa State Patrol says the accident happened a little before 8-a.m. on Highway 71, south of 150th Street. A 2005 Ford F-150 pickup driven by 41-year-old Joshua Shelton, of Carroll, was traveling south on Highway 71. When the pickup passed another southbound vehicle, it went out of control as it returned to the southbound lane.

The pickup entered the west ditch and struck a Mid-American Energy power pole before coming to rest. Shelton and his unidentified juvenile passenger died at the scene. Both were wearing their seat belts.

Carroll Community School District Superintendent Casey Berlau sent a letter to families Monday announcing that a ninth-grade student at Carroll High School and the student’s father died in a crash, according to the Carroll Times-Herald. “The district has taken immediate steps to provide support by coordinating with Heartland AEA to make additional grief counselors available. They will be onsite in the coming days to offer assistance to both students and staff” Berlau said in the letter.

The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and Carroll County EMS. According to the latest data from the Iowa Department of Transportation, four people have died so far this year on Iowa roads. That number is 11 fewer than at the same point in 2023. Over the last five years, an average of 350 people have been killed in statewide crashes annually.