(Radio Iowa) – Former Iowa Congressman Jim Ross Lightfoot is sharing the story of his life in a new memoir called, “Climbing Mountains With God.” Lightfoot says the book is about the importance of faith in helping meet life’s challenges.  “That’s what life is — it’s a bunch of mountains,” said Lightfoot. “They pop up in front of you and you’ve got the choice of either trying to climb them, or just sitting on your fanny and doing nothing. If you don’t try to climb them, sitting on our fanny is about all you’re gonna’ accomplish.”

Born in 1938 in Sioux City, Lightfoot graduated from Farragut High School in 1956. After serving in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve, he worked for I-B-M as a customer engineer and was eventually transferred to Oklahoma, where he later worked as a Tulsa police officer. Returning to southwest Iowa in the 1960s, Lightfoot joined the K-M-A radio farm department and stayed until 1984, when he was elected to the U-S House, serving until 1997. Lightfoot says he decided to write the book after recalling things his father said.

“My dad had all these wonderful stories to tell about riding his pony to school, and growing up in the Great Depression,” he said. “He and my mother renting a four-room house, and subletting two rooms so that they had enough money to live on. He farmed in the daytime and cut wood at night. She did sewing, and so on. All those years — almost 20 years at KMA — I had a tape recorder sitting right beside me and never once did I turn that recorder and get any of those wonderful stories he had to tell.” Lightfoot says he came to an epiphany of sorts in writing his memoir.

“As I was writing it,” said Lightfoot, “it occurred to me that, hey, I didn’t do all this stuff. I was just a tool. God used me to do it, and I believe that’s what’s life is all about. I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up — so, we’re still working on it.” Lightfoot also recalled the mountains he faced in attempting to pass his first bill in Congress, one aimed at helping farmers during the farm crisis of the mid-1980s.

“I was green. I was a freshman. I didn’t know ‘come here’ from ‘sic em’ and I had to learn the ropes,” he says. “I wrote a bill that basically gave farmers some financial relief and allowed lending institutions to step outside the rules that are the Banking Commission had on them so they can negotiate with farmers and suppliers and so on. There are a lot of people sit down and made some fantastic deals which never would have happened otherwise, but it saved all of them and they stayed in business.”

The book “Climbing Mountains With God” is available through his website, jimrosslightfoot.com.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Police Department says four people were arrested between December 2nd and the 12th. Several others cited into court and released.  Most recently:

33-year-old Tyler Mills, of Atlantic, was arrested December 12th for Stalking/3rd & subsequent offense, Criminal Mischief in the 4th Degree; Providing False Information, and Interference with Official Acts. Officers cited and then released 42-year-old Heather Ott, on December 12th. Her citation was for Compulsory Education Violation/1st offense.

There were two arrests in Atlantic on Dec. 11th: 26-year-old Sergio Ramos, of Atlantic, was arrested for Violation of Probation; and, 23-year-old Fietko Ranu, of Atlantic, was arrested for Public Intoxication.

Atlantic Police report also, 19-year-old Brianna Loving, and 18-year-old Zoey Hansen, both of Atlantic, were cited into court Dec. 10th, for Possession of Controlled Substance (marijuana)/1st Offense. The woman were released from the scene with their citations.

On December 9th, the A-PD arrested 18-year-old Efrain Sandiego, of Atlantic, for Public Intoxication.

On the 7th, 46-year-old Robert Loving, of Atlantic, was cited for Theft in the 5th Degree, and released. On the 3rd, 41-year-old Chad Wilcox, of Atlantic, was cited for two-counts of Theft in the 5th Degree. And, on the 2nd, 20-year-old Kayden Good, of Atlantic, was cited for Theft in the 4th Degree.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s unemployment rate increased to three-point-three percent in November. That’s six-tenths of a percent higher than it was in July and the fourth consecutive month it has inched up. Beth Townsend, director of the Iowa Workforce Development agency, says there were about a thousand job losses in Iowa’s professional and business services sector in November — including a reduction in administrative support staff. “We also saw a number of people drop out of the workforce — about 6700 people between October and November. That was mostly due to retirements and students who willingly left the workforce,” Townsend says. “While we don’t like to see a reduction in our labor force, that number’s not overly concerning at this point.”

Just over 68 percent of Iowans who are 16 or older and actively seeking employment were working in November — that’s about five points higher than the national average. “Before the pandemic, we were at about almost 69% labor particiption rate and we’ve been over 68% for 2023,” Townsend says, “so we’re inching up and moving closer to pre-pandemic labor rate participation numbers.” There were about 100 layoffs in Iowa’s manufacturing sector in November, but Townsend says compared to the beginning of the year, there were about three-thousand more people employed in Iowa manufacturing by the end of November.

The most job GROWTH in November came in Iowa’s construction industry, which added 18-hundred jobs. “The good weather has certainly helped us out in that,” Townsend says, “and the hiring was primarily in commercial construction, so that was a good sign.” About a thousand jobs were added in the financial services sector in November. “Insurance and the financial industry are very key to the Iowa economy,” Townsend says, “and one of our bigger industries.” Townsend says 11-hundred people were hired in November to work in Iowa hospitals, nursing homes and other health care settings.

“Which is really good news for the health care industry because as you know they’ve had a difficult time hiring since the pandemic,” she says, “and they are up over 8500 jobs over the past 12 months.” The state’s IowaWORKS website lists 62-thousand job openings today. According to government data, more than one-point-six million people are working in Iowa. The national unemployment rate dropped to three-point-seven percent in November.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Red Oak Police have arrested a man from Nebraska on felony warrants. 53-year-old Joshua Norman Fuller, of Lincoln, NE, was arrested a little after 8:30-a.m. today (Thursday), on a valid DCI (Dept. of Criminal Investigations) warrant for Class-D Felony two-counts of Assault on persons in certain occupations, and a Class-B Felony charge of Attempted Murder of a Peace Officer.

Fuller was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $100,000 cash-only bond.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the current drought is the longest in Iowa since the 1950s, with abnormally dry and drought conditions extending into the 188th week in a row, according to the latest data available.Following the 16th driest November on record, precipitation for December is currently about 60 percent of average, which is normally 1.37 inches. Portions of southeast Iowa recorded above normal rainfall for the month, leaving most of the state with below average precipitation.

Depending on potential rainfall during the coming weekend, December could finish with average levels This would help stabilize, but not improve, drought conditions. Tim Hall, the Hydrology Resources Coordinator for the Iowa DNR, says “At this point, any moisture we get in the state will be helpful. With conditions as dry as they are coming out of 2023 there is a real concern for hydrologic conditions moving into 2024. Low stream flows and dry soil conditions could lead to water supply challenges in the coming year.”

However, the dry winter months will make drought recovery challenging. January is normally the driest month of the year in the state, with an average of less than one inch of moisture. Iowa State Climatologist, Dr. Justin Glisan says “Strong El Niño conditions are projected to persist through winter. In an El Niño winter, precipitation can be highly variable. Warmer than normal temperatures could result in more rain than snow during the winter months.” 

The Iowa Drought Team, made up of staff from the Departments of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Agriculture and Land Stewardship, and Natural Resources will continue to meet over the winter months to prepare for potential continuation and worsening of drought conditions. The next Water Summary Update, which will include a review of the 2023 conditions, will be published in January.

(West Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) will award 27 graduating high school seniors from Iowa (three from each of IFBF’s nine districts) a $2,500 scholarship each, renewable for four years (up to $10,000 per recipient). College and graduate students are not eligible to apply. IFBF President Brent Johnson says offering scholarships has been a long-standing program for the organization.

He says agriculture hinges on the passion and ingenuity of the next generation.

The scholarships give students interested in agriculture, but not sure which aspect they want to specialize in, the opportunity to explore the options.

Johnson says the scholarships aren’t just for farm kids.

Each of IFBF’s 100 county Farm Bureaus will select one application from their county to be considered for IFBF’s state scholarship.

To qualify for the IFBF scholarship renewal, the recipient must continue to meet the scholarship requirements annually. To learn more about IFBF eligibility requirements and guidelines, click here.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Police in Glenwood are investigating a hit-and-run property damage accident that took place sometime between 8-and 9-a.m., Wednesday (12/20/23). The owner of a 2013 Toyota RAV4 notified the police department about the incident, which took place in the parking lot the Glenwood McDonald’s restaurant. The SUV was parked in the lot earlier in the morning, Wednesday. When the owner came back, he noticed damage to the passenger side quarter panel of the vehicle, which – according to restaurant employees – was by a white truck that was pulling a horse trailer. The damage was estimated at $2,500.

Restaurant staff were contacted by Glenwood Police, who were expected to review surveillance images of the suspect vehicle.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Three people were recently arrested on separate charges. Today (Thursday, 12/221), 59-year-old Raymond Price, of Missouri Valley, was arrested for Possession of a controlled substance, and poss. of drug paraphernalia. His cash or surety bond was set at $1,300. There were two arrests Wednesday, in Glenwood: 42-year-old Crystal Rowland, of Glenwood, was arrested on a Mills County warrant for Failure to Appear. Her cash-only bond was set at $2,000. And, 35-year-old Brittany Baker, of Glenwood, was arrested for driving under suspension. She posted a $300 bond and was released.

(Radio Iowa) – The development of housing and businesses has exploded in the last decade in many of the state’s metro areas, but a farmland expert says all the building hasn’t put much of a dent in agriculture. Peoples Company president Steve Bruere says central Iowa is a good example. “There’s 27 million crop acres in Iowa. And when you look at what’s happening around the Des Moines metro, there’s about three-thousand new homes being built a year. And so that takes about one thousand acres of development ground,” he says. Bruere says when you throw in commercial developments, that takes another one-thousand acres.

“Of course for farmers and people that grew up on a farm, it makes you sick to see some of these fields get turned into turned into houses,” Bruere says. “But from a statewide impact, you know, that 27 million acre figure versus the two thousand it’s not going to move the needle.” He says there will be some local impact on farming, especially if there are big chunks of land that are bought for data centers or other development.

“That’ll have an impact on the local market when you see those big transactions happen. But, you know, as far as food security and whatnot, it’s not as impactful as one might think,” according Bruere. His company producers an annual report that reviews all types of sales information and other factors for Iowa’s cropland. The survey this found farmland prices have held their own along with the rest of the country despite issues with the national economy.

(Radio Iowa) – The six Republicans who represent Iowa in the U-S House and Senate are calling on the Biden Administration to reopen rail crossings in Texas. The U-S Border Patrol suspended rail operations in Eagle Pass and El Paso on Monday to shift agents to process migrants crossing the border. Congressman Zach Nunn of Bondurant says those two rail crossings are critical to getting Iowa grain and agricultural exports to Mexico.  “That’s a third of all ag export coming out of the country to Mexico, our number one trading partner,” Nunn says. “…So at the same time we have a dumpster fire on immigration, now we’ve poured gasoline on it by saying we’re not going to allow Iowa corn to leave the country, but we’re going to allow unfettered access to illegal immigrants coming into the country.”

Iowa’s congressional delegation sent a letter to President Biden and the U-S Secretary of Homeland Security yesterday (Wednesday), calling the situation at the southern border grave. Nunn says the Biden Administration’s failure to secure the border is making things tougher for law enforcement in Iowa. “There is no strategy for curbing the amount of crime coming across the border,” Nunn says. “With the border incursion comes crime, comes fentanyl, comes human trafficking.”

Nunn met with local officers at the Davis County Law Enforcement Center in Bloomfield on Wednesday.