Officials with the Iowa State Patrol have released information about a fatal, semi versus pedestrian accident that took place in Pottawattamie County on July 16th. According to the report, a 2007 International semi driven by 27-year old Ian Russell Erickson, of Defiance, was traveling east on Interstate 80 at around 5:18-p.m., when the truck struck a man on the side of the road near a disabled vehicle.

39-year old Georgiy Goncharov, of Brooklyn, NY, died at the scene of the accident near mile marker 24. An investigation determined the semi left the lane to the right before striking Goncharov, who leaves behind a wife and two children.

The accident remains under investigation.

The Atlantic Food Pantry is expanding operations and seeking additional volunteers. Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh says the Atlantic Food Pantry plans to expand operations to start delivering food to people in Atlantic identified by “Cass County COVID-19 Mobile Food For All,” as not having transportation or living within walking distance of the
pantry. However, in order to provide this important service to the community, the Atlantic Food Pantry need volunteers who can commit to delivering food.

The Atlantic Food Pantry seeks committed volunteers to assist with sacking and food delivery every Tuesday morning from 9:00 AM – noon. Volunteers will help prepare bags of food, and then deliver food to households in the Atlantic area. Volunteers will be asked to use their own vehicles to deliver food. For more information on local food, farmers markets, and food access, follow the Cass County Local Food Policy Council’s Facebook page @CassCountyLocalFood.

Two housing projects in southwest Iowa are among 19 from across the State to be awarded a share of nearly $10-million in Iowa Economic Development Authority funds Workforce Housing Tax incentive projects across the state. Included among them is:

• The Clarinda Housing Program – four, single-family attached, owner-occupied homes. The project was awarded $142,800 for funding year 2021.
• The Denison Housing Development Phase 1 (b) and 1 (c) project. – Also for four, single-family attached, owner-occupied homes. The award was in the amount of $129,004.

IEDA’s Workforce Housing Tax Credit (WHTC) program provides tax benefits to developers to provide housing in Iowa communities, focusing especially on those projects using abandoned, empty or dilapidated properties. To be eligible for funding, projects must:

• Meet one of four criteria: housing development on a brownfield or grayfield, upper story housing or rehabilitation, dilapidated housing stock or new construction in greenfield space
• Include construction or rehab of at least two single-family homes or at least one multi-family building containing three or more units or at least two upper story units
• Total project costs for projects under the Small Cities Set Aside may not exceed $215,000 per unit or $250,000 for historic rehabilitation
• Complete within three years of award
• Be located in one of the 88 least populous Iowa counties

For the fiscal year 2021 application round, $10 million dollars in credits were available for award under the WHTC program’s Small Cities Set Aside component. IEDA received 84 applications requesting $34 million in tax credits. Projects are scored competitively based on readiness, financing, need, and local support and participation.

A collision between a car and a cow Tuesday night in Mills County caused extensive damage to a 2015 Chevy, but no one was hurt. The Mills Couty Sheriff’s Office reports 34-year old Melinda Smits, of Red Oak, was traveling east on Highway 34 at around 11:20-p.m., when a cow walked out of the median. Smits was unable to react in-time before striking the animal. Following the collision, Smits’ vehicle slid off the road and came to rest in the south ditch.

Authorities say a patrol car with its emergency lights activated was in the median with the cow, trying to prevent the animal from walking onto the highway when it walked in front of Smit’s Chevy. The owner of the cow was located and advised three cows had escaped earlier in the evening, but at the time, were unable to be located. The additional two cows were found and contained.

(Radio Iowa) – The four Native American-owned casinos in Iowa are temporarily smoke-free. The WinnaVegas Casino Resort in Sloan has had the no-smoking policy in place since reopening in mid-June with restrictions, which include requiring face masks for all employees and customers. Casino marketing director Michael Michaud says those rules will be in place indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  “We don’t have a crystal ball and we can’t tell you what the future holds,” Michaud says. “What we do see is the increase in the amount of testing and the positive cases around the country.”

He says they want to make sure they’re taking care of guests and employees. With masks required, Michaud says staff felt it would be “insufficient” if they still allowed people to smoke. People can still smoke outside of the property. Larry Wright Junior is chairman of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska which owns the Prairie Flower Casino in Carter Lake. Wright says temporarily banning indoor smoking was one of the policies staff put in place to ensure peoples’ health and safety. Plus, he says they wanted all visitors and staff to wear masks. Wright says, “As we looked at it, it would be very difficult to enforce a 100-percent mask requirement when you have people in the casino smoking.”

The American Lung Association in Iowa is applauding the four casinos and encourages them to permanently adopt a smoke-free policy. Kristina Hamilton, the association’s advocacy director, says it’s a win-win. Hamilton says, “These types of policies protect employees and customers from harmful second-hand smoke so we know the long-term benefits are there for these types of policies.”

Iowa’s Smokefree Air Act passed in 2008 and protects more than three-million Iowans from second-hand smoke. Unfortunately, Hamilton says, the 19 commercial casinos in Iowa are exempt from the law so their workers and customers are without protection from those dangerous chemicals. Casino owners have long claimed they’d lose business if they banned smoking, but Hamilton says the opposite may be true. “We really haven’t seen a decline in business in states that do have smoke-free casino policies,” Hamilton says. “For bars and restaurants as well, owners were afraid that people would go to bars and restaurants less because they’re smoke-free and that isn’t the case.”

The Blackbird Bend Casino in Onawa and the Meskwaki Bingo Casino in Tama are also now smoke-free.

(Katie Peikes at Iowa Public Radio contributed to this story.)