(Rural Shenandoah, Iowa) – A semi tractor-trailer rollover accident Tuesday afternoon, northwest of Shenandoah, claimed the life of the vehicle’s driver. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2019 Mack tractor-trailer driven by 67-year-old James Herman Kinney, of Council Bluffs, was traveling north on 370th Avenue, south of 150th St., when it partially left the road.

The semi traveled onto the right shoulder for several hundred feet and then left the road to the right. When Kinney over-corrected back on to the road, the weight shifted in the trailer, causing the tractor and trailer to overturn onto its right side in the traveled portion of northbound 370th Street. The accident happened at around 12:10-p.m.

After Kinney was freed from his seat belt, life saving measures were immediately performed, but he died from his injuries at the Shenandoah Hospital. The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Fremont and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Offices, and Shenandoah Rescue.

AMES, Iowa – Nov. 14, 2023 – The Iowa Transportation Commission today approved $10 million for the Commercial Service Terminal Program. Among the projects are those located in Council Bluffs, Creston, Sioux City and Harlan.

The Commercial Service Terminal Program will provide $10 million for commercial service airport terminal improvements. In Sioux City, the Sioux Gateway Airport was allocated $132,812 from the State toward the $132,000 cost of constructing T-Hangars.  The program is funded through an appropriation from the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund. To be eligible, applicant airports were required to provide a 90 percent local match that did not include the use of federal funds. A grant was awarded toward the new airport terminal at the Des Moines International Airport (DSM).

Airport Development Projects awarded funding include: The Council Bluffs Municipal Airport, $267,000 to construct a Hangar Site development Area (total cost $668,000), and $8,000 for the Creston Municipal Airport, for an Obstruction Analysis and Mitigation Plan (total cost $10,000).  Among the General Aviation Vertical Infrastructure Projects, the Harlan Municipal Airport was awarded $125,000 from the ITC for the installation of new Hangar doors. The total project cost is $150,000.

Iowa DOT Aviation Director Tim McClung notes the new airport terminal project at DSM will replace an outdated terminal and add six new gates to increase capacity. “Airports are critical to supporting Iowa’s economy. This enhancement will improve the passenger experience and will better position the airport to meet air service demands for the future.”

Details on the Iowa DOT’s State Aviation Program can be viewed at  https://iowadot.gov/aviation/airport-managers-and-sponsors/State-Funding/state-funding-programs. Additional information regarding aviation in Iowa is available at www.iowadot.gov/aviation.

AMES, Iowa – Carter Oliver, Director of ISU Extension and Outreach in Harrison County, was recognized for his excellence in county extension work during the 2023 Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension and Outreach conference held Oct. 16-17 in Ames.

With a background in conservation, Oliver is passionate about bringing natural resource education to Iowans of all ages. Officials say Oliver has worked tirelessly to deliver programs on conservation topics ranging from water to fire. Over the last four years, he has delivered the Water Rocks! curriculum to fourth and fifth grade students in four schools across Harrison County, with pre- and post-surveys indicating an average increase in watershed knowledge from 49% to 94% following participation.

“Water quality is an important focus in Iowa with the creation of the Nutrient Reduction Strategy,” added Terry Torneten, regional director for ISU Extension and Outreach. “He educates the students on watersheds and does hands-on activities showing the effect of pollution in rivers.”

Jay Harmon (Left) presents Carter Oliver with his award.

Another youth program that Oliver helped bring to Harrison County is the Wildlife Habitat Education Program (WHEP), which meets biweekly throughout the winter and spring to prepare for the state competition. Oliver serves as co-leader for the program and was a volunteer for the National WHEP competition held in Iowa this summer.

Oliver has also brought multiple adult natural resources education programs to Harrison County, including the Master Conservationist Program. Oliver has hosted the program for the past three years and was able to triple attendance between years one and two. He also hosted the first annual Master Conservationist Program alumni statewide meetup this past September.

In addition to his work with Water Rocks!, WHEP, and the Master Conservationist Program, Oliver has helped to design a new program on prescribed fire for landowners, which was attended by participants from multiple states.

“Western Iowa has had multiple large wildfires over the last few years and having landowners who understand fire is valuable,” said Torneten. “The program was created to educate landowners by providing insight on creating burn plans, understanding the role of weather, and covering the tools of the trade.”

For more information on ISU Extension and Outreach’s Harrison County office, including upcoming events, visit them online.

Oakland, Iowa –  Officials with “United Today, Stronger Tomorrow” and Concerned Citizens of Pottawattamie County, say that on Monday (Nov. 13th), dozens of rural Pottawattamie County residents met at the Oakland Community Center to discuss how they might work together to tap new federal funding focused on rural infrastructure. Throughout the town hall, residents steered away from divisive national politics and instead focused on the issues hyperlocally; issues that they might have a greater impact on and influence in addressing.

There were the most common themes that arose as they always do; roads and bridges, rural healthcare, clean water.  Shawna Anderson, a small business owner and resident of Oakland, said, “I was very happy to see such a good turnout in Oakland. The issues brought up were, as expected, totally different than those issues folks in the city face. Water is a big issue. Both access and keeping it clean. Internet access and cost was also brought up. Things that people in the city just don’t even realize are a problem for those of us in the county.”

And when county residents got down to the very specifics of issues, they were often met with a lot of consensus:

One attendee brought up Treynor’s large wastewater management project currently underway, but noted that it might be hard to meet the total cost needed – almost $5 million – from the current tax base of Treynor’s approximately 1,000 residents.  A boon for these communities may come from better understanding the opportunities in the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure funding and the Inflation Reduction Act, and how rural communities can take it upon themselves to tap these new resources and funding.

Another specific issue that multiple attendees spoke about was regarding access to clean water. Water restrictions are very common for those in rural parts of the county. The wellfield in Avoca is in danger of running dry, and some folks noted that personal wells have had the same problem. Although there is a plan to run water from Council Bluffs out to rural water systems near Minden, it isn’t planned to be ready to use until early 2025. Getting access to an alternate water source for these folks is of utmost importance, and could be addressed through the new federal funding opportunities discussed here.

An idea that is important to many who attended is that of local empowerment. During discussion on the topic, Ellen Garaffa, who lives in Treynor said “The library in Council Bluffs used to have a person who would train people on writing grants… sounds like that would be worth pursuing… We should ask them to go back to providing that service.” Immediately the whole room sounded in agreement. If folks can learn how to write grants, they become empowered to bring money into their rural communities themselves.

United Today Stronger Tomorrow and Concerned Citizens of Pottawattamie County, moving forward, say they will work together with rural communities to identify opportunities in these new federal policies to address their local priorities and needs.  A plurality of attendees agree that they are untrusting of state and federal elected decisionmakers to deliver what they need, and also believe that community members would do better working together to get these things addressed by applying pressure on local elected leaders to seek solutions in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.

The four U-S senators from Iowa and Nebraska are working together on a bill that would return a tract of land that was seized from the Winnebago Tribe in the 1970s. The land along the Missouri River and was taken through the power of eminent domain to become a recreational area, but those plans never materialized. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says the 16-hundred acres, which are maintained by the Iowa D-N-R as a wildlife area, need to be returned — something he says should’ve been done long ago.

Grassley was scheduled to meet in his Washington D-C office today (Tuesday) with the chief of the Winnebago Tribe, which he’s done before on several occasions.

Some five decades ago, the U-S Army Corps of Engineers planned to use the land both for a recreational area and to stabilize the banks of the Missouri River, but those plans stalled and were eventually tabled. Part of the land on the Nebraska side of the Missouri was given back to the tribe, but the land on the Iowa side was not. Grassley says this should be a relatively simple transaction to return the land to the tribe, but it takes an act of Congress to make it happen.

Grassley is co-sponsoring the bill along with Iowa Senator Joni Ernst and Nebraska Senators Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts — all Republicans.

(Radio Iowa) – A 24-year-old Des Moines man has been charged with murdering a woman who was found with stab wounds at a hotel across the street from the State Fairgrounds early this (Tuesday) morning. According to a news release from Des Moines Police, officers found a woman with traumatic injuries at the hotel shortly after 2:30 a.m. and she was rushed to a Des Moines hospital. Police announced at about nine-a.m. that she had died.

Police say Brantlee Rainey was found “within the room where the stabbing occurred,” he had a knife with what appeared to be blood on it and Rainey fit the description provided by a witness, who police did not identify.

In a written statement released shortly after 3:30 a.m., police said there is “no indication of any ongoing danger or threat to the neighborhood.”

(Radio Iowa) – It’s been 11 days since Alliant Energy shut off the power to the mall in Marshalltown due to unpaid utility bills. John Hall, President and C-E-O of the Marshalltown Chamber of Commerce, says the New York company that owns the mall says electrical issues might be resolved by this Saturday, November 18th. “This has been going on for about 10 months of unpaid electric bills, so I’ll believe it when I see it,” Hall says, “but I know that a lot of businesses out there are holding onto hope that is going to be the case.”

Hall briefed Marshalltown’s city council last (Monday) night about the situation at the mall, which opened in 1972. “Of the 16 total businesses out there, I want to be clear that at this point

The Marshalltown Mall opened in 1972 and at one point had JCPenney and Younkers as anchor stores. (Historic photo from KFJB.)

none of them have deemed themselves permanently closed and so all are working on trying to find other answers,” Hall said, “but there are four closed inside the mall.”

The fire marshal ordered businesses that are only accessible through the mall itself to close. Businesses with an external exit have been paying Alliant directly and are being allowed to operate, however some had to rewire teir electrical hook-ups and water lines to meet the fire code. The New York company that owns Marshalltown’s mall also owns the Westland Mall in West Burlington and Lindale Mall in Cedar Rapids.

COUNCIL BLUFFS — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources reports the City of Council Bluffs began discharging wastewater from the I-80 Sanitary Pump Station at 5 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14th. The discharge, officials say, is necessary to repair a damaged force main. Repairs will be conducted as quickly as possible but may take several days.

Council Bluffs estimates they will discharge approximately 4 million gallons of untreated wastewater per day during the repairs. The public should avoid contact with the Missouri River downstream from Interstate 80.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Board of Supervisors in Montgomery County, Tuesday (Today), approved the Tier 1 canvass of votes from the November 7th City/School Elections. Auditor Jill Ozuna reported that out of 7,135 registered voters, there were 1,101 ballots received, with 15.43 percent voter turnout which she said “Was pretty darned good.” Ozuna said there were several write-in votes for many of the open City positions.

The elections in the City of Coburg was a big disappointment, because there were no votes at all for the three, At-Large seats.

Next week, the Montgomery County Supervisors will act on approving the Second Tier, City/College results, as well as all certificates ready for signing, so they may be submitted to the State.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors have tentatively approved the use of ARPA (Covid relief/recovery) funds to help cover the cost of repairs to the Hitchcock House Foundation. They will actually have that as an action item on their agenda next week, since it was only for discussion during their meeting today (Tuesday). Because of the amount of deterioration of the basement wall, the Hitchcock House stopped offering tours of the building on July 23rd. Hitchcock House Board Chair Sharon-Guffey-Lewis said with the repairs to the wall complete,they hope to re-open this historic structure for tours, May 1st, 2024.

Last July, Guffey-Lewis told the Board the cost estimate of the project was $72,000, with a down payment of $22,000 required. During Tuesday’s (Today’s) meeting of the Board, Guffey-Lewis said the project is finished, but they still owe nearly $48,000 to the contractor, since it came in $18,000 over budget. They have received $8,000 in donations, and have used money from the endowment fund, to pay the contractor.

The Hitchcock House Board, she says, intends to cover the costs of interior repairs to the drywall and floors, through grants and donations. In other business, the Cass County Supervisors discussed, but took no action on the subject of childcare operating budgets, the impact on economic development, and the County’s possible role in subsidizing those endeavors. Board Chair Steve Baier spoke about a forum held in Atlantic on Nov. 1st, that dealt with the childcare desert topic.

During the forum, it was noted Cass County has a shortfall of 1,184 spaces, 48-percent of childcare businesses have been lost in the last ten years, and 11-percent in the last five years. Baier says he wanted to add the discussion item to the Supervisors’ agenda, because of what the City of Atlantic did to help the Ann W. Wickman Childcare Development Center.

For years, the City of Atlantic had donated $15,000 annually, for the Ann W. Wickman Childcare Development Center. Supervisor Mark O’Brien asked “Where does this stop?” with regard to public funds being used for non-profit daycare centers, while privately operated centers rely don’t receive any funds except those from the parents/guardians who send their children to those centers. Supervisor Wendy Richter said “We have to be very careful in who we help out,” especially in light of the hours the Wickman Center operates.

Steve Baier suggested the County could avoid using taxpayer monies by using funds derived from interest growth in the Valley Business Fund for economic development. He concluded by saying young people are leaving the County because they can’t find things like childcare that they can find in larger cities.