DES MOINES – As part of a new three-year, $150,000 “Financial Inclusion Grant Program” addressing barriers to financial well-being for minority populations in Iowa, the Iowa Credit Union Foundation (ICUF) has announced the organizations receiving the first $50,000 in grant funding. The new program was launched in response to the findings of the recent ICUF statewide report “Economic Realities of Communities of Color,” which identified challenges faced by Iowa’s most vulnerable communities.

Financial Inclusion Grants direct funding to organizations serving minority populations in policy areas covered by the report: affordable housing, business ownership, childcare, education, employment, and health access and outcomes.

After announcing the program last Fall, ICUF collaborated with credit union partners across Iowa to identify qualifying organizations working in their communities. Credit unions were able to nominate mission-aligned nonprofits this Spring, who were then invited to apply for grants ranging from $5,000-$10,000. Eight nonprofit organizations were selected from the proposals received, for a total of $50,000 in first cycle of Financial Inclusion Grant funding. These organizations serve minority communities in a variety of geographic regions in Iowa, representing both urban and rural parts of the state.

Ena Babic Barnes, Executive Director, ICUF said “The Iowa Credit Union Foundation is excited to announce the first grant recipients in the Financial Inclusion Grant Program. These selected organizations represent the critical work required to tackle barriers to financial well-being for all Iowans. We take pride in supporting their impactful work and believe that highlighting their contributions will significantly advance economic equity and foster greater financial inclusion across our State.”

The recipients of the first round of ICUF Financial Inclusion Grant funding include:

• $10,000 to the Multicultural Development Center of Iowa in Iowa City, addressing Business Ownership
• $10,000 to Athletics for Education and Success in Fort Dodge, addressing Childcare and Education
• $5,000 to 24/7 BLAC in Waterloo, addressing Affordable Housing and Business Ownership
• $5,000 to The Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success in Cedar Rapids, addressing Education and Health Access &Outcomes
• $5,000 to the Four Mounds Foundation in Dubuque, addressing Affordable Housing, Education, and Employment
• $5,000 to One Economy Financial Development Corporation in Des Moines addressing Business Ownership
• $5,000 to Knock & Drop Iowa in Des Moines, addressing Health Access &Outcomes
• $5,000 to Boys & Girls Club of Siouxland in Sioux City, addressing Childcare & Education

Founded in 1995 as the philanthropic arm of the Iowa Credit Union League (ICUL), ICUF’s mission is guided by the credit union philosophy of ‘people helping people’. Guided by this philosophy ICUF works to champions financial wellbeing for all. For more information, visit www.IowaCreditUnionFoundation.org.

[UPDATED](Radio Iowa) – The man convicted of first-degree murder in the killing of Algona Police Officer Kevin Cram in September of 2023 received a sentence of life in prison this (Wednesday) morning in Kossuth County District Court. Forty-four-year-old Kyle Lou Ricke was found guilty following a four-day trial in Dickinson County last month. Assistant Attorney General Scott Brown prosecuted the case and said prior to the sentencing that Ricke earned the mandatory sentence of life with no parole.

Ricke took his opportunity to make a statement before his sentencing.

Several of Officer Cram’s family members read victim impact statements before Judge Nancy Whittenburg handed out the sentence of life without parole. Ricke will be transferred to the Iowa Medical and Classification Center at Oakdale for further processing by the Department of Corrections.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Court of Appeals has denied an Ottumwa man’s request for a new murder trial. Christopher Yenger was found guilty two counts of first-degree murder for throwing a Molotov cocktail at a rural Wappello County house after getting his nose bloodied in a fight there in 2006. Two men died in the fire. Yenger appealed the convictions, saying his attorneys were ineffective for not calling an expert witness to challenge the state’s arson investigation.

The Appeals Court ruling says his attorneys made a strategic decision to not call the expert witness because there was no reasonable likelihood that the outcome of the trial would have been different if the expert testified.

Yenger was not arrested and convicted until ten years after the fire when a witness came forward to tell what happened. He is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole in the deaths of Nathan Messer and Seth Anderson.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says President Biden has every right to be irritated about his situation. Grassley — the longest serving Republican in the U-S Senate — watched Biden’s speech at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night.

Grassley and Biden served in the Senate together for 28 years. When asked earlier this summer whether Biden was fit to serve as president, Grassley said he was not going to dump on Biden about his age, but was focused on critiquing Biden’s policies.

Grassley, who is nine years older than Biden, made his comments after visiting a business in Plymouth County. Grassley says he’s completed his annual tour of Iowa’s 99 counties with a final stop in Woodbury County.

In a post on social media, Grassley said he celebrated his 44th tour of Iowa’s 99 counties by having both a strawberry malt and a Reece’s Blizzard at a Dairy Queen in Sioux City. Grassley was elected to the U-S Senate in 1980 after serving six years in the U-S House.

(Elliott, Iowa) – Officials with SWIPCO (The Southwest Iowa Planning Council), in Atlantic, report the City of Elliott Food Pantry was recently awarded a grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority to strengthen their infrastructure and supply of fresh food. The Elliott Food Pantry received a Community Development Block Grant in the amount of $19,327.

The funds come from the remaining COVID relief money and were designated to benefit food pantries or broadband access. The Elliott Food Pantry was opened in 2021 as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic and people losing employment or not being able to afford basic needs. Since its inception the pantry has had an increase in users and this grant will help them support the growing need.

With the funds, the Elliott Food Pantry plans to use around $12,000 to purchase fresh foods. Currently they are only able to offer mostly highly processed foods. The pantry also plans to purchase new refrigerators and freezers, as well as more shelves to help store fresh produce, meats, milk, yogurt, and other perishable items.

The Elliott Food Pantry Volunteer Committee says “The Elliott Food Pantry is extremely thankful for the generous grant. This will enable us to provide healthy food for everyone in our community who walks through our door.”

Southwest Iowa Planning Council helped the pantry complete the application to obtain the funding and will help them with implementing the funding now that it has been awarded. SWIPCO assists communities in the region with grant applications, writing plans, project management, codes and ordinances, and more. Projects such as this help improve the quality of life for Southwest Iowa residents

DES MOINES, Iowa – State Treasurer Roby Smith is celebrating another outstanding year of finding Iowans’ missing money at the Iowa State Fair. “This year marks another success at the fair as we were able to reunite thousands of Iowans with their missing money,” said Smith. “Fairgoers had ‘Fair Fever’ and in those 11-days, over 2,400 claims were filed at the Iowa State Fair and more than $572,900 was claimed. The largest single claim filed was $50,717!”

Great Iowa Treasure Hunt is Iowa’s only legitimate source of unclaimed property. Each year, millions of dollars are turned over after financial institutions and businesses lose contact with the owner. If assets held by financial institutions and businesses go a specific period of time without activity or contact from the owner, State law requires those assets be turned over to the Treasurer’s Office for safekeeping. It is then the Treasurer’s responsibility to locate and reunite the funds with the owner or heir through Great Iowa Treasure Hunt. Examples include dormant checking and savings accounts, lost stocks, uncashed checks, life insurance policies, utility refunds and safe deposit box contents.

“Thousands of fairgoers stopped to search for unclaimed money,” Smith continued. “Currently, my office is safekeeping more than $521 million to be claimed. Even if you have claimed in the past, search again. New properties are continually being added.”

To see if the State has any unclaimed property waiting for you, visit GreatIowaTreasureHunt.gov to complete your search. Stay up-to-date with the Treasurer’s Office on Instagram, Facebook and X.

(Radio Iowa) – The state is accusing a southeast Iowa man of failing to check for underground utilities before hitting a natural gas line as he was digging a trench. Iowa’s “One Call” law requires anyone planning an excavation to provide 48 hours advance notice, so underground utility lines can be marked.

The state’s lawsuit accuses Eric Fortune, Junior, of failing to make the call and using equipment that hit and damaged a one-inch natural gas line in Fort Madison that’s owned by MidAmerican Energy. According to the lawsuit, Fortune tried to repair the gas line himself rather than report the breach.

The Iowa Attorney General’s Office has recently settled two other lawsuits with contractors who failed to follow Iowa’s “One Call” law.