The Iowa Transportation Commission yesterday (Tuesday) approved over five-point-seven million dollars ($5.7 million) in funding for 54 new transit vehicles. The buses and minivans will replace older transit vehicles in 20 cities across the state, including Carroll and Creston.

Randy Barton is the Transit Programs Manager with the DOT. “Iowa, unfortunately, has an aged fleet,” Barton says. “The FTA designates a useful life based on mileage and age of vehicles and Iowa, last I saw, was second in the nation for oldest fleet vehicles.” Iowa trails only South Dakota on that list.

The Federal Transit Administration defines the “useful life” for a light-duty bus, for example, as four years or 120,000 miles. “We’ve got around 1,600 (transit) vehicles in Iowa and over 1,000 of them are beyond the FTA described useful life,” Barton says. The $5.7 million for new transit vehicles approved Tuesday comes from federal funding. Barton says Iowa needs much more to bring it’s transit fleet up to par.

“Just to replace Iowa’s vehicles that are beyond the FTA’s definition of useful life would take $159 million,” Barton says. He’s quick to point out, however, that the older transit vehicles being used around the state are still well-maintained and safe. “They can rehabilitate — put in new engines, transmissions, drivetrains, whatever — but, usually what happens is the body itself gets too old and you can’t repair a frame,” Barton says. “You have to remember we’re in Iowa, so there’s a lot of salt on the roads and (that leads to) a lot of corrosion.”

Iowa has public transit vehicles in operation in all 99 counties. Some of the cities that are receiving funds for purchase of new transit buses include; Fort Dodge, Mason City, Marshalltown, Carroll, Creston, Spencer, Sioux City, Davenport, Burlington, Waterloo, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Decorah, and Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa) For more information, go to: www.iowadot.gov/transit/funding/FY2016TransitCapitalProgramsHandout.pdf

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A legislative budget group is considering a bill that would require Iowa’s cultural affairs agency to keep working on the preservation of old battle flags. The joint subcommittee that approves economic development funding reviewed a budget bill that would require the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs to spend $90,000 on its battle flag project in the next fiscal year. The bill includes a contingency that DCA could lose other funding if it doesn’t comply with the requirement.

ALBIA, IA (AP) — A group is calling for a southern Iowa county and city to cut ties with a monument that features crosses to honor the military and war veterans. Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent a letter last week to Monroe County Supervisors and Albia city officials accusing the county’s Welcome Home Soldier monument of violating the First Amendment. A voter-approved hotel and motel tax fund goes toward maintaining the monument grounds.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa had breakfast Tuesday with the man whose nomination to the Supreme Court he has vowed to block. The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman dodged reporters after his meeting with Judge Merrick Garland. Grassley’s office is promising a statement on the meeting later.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Republican-controlled House has passed a bill to fund water quality initiatives in Iowa, though it’s unclear if the Democratic-majority Senate will support it. The House voted 65-33 Monday night in support of the bill. The bill now heads to the Senate, where Senate Democrats plan to introduce their own water quality proposal soon.

With just days to go before the April 15th tax-filing deadline, numerous law enforcement agencies in Iowa are reporting a surge in the number of calls people are receiving from scammers claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service.

Among the law enforcement agencies to issue a warning about the scam calls, is the Atlantic Police Department. Police Chief Steve Green says scammers are expanding their efforts in the Atlantic and Cass County area, and are threatening their potential victims by saying there is a warrant for their arrest, and if you don’t pay delinquent taxes immediately, the police will pick you up and take you to jail.

In some cases, scammers give you a case number to speak with an agent, and ask you to call back for more information. These calls are not from the IRS and you should not give personal information of any kind over the phone. Be sure your elderly friends and relatives are aware of this scam, because the elderly are often targets for the scammers.

According to the IRS official website, the IRS will never:
• Call to demand immediate payment over the phone, nor will the agency call about taxes owed without first having mailed you several bills.
• Call or email you to verify your identity by asking for personal and financial information.
• Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.
• Require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card.
• Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone or e-mail.
• Threaten to immediately bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.

If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for money or to verify your identity, here’s what you should do:
If you don’t owe taxes, or have no reason to think that you do:
• Do not give out any information. Hang up immediately.
• Contact TIGTA (the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration) to report the call. Use their “IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting” web page. You can also call 800-366-4484.
• Report it to the Federal Trade Commission. Use the “FTC Complaint Assistant” on FTC.gov. Please add “IRS Telephone Scam” in the notes.
If you know you owe, or think you may owe tax:
• Call the IRS at 800-829-1040. IRS workers can help you.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says an Atlantic man was arrested Monday on drugs and weapon charges. 30-year old Albert Alexander Johnson, of Atlantic, was arrested for being a Felon in Possession of Firearm/Ammo (a Class-D Felony), two felony counts of Drug Tax Stamp Violation, two counts of Possession with Intent to Deliver, one count of Prohibited Acts, one count of Possession without Prescription, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Also arrested on drug charges, Monday, was 19-year old Olivia Lea Klenda, of Atlantic. She was charged with Prohibited Acts and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Johnson and Klenda were taken to the Cass County Jail, where Johnson remains held on $14,000 bond, and Klenda was released Tuesday )Today), on her own recognizance.

And, Cass County Sheriff’s deputies, Monday, arrested 23-year old Alexander Robert Brooks, of Atlantic, on a charge of Criminal Mischief 2nd Degree. Brooks was taken to the Cass County Jail where his release was pending.

Some legislators are balking at the idea of continuing to provide state tax dollars to the World Food Prize Foundation. Representative Larry Sheets, a Republican from Moulton, sits on the subcommittee that drafts the budget where 700-thousand dollars has been tentatively set aside for the World Food Prize. He suggests at least half of that should go to the Iowa Economic Development Authority instead.

“I represent Appanoose County and part of Wapello County and two others,” Sheets says. “Appanoose and Wapello are in dire need of economic development.” The World Food Prize was established in 1986 and is awarded each fall. It has been called the Nobel Prize for those who’re working to end world hunger. Republican Representative Mary Ann Hanusa, of Council Bluffs, isn’t calling for cancelling all state support of the World Food Prize either. But Hanusa says the state’s economic development agency is being asked to cut its budget by 400-thousand dollars — and it may be time to ask the privately-run World Food Prize to do more private fundraising.

“It does seem that for an organization that is well-established world wide and has multiple sources of funding this might be an areas where, perhaps, they could also step up,” Hanusa says. Senator Bill Dotzler, a Democrat from Waterloo, says Republican Governor Terry Branstad and top leaders in the legislature are in favor of giving the World Food Prize about a million dollars.

“Maybe our leadership’s commitment should be readjusted,” Dotzler says. But Dotzler says he’s willing to include money for the World Food Prize in the legislature’s “economic development” budget. Dotzler says otherwise policymakers may dip deeper into the account reserved for constructing and maintaining state-owned buildings. For example, the House voted Monday night to withdraw five-MILLION from that fund for water quality projects.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa lawmakers in a legislative budget group plan to propose delaying a state-mandated summer reading program for struggling third-graders because there’s no money to pay for it. Leaders in the joint Education Appropriations Subcommittee say the roughly $14 million needed to support the program is not available. They want to add language to a budget bill that would delay implementation from 2017 to 2018.

Sen. Brian Schoenjahn, an Arlington Democrat and co-chairman of the group, says there’s bipartisan support to delay the program. He called it an “unfunded mandate.” At least one education group applauded the move. Gov. Terry Branstad did not include money in his budget recommendations for the program, which could hold back some third-graders who don’t complete it.

BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) – An industry group says wind energy generated a record 191 megawatt-hours of electricity last year, enough for 17.5 million homes. The American Wind Energy Association said Tuesday that wind produced 4.7 percent of the nation’s electricity in 2015. It says coal generated 33 percent and natural gas slightly less than that.

Texas remains No. 1 for wind energy while Iowa is second. The report says Iowa generated more than 30 percent of its electricity from wind last year, a record for any state. The association says the industry employed the equivalent of 88,000 full-time workers last year. The group says tax breaks extended by Congress last year will help stabilize the industry.

The Iowa Transportation Commission today (Tuesday), approved the transfer of jurisdiction of portions of segments of U.S. 6 and Iowa 192 to the city of Council Bluffs. The transfer segments lie within the corporation limits of Council Bluffs of U.S. 6 from 36th Street east to Sixth Street and Iowa 192 from Sixth Street to Big Lake Road for a total length of 4.95 miles. Following a transfer of jurisdiction, the city is responsible for all future maintenance and improvement of that roadway and right of way.

Last Thursday, the Griswold School Board voted to explore a three-way Superintendent sharing agreement with two, unidentified school districts, pending approval by the other boards. Monday night, the South Page School District’s Board of Education approved the proposed sharing of their Superintendent Gregg Cruickshank, with the Griswold and Sidney Community School Districts.

Under the proposal, Sidney and Griswold would get 40% of Cruickshank’s time, or about two-days per week each. The remaining 20%, or one-day per week, would be spent in South Page. The proposed agreement would also involve a one-third cost-sharing contract. The arrangement would be for one-year, to start, with an evaluation taking place between late this fall and March 1^st, 2017. The arrangement would save the Griswold District $127,000 per year, in a time when they’re looking at cutting $500,000 from the budget.

The Sidney School Board is set to vote April 18^th on the proposal.

The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department’s Board of Directors will meet in a special session Wednesday, beginning at Noon, in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall. The only item on their agenda, is action on the use of Hotel/Motel Tax Fund money to make up a portion of the matching funds needed for a Vision Iowa CAT grant. The $360,000 grant, if approved in its entirety, would be used for improvements to the campground portion of the Schildberg Recreation Area, in Atlantic.