(Radio Iowa) – A House panel has voted to set aside a quarter of a million dollars for projects that make Iowa’s state  parks more accessible to visitors with disabilities. Republican Representative Norlin Mommsen of  DeWitt says it’s a first installment for needed improvements.) “The DNR’s been running a survey, evaluating their parks and stuff,” Mommsen says. “I’m hoping they have a list and I would think they’d prioritize most important and start there.”

The proposed funding boost is included in a budget plan for the Department of Natural Resources that is supported by Republicans and Democrats on a House subcommittee. Representative Sami Scheetz is a Democrat from Cedar Rapids. “State parks need to be accessible to everybody in our state, so this is a good start,” Scheetz said.

Most historic structures in Iowa’s 69 state parks are not required to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, however any park facility built or updated in the past 12 years must comply with the A-D-A’s accessibility standards.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – The Board of Supervisors in Pottawattamie County, today (Tuesday), approved a funding request from Main Street Avoca, in the amount of $3,000. The funds will be used for general operations of the non-profit, volunteer-driven organization, which is focused on community engagement, historic preservation and economic development.

Avoca Main Street spokesperson Amber Mohr was asked about the organization’s economic impact on the community. She said their efforts to date have produced over $4.2-million dollars worth of investment in downtown projects and acquisitions.

Avoca Main Street has been in operation for 10-years. In other business, the Pott. County Supervisors held public hearings on, and passed resolutions for:

Pottawattamie County BOS meeting, 4-9-2024

• The reallocation of certain unspent proceeds of the General Obligation Capital Loan Notes, Series 2020A, in the amount of $4.610-million.
• The reallocation of certain unspent proceeds of the General Obligation Capital Loan Notes, Series 2021A, in the amount of $1.905-million.
• And, a resolution for the reallocation of certain unspent proceeds of the General Obligation Capital Loan Notes, Series 2022, in the amount of $1.745-million.

They also approved an amendment to the FY 2023/24 Pott. County Budget, and the appropriation of funds from the amendment for FY 2023/24.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is accusing seven key federal agencies of “dragging their feet” on upgrading their systems against cyber attacks. Grassley, a Republican, says it may be putting our national security at risk, along with the personal data of an untold number of Iowans. “We’ve had studies made on what agencies ought to be doing,” Grassley says, “and then we find out after years, they haven’t followed up and protected the American people the way they should.”

Keeping Americans safe is “job one” for the federal government, and Grassley says Congress needs to know how those agencies are working to bolster critical infrastructure defense, or “whether they’re asleep at the switch.” “It’s a matter of accountability,” Grassley says, “the extent to which cyber attacks might affect our national security, steal our military secrets, even stealing our most advanced war materiel.”

Grassley is singling out the E-P-A as well as the U-S Departments of: Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Treasury and Transportation. On a related matter, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell called Monday for action on legislation that would restrict TikTok. Grassley says it’s clear that social media platform needs to be more closely regulated. Grassley says, “I’m committed to making sure that the privacy of our teenagers, well, there may be people older than teenagers, but I think most of the people I hear from are teenagers about this issue, that it’d be protected and not this privacy information being sold to some company in China.”

Sen. Grassley

Grassley says he would support the House bill that passed last month which would force ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, to sell the app or face being banned across the U.S. He says changes to that legislation may be pending in another Senate version of the bill.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Board of Supervisor’s, today (Tuesday), reminded citizens of the County about electronic recycling, which takes place Wednesday (April 10^th), from 4-until 6-p.m., at the Fairgrounds, in Red Oak. Supervisor Donna Robinson said it’s a regular event, with some new features this year.

New this year, residents may bring old vehicle their tires in for recycling. Two high school seniors are in charge of that aspect of the event.

Montgomery County Engineer Karen Albert updated the Board on Secondary Roads Department activities.

In other business, the Board approved additional square footage for the tuckpointing project, with regard to the West elevation of the courthouse. Maintenance Director Dan Wright…

The additional work is estimated at $40,948, for a total project cost of $423,217. The Board approved the added work, and a quote to spray the Law Enforcement Center lawn to keep down the dandelions and other weeds. Auditor Jill Ozuna presented to the Board results of the FY 2022 Montgomery County Audit.

Ozuna said Auditor of State Rob Sand’s office found five findings related to receipt and expenditure of taxpayer funds. She said those are items that counties tend to get “dinged” for every year.

Supervisor Donna Robinson said with regard to the Board’s “Fiduciary responsibility to provide oversight to the County’s operations and financial transactions,” she feels, they have and are continuing to conduct due diligence in that aspect of their duties.

A copy of the Audit Report is available in the Montgomery County Auditor’s Office, or on the Auditor of State’s website. The next meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, is April 16^th at 8:30-a.m.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports a Nebraska man was arrested Monday evening on an Out-of-County/Out-0f-State warrant. Authorities say 29-year-old Kody Allen Gregg, of Nehawka, NE, was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – April 9, 2024 – Today, the Iowa Transportation Commission approved $9,869,044 in total funding for ten statewide Transportation Alternatives Set-aside Program projects.

This program supports projects that will have a statewide or multi-regional impact, expand the state’s multi-modal transportation system, enhance tourism, and provides safe routes to school. The majority of Transportation Alternatives Set-aside program funding is distributed to Iowa’s metropolitan planning organizations and regional planning affiliations for the selection of local projects. The Commission awards Transportation Alternatives Set-aside projects annually. Approximately 20 percent of funding is targeted to safe routes to school projects. Funding is available to cities, counties, school districts, or other eligible organizations through an annual application-based program.

The projects and approved funding amounts are listed below.

Safe routes to school project awards:

• Iowa Safe Routes Partnership (Iowa Northland Regional Council of Governments) – $258,108
• Safe Routes to School & Recreational Trails Phase I (Logan) – $652,212
• 3rd Street Sidewalk Extension Project (Anamosa) – $650,000
• Washington Avenue Safe Routes to School (Grinnell) – $581,891

All other project awards:

• Bentonsport Pedestrian Bridge Rehabilitation (Van Buren County Conservation Board) – $1,612,000
• Clear Creek Trail (Johnson County Conservation Board) – $1,800,000
• Grant Street South Realignment (Bondurant) – $500,000
• Hickman Interchange Bicycle/Pedestrian Facilities (Clive) – $800,000
• Iowa River’s Edge Trail Surfacing and South Fork Bridge Replacement (Hardin County Conservation Board) – $2,000,000
• Mississippi River Trail Eagle Ridge Road to May Street (LeClaire) – $1,014,833

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — [KCCI] Police say two teenagers stole expensive bottles of cologne and then triggered a high-speed police chase. That chase ended on a busy Des Moines freeway exit ramp. It started Sunday night at Jordan Creek Town Center Von Maur department store. And it didn’t stop until West Des Moines police, Des Moines police, and the Iowa State Patrol chased and arrested the teens.

The call came into West Des Moines police at about 5:20 p.m. Sunday. Two 17-year-olds ran off with two bottles of Versace and Coach cologne worth about $200. But police say the report of a fight with Von Maur security staff put them on alert. A short time later, an off-duty police officer spotted the suspects’ car near the Mid-American Rec Plex, and the chase began.

It ran through West Des Moines and then headed to the freeway and into Des Moines at speeds as high as 95 mph. Eventually, the Iowa State Patrol boxed the car in on the 42nd Street off-ramp. It was closed for several hours Sunday night. Police say they later learned the teens did not fight with the Van Maur security staff. And they can’t understand why the suspects would run.

Police say the two 17-year-olds were charged with theft and were taken to juvenile detention.