(Radio Iowa) – Two dozen small and mid-sized farms, food processors and distributors in Iowa are receiving grants totaling nearly three million dollars aimed at strengthening local food supply chains. Giselle Bruskewitz is on the state steering committee for what’s called the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program that will invest nearly one million dollars into the state’s wholesale food hubs.

Bruskewitz says the program gives everyone more options.

The program is supported by the U-S Department of Agriculture with funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.

(Cumberland, Iowa) – Firefighters from Cumberland were dispatched to a house fire this (Wednesday) afternoon, at 901 Adams Street, in Cumberland. The call went out at 1:54-p.m.  Cumberland Fire requested mutual aid from Massena Fire at around 2:08-p.m.

Initially, the Cass County Communications Center had reported some residents were out of the home but others remained, however, Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon told KJAN News two residents – a man and his wife did escape the home safely.

Kennon said a space heater is the suspected cause of the fire, which resulted in extensive damage to the home. Cumberland Fire Chief Jason Rouse said the house was a total loss. In addition to the firefighters and Mike Kennon, Cass EMS responded to the scene.

No injuries were reported. Fire  crews returned to their stations at around 4-p.m. Cumberland Fire was recalled to the scene, when flames were reported to have rekindled at around 8:50-p.m., Wednesday.

Photo courtesy Cass County EMA Coordinator Mike Kennon

(Radio Iowa) – A new committee in the Iowa House will take a deeper look at state accounts that are set aside for specific purposes as well as the “block grants” the federal government sends the State of Iowa. Federal block grants are distributed to states and are designated for a wide variety of programs that are managed by state officials. Republican Representative Martin Graber of Fort Madison will be chairman of the House Committee on Federal and Other Funds.

The next Trump Administration might be sending even more block grants to states and giving state officials broader authority on how the money is spent.

Graber, who was just elected to a third term in the Iowa House, says giving state officials greater latitude to spend federal money would be a positive move.

Most of the taxes and fees the STATE collects is depositing in what’s called the General Fund, but Graber says the legislature has created all sorts of special state accounts designed to support specific projects.

Graber, a retired Iowa National Guard brigadier general, has a Masters in Business Administration from St. Ambrose University and a Masters in Strategic Studies from the Army War College. He is currently a financial advisor.

(Radio Iowa) – A former licensed nurse practitioner and business owner in Ames has pleaded guilty to fifteen counts of sex trafficking, Radio Iowa’s Dar Danielson reports.

The Ames Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s Division of Criminal Investigation investigated the case, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa is prosecuting the case.

Human trafficking is a crime involving the exploitation of youth under the age of 18 for commercial sex; the exploitation of adults for commercial sex through the use of force, fraud, or coercion; and the exploitation of any individual for compelled labor. Human trafficking does not require the transportation of individuals across state lines, or that someone is physically restrained. Signs that a person is being trafficked can include working excessively long hours, unexplained gifts, physical injury, substance abuse issues, running away from home, isolation from others, or having a person in their life controlling them or monitoring them closely. Victims particularly susceptible to being trafficked include those with criminal histories, a history of physical or sexual abuse, uncertain legal status, and dependency on controlled substances.

Anyone who suspects human trafficking is occurring, be it a minor engaging in paid sex acts, or anyone being coerced into prostitution or labor, is urged to call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.