With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Officials with the Iowa West Foundation, headquartered in Council Bluffs, have announced $4.2 million in grants are being awarded for the first quarter of 2014. The grants will be used to assist 22 nonprofit organizations and governmental entities with funding for area projects.

The largest grant awarded in the quarter was to the Green Hills Area Education Agency for preschool programs in school districts located in Pottawattamie County. The $1.1 million grant ensures that 4-year-olds with the most at-risk factors for possible school failure will have the opportunity to participate in quality early childhood education.

Here is a partial list of the grant recipients:

·        The City of Council Bluffs – $850,000 for planning and improvements to the landing area of the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge near Tom Hanafan River’s Edge Park.

·        Bluffs Arts Council, $6,000 for music and movies in Bayliss and River’s Edge parks.

·        Crossroads of Western Iowa, $2,000 for a volunteer program for intellectually disabled.

·        Hospice of Southwest Iowa, $2,500 for medical records documentation upgrade.

·        Make-A-Wish Foundation of Iowa, $20,000 to fulfilling the wishes of southwest Iowa children.

·        Mills County Fair Association Free Fair, $150,000 for a community building at fairgrounds in Mills County.

·        Mills County Prevent Child Abuse Council Inc., “Circles4Support” program, $7,500

·        Planned Parenthood of the Heartland Inc., $50,000 for prevention education in on STIs and teen pregnancy in Douglas, Montgomery and Pottawattamie counties.

Funding for the foundation’s grants comes from investment earnings and the Iowa West Racing Association, which receives contracted license fees from casino operators, Ameristar and Harrah’s. IWRA distributes funds to the Iowa West Foundation, an independent 501(c)(3) organization under the IRS Code. The foundation makes grants throughout southwest Iowa and eastern Nebraska.

Requests for Iowa West grant applications for the third quarter of 2014 will begin June 1, 2014, and will be accepted through July 1, 2014. Completed applications will be due July 15, 2014. The deadline to request applications for the second quarter has passed.

For more information including deadlines, interested organizations may visit the foundation’s website at iowawestfoundation.org or contact Deb Debbaut, director of grants administration, at (712) 309-3003. Guidelines and procedures can be viewed on the website, and applicants can apply online.

The weather is starting to get warmer, but and Iowa State University extension crops specialist says farmers should not worry about getting into the fields just yet. Joel DeJong says there’s no hurry to get equipment in the fields. “No I don’t think they need to be overly concerned, it’s still reasonably early. We still have frost a couple feet deep. We need to get that frost out first,” DeJong says.

He says they are starting to see some signs that the frost is starting to go out of the ground. DeJong says trying to get into the fields too early could cause added problems, as the frost traps water in the ground. “Until we get that deeper frost out, I’m a little concerned you might be creating some compaction with some of these tilling tools,” DeJong says. He says the rain in the forecast could help draw some of the frost out of the ground.

DeJong has noticed some farmers applying fertilizer. He says he’s mostly seen farmers putting manure on the fields from feed lots, and he says the ground is “kind of passable” for those applications. The Iowa Agriculture Department reports that farmers in south-central Iowa have been able to get in more time in the fields than other parts of the state.

(Radio Iowa)

Students with the Guthrie Center High School Speech Teams will perform during the Tiger Speech Showcase this evening at 7 o’clock in the Guthrie Center High School Auditorium.  The cost of admission is your free-will donation. School officials say the large group and individual events team members will perform the speeches that have earned them success this year.

The Choral Reading group will perform “Legendary”, written and directed by Mrs. Kelsey Little. There will also be one Group Improvisation team to entertain the audience. Individual Events speakers will include Maria Ahrens in All-State-nominated Poetry, as well as Acting, McKenzie Hawkins in Storytelling, Neta Boyer in Original Oratory, Whitney Bates with Literary Program.

Other Individual performers include Morgan Woolman in Solo Musical Theatre, Matthew Vannatta in Prose, Cassidy Simmons in Expository Address, Samuel Vannatta in Prose, Ross Rumelhart in Improv, and Anita Alvarez in Literary Program.

Several of the district’s Individual Events speakers recently earned a trip to State.

Authorities in Fremont County say a man from Texas was arrested early this (Friday) morning after an investigation into an incident at a truck stop. The Sheriff’s Office says deputies were called to the Cubby’s Truck Stop in Percival at around 1-a.m., following a report of an intoxicated man who would not leave the store. Prior to the deputies’ arrival, the man took off in a 2004 Ford pickup.

Authorities caught up with the suspect’s vehicle on Interstate 29 near the 19-mile marker, and found the driver, 40-year old Francisco Javier Avila, of Buckles, TX.,  to allegedly be intoxicated, with open containers of alcohol in the vehicle.

Avila was arrested on suspicion of OWI 3rd or subsequent offense and Open Container charges, as well as Operating without a valid License. Additional charges are pending. Avila was booked into the Fremont County Jail and held on just over $5,950 bond.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources reports overall, dry conditions persist for most of Iowa. In their latest Water Summary Update, the DNR says precipitation average for the past two weeks has been 0.76 inch — a half inch less than normal. The continuing drought is reflected in the change of stream flows across the majority of the state. The lowest conditions are in the Raccoon and Des Moines river basins, which have less than 10 percent of normal stream flow.

Shallow groundwater levels are lower in southwest, west central and south central Iowa. Adequate spring rainfall will be critical to recharge the alluvial and shallow bedrock aquifers. Conditions are close to normal for northeast Iowa, which had near normal rainfall during the past two weeks.

For a more thorough review of Iowa’s water resource trends March 27 through April 9, go to http://www.iowadnr.gov/watersummaryupdate.

GLENWOOD, Iowa (AP) – Officials in the southwest Iowa city of Glenwood are using buckets to catch sewage from a damaged main. The state Department of Natural Resources said in a news release Thursday that city officials recently discovered a corrosion hole in the sewer main while working on lines in the area.  Officials are not sure how muck sewage has leaked, since they believe the hole likely developed during winter.

The hole has been temporarily patched but it appears to still be dripping. Buckets are being used until there’s a permanent fix. The city also plans to hire a contractor to reroute the sewer main.  Officials believe nearby Keg Creek has been affected. They’re encouraging residents and pets to avoid the area.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A Sioux City man has been sentenced to 100 years in prison for committing sex acts with a child over several years.  Daniel Harbeck received the sentence Thursday in Woodbury County District Court. He must serve 70 years before he is eligible for parole. The 37-year-old Harbeck was sentenced on seven counts of second-degree sexual abuse. Court documents say Harbeck admitted to multiple sex acts with the child between 2010 and 2013. The child is now 8 years old.

The Sioux City Journal reports Harbeck was ordered to serve four of the sentences consecutively. The other three will be served concurrently. Woodbury County Attorney Patrick Jennings tells the newspaper that he hasn’t seen a 100-year sentence in a sex abuse case during his 12 years as a prosecutor.

ORANGE CITY, Iowa (AP) – A northwest Iowa day care provider charged with murder in the death of a 3-year-old girl is seeking a change of venue for her upcoming trial. The Sioux City Journal reports an attorney for 34-year-old Rochelle Sapp says publicity surrounding the case would make it hard for the woman to receive a fair trial in Sioux County.

Sapp has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and child endangerment in connection to the death of Autumn Elgersma last year. An autopsy ruled that the girl died of blunt force head injury.  Sapp’s attorney, Edward Bjornstad, filed the motion Monday. No trial date has been set.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An effort to reopen the Iowa Juvenile home closed by Governor Terry Branstad in January has been rejected by the Iowa House. House Minority Leader Mark Smith, of Marshalltown on Thursday attempted to tack on a provision to the health and human services budget to reopen the facility in Toledo and revamp programming for delinquent girls. The amendment failed in a 48-to-51 vote.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A nonprofit group that supports low-income families who can’t afford to bury their children would receive state funds under a budget provision approved by the Iowa House. While debating the health and human services appropriation yesterday, lawmakers adopted an amendment to provide $100,000 to the organization Sing Me To Heaven.

WEST FARGO, N.D. (AP) – Titan Machinery says it is closing eight construction stores across the country, including two locations in Iowa. The company based in West Fargo, North Dakota on Thursday cited a slow recovery in construction sector among the reasons for the move, which will leave 128 people unemployed. The stores being closed in Iowa are located in Clear Lake and Oskaloosa.

GLENWOOD, Iowa (AP) – Officials in the southwest Iowa city of Glenwood are using buckets to catch sewage from a damaged main. The state Department of Natural Resources said in a news release yesterday that city officials recently discovered a corrosion hole in the sewer main while working on lines in the area.