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(Radio Iowa) – The Ankeny-based Casey’s convenience store chain reports a strong second quarter. Company President and C-E-O Darrin Rebellez spoke about the results during a conference call Tuesday. He says inside sales remain strong driving inside gross profit dollars up 10 percent to 553 million dollars. The company generated 159 million dollars in net income, an increase of 15 percent.
Rebellez says inside sales were up six-point-two percent for the quarter driven by strong performance in the prepared food and dispensed beverages. The gallons of fuel sold were flat, but the company’s gross profit on fuel increased by nearly 309 million dollars as they made more than 42 cents on each gallon sold.
The company built or acquired 59 stores in the quarter and recently closed the deal on 22 stores in Texas, which is now the 17th state where they operate.
(Des Moines, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau report a Spring Hill (IA) man, David Mark Ellis, recently pled guilty in Polk County District Court, to two counts of Identity Theft (Aggravated Misdemeanors) and one count of Insurance Fraud (Class D Felony).
The charges stem from a 2021 investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division that found Ellis, the owner of Always Affordable Bail Bonds in Des Moines, had misrepresented the facts surrounding a loss on an insurance claim so that he would receive funds to which he was not entitled. Additionally, Ellis utilized another individual’s EBT card to obtain benefits which he was not entitled to receive.
Following his guilty pleas, Ellis received suspended prison sentences to be served consecutively up to 9 years. Ellis also received 2 years of probation, and a fine of $2,735.00.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Wapello County Sheriff’s Office, Ankeny Police Department, and the Warren County Sheriff’s Office assisted the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau with the case. The case was prosecuted by the Polk County Attorney’s Office.
Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-654-6556.
(Des Moines, Iowa; USDA News) — USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) obligated a record $85.8 million in conservation practice funding to Iowa farmers in fiscal year 2023, through 1,628 conservation program contracts that will help treat natural resource concerns such as soil erosion and water quality on 386,736 acres. Conservation program contracts typically run three to five years, depending on the program. The obligated funds are nearly $3 million more than the prior record of $83 million in fiscal year 2021, and $16 million more than the prior five-year average.
IRA Funding
NRCS State Conservationist Jon Hubbert says a major reason for the increase in conservation funding is the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which helped NRCS provide $18.6 million to Iowa farmers in 2023. Hubbert says the IRA offers unprecedented funding for several existing programs. “We are using IRA funds to provide direct climate mitigation benefits to Iowa landowners and expanding access to NRCS assistance to increase conservation on Iowa’s private lands,” he said.
IRA funding is targeted to support climate-smart agriculture mitigation and help farmers build resilience in their operations. Examples of eligible practices include cover crops, no-till farming, nutrient management, prescribed grazing, and tree planting. “Many of the conservation efforts Iowa producers are adopting through IRA offer stacked benefits,” said Hubbert. “They are also benefitting soil health, water quality, wildlife habitat and protecting other resource concerns.”
Hubbert says IRA funding will increase over the next few years. “This is a great opportunity for Iowa landowners to address resource concerns on their farms,” he said. “The support for voluntary conservation at the local and national level has never been greater.”
Program Breakdown
NRCS provides conservation funding through four primary programs authorized through the Farm Bill: Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), and Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).
Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP): CSP helps farmers build a customized plan to meet their conservation goals and needs. Iowa NRCS obligated about $22.2 million through new and renewed CSP contracts during the past year to 557 Iowa landowners who signed five-year CSP contracts to treat natural resource concerns on their land. The CSP contracts will cover 267,103 acres.
Statewide leaders in CSP:
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP): NRCS contracted about 45 percent of new federal conservation funding in Iowa through EQIP – a voluntary program that promotes agricultural production and environmental quality, where farmers can choose from a conservation practice list developed at the county level to treat local resource issues. Through EQIP, NRCS obligated $39.1 million covering 93,717 acres through 840 contracts. For the second consecutive year, cover crops, brush management, prescribed grazing, and no-till were the most adopted practices by Iowa farmers.
Statewide EQIP highlights:
Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP): Iowa NRCS provided more than $10.5 million to Iowa farmers in 2023 through RCPP projects that will help treat natural resource concerns on more than 24,000 acres. NRCS assisted producers through eight RCPP partnership agreements and 207 contracts. RCPP promotes coordination between NRCS and its partners through agreements and program contracts. The eight RCPP projects in Iowa focus primarily on improving water quality and soil health.
Easements: Through ACEP, NRCS helps landowners, land trusts, and other entities protect, restore, and enhance wetlands, grasslands, and working farms through conservation easements. Overall, there are 1,722 conservation easements in Iowa covering 198,407 acres. During fiscal year 2023, Iowa NRCS obligated $14 million by helping landowners to place agricultural land into 12 new conservation easements. They include:
Iowa NRCS staff also obligated $13.7 million to historically underserved producers through 278 contracts, covering 30,295 acres. Historically underserved producers include beginning farmers, military veterans, limited resource producers, and socially disadvantaged farmers. NRCS staff wrote 12,753 conservation plans during fiscal year 2023, which covers more than one million acres. Conservation plans help producers target and address natural resource concerns such as soil erosion, water quality, and wildlife habitat, in addition to addressing climate change and improving soil health.
For more detailed Iowa NRCS program results and information, go to https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2023-11/2023At-A-Glance.pdf.
SONYA CURLILE, 61, of Manning, died Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023, at Accura Healthcare of Carroll. Funeral services for SONYA CURLILE will be held 10:30 a.m. Saturday, December 16, 2023, at the First Presbyterian Church in Manning. Ohde Funeral Home in Manning has the arrangements.
Visitation at the funeral home will be on Friday, Dec. 15th, from 5-until 7-p.m.; Visitation will resume on Saturday, at the 1st Presbyterian Church in Manning, beginning at 9:30-a.m.
Burial is in the Manning Cemetery.
SONYA CURLILE is survived by:
Her parents – Wayne and Velaine Curlile, of Manning.
Her sister – Cynthia (Jeff) Bauer, of Manning.
(Elliott, Iowa) – A traffic stop a little before 5-p.m. Tuesday, in Elliott, resulted in an arrest. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 39-year-old Cory R. Smith, of Elliott, was arrested for Driving while barred. Smith was transported to the Montgomery County Jail in Red Oak, and held on a $2,000 bond.
KENNETH “KENNY” PETER KAUFMANN, 80, of Woodbine, died Dec. 8, 2023, at the Rose Vista Nursing Home, in Woodbine. A Mass of Christian Burial for KENNY KAUFMANN will be held 10:30-a.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, at St. Boniface Catholic Church, in Westphalia. Pauley-Jones Funeral Home in Harlan has the arrangements.
Visitation at St. Boniface Catholic Church is on Friday, Dec. 15th, from 5:30-untiul 8-p.m., with a Wake service at 7-p.m.
Burial is in the St. Boniface Cemetery at Westphalia.
KENNETH “KENNY” KAUFMANN is survived by:
His son – Charles Kaufmann, of Sioux City.
His sisters – Cleo Greer of Council Bluffs, and Rose (Ken) Schwarte, of Branson West, MO.
His brother – Lee (Julie) Kaufmann, of Westphalia.
other family members and friends.
Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 46. S @ 5 mph this afternoon.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 25. South southeast wind around 5 mph.
Tomorrow: Mostly sunny, with a high near 51. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tom. Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 30. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Friday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49.
Friday Night: Mostly cloudy w/a 20% chance of rain. Low around 32.
Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 44.
Tuesday’s High in Atlantic was 39. The Low was 16. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 45 and the Low was 28. The Record High on December 13th in Atlantic, was 65 in 1921. The Record Low was -20 in 1961. Sunrise is at 7:37. Sunset at 4:50.
(Radio Iowa) – The U-S Small Business Administration is wrapping up the year reporting a significant drop in both the number of loans made to Iowa businesses and the overall dollar amount approved. Jayne Armstrong, district director of the S-B-A in Iowa, attributes the fall to two key elements — bounding interest rates, and the fact so much money was put out during the pandemic years through grants and forgivable loans.
Armstrong says, “There’s just not as much demand in the small business community, but also there’s been a little bit of tightening, particularly in different industry sectors.” The number of S-B-A-guaranteed loan approvals made in Iowa during the past year reached 340, down from 466 loans last year, while the amount approved dropped from more than 242-million dollars last year to 139-million this year. Armstrong notes, that 139-million figure is still a very significant amount of money that was pumped into start-up and expanding Iowa businesses.
“We’re here, we’re advocates. You’re going to have ups and downs and different cycles through different economic periods. You’re not going to increase your dollar volume every single year,” Armstrong says. “Sometimes, a $10,000 loan to one business means as much to one business as a $5 million loan does to another business.” As a direct result of S-B-A loans, she says more than 16-hundred jobs were created in Iowa and nearly 19-hundred more were retained. Armstrong isn’t particularly worried about the year-end figures, as she says the S-B-A continues to play a critical role in helping Iowa small business owners access capital.
“It will get back on track,” Armstrong says. “We went through some ups and downs with the last recession between 2009 and 2013, so it’s just a cycle that will happen.” Of the 340 loans approved in Iowa during the fiscal year, 208 of them went to new business start-ups or to finance changes in ownership, which are considered new businesses by the agency.
sba.gov
(Radio Iowa) – Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis says former President Trump has an inconsistent record on abortion. During a C-N-N town hall in Des Moines last (Tuesday) night, DeSantis accused Trump of being a flip flopper. DeSantis pointed to Trump’s remarks at a pro-life rally in 2020, when he said all life is a gift from God, then DeSantis cited Trump saying this fall that a six-week abortion ban — like the one Governor DeSantis signed in Florida — was a terrible mistake.
DeSantis also commented on the Texas Supreme Court’s rejection of a woman’s request for an abortion under the medical exception clause to that state’s six-week abortion ban. DeSantis said the woman faced an incredibly difficult medical situation. DeSantis said policymakers have to “approach such issues with compassion.”
DeSantis listed Florida’s abortion ban exceptions if an abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother or in cases when there’s a fatal fetal abnormality.