(Radio Iowa) – The more than eight-and-a-half BILLION dollar state budget Governor Reynolds has approved represents a three-point-seven percent increase in spending.  Here are some of the areas where state spending is increasing: lawmakers expect to spend nearly 107-and-a-half MILLION dollars on the new state-funded accounts for low income parents who enroll their kids in private school. Public K-through-12 schools will get a three percent increase in state funding.

Attorneys who represent indigent clients will get 35 dollars an hour for travel for the first time along with a five dollar per hour increase in attorneys’ fees — an effort to get more attorneys to represent low income clients declared indigent by the courts. Lawmakers have the authority to spend up a 99 percent of expected state tax revenue. The budget Reynolds gave final approval to this week spends 88 percent. All taxes above that paid during the next state fiscal year will be deposited in reserves and the Taxpayer Relief Fund. By this time next year, the state is projected to have three-and-a-half BILLION dollars in the Taxpayer Relief Fund along with a two BILLION dollar surplus.

Democrats say Republicans are hoarding money that would could be spent on priorities like public education. Republicans say it’s a responsible budget plan, with extra cash to cushion the state if there’s a recession or if tax cuts depress state revenue below expectations.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A reminder from The Station Where Your Friends Are: An event taking place this Saturday, June 3rd, “Truckin’ on the Trails,” will showcase various cycling opportunities and trails fun in Cass County. All Truckin’ on the Trails activities will take place at the Schildberg Recreation Area West Rotary Shelter (102 Buck Creek Rd. Atlantic, IA 50022).

At 10:30 AM, the event will kick off with the “Nishna Valley Trails Gravel Sampler” ride led by Jon Jordan. This ten-mile ride will visit both trails and gravel. Gravel riding has become
increasingly popular in the last few years, and those interested in learning about this sport are encouraged to attend. Prior to the ride, Jordan will give a primer on gravel skills vs. road skills.
Any “non-skinny” tire bikes will work for this ride. Participants will ride from Schildberg Rotary Shelter (West parking lot) to South T-Bone Trailhead (63395 Dunbar Rd. Atlantic) and back.

Then from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM, Truckin’ on the Trails is hosting food trucks and live music at the Schildberg Rotary Shelter. Master Griller Catering, Atlantic Kiwanis, and Louie’s Shaved Ice will be selling food, and Sarah Selders will be singing live. Cass County Conservation and Nishna Valley Trails, a tax-emempt local nonprofit that promotes the development of recreational trails and cycling, will be sharing information on their organizations, and Bike Farm will be offering minor bike maintenance and door prizes.

At 1:00 PM a 1.5-mile kids ride will take off from the West Rotary Shelter. This ride will be a loop that will end back with the food trucks and music.

Whether cycling or walking, pushing strollers, or riding trikes, all people are welcome at Truckin’ on the Trails. Truckin’ on the Trails is just one of many events taking place across the nation on National Trails Day, the first Saturday in June. National Trails Day is an annual event hosted by the American Hiking Society that encourages support of the nation’s public trails. Trails have positive impacts on mental and physical health, and National Trails Day is a day of public events that invites thousands of trail users to participate.

A Cass County trails map can be found online at:
https://www.atlanticiowa.com/experience/cass-county-trails-map-2/. Hard copies of the map will be available at the event and are always available at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce.

(Ames, Iowa) – The latest Iowa Drought Monitor (Released Thursday, June 1) indicated a continued trend toward dryness across the State. Only the north-central & northeast counties are free of drought conditions.The report is released every Thursday, and does not take into account rain received since the report was issued. Atlantic finally received some decent rain Thursday, at slightly more than nine-tenths of an inch. The last time we received over nine-tenths of an inch, was May 5th (.94″).  The National Weather Service says a high-pressure system parked over the Great Lakes continues to block any organized weather system from entering the state.

White-No drought; Yellow-Abnormally dry; Tan-Moderate drought; Orange-Severe drought; Red-extreme drought; dark red-Exceptional drought.

Drought areas are categorized from D-O (no drought) to D-4 (Exceptional Drought). The Drought Monitor shows drought conditions continued expanding across the region, from D-O to D-1 (Abnormally Dry) in parts of Illinois, Iowa and Missouri. D-2 soil/drought conditions expanded in Iowa and Missouri, while D-3 (Extreme Drought) conditions grew in Missouri. As of May 28th, USDA data revealed more than half of the topsoil moisture was short or very short in Iowa (50%), Missouri (62%), and Michigan (68%), and 40% or more was short or very short in Wisconsin (45%), Ohio (45%), Illinois (42%), and Indiana (40%).

The story for the Midwest was continued drying of soils, low streamflows, and mounting precipitation deficits over the last 1 to 3 months.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Governor Kim Reynolds has signed a bill into law that limits the Iowa state auditor’s ability to access some data, like tax returns or medical records, for audits and investigations. State Auditor Rob Sand, the only Democrat in statewide elected office, says it’s the worst pro-corruption law in Iowa history. It forbids Sand from going to court to compel reluctant state officials to turn over records. Sand says the mediation process set up in the bill gives the governor the power to block access to information that would expose wrongdoing.

During a recent appearance on Iowa Press on Iowa PBS, Reynolds said executive branch officials should be able to resolve disagreements without going to court. She also said Sand shouldn’t have access to information just because he’s curious about it.

Governor Reynolds signed 67 bills into law yesterday (Thursday), completing action on all the bill that cleared the 2023 Iowa legislature.

(Radio Iowa) [UPDATED 9-a.m. 6/2/23] – The boil order WAS lifted today (Friday) for residents of five counties in southwest Iowa. The order was rescinded after tests came back negative for any issues in the water system. Avoca Regional Water Plant general manager, Tom Kallman, says they had been waiting on the third and final water test. He said previously he was “cautiously optimistic” that they were going to be able to go ahead and lift the boil alert. Kallum said “We’re still going to be in a water shortage — but at least now folks are not going to have to boil their water to be able to consume it.”

The problem started on May 25th when the seven water towers were drained down, leading to a negative pressure in the system. “The towers are now full enough that I don’t have any pressure issues anywhere in terms of getting the water out to folks when they turn on their tap. They should have no problem with the water they’ve got,” Kallman says. “But we will end up having to go back into a boil advisory if I lose pressure again from more demand than I can push water into my system.”

The drought brought down the levels of water they use to fill the tanks at a time when they set records for demand. Kallman says residents will have to continue conserving water to avoid a repeat. “If it happens a second time, our board of directors will then review whether or not we need to elevate our water posture to a water rationing state. And then that’s all based on your previous years usage,” Kallman says. He says they have sent out suggestions for reducing water use and he is optimistic those will pay off.

“What we find a lot of times in these kind of circumstances, we have these helpful hints on folks to tell them conserved things that they can be looking at. And I don’t think there’s been a situation go by where some of it and say you know, I never thought about it and whipped the water deal I went and did that little test is that you recommend for the toilet and lo and behold, my toilet was leaking and I didn’t realize that it was. It ends up being a substantial amount of water.”

Kallman says they did get some rain Thursday, but they will need much more. “We’re about three feet lower in our wells now the first of June of this year than we were at the same time last year. “Kallman says. “That’s three foot less water in the wells to pump out of the wells and turn it into fresh drinking water.”

The Rural Water System supplies residents in Shelby, Audubon, Cass, Harrison, and northern Pottawattamie County. Kallman says they will notify residents once the boil order is lifted.

(Radio Iowa) – Former President Donald Trump says there’s no way he could lose Iowa in 2024. “We’re going to win,” Trump said. “We’re going to win big. We’re going to win bigger than ever before.” Trump made a campaign swing through the state Thursday. It included a stop in Grimes at a training session for campaign volunteers. Trump suggested there’s a correlation between his popularity and his legal woes.

“Every time I go high I get further attacked by the DOJ, the FBI. I’ve got to keep my poll numbers down, they’ll leave us alone,” Trump said. “If we were ever losing, they’d leave us alone. It’s called election interference. They do it at a level that we’ve never seen anything like it in this country. It’s a disgrace.” Trump took questions from the crowds at events on Thursday morning and Thursday afternoon, a contrast with the events challenger Ron DeSantis had in Iowa this week.

“It is nice to come here and speak without notes, without anything, just come up and speak from the heart and from the brain,” Trump said, to cheers, “and from the brain.” Trump’s appearance comes as the G-O-P presidential field is expanding. North Dakota’s governor, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Trump’s own vice president Mike Pence are set to enter the race next week.

“People coming into the race. You know they’re polling at 1%, 2%. I don’t know what they’re doing. They must know something…but I know actually some of them are pretty stupid,” Trump said. “…They’re running for VP and cabinet. Maybe they are, but some of them won’t happen, I can tell you.” A woman in the crowd asked Trump what he’d do differently if another virus emerges — and she told Trump people had died because he supported “the jab.” That’s a reference the COVID vaccine, which Trump says everybody wanted back at the start of the pandemic in 2020.

“A big portion of the country thinks that was a great thing, you understand that,” Trump said, “(but) not a lot of the people in this room.” Trump, seeking a rematch against President Joe Biden in 2024, was told by someone in the crowd that Biden fell on stage at the Air Force Academy yesterday (Thursday). The 76 year old Trump said he hoped the 80 year old president wasn’t hurt, then Trump ridiculed the media for focusing on his own gingerly walk down what he described as a slick ramp at West Point rather than the speech he gave that day.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s two U.S. Senators have joined their fellow Republicans in the U.S. House in voting for the bipartisan deal to avert a first-ever federal government default. The Treasury Secretary had warned the federal government would run out of money to pay its bills next week if congress didn’t raise the borrowing limit, or so-called debt ceiling. Republican Senator Joni Ernst said the entire Iowa delegation agrees the deal, while imperfect, will ensure the federal government spends less and reclaims billions of unspent COVID funds.

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley also voted for the bill last (Thursday) night, which now goes to the president for his signature.

The four Iowa Republicans who serve in the U.S. House voted for the bill earlier this week. The timing of last (Thursday) night’s vote in the U.S. Senate means Ernst will be able to return to Iowa in time to host eight G-O-P presidential candidates at her annual fundraiser on Saturday.

(UPDATED/Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has completed her review of the bills that passed the Republican led 2023 Iowa legislature — and signed all of them into law. Reynolds approved 67 bills Thursday. One requires both of Iowa’s major political parties to conduct their Caucuses in person, although some Democrats have said there may be a legal challenge of the law. Democrats have been planning to cast their presidential preferences by mail rather than on Caucus Night. The Iowa Democratic Party’s chairwoman says the party is committed to holding the most inclusive caucus in history, no matter what.

Another state law that takes effect July 1st makes Iowa households with 15-thousand dollars worth of assets that can quickly be converted into cash ineligible for food stamps. The asset test for SNAP benefits does not include the value of a home or a vehicle.

Reynolds also approved bills outlining the state’s eight-and-a-half BILLION dollar budget, with two item vetoes.

(Radio Iowa) – Staffing shortages in Iowa nursing homes remain “alarmingly high” and are almost twice the national average, according to the state director of A-A-R-P Iowa. Brad Anderson says staffing shortages can lead to poor resident care and, in some unfortunate cases, serious neglect. “Forty-two percent of (Iowa) nursing homes are experiencing a staffing shortage, compared to the national average of 22%,” Anderson says, “which obviously has an enormous impact on resident care.”

One reason for the high rate of staffing shortages in Iowa is too many nursing home beds for staff to cover, he says, especially in rural areas. Anderson says he’d like to see more money devoted to home-based care instead of institutional care, as surveys show an overwhelming majority of people would rather stay in their own homes. Another problem, he says, is pay.

“The wages for direct care workers still remains about $16 an hour, which is too low, frankly,” Anderson says. “We need to do a better job of boosting wages for direct care workers and improving their working conditions, without a doubt.” The state legislature recently devoted an additional 15-million dollars in Medicaid funding to Iowa nursing homes, money Anderson says needs to be directed toward solving what he calls a “staffing crisis.” He says Iowans who are looking for a nursing home for themselves or a loved one can find plenty of data online, including where staffing is an issue.

“Medicare.gov has great resources when it comes to looking at nursing homes,” Anderson says. “They rank them and you can basically get a score on whatever nursing home is in your community and see if they have staffing shortages or not online.” Iowa now has 430 nursing homes. Since January of 2022, at least 21 have closed.
www.aarp.org

(Radio Iowa) – Davenport’s police chief says three people are still missing after an apartment building partially collapsed Sunday and Davenport Mayor Mike Matson says officials are planning for a dignified demolition of the structure. “This needs to be done in a way that it respects that this is a resting place…when we do that,” Matson says, “and we’re not anywhere near doing that right now.” Two people who were unaccounted for after Sunday’s collapse have been found, but Davenport’s police chief says three people are still missing. Emergency crews are at the site today (Thursday). The mayor says experts are being consulted as the search continues for victims.

“Is there something we’re missing? Is there some technique we haven’t used? Is there some piece of equipment we need to get? I mean infrared has been all over that place, dogs, experts at different levels and fields that do this you know in serious earthquake situations,” Matson credits the crews working inside the unstable building and he says any criticism of the emergency response or how the city handled concerns about the building’s condition should be directed at him.

“Do I have regrets about this tragedy and about people potentially losing their lives? Hell yeah. Do I think about this every moment? Hell yeah. I apologize for me getting a little wordy here,” Matson said. “…This is on me and there are people that are talking about other people…You talk to me.”

Davenport’s top building official has resigned. The mayor says there are a lot of old buildings in the city and, because of this week’s tragedy, inspectors are being sent to some residential buildings, regardless of when the latest inspection was done.