Grant, Ia. –The Grant United Methodist Church will hold its annual Fall Bazaar Sunday, Sept. 17.   The day’s events will begin at 10 a.m. with a worship service featuring an old-fashioned hymn sing led by Mary Grundman, granddaughter of long-term Grant pastor Rev. A. Breeling.

Following the service from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., the church will serve a home-cooked meal that includes:  ham balls, roast beef, mashed potatoes, Harvard beets, buttered corn, assorted salads, pies and desserts, and coffee, tea or lemonade. The dinner costs $9 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under.  All money raised supports the Grant United Methodist Women and their work for mission projects and the Grant church.

This year’s auction will again include a quilt, handmade crafts and rugs, fresh garden produce, baked goods and more.

The Grant United Methodist Church, founded in 1855, is a multigenerational church focusing on concern for its neighbors and providing a center of worship for all ages.  Worship services are celebrated at 9:30 a.m. each Sunday.

Police in Council Bluffs are investigating a home invasion and robbery. Authorities say at around 3:34-a.m. today (Friday), police responded to 3423 Ave C for a home invasion. The homeowner said he awoke to find an intruder in his home. When the homeowner went to confront the suspect, the suspect fled from the residence on a bicycle.

As of this time, authorities say it appears the suspect took the victim’s wallet. No injuries were reported from the encounter. Anyone with information regarding this burglary is urged to contact Council Bluffs Police at (712) 328-4728 or Crime Stoppers at (712) 328-STOP (7867).

The State Board of Education is moving ahead with a change that creates an exception in transfer rules for homeless students. The department’s Nicole Proesch says the change brings the state in line with federal regulations. “It’s another way of removing a barrier for a student who is experiencing homelessness, it to allow them to immediately enroll in athletics or other activities in the school district because they are in a homeless status,” Proesch says.

Students who do not meet exceptions to the transfer rule have to sit out 90 consecutive days before they can participate in activities.   Proesch says the new rules are part of the McKinney-Vento Act in the new federal education bill and will update what Iowa was using. “Before the rules that we had in place went on a case-by-case basis to kind of review maybe the reason for the homelessness,” Proesch explains. “What we’re looking to do is to kind of remove an extra barrier that a student who is homeless may have.”

She says the rules try to take some of the stress away from students. “There are several ways that a student can be considered a homeless student. A student can be an unaccompanied minor…. maybe not having a fixed place to say at night, “Proesch says.  Individual school districts will handle each case. “Schools and school districts have what they call a homeless schools liaison, and every district is required to have one under McKinney-Vento, ” Proesch says. “That individual is equipped with a homeless toolkit to be equipped with the right questions to ask each individual student or their families to determine whether or not they would qualify as a homeless student.”

The Board of Education approved the proposed rule change and there will be a public hearing will be held on October 31st, , from 9:00 a-m until 10:00 a-m in the State Board Room, Second Floor, Grimes State Office Building, East 14th Street and Grand Avenue, Des Moines. Any can give their opinion on the rules either orally or in writing at that time.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with the Atlantic Community School District report The Iowa Association for College Admissions Counseling, will sponsor a “College Fair” on Tuesday, Sept. 19th, from 2-until 3:15-p.m., at the Atlantic High School.

High School guidance counselor Craig Fredin, site coordinator for the event, says that about 60 representatives from post-secondary institutions will be present to speak about opportunities at their respective colleges, vocational and technical schools, as well as military service.

The IACAC has established 30 College Day/College Night programs throughout the state, to provide a supportive environment for students to obtain information and appropriate counseling that should prove helpful in their college selection process.

Students, parents or interested adults from Atlantic and the surrounding communities are invited to attend.

Former Iowa Congressman Jim Nussle says Iowa’s 94 not-for-profit credit unions have filled a void as banks throughout the country and in Iowa continue to consolidate. “When I started in congress back in 1990, seems like ages ago now, small community banks made up about 75 percent of the entire marketplace of financial services,” Nussle says. “That’s down to 17 percent today.” Nussle is president and C-E-O of the Credit Union National Association. He was in Des Moines Thursday, to address the Iowa Credit Union Convention.

“Credit unions were one of the original disruptors of the marketplace back in 1934,” Nussle says. “We kind of forget about that and so my message to them is don’t be disrupted. Be the disruptor and we’re doing that, I think, in a very positive way for Iowans and for Americans.” More than a million Iowans are members of a credit union and the state’s credit unions have about 16-BILLION dollars in assets, according to Nussle.

“We’re growing,” Nussle says, “which is also something that not all businesses or industries can say these days and we can, which is positive.” Nussle says the “speed of change” and stress in the industry has been rather dramatic, not only because of the “Great Recession,” but because of incidents like Wells Fargo’s admission that its employees created fake accounts without customers’ permission. The recent growth of on-line “peer to peer” lending presents credit unions with an opportunity rather than a challenge, according to Nussle, because credit unions are member-driven.

“We can be that new kind of disruption, which I think many people have interest in, like millennials in particular, but do it in a safe-and-sound and with-a-track-record-to-prove-it sort of way,” Nussle says. Nussle, a Republican, served 16 years in congress representing northeast Iowa, including a stint as chairman of the House Budget Committee. Nussle says congress seems to be locked in a system right now that’s promoting dysfunction and inaction.

“It seemed to me, when I was there, there was always a point where you would make a decision,” Nussle says. “Yeah, there’d be a fight. There’d be a mess. There’s be partisanship. There might even be interparty conflicts, but there was often then a point where it was like, ‘O.K., thank you. We’ve had that fight. We’ve that debate. Let’s make a decision.'” Nussle says he’s reluctant to give advice to current members of congress because he doesn’t have the inside information they may have.

But from the outside looking in, Nussle says it appears decisions on issues like health care, immigration, tax reform and infrastructure that could spur economic growth are languishing in congress. “Have your fight. That’s fine. Have your discussion. Have your debate. People care about this stuff, so they should, but let’s make a decision,” Nussle says. “Let’s have a vote.” Nussle suggested the polarization in the congress could be addressed if more states adopted Iowa’s non-partisan system for drawing congressional district lines.

“I’m proud of those who decide to serve the public. The vast majority do it, always, for the right reason,” Nussle told Radio Iowa. “…I don’t think it’s the people. They’re locked in a system right now that is promoting this dysfunction.” After running unsuccessfully for governor in 2006, President Bush appointed Nussle to serve as director of the Office of Management and Budget. Nussle has been president and C-E-O of the Credit Union National Association for three years.

(Radio Iowa)