Just over 150 restaurants across the state are involved in an upcoming event organized by the Iowa Tourism Office. The inaugural Main Street Iowa Restaurant Week begins Friday and includes eateries in 16 towns and cities. Among them is Avoca, Greenfield and Woodbine. Shawna Lode, with the Iowa Tourism Office, says each community will offer special menus and rewards.

“We want to give Iowans and our visitors a chance to get out and explore the restaurants and foods that are unique to Iowa,” Lode said. The event runs 10 days – through September 24. “We wanted to give people an opportunity to visit as many restaurants as the can,” Lode said. “We know when people travel they want to eat where the locals eat.”

Included among the communities involved in Main Street Iowa Restaurant Week is: Avoca, Burlington, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Fort Madison, Greenfield, Hampton, Marshalltown, Mount Pleasant, Mount Vernon, Osceola, Oskaloosa, Spencer, Waterloo, West Branch, West Des Moines and Woodbine.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Utilities Board is spreading the word about the federal Lifeline Program which helps low-income residents of the state pay for communications services. I-U-B spokesman, Donald Tormey, explains how the program works. “They’re entitled to receive a discount of at least nine dollars and 25 cents per month off their monthly telecommunications bill,” Tormey says. “And that nine dollars and 25 cents per month can be applied toward a landline telephone, a cellular telephone, or internet broadband access.”

He says the eligibility for the program is based on income and you should check to see if you qualify. Tormey says you can go to the Utilities Board website at IUB.iowa-gov/lifeline. “And that has all the information about how they can apply. It has a form they can fill out to apply, it explains the program. There’s also other websites that do the same thing. They can contact their local community action agency or the Iowa Department of Human Rights.

He says all participants have to enroll annually and the subscribers have to reverify their eligibility. Tormey says current subscribers should get a form from the subscribers, and if you don’t get the form you should call the company.

This is “Lifeline Awareness Week” and the I-U-B and its counterparts across the country are trying to let everyone know about the program. “If anyone does have any questions, they can call the utilities board toll free at: 877-565-4450. Or again, visit the I-U-B website,” according to Tormey.

Approximately 32-thousand Iowans participated in the Lifeline program in 2016.

(Radio Iowa)

School board elections were held yesterday (Tuesday), plus voters in one eastern Iowa district approved the largest school bonding plan in state history. Iowa law requires 60 percent of voters to approve any district’s plan to issue bonds and raise money for school construction.

In the Iowa City School District, a record 20 percent of eligible voters cast ballots — and 65 percent of them voted “yes” on a massive bonding plan. Iowa City officials now have the go-ahead to spend 191-and-a-half MILLION dollars on school facilities in the district. A new elementary school will be build in North Liberty and existing school buildings throughout the Iowa City district will be upgraded.

Nearly 53 percent of voters in the Linn-Mar School District supported an 80-MILLION dollar bonding plan for the district, but that was short of the 60 percent threshold needed. The plan would have financed construction of two new schools as well as upgrades to four existing schools. In the Clear Creek Amana School District, 71 percent of voters approved a nearly 34 million dollar bonding plan.

The mere existence of a small eastern Iowa district was on yesterday’s ballot, too. Nearly 70 percent of voters in the Gladbrook-Reinbeck School District opposed a plan that would have dissolved the district and enrolled students in five neighboring districts.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa official says he’s less optimistic a proposal will be approved that would allow the state to shift money used for the Affordable Care Act. Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen told lawmakers Tuesday he’s still awaiting a decision from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regarding a so-called stopgap measure for the state’s individual insurance market. He says he’s “less optimistic” because he expected an answer by now.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — A north Iowa man who killed two people last year has been sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus 25 years in prison. The Globe Gazette reports that 31-year-old Peter Veal, of Lake Mills, was sentenced Tuesday after being convicted in July of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. Officers sent to a Mason City home in November found the bodies of Caleb Christensen and Melinda Kavars.

GLENWOOD, Iowa (AP) — A southwestern Iowa mother has been charged with child endangerment resulting in death and with distributing drugs to a minor following the death of her young daughter last year. Prosecutors charged 34-year-old Misty Dawn Frazier, of Glenwood, on Monday. She’s being held in the Mills County Jail on a $35,000 cash-only bond. Police say Frazier’s 8-year-old daughter died last October after overdosing on an antidepressant.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A planning committee is seeking public input about how to transform riverfront along the Missouri River between Omaha and Council Bluffs, Iowa. The Omaha World-Herald reports that about 200 people attended a Riverfront Revitalization Planning Committee meeting Monday to share what they’d like to see on a large strip of the riverfront. Focus areas include Gene Leahy Mall and Heartland of America Park in Council Bluffs. The next public meeting is Oct. 26.

Director District 1B (elect 1*)

Larry Blake            156

Amy Ferneding     188*

At Large (elect 2*)

Kathleen Blake     125

Mike Blum            56

Sam Hansen         229*

Brandi Perdew      114

Lucas Potthoff      137*