(Radio Iowa) – The eastern Iowa facility honoring the only American president who was born in Iowa will close for all of next year and likely into 2026 for what’s billed as a full remodel and renovation. Aaron Scheinblum, spokesman for the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch, says the 20-million dollar make-over is scheduled to start early in 2025 and will take at least a year.”Twelve to 15 months is a good way to look at it,” Scheinblum says, “so that’s a really long time for us to have our doors closed, but when you look at it in the perspective of, we really haven’t had a museum renovation or museum remodel since the early 1990s.”

The museum’s current exhibits tell Hoover’s story — from his birth, to his life as an engineer, Secretary of Commerce, the 31st President of the United States, and his continued humanitarian work after leaving the White House. The re-invisioned museum will tell those same stories, but with more artifacts and sophisticated, user-friendly technology. Scheinblum says it’ll take time to make such dramatic and extensive changes to the museum, which opened in 1962. “For us to be able to essentially gut the galleries, start from scratch, add space and do something completely different,” he says, “that’s kind of our goal, to be able to tell the Hoover story in a completely redesigned way that will appeal to all generations.” It’s unclear just when the West Branch facility will be shutting down for the major renovation.

Herbert Hoover Presidential Library & Museum

“Around January is how I would describe it. The exact date is still uncertain, and we’re hoping to iron out those details as construction is officially finalized,” Scheinblum says, “but ultimately, Quarter One is really as early as possible for what we’re looking to try to accomplish for that project.” The current layout of the museum is focused, appropriately, on Hoover’s life before, during, and after his time in office, but Scheinblum says the new edition will elevate the status of the First Lady, also showing her accomplished life prior to meeting the future president. “Being able to really watch how their timelines intersect, and then continue for the rest of their lives,” he says. “It’s meant to be very immersive. It’s meant to be an experience that allows you to touch things, that allows you to see things in a completely different way, really put yourself in these moments in time and understand history in a way that otherwise hasn’t been told here.”

For the remainder of this year, the library and museum will be open every day, with the only exceptions being Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

(Radio Iowa) – It is the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Europe. Iowa Goldstar Museum curator Mike Vogt says Iowans participated in many different phases of what is the largest military amphibious landing in history. He says the war was the first time many of them had traveled out of the state, and they were very young with the average age of a World War Two soldier was about 21-22 years old. One of the soldiers, John Marshall, wasn’t in the fight long after parachuting into Normandy with the 82nd Airborne Division. Vogt says Marshall landed and looked up and there was a German soldier there. Marshall spent the rest of World War Two in a German prison camp. Vogt says D-Day was a major event in deciding the fate of the world.

“It was certainly the turning point once we had boots on the ground in Europe the invasion forces pushed inward and it was just a matter of time before Germany would be defeated,” he says.
The Goldstar Museum at Camp Dodge in Johnston has a special display on the Iowans who participated in D-Day. Vogt says some Iowans were in the very thick of combat. “Tech five Cecil Breeden from Council Bluffs, he served with company A 116th Regimental Combat Team of the 29th Infantry Division. He was wounded on Omaha Beach in the first wave on D-Day, and his unit suffered the highest losses of any U-S unit that day,” Vogt says. Another soldier from northeast Iowa took care of the wounded.

Iowa Gold Star Museum

“Captain Lawrence G Shafferly from Gladbrook, Iowa. He earned his medical degree in 1936. When the war started, he enlisted in the U-S Army, as all doctors were, he became a captain once accepted into the U-S Army,” he says. “And he went in with the first wave of D-Day at Omaha Beach, and as you can imagine as a surgeon had his hands full that day.” Other Iowans were in the air or climbing the cliffs.

“Lieutenant Blaine Swift from West Des Moines was a P-47 pilot, flew P-47 Thunderbolts. We have his log book on exhibit in our D-Day display. He has two entries for D-Day, the first says ‘first day of D-Day.’ The second line says ‘shot up trains in France.’,” Vogt says. “Another Iowan that served, first lieutenant Elmer H. Vermeer from Pella. His nickname was Dutch and he served with the Second Ranger Battalion that was assigned the daunting task of assaulting the 100 foot cliffs at Pointe du Hoc on the western edge of Omaha Beach. And we have on display his combat knife he strapped to his leg that day.”

The Goldstar Museum is free and open to the public.

(Neola, Iowa) – An accident this (Wednesday) afternoon in Neola claimed the life of a child. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2024 Chevy Equinox driven by 67-year-old Rebecca Wood, of Walnut, was slowly moving through the parking lot of the Kum & Go, past the fuel pumps, when a two-year-old toddler from Omaha ran across the path of the vehicle and was struck. The accident happened at around 2:30-p.m.

The toddler was transported to Mercy/UNMC in Omaha by Neola Fire/Rescue, but died from their injuries. The name of the child was not immediately released.

The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office.

(Atlantic, Iowa) –The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening (June 5th), set the dates for citizens to use fireworks over the Independence Day Holiday. By a vote of 6-to 1, with Councilman Gerald Brink voting no, the Council set Wednesday, July 3rd through Saturday, July 6th, from Noon until 11-p.m. each day, as the dates and times for fireworks to be allowed within the City Limits.

Brink said he had received comments from people who wanted the fireworks to be reduced to two nights only. Councilperson Emily Kennedy said the Community Protection Committee felt most people will have get together’s over the weekend, because people do celebrate Friday and Saturday. The Council has essentially the same discussion last year at this time. According to City Ordinance (Chapter 41.13):

• A person shall only discharge a fireworks device on real property they own or on property where consent has been given.
  (1) Exceptions: Snakes, sparklers, or caps can be discharged on a public place so long as all trash, wrappers, and wires are properly disposed of.
• Sky lantern open flame devices are not permitted to be released within the city limits, except if tethered by a retrievable rope so long as the person discharging has control over the sky lantern.
• No fireworks of any time shall be discharged within 300 ft. of any Public school building, assisted living facility, or hospital.

Any person who violates the provisions of the fireworks discharging ordinance or without reckless intent causes injury, property damage or a fire shall be guilty of a scheduled municipal infraction punishable by a $250 fine in addition to established court costs. Persons who violates the discharging fireworks ordinance after having been found guilty of a previous municipal infraction involving fireworks shall be cited for a municipal infraction with a fine of $600 plus associated court costs.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council heard from officials with Vision Atlantic with regard to a proposal to utilize Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for the Camblin Hills Development and Child Development project. During their meeting on May 15th, the Council adopted a resolution to sell City-owned property purchased from the Comes Family Trust in 2022, to Vision Atlantic for the sum of One-dollar, in exchange for what City Administrator John Lund says is “A tremendous amount of capital investment into the area”: More than $4.1-million in infrastructure; $48.8-million in housing, and a $10.7-million child development center on the land. Part of the proposal includes a TIF rebate not to exceed $10.5-million over a period of 15-years. Lund says “This would be the largest project, and the largest multi-entity partnership ever seen in Atlantic’s history. The scale of capital investment is enormous.”

Atlantic City Council mtg., 6/5/24

Following discussion, the Council acted on approving on an Order allowing for a Low-to-moderate Income (LMI) Reduction Waiver Request to be filed with the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), on behalf of Vision Atlantic and the aforementioned development project.

The Council also approved a Professional Services Agreement with Snyder & Associates (at a cost of $25,000), for a Downtown Treescape Improvement Master Plan, which includes options, public engagement and Budget estimates.

The Council set June 19th at 5:30-p.m., as the date and time for a Public Hearing on an Amended FY2024 Budget. The hearing takes place in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall.

(Radio Iowa) – The state Environmental Protection Commission has given grants to six Iowa small towns to help them deal with run-down buildings. The D-N-R’s Reid Bermel overseas the Derelict Building Grant Program which selects communities with five-thousand or fewer residents for the grants.

“We help them either renovate, deconstruct or abate asbestos, essentially, and eliminate that environmental hazard for the community while trying to keep materials out of the landfill,” Bermel says. This year’s grant awardees are Coon Rapids, Glidden, Ida Grove, Rockford, Greene, New Market and Menlo. Several of the projects will redevelop buildings for retail or housing. Bermel says a lot of the material from the buildings can go to new uses.

“The majority of the waste of these buildings are in the masonry, so the brick and concrete. It’s common to with the correct permitting, they can do shore restorations with that; they can also repurpose and grind them up and use them on their roadways,” he says.

The program’s funding is capped at 400-thousand dollars annually. The Derelict Building Grant Program has funded nearly 200 projects since 2012 in more than 100 different communities.

(Denison, Iowa) – One person died and four others were injured during a collision Tuesday night in Crawford County. The Iowa State Patrol reports the crash happened east of Denison at around 9:50-p.m. on Highway 30, west of N Avenue, when a 2008 Pontiac Grand Prix went out of control and collided with a 2016 Chevy Suburban. The accident took place as the car was traveling eastbound on Highway 30 and the Suburban was traveling westbound.

The Patrol says the driver of the car, 23-year-old Brent Robert Dale Stephan, of Yukon, OK, and two passengers suffered serious injuries. One occupant of the car, 35-year-old Cory Robert Beer, of Bayard, died at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt. 23-year-old Heaven Marie Holloway, and 44-year-old Stacy Marie Holloway, both of Lytton, were injured, They were not wearing a seat belt.  Both women and Brent Stephan were flown by LifeFlight to the UNMC in Omaha.

The driver of the Suburban, 19-year-old Morgan Wade Andersen, of Shelby, was transported by Denison EMS to the Crawford County Hospital in Denison, for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. The crash remains under investigation. The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office and Denison EMS.

(Radio Iowa) – A very rainy May set Iowa farmers back on planting, and all that moisture also put crops at risk. Pools of standing water can still be found in low areas of fields throughout the state, leaving nearly a quarter of Iowa’s farmland topsoil holding surplus moisture. Besides keeping farmers from finishing their planting, U-S-D-A Midwest Climate Hub director Dennis Todey says the standing water could hurt already-planted crops down the line, if it dries out.

Todey asks, “Will root development be appropriate so that if we turn drier in the summer that can we still get at moisture that’s in the soil?” Todey says he has several concerns for planted crops in areas where there’s still standing water.

“The concern always at this point is, one: yield, can we get it along enough in the season to get a yield,” he asks, “and then two: will it get to mature in time before the fall freeze?” June is typically Iowa’s wettest month, and current climate projections show more rain is likely, with drier conditions possible by the middle of the month.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Police in Glenwood say a man from Omaha was arrested today (Wednesday), on an OWI charge. 44-year-old Joseph Dueling, III, was arrested for OWI/1st offense, with bond set at $1,000.

(Radio Iowa) – Congressman Randy Feenstra says he’s hopeful a new Farm Bill will get through the House and Senate yet this year.  “I think it might,” Feenstra says. “We’re going to get it marked up in the House in June and then it’s just a matter of working through the Senate.” Feenstra is a member of the House Ag Committee and the so-called “mark up” is the prelude to presenting the bill to the full House for a vote. Last fall, congress had to extend the Farm Bill that passed in 2018 because work on a new five-year plan was stalled. “There’s a lot of ongoing discussion right now of how we can get it done before September 30. I think there’s incentives on both sides and for both parties. We both see how important crop insurance is, our export markets, China buying our farmland,” Feenstra said. “I think there’s key components here that both parties want to get completed and I’m optimistic as to what I’ve heard over the past week.”

Earlier this week Feenstra emerged as the winner of the G-O-P Primary in Iowa’s fourth congressional district. “Fourth district voters sent a clear message that they want a conservative leader who delivers real results for our families and our farmers, businesses and rural communities,” Feenstra says.

Kevin Virgil, a software company owner who served in the Army and was a C-I-A officer, moved back to the O’Brien County farm where he grew up to run against Feenstra. Virgil made opposition to carbon capture pipelines the cornerstone of his campaign. Feenstra won just over 60 percent of the vote in the primary, compared to just under 40 percent for Virgil. “I was endorsed by the National Rifle Association. I was endorsed by the (National) Right to Life. I was endorsed by the Republican Jewish Coalition. I was endorsed by the Iowa Farm Bureau. These are all conservative organizations,” Feenstra says. “I think they know what’s best, along with our voters.”

Feenstra, who had surgery on May 2nd to treat a blood clot in his leg, says he’s doing well and is following his doctor’s recommendations during the recovery period. Feenstra, who is 55, is seeking a third term in the U-S House.

(Radio Iowa) – A southwest Iowan who graduated from high school last month has won a competitive primary for a seat on the Mills County Board of Supervisors. Eighteen year old Jack Sayers is one of three Republicans seeking two at-large positions on the board. Unofficial results in Mills County show he got nearly 37 percent of the vote, finishing ahead of two incumbents.

Sayers grew up on a farm near Malvern, a town of a thousand residents that’s about 20 miles west of Red Oak. Sayers graduated from East Mills High School on May 19th. He worked as a page in the Iowa House during the 2023 and 2024 legislative sessions and did a one month stint as a U-S Senate intern last summer.

Jack Sayers of Malvern won 884 votes in the GOP Primary for two at-large seats on the Mills County Board of Supervisors. (KMA photo)

Sayers says his county’s board of supervisors needs to live-stream its meetings so Mills County residents can find out how their tax dollars are being spent.

Sayers finished more than 100 votes ahead of a Mills County Supervisor who’s been on the board for over 11 years. Another incumbent who was first elected in 2016 was in third place. It’s likely Sayers’ victory in Tuesday’s Primary means he’s secured a seat on the Mills County Board of Supervisors. Nearly 61 percent of registered voters in the county are Republicans and no Democrat ran in the primary for a seat on the board.