(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 The order was rescinded after tests came back negative for any issues in the water system.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.

(Radio Iowa) – Volunteers have been digging at the Sioux City Railroad Museum. Museum spokesman Larry Obermeyer says it’s because long ago, workers lived on the grounds as they built a roundhouse to store and service locomotives. “They camped out here, lived here, worked 24/7,” he says. “That was between 1916 and 1918.”

Items like medicine bottles and tent pieces have been found during previous archaeological digs at the site. Heather Gibb is the deputy State Historical Preservation Officer in the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. “Hopefully we’re able to find some evidence that suggests where some of the different buildings may have been and what some of the different railworkers were doing when they were living in those camps and building the facility that we’re in.”

Wednesday’s dig was a pre-conference session for the Preserve Iowa Summit that runs today through Saturday at the Warrior Hotel in Sioux City.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office has released a report on documented arrests from May 9th through the 31st.

5-31-23: David Allen Coenen, age 37, of Harlan, IA was arrested on an active Shelby County Warrant. Coenen was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Violation of Probation.

5-29-23: Lane Joseph Bregar, age 20, of Shelby, IA was arrested after a traffic stop on East St in Shelby, IA. Bregar was transported to the Shelby County Jail and Charged with Keeping Premises or Vehicle for Controlled Substance, Possession Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Operate a Non-Registered Vehicle, and Minor Use of Tobacco/Vape Product; Ashley Marie Belle Adams. Age 19, of Shelby, IA was arrested after a traffic stop on East St in Shelby, IA. Adams was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Keeping Premises or Vehicle for Controlled Substance, Possession Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Operate a Non-Registered Vehicle, and Minor Use of Tobacco/Vape Product.

5-28-23: Crystal Renee Eckmann, age 43, of Avoca, IA was arrested after a traffic stop on Highway 59. Eckmann was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with OWI 1st and Fail to change lane upon approach to emergency stationary vehicle; Joshua Michael Haggerty, age 28, of Harlan, IA was arrested after a call for service at the Nishna Bend Recreation Area. Haggerty was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Disorderly Conduct; Cody James Haggerty, age 24, of Omaha, NE was arrested after a call for service at the Nishna Bend Recreation Area. Haggerty was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Disorderly Conduct.

5-26-23: Cainan Anthony Edwards, age 24, of Brayton, IA was arrested after a traffic stop on Highway 173 in Elk Horn. Edwards was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance; Erin Leigh Mack, age 21, Brayton, IA was arrested after a traffic stop on Highway 173 in Elk Horn. Mack was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Keeping Premises or Vehicle for Controlled Substance, Possession of Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and No Valid Drivers License.

5-24-23: Samantha Jo Bomstad, age 35, of Irwin, IA was arrested after a call for service in Irwin. Bomstad was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance, Keeping Premises or Vehicle for Controlled Substance, Theft 3rd, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia; Glenn Edward Summers Jr, age 40, of Irwin, IA was arrested after a call for service in Irwin. Summers was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance, Keeping Premises or Vehicle for Controlled Substance, Theft 3rd, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Driving while Suspended.

5-22-23: Gerard August Rueschenberg, age 68, of Harlan, IA was arrested after a call for service in Harlan. Rueschenberg was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Theft 4th; Thomas Donnakey Gordon Jr, age 30, of Cedar Falls, IA was arrested after a traffic stop on Highway 59. Gordon was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with OWI 1st, Driving while License is Suspended, and Failure to Maintain Control.

5-17-23: Alexander James Maxeiner, age 25, of Harlan, IA was arrested after a traffic stop at 5th and Victoria St in Harlan. Maxeiner was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Driving while Barred, Failure to Provide Proof of Insurance, and Operating a Non-Registered Vehicle; Michael Allen Pitt, age 58, of Logan, IA was arrested after a traffic stop on 9th St in Harlan. Pitt was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Keeping Premises or Vehicle for Controlled Substance, Possession of Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Fail to Use Seatbelt, and Improper Rear Lamp; Jennifer Rose Miller, age 41, of Harlan, IA was arrested after a traffic stop on 9th St in Harlan. Miller was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia; Omar Barquero Flores, age 34, of Harlan, IA was arrested after a call for service at Casey’s General Store in Harlan. Flores was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Public Intoxication and Trespass.

5-16-23: Vicki Marie Kuhn, age 60, of Manilla, IA was arrested on an active Shelby County Warrant. Kuhn was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Theft 3rd; William James Ballard, age 56, of Irwin, IA was arrested after a traffic stop on Rd M16 in Tennant, IA. Ballard was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Operating without Interlock Device, Driving while Barred, Failure to Use Seatbelt, and Failure to Provide Proof of Financial Liability.

5-15-23: Abigail Rae Lennon, age 42, of Davenport, IA was arrested after a call for service in the 4100 Block of Madison St in Elk Horn. Lennon was arrested and transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Burglary 2nd and Kidnapping 3rd.

5-14-23: Charles Howard Hayes, age 36, of Harlan, IA was arrested after a call for service in the 1700 block of 6th St. Harlan.  Hayes was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Domestic Abuse Assault.

5-12-23: Jeffrey Richard Pape, age 61, of Emerson, IA was arrested after a traffic stop on Chatburn Ave. Pape was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Possession of Controlled Substance 2 counts, Keeping Premises or Vehicle for Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Driving while License is Suspended.

5-11-23: David Allen Coenen, age 37, of Harlan, IA was arrested on an active Shelby County Warrant for Trespass 1st. Coenen was transported to the Shelby County Jail and was also charged with Possession of Controlled Substance; Kirby David Stoneking, age 39, of Harlan, IA was arrested on an active Shelby County Warrant for Possession of Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Public Intoxication.

5-9-23: Alexis Lynn Harriman, age 18, of Harlan, IA was arrested after a traffic stop in the 1500 block of Highway 59. Harriman was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Keeping Premises or Vehicle for Controlled Substance, Possession of Controlled Substance, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Note: Criminal charges are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.

(Radio Iowa UPDATED) – Former President Donald Trump is meeting with smaller groups of Iowans (today) rather than hosting a big outdoor rally. Trump told a crowd in a suburban Des Moines restaurant there’s no way he’ll lose Iowa in 2024. “We’d have to do some really bad things to lose at this point…It’s the best polls we’ve ever had,” Trump says. “Overall, nationwide, in Iowa — no matter where I go it’s the best polls because they love the four years that we had.”

Trump’s visit comes a day after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told Iowa crowds he’d be a disciplined, energetic president for the next eight years. “I’ve been watching (DeSantis) go out and say: ‘I’ve got eight years. It’s going to be 8 years!’ Let me tell you something, right there you should vote against him,” Trump said. “It’ll be take me six months to have it totally the way it was. We’ll have it fast.”

Allan Richards of Des Moines was among the first to arrive for Trump’s first stop. Richards says this is the type of campaigning Trump should have done heading into the 2016 Caucuses. “I wrote an editorial that was published where I told Trump he was fired because I did not appreciate the way that he campaigned in the Iowa Caucus and I think it was a mistake on his part, you know, as far as it comes to Iowa,” he says. “I think he made up for it later on in his campaign and in his presidency.” Richards says it appears Trump has evolved and Richards plans to Caucus for Trump in 2024.

“I would always support a former leader before anybody else,” Richards says. “I think the power of the presidency and the importance of it — once we put a person in there, I think that we have to stand behind them because of their experience, knowledge and things they know that the average person wouldn’t know, even a congressman wouldn’t know.”

David Oman was in the room as Trump addressed the Westside Conservative Club and other Trump supporters who crowded into a meeting room at the Machine Shed restaurant.  “There was a lot of energy in the room,” Oman says. “He entered with support and I think he left with the same if not more support, people excited about the encore campaign that he has begun and their ability to be a part of it again.” Jon McAvoy, a former Adel City Councilman, says the place was packed and it was a Trump crowd.

“I thought his presentation was maybe a little different than I expected…spent a lot of time talking about his accomplishments as president and how he wanted to do it again,” McAvoy says. “…I went in there just wanting to just listen and I was pretty much impressed, to be honest with you. He kept a low, even keel. Didn’t fly off at anything and that made me more comfortable with him.”

Trump met next with a group of pastors at a Des Moines church. Late this (Thursday) afternoon he’s taping an interview with Sean Hannity that will air tonight (Thursday) on the Fox News Channel.

(Radio Iowa) – The cost to rent an acre of Iowa farmland increased nine percent last year to a record 279 dollars. Iowa State University’s Alejandro Plastina, says the strong farm economy drove the increase. “We saw a great farm year last year with good profitability land values are also at very high levels and still increasing according to recent surveys,” he says.

He says there’s demand when land becomes available to rent and that is also pushing up rents. “Farmers are trying to expand to extract better economies of scale and be more profitable with larger farms so it makes sense,” Plaustina says. He says some input costs came down, and the increase in interest rates has not been a factor after several years of good farm income. “Farmers have built up some cash reserves and are not using credit loans, operating loans as much as in other years in in the past. That higher interest rate is not affecting all farmers as it would have a decade ago,” Plaustina says.

There was considerable variability across counties depending on the quality of the land — but 91 out of the 99 Iowa counties experienced increases. Only Des Moines, Jefferson, Lucas, Muscatine, Van Buren, Wapello, Warren and Woodbury counties saw declines in their overall average cash rents. Plaustina says farm income projections are expected to decline over the next couple of years, putting downward pressure on cash rents. “Now the concern is with 2024, on the whether we will continue to see to see inflation in inputs and declining corn and soybean prices, and you know that will be concerning in 2024 if that happens,” he says.

Plaustina says 51 percent of the farmland in Iowa is rented, with the majority of rent in the form of cash deals.