(Radio Iowa) – The U-S Small Business Administration (SBA) has granted the governor’s request to provide assistance in the form of low-interest disaster loans for eight counties impacted by the March 31st tornadoes. Homeowners, renters, businesses, and most nonprofit organizations in Benton, Cedar, Iowa, Johnson, Linn, Louisa, Muscatine, and Washington counties, whose property was damaged or destroyed by this disaster, will be able to apply for low-interest disaster loans from the S-B-A.

Small businesses, agricultural cooperatives, and most private, nonprofit organizations impacted by the severe weather will be eligible to apply for working capital loans.

(Radio Iowa) – Gamblers in Iowa wagered 232 million dollars in March, which was around one million dollars below March of last year. Racing and Gaming Administrator Brian Ohorilko says that was still much better than what the recent trend. “The sports industry in Iowa had been trending lower every month, year over year, since September of 2022. And so, essentially, that was six consecutive months of lower handle from the previous year,” Ohorilko says. He says there were concerns the trend would lead to a bigger year-to-year difference in the March betting, but the difference ended up not being that significant.

“I think many people in the industry here in Iowa, we’re happy to see that. It is quite possible that some of those bumps were due to the local interest in March. March Madness really kind of drives that that month in terms of sports wagering handle,” he says. Ohorilko says the market appears to be leveling off after the early rush to get operating, and lots of incentives to get people to sign up. “We’re to a period of time where I think the market will become more predictable in this state, the number of operators are leveling off,” Ohorilko says. “We’re not seeing a lot of new companies applying for licenses. In fact, we’re actually seeing a bit of consolidation in the market for a number of companies.” March is the last big betting period for the current sports gambling fiscal year that ends in June. Ohorilko says the next fiscal year that starts in July will let them know more about where sports gambling is headed.

“You know, next year will be pretty telling but we we certainly saw a decline in handle this football season. And now we’re starting to kind of see some leveling off of the market, and that is what I would expect, as we head into the summer and into football season here in 2023,” Ohorilko says. Sports betting began in Iowa in August of 2019.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest Tuesday night on a Montgomery County warrant, of 34-year-old Nikki Mae Brown, from Red Oak. Brown was taken into custody at around 8:15-p.m. on a warrant for Compulsory Education Violation – 1st offense (A simple Misdemeanor). She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans in the Iowa Senate have approved a budget plan for the Departments of Natural Resources and Agriculture that includes more money to prepare for a potential outbreak of a foreign animal disease, like African Swine Fever. Senator Eric Giddens, a Democrat from Cedar Falls, says the bill falls short in other areas.  “Year after year, there’s been status quo budgets for DNR operations, forestry management and state park operations,” Gidden says. “Our state parks are important to attracting and retaining residents in this state.”

Senator Dan Zumbach, a Republican from Ryan, says he met with the D-N-R’s director to shift money within the agency’s budget, to focus on priorities. “I don’t think there’s anything more enjoyable to drive through Backbone State Park and see it mowed and see the benches fixed and see the shelters in good shape for they’re much more usable for us,” Zumbach says. The 16 Democrats in the Senate voted against the budget plan.

Senator Janice Weiner, a Democrat from Iowa City, says the bill cuts funding for the Iowa Nutrient Research Center at Iowa State University and likely ends its collaboration with the Iowa Flood Center at the University of Iowa. Weiner says it’s University of Iowa staff who’ve been measuring whether water quality projects are working.  “We know that water quality is a problem,” Weiner says. “We know that Iowans deserve better, but without data it will be easy to say: ‘There’s no problem’ or ‘We don’t know how to measure the problem’ — so problem solved.”

Zumbach says the water quality funds shifted to the Iowa Department of Agriculture will be spent on science-based initiatives. “What we do know is practices on the land and in our towns is what makes cleaner water,” Zumbach says, “and so when we made the decisions on how to appropriate dollars, it was all about let’s put practices that help clean our water.” Democrats like Senator Sarah Trone-Garriott, of Waukee, also object to language in the bill that would repeal a law that says the State of Iowa should aim to have 10 percent of Iowa land be parks, wilderness areas and other property available for public use.

“To sneak this into our budget work really robs our public from the opportunity to speak out against it,” Trone Garriott says. Zumbach says it’s about priorities. “We have a lot of land in public use that’s not being taken care of the way it should be,” Zumbach says.

The State of Iowa currently owns about 390-thousand acres of land that is to be maintained by the D-N-R. That’s about one percent of the 36 million acres in Iowa according to a D-N-R land inventory.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Senate has unanimously approved a budget for the Iowa Department of Transportation that includes money for a new maintenance garage in eastern Iowa. Republican Senator Carrie Koelker, of Dyersville, says lawmakers are setting aside nearly 22 million dollars for the project.

“This is to demolish and build a new DOT facility in Davenport, a facility that’s not been upgraded in decades,” she says. A budget report prepared by the Legislative Services Agency indicated the current facility is deteriorating due to age and is too small to accommodate the size of snow plows and other D-O-T equipment.

The Iowa D-O-T has 109 maintenance garages. The one in Davenport is responsible for clearing snow and other maintenance on Interstate 80 and other highways in the Quad Cities area.

DES MOINES – Sixty-two Iowa students took top honors in the National History Day in Iowa contest Monday and advanced to compete in the national contest in June. The 62 students emerged from a total of 498 competitors in Monday’s state contest at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. In June, they will travel to the University of Maryland where they will compete in the National History Day national contest against nearly 3,000 students from the United States and around the world. The program is administered in Iowa by the State Historical Society of Iowa, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.

This year’s national qualifiers include students from 18 different schools, including (from our area):

• Abraham Lincoln High School
• Carroll High School
• Clarinda High School
• Lewis Central Senior High School

Special Award winners can be found HERE. Contest Category Award results are shown HERE.

National History Day challenges students to research, develop and present papers, exhibits, documentaries, websites and performances about historical topics related to an annual theme. This year’s theme is “Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas.”

More than half a million middle and high school students around the world participate in the program each year. In Iowa, 695 students participated in the program, which includes a Junior Division (grades 6-8), Senior Division (grades 9-12), and a non-competitive Youth Division (grades 4-5).

As part of the program, students learn important literacy skills and how to conduct research using primary, secondary, community and statewide resources. Working individually or in groups of two to five, they develop the following attributes that are essential for future success: critical thinking and problem-solving skills, research and reading skills, oral and written communication skills, presentation skills, self-esteem and confidence, as well as a sense of responsibility for and involvement in the democratic process.

More information can be found at this LINK.

(Radio Iowa) – Davenport is preparing for flooding along the nine-miles of Mississippi River that runs along the city. City officials say they learned from 2019 when the single line of HESCO barriers holding back the flood waters gave out and water rushed into a three-block section of downtown. Public Works Director, Nicole Gleason says this year’s barrier is two high and two wide and reinforced along its length with triple the sand.

“With the current setup I’m very confident. The one thing you can’t be confident in is the rain. So as long as the rain comes in as forecasted, I feel very highly confident in this set up,” Gleason says. Gleason says this barrier could take on a 22-foot flood, a similar scale to 2019. Davenport, Mayor Mike Matson stood next to the temporary floodwall in downtown Monday and says the city learned its lesson from that 2019 record flood.

“We rehearsed we pre-position we practice and set this wall up in two and a half days and then the pumps are in place the core is with us the E-M-A is with us, we’re all ready to go,” he says. Matson says this year’s wall is based on what they found from the 2019 failure.

“A lot of the questions, how big? Well now it’s bigger. We made sure whatever was connected and where the break was that we reinforced. So all of those things are in play here. Confident? We’ll see what happens, right?,” Matson says. Governor Kim Reynolds issued a state disaster proclamation Monday for the ten counties along the Mississippi River as they prepare for the flooding.

The governor’s declaration allows local governments to use state resources at no cost to prepare and respond.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa legislature has unanimously voted to increase prison sentences for human trafficking in Iowa. Representative Zach Dieken, a Republican from Granville, says the bill will dramatically change how human trafficking and sex trafficking is prosecuted in Iowa. “These crimes and their victims deserve more than a simple misdemeanor pled down from a D felony,” Dieken says. Republican Representative Mark Thompson of Clarion says Iowa has anemic sentences, forcing prosecution of major Iowa human trafficking cases into federal courts, which have a backlog. “The scourge that is on Iowa right now is that we have this and it’s hidden and most of us don’t see it. Most of us, in some cases, don’t want to see it,” Thompson says. “It’s the crime that keeps on giving. You sell drugs, you smuggle drugs, that money’s gone. You smuggle a person, that person keeps providing money to the perpetrator.”

Dieken says the rescue of a child during a western Iowa traffic stop in 2014 illustrates the gravity of the problem. “The six year old boy was not related to anyone in the vehicle and thought he was being taken to his mother’s house in Las Vegas…There was a strong feeling and suspicion from all officers involved that this child was destined for a life in child labor or the sex industry,” Dieken says. “This trooper would see a national award for this traffic stop. This happened in Council Bluffs, not in some far away land.” Those convicted of trafficking anyone under the age of 18 could be sentenced to life in an Iowa prison once the bill becomes law. Representative Elinor Levin, a Democrat from Iowa City, says human trafficking is a serious offense.  “I am not generally a big fan of increasing penalties, but this is a case in which I think the current standard does not match the crime,” Levin says.

The bill passed the House 96-to-zero on March 9th and the Senate approved it today (Tuesday) on a 49-to-zero vote. Senator Brad Zaun of Urbandale was the only senator who spoke before the vote.  “This bill’s very important. Seems like most all the parties have agreed to what we’re trying to do here,” Zaun says. “If you’re doing, engaging in any of these human trafficking, you’re going to pay the price.” Attorney General Brenna Bird has expressed support for the bill and legislators expect Governor Reynolds to sign it into law.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Washington was the first state to criminalize human trafficking in 2003. In 2006, the Iowa legislature unanimously voted to make human trafficking a class D felony — which carries a fine of up to 75-hundred dollars and a sentence of up to five years in prison.

Atlantic high school Spanish students are conducting a fundraiser this week to help defray costs of an upcoming trip to Costa Rica. A canned food drive effort is underway for all K-12 classes within the Atlantic school district. Atlantic freshman Hank Roberts discussed the effort.

The food drive works in two ways to raise funds. K-12 classes will be competing to see which grade brings in the most food items through Friday. The winning grade will be announced the week of May 1st and will receive a pizza party sponsored by Pizza Ranch at a future date.

AHS Spanish students will then be out in the community this Saturday to collect donations door-to-door. Once all items are collected they are then taken to the Atlantic HyVee to scan and get a monetary value. A number of local businesses have then pledged to match the monetary amount that is raised. Items will then be donated to the Atlantic Food Pantry. If you would like to donate items on Saturday you are welcome to just leave them outside your door. Roberts talked about the value of the experience.

He said they immerse themselves in different scenarios throughout class to try to improve their speaking skills.

AHS Spanish students appreciate the community and sponsor support to help them with the trip experience.

(Ellsworth, Iowa) – Officials with Champion Seed have announced Grant Gleason, a senior at Audubon High School, has received a $1,000 scholarship from Champion Seed to support his college education. Gleason, nominated for the scholarship by his father, will attend Iowa State University to study agricultural studies. After graduation, Gleason plans to return to the family farm and successfully manage the crop and livestock operation.

Ellsworth, Iowa-based Champion Seed selected Gleason because of his impressive academic achievements and his plan to continue working in agriculture. Champion Seed was also impressed by Gleason’s application essay on the role of technology in the future of agriculture. “Until now, equipment has only gotten bigger and bigger, but we have likely reached a point where it is hard to make things bigger, and instead we will start making our machines more precise,” wrote Gleason.

Grant Gleason (Photo submitted)

“Instead of having 48-row corn planters, farmers will buy six different four-row planters that will run themselves,” added Gleason. “In today’s industry, there is often a large financial obstacle involved in getting into farming because equipment is so expensive. With smaller, more cost-competitive machines, beginning farmers won’t have to spend so much.”

The Champion Seed team congratulates Gleason and other area seniors pursuing degrees in agriculture.