Lavon Eblen speaks with Linda Edelman, Cass County Public Health Nurse, about upcoming Flu Clinics.
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Lavon Eblen speaks with Linda Edelman, Cass County Public Health Nurse, about upcoming Flu Clinics.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (7.9MB)
Subscribe: RSS
(Council Bluffs, IA) The Iowa West Foundation Board of Directors recently awarded $6.6 million in grants and initiatives for the second cycle of 2015. The funding will assist 22 nonprofit organizations and governmental entities with projects and programs that directly impact southwest Iowa and eastern Nebraska. The City of Clarinda received $55,975 for a downtown façade revitalization while the Audubon Recreation Foundation received $50,000 toward their proposed recreation center. The towns of Corning, Neola, Red Oak and Shelby also received grants toward placemaking projects.
Healthy families was another recurring theme for this cycle of grant funding. Heartland Family Service received $300,000 to administer years two and three of the Children’s Mental Health Initiative in Lewis Central Community Schools — a 3-year pilot program based on the high need for school-based mental health services as identified by local superintendents. MICAH House received $45,000 for general operating funds and Council Bluffs” Vocational Development Center (VODEC) was awarded $25,000 for residential home renovation.
The second funding cycle also included initiative dollars for the construction of a new veterans building in Council Bluffs. The Iowa West Foundation and the Charles E. Lakin Foundation each awarded $275,000 to the project, which broke ground in August. The Iowa West Foundation Board of Directors also awarded $113,000 to the Fourth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services for the continuation of their successful drug court program. The Fourth Judicial District would have been forced to cancel the program on Oct. 1 due to insufficient funding had the Foundation not stepped in.
This is the second grants and initiatives funding announcement of 2015 after the Foundation restructured its grant cycles in late 2014 to be three times per year rather than four. The Letter of Inquiry period for the third cycle opened October 1. Those grant recipients will be announced in February of 2016.
Funding for the Foundation’s grants comes from investment earnings and the Iowa West Racing Association (IWRA), which receives contracted license fees from casino operators, Ameristar and Harrah’s. IWRA distributes funds to the Iowa West Foundation, an independent 501(c)3 organization under the IRS Code. The Foundation makes grants throughout southwest Iowa and eastern Nebraska.
The complete list of grant/initiative recipients and their projects/awards are as follows:
Shelby County Emergency Service Officials, including Fire Chiefs, Law Enforcement, and Emergency Management will begin twice weekly updates on local fire danger conditions. Signs placed strategically in each community, primarily at the fire Stations will indicate what the fire danger is for any particular day.
This program, implemented in 2010, resulted in a reduction of fire responses countywide. The continuous bi weekly fire danger assessments are provided by email to the media, Fire Chiefs, and others who support the program on their web pages, through radio, and cable TV information pages. Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Seivert says that has reduced the need for the county to implement a complete burn ban.
If you live in Shelby County and need to burn a pile of brush, debris, or buildings, contact the Emergency Management Agency at 755-2124. The dispatchers will obtain the location and nature of the planned burn and will provide the caller with the Fire Chiefs contact information. Through this expanded communication process, Seivert says they have found some burns can be rescheduled to a different time of day, where wind and moisture level is more acceptable. The Fire Chiefs can have input as to how the burn can be conducted safely and be aware of the activity should it become unmanageable.
Shelby County has four, distinct, color coded levels:
LOW – You are asked to call in and report your burning projects to dispatch at 712-755-2124, and notify your local Fire Chief.
Moderate – You are asked to call in and report your burning projects to dispatch at 712-755-2124, and notify your local Fire Chief. Timing for burns should be morning, or evening hours and extinguished by dark unless authorized by Fire Chief due to possible impacts to roads and health from smoke. Burns must be monitored at all times.
High – Burning of any kind is restricted unless approval is received from local Fire Chief. Controlled burns that are not reported will result in Fire Department being dispatched, and Fires extinguished if determined to be un-safe. Please call 712-755-2124 with questions.
Extreme – Burning is prohibited, unless you have a signed permit from the local Fire Chief. Fires on Extreme days can grow rapidly and pose a risk to the Health and Safety of the Community. If you have any questions please call 712-755-2124.
The Emergency Management Agency uses a combination of the National Weather Service, actual local field measurements, and assessment of local conditions in determining the potential for dangerous fires. With continuing dry weather expected, the availability of fuel through the drying out of the crops will continue to increase the potential for devastating fires, here, in Iowa. The goal is to prevent fires, through good communication, public cooperation, and planning.
A mentally challenged Carter Lake man who disappeared Monday afternoon has been found safe. Police in Council Bluffs late this (Tuesday) morning said they received a tip around 9:20-a.m., that 23-year old Brandon Bequette was in the area of Big Lake Park. Officers responded and made contact with Brandon at that location.
After checking his welfare and ensuring he was alright, Brandon was released to a family member. He had last been seen at the Lake Manawa Wal-Mart store in Council Bluffs at around 1:15-p.m., Monday, as he left the store and area westbound on foot.
The Council Bluffs Police Department would like to thank the public and our local media outlets for their help in safely locating Brandon.
AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State Men’s Basketball duo of Monté Morris and Georges Niang have earned spots on a pair of preseason award watch lists, announced today by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Morris, a junior from Flint, Michigan, is on the Bob Cousy Award watch list, which honors the nation’s top point guard. Morris was a finalist for the award last season after finishing second on the team with 11.9 points and leading the Big 12 with 5.2 assists and a nation-best 4.63 assist-to-turnover ratio. Along with Jameel McKay, Morris also was named preseason All-Big 12 honorable mention.
Niang has been listed on the Karl Malone Award watch list, an award given to the nation’s best power forward. He was a finalist for the honor last season while averaging 15.3 points and earning All-America accolades. Niang has also been named to the preseason All-Big 12 team. The Methuen, Massachusetts, native, returns for his senior season fifth among active NCAA Division I players in scoring (1,510) and the only player with 1,500 points, 450 rebounds and 300 assists.
The Cyclones open the regular season on Nov. 13 against Colorado in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
An Atlantic man escaped injury after the SUV he was driving ran into the rear of another vehicle Monday afternoon, in Union County. The Union County Sheriff’s Office says 27-year old Timothy Weaver, of Atlantic, was traveling east on the Highway 34 Skyline Bridge at around 1-p.m., Monday, and was unable to stop in-time, before hitting the rear of a 2013 Ford that was stopping for a construction zone red light. The driver of the other vehicle, 50-year old Mark Tylavsky, of Des Moines, was also uninjured.
Damage from the collision amounted to $3,000. No citations were issued.
A traffic stop early this (Tuesday) morning in Clarinda, resulting in one person being arrested on drug and other charges. Police Chief Keith Brothers reports 22-year old Dalton Christopher Wise, of Clarinda, was taken into custody at around 1:45-a.m., for allegedly possessing a drug believed to be methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving on a suspended license.
Wise posted $1,000 bond, and was released pending an initial appearance before a magistrate. All reports have been referred to the Page County Attorney’s Office for review and decisions regarding the filing of formal charges.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – An autopsy has determined that former NFL and Iowa football player Tyler Sash died from an accidental overdose involving two pain medications. The Iowa state medical examiner’s office said Tuesday that a recent shoulder dislocation and a history of chronic shoulder pain were “significant conditions” in the 27-year-old’s death.
Additional studies will look at whether Sash suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disease caused by repetitive trauma that has been found in former NFL players. The results will be available in several months.
Sash was found dead in his Oskaloosa, Iowa home Sept. 8. The autopsy determined the death was from an “accidental mixed drug toxicity involving methadone and hydrocodone.” Sash was a standout safety at Iowa and won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants in 2012.
The Cass and Adair County Boards of Supervisors will hold their regular, weekly meetings Wednesday morning.
In Atlantic, the Cass County Board will present the County’s initial Collective Bargaining proposal to a representative with AFSCME Union local #1414. The Union last week presented its proposal for the FY 2017-through ’19 contract pertaining to Deputies and Jailors it represents. The Cass County Supervisors will also act on approving final plans for Bridge #20 (Whistler’s Bridge), located about 2-miles south of Cumberland on 690th Street. The meeting begins at 8:30-a.m.
In Greenfield, the Adair County Board of Supervisors will hear from: County Treasurer Brenda Wallace, with regard to Scanner bids; County Conservation Director Kevin Blazek, with regard to the Lake Orient Safe Room project, and Midwest Partnership’s (MWP) Sarah Gomez, with regard to MWP activities and business. Their meeting begins at 9-a.m., Wednesday.