(DES MOINES) The Iowa Finance Authority Board of Directors today announced the award of a total of more than $11 million in grants to 26 Local Housing Trust Funds to support local housing initiatives. The grant awards are made available through the Local Housing Trust Fund program and are expected to assist 2,390 families.

In the KJAN listening area:

• The Council of Governments (serving Audubon, Carroll, Crawford, Greene, Guthrie and Sac Counties), receives a grant in the amount of $378,349.
• The Pottawattamie County Housing Trust Fund, Inc., receives a $339,494 grant.
• The Southern Iowa COG Housing Trust Fund (Serving Adair, Adams,Madison, Ringgold, Taylor, Union and Decatur Counties), receives a grant for $370,860.
• And, the Southwest Iowa Housing Trust Fund (Serving Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page and Shelby Counties) is receiving a grant for $402, 427.

“The 2023 Local Housing Trust Fund awards represent the largest amount allocated through the program for local housing initiatives since the program’s inception,” said Iowa Finance Authority Executive Director Debi Durham. “Thanks to the funding increase supported by Governor Reynolds and the Iowa Legislature, the program is able to serve as an invaluable and flexible resource for meeting the important and unique housing needs of each region of the state.”

“The State Housing Trust Fund is a critical financing tool that helps us to advance local housing priorities,” said Scott County Housing Council Executive Director Leslie Kilgannon.  “These funds allow us to provide safe, adequate housing opportunities for our workforce and members of our communities.”

The grant funds will be used for initiatives such as preserving aging housing stock, subsidizing local rental and down payment assistance programs, providing low-interest loans or grants to assist Iowans with home rehabilitation, financing construction of new single-family housing for low-income Iowans and supporting housing for persons with disabilities and homeless assistance programs.

The State Housing Trust Fund was created by the Iowa Legislature in 2003. The awards announced today will leverage an additional $3.2 million in other financing or $.28 for every dollar of Local Housing Trust Fund program funding. Since its inception, the State Housing Trust Fund has provided $112.2 million in affordable housing assistance to benefit more than 35,200 Iowa families, leveraging more than $175 million in other funding resources.

The State Housing Trust Fund helps ensure decent, safe and affordable housing for Iowans through two programs. The Local Housing Trust Fund Program receives at least 60 percent of the SHTF allocation to provide grants for organizations certified by the Iowa Finance Authority as a Local Housing Trust Fund.

The remaining funding goes to the Project-Based Housing Program, which aids in the development of affordable single-family and multifamily housing. The Iowa Finance Authority administers both programs and provides technical assistance to housing-related organizations.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office, Wednesday, said there were three arrests earlier this week. Two arrests occurred Tuesday:

31-year-old Aaron Ray McDaniel, of Malvern, was arrested for Failure to Appear on an original charge of Driving While License is denied or revoked. His bond was set at $1,000; And, 30-year-old Shea Christine Downing, of Pacific Junction, was arrested Tuesday at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, on a warrant charging her with three counts of Child Endangerment, and OWI/1st offense. Her bond was set at $7,000.

And, on Monday, 22-year-old Dalton Alexander Bedsole, of Emerson, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault. He was being held without bond, in the Mills County Jail.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office has issued a report on 11 arrests made from November 24th through Monday, Dec. 5, 2022.

• On December 5th, the Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested Michael Martens, 58, of Lewis, on the charge of Assault while Displaying a Dangerous Weapon. Martens was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on bond.
• On December 4th, Samuel Haag, 23, of Cumberland, was arrested for Driving while Revoked. Haag was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held until his later release on his own recognizance.
• On December 3rd, Justin Eblen, 44, of Cumberland, was arrested in Cass County for Criminal Mischief 2nd, Trespassing and Harassment 3rd Degree. Eblen was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on bond.
• There were four arrests in Cass County on November 30th:
  • Zeth Petersen, 26, of Audubon, was arrested on a warrant for Theft 4th Degree. Petersen was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on his own recognizance.
  • As previously mentioned, Cass County Deputies, following a pursuit that began in Griswold, arrested 40-year-old Sherri Young, of Griswold, on charges that include: Eluding, OWI 1st Offense, Domestic Abuse Assault causing bodily injury, Domestic Abuse Assault – 1st Offense, Reckless Driving, Failure to Maintain Control and Leaving the Scene of an Accident. Young turned herself in to the Cass County Jail where she was booked and held.
  • Dylan Thomas, 20, of Atlantic, was arrested on a warrant for Violation of Probation. Thomas was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held.
  • And, Marshall Fischer, 33, of Atlantic, was arrested Nov. 30th on warrants for Failure to Appear and Driving while Barred. Fischer was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on bond.
• On November 28th, Barrett Driskill, 37, of Des Moines, was arrested in Cass County, on a warrant for Failure to Appear. Driskill was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on his own recognizance.
• On November 27th, Deputies arrested Perry Dooley, 38, of Des Moines, on warrants for Forgery, Theft 2nd and Burglary. Dooley was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held.
• On November 25th, Maycee Shaner, 21, of Avoca, was arrested on a warrant for OWI 1st Offense. Shaner was transported to the Cass County Jail where she was booked and held pending her later release on bond.
• And, on November 24th, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested Jessica Craddock, 44, of Shellsberg, on the charges of Theft 1st, Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Craddock was transported to the Cass County Jail where she was booked and held.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans are being warned about a new text message scam involving E-B-T cards, which are used to distribute government benefits like food assistance, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. Ashlee Kieler, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Attorney General’s office, says the texts may look convincing. “We’ve received several complaints now from Iowans who have been receiving text messages that claim to be about their EBT card, saying that their EBT card is locked and that you need to call this number to get it unlocked,” Kieler says. “We know that those messages are not coming from Iowa HHS. They are indeed scams.”

She says Iowans should never share their card number or PIN with anyone and notes, government agencies will never request such information by text. If you get one of these suspicious messages, what should you do? “Basically, nothing,” Kieler says. “They should not reply to that message. They should delete the message. They can report it to our office. They should also report it to the Federal Trade Commission, which can be done online.”

Kieler says this scam is particularly serious because those who receive benefits rely on these funds to feed their families. The scammers, she says, are heartless crooks. “They’re probably looking to get your number and your PIN for your card, if you happen to have a card. Some of these messages are going to Iowans that don’t have EBT cards,” Kieler say. “They can drain those cards if they have all that information and there’s no way to get that money replaced.”

If you fell victim to an EBT scam, Kieler says to file a report with your local law enforcement agency.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Work on rehabilitating the West 6^th Street Bridge in Atlantic, is finished. The Bridge, located over the East Nishnabotna River, is officially open. Work on bringing the bridge back to it’s legal load rating of 80,000 pounds began last year, when the City of Atlantic and Cass County entered into a 28-E (cost sharing) agreement.

The repair process primarily included work on the bridge abutments and replacing the steel beams.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors, Wednesday (today), held a public hearing on the First Reading of a Proposed Ordinance regulating the placement of hazardous liquid pipelines on property located in the unincorporated areas of Adair County. The question was raised during the hearing, if having an Ordinance would prevent pipelines, especially the proposed Carbon Dioxide transport pipeline, from happening in Adair County. Board Chair Matt Wedemeyer said the Board can’t prevent it, especially if officials with Navigator CO2 Ventures, which has proposed the project, decides to execute the process of Eminent Domain.

Board member Jodie Hoadley said having an Ordinance regulating where the pipeline is allowed to go, is the best protection the County has right now.

Craig Schoenfeld of CR3 Connect, a Clive-based lobby firm that represents Navigator, says there’s been no discussion about running a pipeline through Adair County, and if that were to be the case, they want it to be a collaborative effort.

He said if the project does go forward, they are years away from any sort of development with regard to construction. A map provided to the Des Moines Register, however, indicated the pipeline would be fully operational by 2025, and shows the route would traverse Adair County. Schoenfeld said that’s only a prospective route, not a precise route. Supervisor John Twombly preferred to move forward with the Ordinance.

The Board approved a motion to waive the second and third readings, and passed Resolution #39 approved on the final reading. Board Chair Matt Wedemeyer.

In September, the Adair County Board of Supervisors sent the Iowa Utilities Board a letter, saying the board is not opposed to the purpose or construction of the pipeline, but is opposed to eminent domain being used “as a way of achieving it.” As mentioned, none of the three proposed pipeline routes run through Adair County, but there are nearby ethanol plants in Menlo and Corning. If those facilities are connected to a carbon capture pipeline in the future, the route would likely pass through Adair County. Navigator’s petition, filed with the Iowa Utilities Board, calls for a $3.2 billion underground hazardous liquid pipeline across 33 counties in Iowa, including Story and Polk, to capture carbon dioxide emissions from ethanol and other industrial agriculture plants in Iowa.

In other business, the Board received an update from Adair County Auditor Mandy Berg, with regard to TIF Values.

Berg informed the Board also, that they have not yet received a quote on the Eagle Migration Software, but they hope to have all the related information for the Board’s meeting, next week.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Department of Agriculture, Tuesday, said 140,000 birds will be destroyed because of a bird flu outbreak in Iowa. The Department of Agriculture reported outbreaks in two commercial turkey flocks in Sac and Cherokee counties. These are the first bird flu flare-ups in Sac and Cherokee counties since the spring. Forty thousand turkeys in Sac County and 100,000 turkeys in Cherokee County will be destroyed.

To date, more than 15 million birds across the state have been destroyed because of the bird flu this year. Across the country, that number is now up to about 53 million, making this outbreak worse than those in 2014 and 2015.

(OMAHA, Neb.) — Federal prosecutors in Nebraska, say a man from Pottawattamie County (IA) was sentenced to prison in connection with the placing of explosives outside an Omaha, NE., home. 61-year-old Ricky A. Wynn, of Council Bluffs, was given 24 months in prison for transporting explosive devices with the intent to injure. Once his term of imprisonment is complete, Wynn will begin a three-year term of supervised release.

According to court documents, on Jan. 30, 2022,  Omaha police and fire fighters responded to a residence near 39th and Y Streets, on a report of multiple suspicious packages. An investigation revealed there were 13 explosive devices, 12 of which were Molotov cocktails that were found around a vehicle and detached garage at the residence. The last device contained an energetic powder, nails and screws and it appeared the wick to the device had been lit but failed to detonate.

Federal prosecutors said the people living there previously had a protection order against Wynn.

Des Moines, Iowa – State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald is reminding Iowans about College Savings Iowa’s Year-End Giveaway. “This holiday season, unwrap your child’s future by entering to win a $5,290 College Savings Iowa contribution,” said Fitzgerald. “Visit Iowa529Contest.com by the end of the year to register.” Any Iowan over the age of 18 can register for a child in their life.

“Saving for the child in your life is one of the most important things you can do,” commented Fitzgerald. “Having a dedicated education savings account lets your children know you believe in their dreams. It’s a gift you can’t unwrap, but it might just be the most valuable gift of all.” To date, College Savings Iowa participants have withdrawn more than $4.5 billion to pay for qualified education expenses.

College Savings Iowa is the state’s direct-sold 529 plan and helps families save for the rising costs of higher education on a tax-advantaged basis. Funds in an account can be used for tuition, room and board, books, computers, supplies and other qualified education-related expenses. The student you’re saving for can attend any eligible education institution, including two- and four-year colleges, apprenticeship programs and trade schools. Additionally, Iowa taxpayers can deduct up to $3,522 of their contributions from their state income taxes in 2022.

For details about the Plan, visit CollegeSavingsIowa.com to read the Program Description

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department say no injuries were reported following a collision Tuesday evening at S. Sumner Avenue and Adams Street. Authorities say a 2019 Chrysler Pacifica mini-van driven by 40-year-old Joshua E. Smith, of Creston, was stopped at the controlled intersection facing northbound on S. Sumner, at around 5:52-p.m., when his vehicle was struck from behind by a 2002 Buick Century. The driver of the Buick, 21-year-old Deren M. Fry, of Greenfield, told Police that he dropped his cell phone, and when he reached down to retrieve it, he didn’t have enough time to stop.

Fry was cited for Failure to Provide Proof of Insurance. Damage from the collision amounted to $5,000 altogether.