(Radio Iowa) – The Nature Conservancy in Iowa is offering home and business owners in the state a crash course in solar power. Patrick Snell, the organization’s climate and external affairs associate, says the Grow Solar program is in its fourth year of helping Iowans navigate a course toward finding an affordable source of renewable energy. “It’s hard to know what to look for in solar, how to work with your utility, how to work with your municipality and figuring out all the right questions to ask,” Snell says. “What this program does is really put all that in front of them in a 30-minute educational series to get all those questions answered.”

Grow Solar is underway this summer in Polk County, after successful runs in Dallas, Warren, Linn, Jackson and Johnson counties. There’s also a longer program, the Solar Power Hour, where people can learn the basics of solar energy, along with some of the financial aspects. “The program is a limited group buy purchasing program, so anybody that wants to participate in the program, we basically do a bulk purchasing of individual solar systems,” Snell says. “We usually see about a 10% reduction in the price of solar for those individual homes or businesses.” The program aims to connect Iowa home and business owners with local, reputable installers, while warning them about the predatory tactics of some out-of-state solar companies.

“Good solar companies have a headquarters or an operation in the state, that’s a big one for us,” Snell says. “One other thing we look at is the number of installations they’ve done. There’s a lot of companies that will come in to just try it out, and you’ll end up paying for a lot of headaches both for that resident, as well as their local utilities.” Just because you see something on the internet doesn’t mean it’s true, and this applies to the solar industry as well. Snell says people may want to steer clear of some companies that advertise on social media about the benefits of solar power.

“It’s something that can be good for someone’s pocketbook and good for their heart, and unfortunately from that altruistic side, we do see a lot of actors have misleading ads,” Snell says. “I would say there’s a lot of good players, there’s a lot of not-so-good players in the industry, so yes, there’s some ads to be wary of.” The Solar Power Hours are being held virtually and in-person to help equip Iowans with the knowledge needed to make informed decisions. Learn more at: https://www.growsolar.org/polk-county/

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa State University analysis shows rural households are being disproportionately impacted by rising inflation. The study finds disposable income for rural residents is down 38 percent — compared to 17 percent in cities. I-S-U researcher Dave Peters says that means rural communities have less of a safety net for unexpected costs. “A healthcare issue that costs extra money, you get a reduction in your hours. Big home repair that you didn’t plan for. So, any kind of these unexpected expenses, that’s only six-thousand dollars to cover that,” Peters says. He says rural households are using more gasoline to travel and fuel to heat their homes – – which are both surging in price.

And Peters says wages in small towns are growing more slowly than in other places. Peters says he’s most concerned with how long these communities can withstand inflationary costs. “If they’re for the long term, then this becomes a big crisis for rural households, you know, that disposable income cushion makes them really vulnerable to debt and bankruptcy,” he says. Peters says low-income and older residents are at even greater risk of being impacted.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with Cass Health reports AMC Rapid Care will be closed this (Thursday) morning (July 14), but they will re-open at noon, after staff move into their temporary home in Atlantic Medical Center. AMC Rapid Care personnel they will work out of the AMC until their space is fully renovated, the process for which is expected to be completed in early 2023.

(Radio Iowa) – A wind farm proposed for the southwest corner of Iowa has cleared one major hurdle. The Fremont County Board of Supervisors has unanimously approved Invenergy’s application for its Shenandoah Hills project. The site south of Shenandoah extends into Page County as well. Officials in Page County are still reviewing the company’s application. Mark Crowl, a development manager with Invenergy, says the turbines would generate 27 million dollars in property taxes for Fremont County — and property owners in the county will get one-and-half million dollars in annual payments for easements.

“Those dollars for the project stay here in the county,” he said. “This is a project that allows some of our participating landowners that have agricultural operations to add to that, and to have a project that allows them to kind of ride out the ups and downs and stay here in Fremont County.” The Fremont County board’s approval came after a two-hour-long public hearing Wednesday. Brian Langner of Farragut told the supervisors the only winner in the project is Invenergy.

“The energy’s going to go into the grid. It is not going to help our energy costs one bit,” he said. “It’s going to continue to tear apart our communities.” Supporters like Penny Bredensteiner of Northboro say the turbines will boost the county’s economy. “This will help the tax base, I think, a great deal,” she said. “It will bring money into our county which has no industry, no major industry, coming into it.”

Brandon Van Scyoc, of Sidney, questions the project’s impact on wildlife and on farmland enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program. “They don’t care about us,” he said. “They don’t care about any of us. It’s all for the dollar.” Others raised concerns about noise from the turbines and told the board many homes located near to the proposed turbines were not included in the project map.

A Fremont County supervisor said the project fits within the county’s wind power ordinance and had been reviewed by the county’s engineer and attorney. A Page County supervisor says there are several unanswered questions about the project, including the impact the turbines might have on the signal for K-Y-F-R, an A-M radio station in Shenandoah.

The Shenandoah Hills Wind Energy Center would be located near the Missouri border, in southwestern Page and southeastern Fremont Counties, between the communities of Riverton and Coin.

(Radio Iowa) – The latest survey shows gas prices have fallen again. Triple-A says the average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline dropped 12 cents to four dollars, 46 cents. That is down 30 cents a gallon from one month ago. The current Iowa average is 17 cents below the national average. It is still one dollar, 48 cents higher than one year ago.

Diesel prices dropped nine cents this week to five dollars, 27 cents. It’s still well above the three dollars, 11 cents a gallon for diesel one year ago.

(Radio Iowa) – Three people were injured in a massive explosion in Le Mars today (Wednesday) that destroyed one house and left a second heavily damaged by fire. Fire Chief Dave Schipper says the explosion happened around 6:35 a-m. “It was called in actually by an Assistant Fire Chief who was on his way to station one and was just four blocks to the north of here when he witnessed the explosion and the debris landing in the street,” he says. One of the victims is seriously injured.

“All three of those were treated by Le Mar’s Fire Rescue and transported to Floyd Valley Hospital one to Mercy in Sioux City, and that person since has been life-flighted to St Elizabeth’s Burn Center in Lincoln with some severe burn injuries,” Schipper says. Schipper says the early investigation points to a possible gas leak as the cause of the explosion. He says the blast rattled several city buildings.

KLEM photo via RI

“We have several structures around the area houses that have been damaged either windows or doors or things blown off the walls,” he says “Station one sits about five blocks from here — it actually had some things blown off the wall at the fire station.” The house closest to the explosion suffered the most damage.

“We had a serious fire in the second structure we had structural integrity that was not safe for our firefighters to enter,” Schipper says. He says the second home was demolished because of the damage. Both homes that were destroyed were rental properties owned by the same landlord. A third home caught fire — but the fire was quickly put out.

(Walnut, Iowa) – Authorities say one person died when a train collided with a grain truck at around 2:30-p.m. today, near Walnut. KETV in Omaha reported the accident happened near 500th Street and Rosewood Road.

Officers received reports of a semi-truck colliding with a rail train and the train dragged the semi approximately 100-150 yards, according to authorities. When first responders arrived on the scene, the truck was on fire — “fully involved,” according to law enforcement.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office said the train was traveling eastbound and the grain truck was traveling southbound. Law enforcement was still on the scene as of 4:30–p.m., investigating the accident. The intersection is closed at this time, according to authorities.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education met this (Wednesday) afternoon in the High School Media Center. The Board moved to approve the following Resignations: Matt Smith, Boys Head Soccer Coach; Joseph Brummer, Head Baseball Coach, and Julie Hansen, Washington Paraeducator. They also approved Contract Recommendations for:

• Chase Roller, Asst. HS Wrestling Coach
• Michaelin Juhl, Volunteer CHeerleading Coach
• Adam Roberts, Vol.  Archery Coach
• Laurie Fell, WA Grade Level Teacher
• Mikade Thompson, HS Night Custodian.

Here is what Superintendent Steve Barber reported to the Board (These notes are provided courtesy School Board Secretary Sarah Sheeder):

“We continue to work on filling positions for next year. As mentioned last month, we will continue to actively pursue qualified candidates to serve our students in Atlantic until we are able to get them all filled. This could be before the first day, during the first semester, at the beginning of the next semester or not until next year. Here is some progress that has been made:

• Third grade position: We are recommending Mrs Fell, a retired Atlantic teacher, to serve one year in the kindergarten classroom and Ms. Miller to fill our vacant third grade position.
• Title I at Schuler: Continue to look for a viable candidate. If unable to find, we will use our Washington Elementary Title teachers to work with those Title I students. Washington does have some student teachers this year, so they could be potential candidates for this opening once they become licensed.
• English Language Arts: Hire a long term substitute that is highly qualified for the first semester, while actively finding a replacement. Mrs. McKay has been working with colleges and have identified some possible replacements with students who are graduating at semester.
• English Language Arts: Hoping to find another qualified candidate to fill this position. If unable, Mr. Aden, Mrs. Mckay and myself are looking at ways with our current staff to meet the demands at the high school.
• Math: Continue to pursue a candidate and look at other potential individuals with good math background who could fill in as we are searching for a replacement.
  ESL teacher: Continue to look for a replacement.
• HS/MS Media Specialist: Use Mrs. Dickerson to meet our legal obligations and communicate with colleges who offer a Master’s Level Librarian Program.
• Plan to move furniture:
  All the new furniture for the Middle School will be installed and put into the appropriate rooms by July 22, 2022. Right now some of the old school furniture is replacing furniture in some of the other buildings. Once that step is complete, Mr. Peck will inventory what is still available and then ask the Board to approve a process where this inventory is made available to community members. We would then ask to dispose of the remaining furniture.
• Bull creek renovation on the Green Space:
  Part of the plans in renovating the Bull Creek project is to enlarge the retention pond on the Green Space in front of the Middle School. If we get a heavy rain this pond backs up and the water discharged is polluted. By deepening and making it larger there is more control of the discharged water. I am working with Snyder’s [Engineers] and the City on a Memorandum of Understanding that they are responsible for maintaining the Prairie Grasses and WildFlowers that the plan has specifications for.

Mr. Barber said also, with regard to COVID mitigation in the District’s buildings, they will operate under a “Communicable Disease” policy.

And, Mr. Barber mentioned the District is set to benefit from a generous gift from the estate of Jo Ann Runyon, who passed away May 5th.

In other business, the Atlantic School Board approved four IASB Legislative Priorities they would like the Iowa Association of School Boards to lobby for during the next legislative session. They chose: 1) Mental Health; 2) Teacher Recruitment/Licensure; 3) School Safety, and 4) Market-Competitive Wages. The Board then acted on approving Spring 2023 Coaching Contract Recommendations for the following:

1. Head Boys Golf: Ed DenBeste; Head Girls Golf: Kathy Hobson
2. Head Boys/Girls Tennis: Mike McDermott
3. Head HS Girls Track: Matt Mullenix; Asst. HS Girls Track: Derek Hall; Head Boys HS Track: Abby Becker; Asst Boys HS Track: Matt Best & Bryce Smith.
4. MS Boys Track: Bryce Casey; MS Girls Track: Taylor Williams
5. Head HS Girls Soccer: Dan Vargasson; Asst. HS Boys Soccer: Mark Anderson.

In the final order of business, the Board approved the plans, specifications, form of contract and estimate of cost, for the Achievement Center Roof Improvement project. The lowest bid of $214,564, came from Elevate Roofing, out of Denison. The District has worked with that company, previously. Their bid came in well under the Cost Estimate of $248,000.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – The Council Bluffs Police Department today (Wednesday) said the Carroll Kuemper baseball team lost their charter bus for a short time (Tuesday) night.  CBPD located the bus and arrested the person driving it.  The suspect was identified as 42-year-old Jamar Hill, of Omaha.  He faces charges that include Theft in the 1st Degree, and Driving While Suspended.

The incident began at around 9:24-p.m., when the 2000 motor coach bus was stolen from the parking lot of 915 N. 21st Street.  Officers located the bus three minutes later and conducted a traffic stop in the 1700 block of W. Broadway.  Hill, the driver, was taken into custody without incident.

Officials noted the bus had been chartered by Carroll-Kuemper for a baseball game being played at Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson’s Baseball Field.  The bus was returned to the owner, and…by-the-way:  Carroll-Kuemper won the game 6-2.