(Radio Iowa) – After several days of repairs in Ohio, a team of about 70 Iowa utility workers is now in western North Carolina, helping to restore power to tens of thousands of customers who were hit by the remnants of Hurricane Helene. Line mechanic and crew leader Lee Tyler, of Le Mars, has worked for MidAmerican Energy nearly 20 years. Tyler says there’s nothing he’s seen in the Asheville area so far that’s surprised him, not after all of the storms, tornadoes and derechos that have lashed Iowa. “No, it’s pretty typical of a major storm, a lot of trees and wires down, but nothing that I’ve seen so far is out of the ordinary,” Tyler says. “Lots of broken poles, lots of trees on lines, just the regular storm work that we’re all used to.”

The crews are working mostly 16-hour days, and come home understandably exhausted to catch a little shut-eye in tents, trailers and trucks. “As long as there’s sunlight, we’re out working,” Tyler says. “They’ve got breakfast for us back at the show-up area, and they do have trailers with bunks in it, but a lot of guys are just sleeping out in the trucks because the weather’s so nice out right now.” Aside from the paycheck, Tyler was asked what keeps him motivated on this type of mission, working long hours in challenging conditions far from home. “Just the fact that we’re getting power back on to all these people that have been without power for so long, and it disrupts their lives, not being able to have the power that they normally have during the day to do their daily activities,” Tyler says, “and everybody’s so thrilled and excited when everything comes back on.”

A simple thank you goes a long way, too. The Iowa utility crews were gratified to get up one morning to find someone had taped a hand-lettered thank you note to one of their bucket trucks, along with a heart and a smiley face. “That was actually my truck that it got taped to, and yeah, we’ve had nothing but positive from everybody,” Tyler says. “Everybody’s honking and waving and thanking us as they go by. And yeah, it’s been a pretty positive experience, so far, from everybody.” Tyler talked with Radio Iowa via satellite phone, as there are precious few cell towers still standing in the North Carolina mountains. He says they’re methodically restoring power to 200 customers at time, and sometimes just one or two houses. It’s anybody’s guess how long it’ll take to get this job done and come home, he says. There are conflicting rumors it may be a matter of days, weeks, or even a month.

“Some of the areas that they’re telling them that, the reason it’s going to take so long is when it flooded, it ruined some of the big substations,” he says, “and it’s going to take that long to get replacement parts to fix the substations back up.”

The destruction from the winds and flooding is extensive, he says. Helene is being called one of the deadliest and most expensive storms ever to hit the nation, with more than 200 dead, hundreds listed as missing, and damage some estimates peg at 34-billion dollars.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig says his department is beginning work to restore seven abandoned mine sites in south-central and southeast Iowa. Coal was strip mined from the areas.”So in the 1800s and early 1900s in Iowa, and these were mined at a time where companies were not required to reclaim those sites,” Naig says. He says the soil and rocks were stripped back to get at the coal.

“What you’ve got is sort of the debris that’s left over, the rock, the rock piles and often times there’s a dangerous high wall, meaning that they’ve dug out an area the last place that they mined coal, there’s a large hole, often times a pond,” Naig says. He says the water in the pond is not not good quality, and often very acidic. Naig says this is NOT the same as cleaning up a superfund toxic waste site. “It’s not that we need to clean up any chemicals or those types of things. It’s got a lot to do with just moving dirt around, moving rock, restoring the landscape, and then we have a significant focus on, how do you restore the soil health,” he says. “Oftentimes, that ground is not able to be productive before reclamation. After reclamation, you’ve helped to restore the organic matter.”

Naig says you may not be able to grow crops on the ground, but it can grow grass and other vegetation after the process is done. Iowa is doing the cleanup in conjunction with the federal government in a program that was created in the 1970’s and 80’s. Naig says they’ve made progress in addressing the old mine sites here. “The state of Iowa has had roughly 300 of these abandoned mine sites. And to date, we’ve been able to restore 120 of those. Some have been restored outside of our work and we estimate that we’ve got about 140 yet to do,” Niag says. The program is spending 10 million dollars for these seven projects. Naig says it will take around one year to complete them.

Here are the projects:
Pella North and Pella South (Dutch Hollow), Marion County: 162 acres
Kuiper, Marion County: 81.2 acres
Bos, Wapello County: 34.6 Acres
Eden, Van Buren County:14 acres
Pedrick, Van Buren County: 14 Acres
Vanderzyl, Marion County: 57 Acres
Vanderzyl East, Marion County: 29.5 Acres

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest on Sunday (Oct. 6th), of 45-year-old Joseph Earl Smith, from Red Oak. Smith was taken into custody at around 11:50-p.m., on a Felony charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance inside a Correctional Facility, and on a Taylor County warrant for Failure to Appear (a Serious Misdemeanor). He was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

GREENFIELD, Iowa — [KCCI] – Greenfield is celebrating homeowners and businesses rebuilding after an EF-4 tornado devastated the town back in May. Seven groundbreaking ceremonies were held Sunday across town for six homes and one business who are rebuilding, according to the Greenfield Chamber Main Street. The business breaking ground is Super Suds Auto Wash.

Organizer Gina School said her home and business were ok from the storm so it’s important to be able to give back to people who need it. The chamber says this is just the first round of groundbreaking ceremonies. School said they saved dirt from each house and will use it to plant trees in public places next year.

Pam and Dean Wiggins’ family did start fundraising for new trees in town. The hope is to use the dirt to plant one of the trees. School says she’s also planning another project ahead of the holiday season. She’s raising money to buy Christmas decorations for people who lost their homes so they can have a new tree and decorations.

(Radio Iowa) – Texas Governor Greg Abbott says the Iowa National Guard and state law enforcement officers Iowa’s governor deployed to the southern border earlier this year denied illegal entry to countless migrants.  “Thank you to Governor Reynolds. Thank you to your state legislature. Thank you to the taxpayers of the incredible state of Iowa for sending your National Guard and law enforcement officers to our border to help us secure our border and protect our sovereignty,” Abbott said.

Abbott was the keynote speaker Saturday in Des Moines at Governor Kim Reynolds’ annual campaign fundraiser.  “I invited Governor Abbott tonight so he can give us a real, raw account of the mess Kamala Harris has made at the southern border,” Reynolds said, “and share how he’s been fighting back.” Abbott says there’s been total chaos at the Texas border during the Biden-Harris Administration and he’s been forced to call upon other states for help.

“I cannot count the number of illegal immigrants who tried to get into the United States, but were denied by the help of the Iowa National Guard,” Abbott said, to cheers. Reynolds has deployed Iowa State Troopers, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agents and the Iowa National Guard to Texas on three occasions, starting in 2021.

Governor Kim Reynolds at her annual campaign fundraiser on Oct. 5, 2024 (Radio Iowa photo)

Reynolds, the first speaker at her fundraiser, drew cheers from the crowd when she mentioned the tax cuts and teacher pay raises she’s approved. She also recognized Iowa native Caitlin Clark, who was named the W-N-B-A’s Rookie of the Year late last week. “How great is it that kids around the country and around the world are learning from this example of Iowa character. And let’s be honest, it’s not just something that kids can learn. It’s something that all of us can learn from her example,” Reynolds said. “This is a political event, but the funny thing is I don’t even know Caitlin’s politics and frankly I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. She’s doing amazing things and we are lucky to call her one of our own, so let’s give her a big round of applause that shows just how much we appreciate her and all that she represents.”

Last month, Clark said this is the second election she’s been able to vote in and she encouraged people to register to vote. Reynolds and other top Iowa G-O-P leaders used this weekend’s event to repeat their calls for Iowa Republicans to vote early. Iowans may start voting at county auditors’ offices on October 16th.

(Creston, Iowa) – An accident in Creston early Friday night resulted in a woman being transported to the hospital. According to the Creston Police Department, the accident happened at around 7:40-p.m. on North Division Street, just north of the intersection with West Irving Street. Authorities say a 2016 Dodge SUV was legally parked, when a 17-year-old female from Shannon City, attempted to turn the car she was driving, around. The 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis was backing up, when it struck the SUV.

The teenage driver said she looked but didn’t see the Dodge. The owner of the Dodge, 28-year-old Crystal Whitney Jacobe, of Creston, was in the process of putting her children in the vehicle at the time of the accident. The impact caused her to be struck by the door of her vehicle, causing an injury to her right hip. Jacobe was transported to the Creston hospital by ambulance.

Both vehicles sustained minor damage and were driven away from the scene. The damage amounted to $1,500 altogether, according to the police report. There were no citations issued. The report only noted contributing factors in the accident were starting or backing improperly.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, during their meeting Tuesday morning (Oct. 8^th), are expected to approve an Informal Resolution with regard to a complaint to the Iowa Public Information Board (IPIB), about an alleged violation of Iowa’ Open Meeting Law, by the County Supervisors. On a related note, the Supervisors are expected to acknowledge the IPIB opinion found after the complaint that was filed following a Supervisor’s meeting in July, 2024.

In September, the IPIB scolded Montgomery County for what a complainant called “egregious” violations of the state’s open meetings law. In September, the Montgomery County Supervisors accepted a complaint filed by West Township resident Jan Norris against the Board of Supervisors. The IPIB says Norris’ complaint alleged the supervisors violated chapter 21 of the Iowa Code by conducting an open session requirement in a closed session. In written comments last month accepting the IPIB’s findings, the Supervisors noted violations were unintentional, and in no way intended to conceal information from or mislead the public in any manner.

In other business, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors are expected to approve: Board representatives for the County Compensation Board; Oct. 9^th claims; and, Recorder’s and Sheriff’s Department fees for Sept. 30^th. Tuesday’s meeting will be held in the Montgomery County Courthouse Supervisor’s meeting room in Red Oak, beginning at 8:30-a.m.

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(Des Moines, Iowa) – More than 50 privately owned Iowa nursing homes have agreed to reimburse taxpayers for $13.9 million in unpaid fees owed to the state. In August, Iowa Capital Dispatch reported that records obtained though the state’s Open Records Act showed that 49 Iowa nursing homes owed the state more than $10.7 million in fees the state had so far failed to collect. At the time, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services said it had entered into payment plans with many of the care facilities.

In response to a subsequent request for the amortization schedules that detail the schedule of payments for individual homes, DHHS recently turned over records pertaining to 52 care facilities, indicating a few facilities that hadn’t agreed to payment plans in August have since been added to the list. The newly disclosed documents show that:

— The payment plans total $13.9 million: The 52 nursing homes are in the midst of reimbursing the state for $13,914,672 in unpaid fees, with many of the monthly payments having been initiated in April of this year. Most of the agreements call for the companies to have their debt paid off by September 2025.

— Two homes owed $1.3 million each: Two of the nursing homes that accrued a large amount of debt are owned by one for-profit company called Pacifica Health Services. That company operates the Carlisle Center for Wellness and Rehabilitation, and the Fleur Heights Center for Wellness and Rehabilitation in Des Moines.

— One chain owed $4 million: The nursing home chain that accrued the largest debt is Accura Healthcare, which operates 19 care facilities in Iowa that are now on payment plans totaling $4,073,725. The chain has been hit with more than $1.1 million in fines for quality-of-care violations, and regulators have suspended Medicaid payments to various Accura facilities at least 11 times. In a written statement, the company said Friday that it is “fully committed to fulfilling its repayment obligations.”

— Some homes charged interest: DHHS is characterizing some of the financial arrangements with nursing homes as the repayment of “loans,” rather than the collection of unpaid fees. In some cases, the documents show, the state is charging the facilities interest, but in other cases the payment plans speak only to the amount of principal that will be paid, with no mention of interest.

— Debtors include closed facilities: Two now-shuttered care facilities — the Donnellson Health Care Center and Fremont County’s Tabor Manor – owe the state close to $1.3 million. The state appears to have no payment plan in place for Tabor Manor, which is currently in bankruptcy and owes the state roughly $1.1 million, but it does have a payment plan that calls for the Donnellson home to make an escalating series of payments through September 2025 to pay $282,265 it owes the state.

— Million-dollar balloon payments: Many of the facilities that owe the state hundreds of thousands of dollars will pay a relatively small amount toward their debt until 2025, when balloon payments of $400,000 or more will come due.

Among the care facilities on a payment plan, is:

Accura Healthcare of Carroll: This facility agreed to make an escalating series of 18 monthly payments, beginning in April 2024, to repay $345,222 that is owed. The plan includes a balloon payment of $309,222 to be made in September 2025.

Accura Healthcare of Shenandoah: In April 2024, this facility agreed to repay the state $62,274 by making 18 monthly payments of $3,460.

Accura Healthcare of Stanton: This facility has agreed to make a series of 18 monthly payments, beginning in April 2024, to repay $31,478 that is owed.

Crest Haven Care Center, Creston: This home agreed to repay the state $24,660 by making 12 monthly payments of roughly $2,055 each, beginning in April 2024. This facility is owned or operated by Trillium Healthcare Group.

Denison Care Center: This home agreed to repay the state $30,480 by making 12 monthly payments of roughly $2,540 each, beginning in April 2024. This facility is owned or operated by Trillium Healthcare Group.

Garden View Care Center, Shenandoah: This home agreed to repay the state $231,639 by making 12 monthly payments of roughly $19,303 each, beginning in April 2024. This facility is owned or operated by Trillium Healthcare Group.

Lenox Care Center: This home agreed to repay the state $30,754 by making 12 monthly payments of roughly $1,729 each, beginning in April 2024. This facility is owned or operated by Trillium Healthcare Group.