(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Chamber Ambassadors were hosted by Atlantic Elks members in celebration of 125 years of their organization on Thursday, June 8th, 2023, at the Atlantic Elks Lodge #445. According to a press release, the Ambassadors learned more about what an Elk is and what they do for the community.

Gail Butler shared about the history of the group’s charity work with donations towards different areas such as local food pantries, fire prevention and drug awareness, scholarships, and helping veterans. One way that the Elks help veterans is by collecting deer hides to be tanned and eventually turned into useful items at no cost to the veteran. Hide drop-off sites are located in Atlantic, Wiota, and Griswold. The Elks have also been honoring Atlantic graduating seniors by giving out scholarships for several years to offset the expenses of tuition and the total is over $60,000 and growing. They also hold many different fundraisers throughout the year such as weekly bingo, a craft fair, and a Mother’s Day brunch. The Lodge space is also available to be rented for different events for $150.

The Atlantic Elks are just one of many groups which are a national organization known as Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Members enjoy getting together on Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays to focus on ways to give back to the community and get connected with each other. The Atlantic Elks invites the public to their 125th Anniversary celebration on June 24th at the Elks Lodge, located at 411 Walnut Street. It will start at 4:30 p.m. with a social hour and open house and the barbecue meal will follow at 6:00 p.m. There will be a freewill donation, which will go towards their different philanthropies.

To learn more about the Atlantic Elks or to become a member, call (712) 243-2317 or visit their Facebook page, Elks Lodge.

(Radio Iowa) – Second district Congresswoman Ashley Hinson says the federal indictment of former President Trump is shameful. Hinson, a Republican from Marion, says House Republicans will hold the Department of Justice accountable. “I don’t think this should be happening in our country,” she says. “We need to make sure the law is applied fairly and equally, not abused to target political opponents or score political points, so this must be stopped.”

Hinson says the Justice Department has failed to comply with House Republicans demands to see a document that accuses Biden of wrongdoing while he was vice president. The House Oversight Committee was allowed to see the document, with some of it redacted or crossed out, yesterday (Thursday). “Look at the hoops we’re having to jump through to get the FBI to comply with our due diligence as members of congress, so we need to ensure that the rule of law is applied equally and if these agencies that have been weaponized against not only former presidents but parents don’t comply then we will be taking the appropriate measures through congress.”

The three other Iowa Republicans who serve in the U.S. House have not commented on the grand jury’s indictment against Trump. Governor Kim Reynolds issued a statement on Twitter this (Friday) morning. Reynolds says the indictment is a sham and the Biden Administration is weaponizing the justice system.

(Radio Iowa) – Most of Iowa’s K-through-12 schools have wrapped up classes for summer break, but several hundred schools statewide are keeping their doors open to make sure students have something to eat. Des Moines Public Schools executive chef Chad Taylor hands out milk cartons to a group of kids at Cattell Elementary eating turkey sandwiches, craisins and snack mix.

Cattell is one of 29 sites in Des Moines that’s serving lunch, in-person, five days a week with support from the U-S Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Service Program. Nearly 500 sites will be operating in Iowa’s schools, community centers, churches and parks this summer. Taylor says some students count on school for a meal, even when classes are out for the summer. “There are people in need and there are areas in our city that still need to realize that food insecurity is a big deal still,” He says.

Taylor says teachers and administrators are helping to serve some meals so that there are enough people to staff the lunch sites. “People are coming together and seeing this need out in our community,” he says, “and what can we do as a team to make sure kids are fed.”

Taylor expects to serve up to four-thousand meals per day citywide, and some summer school locations are also serving breakfast in addition to lunch.

(Radio Iowa) – State officials are scrambling to merge some operations by July 1st. That’s when the governor’s plan to shrink the number of state agencies from 37 to 16 takes effect. The Iowa Department of Education is absorbing the Iowa School for the Deaf in Council Bluffs as well as the College Student Aid Commission, the Board of Educational Examiners, the STEM Advisory Council and Educational Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Mark Ford is deputy director and chief operating officer of the Iowa Department of Education. “It’s going to be fast and furious. It’s a lot to get done,” he says.

Ford says some logistics won’t be resolved when the merger takes effect in three weeks, but he says no one is being laid off and no one’s pay is being cut. “There have been some concessions and understandings made,” he says, “just so you know, that not everything is going to change July 1.”

Ford made his comments during Thursday’s state Board of Education meeting. Governor Reynolds says the mergers to shrink the number of executive branch agencies will make state government more efficient and more closely match the number of state agencies in states with similar populations.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) says she’s supporting the bipartisan, bicameral Expanding Childcare in Rural America (ECRA) Act of 2023 to expand childcare access in agricultural and rural communities. “When I’m traveling from River to River across Iowa, Ernst says, “I hear from employees and small business owners who want more childcare options in rural Iowa. Our efforts will empower childcare centers in our agriculture communities to invest in facility development and staff training opportunities to ensure quality childcare options are available to every family. Keeping my promises to take on this issue, I will continue to work with my colleagues to remove burdens on parents by expanding opportunities for providers in every corner of the state.”

The Expanding Childcare in Rural America Act would direct U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development to authorize and prioritize projects that address the availability, quality, and cost of childcare through the following programs:

• The Community Facilities Program offers direct loans, loan guarantees and grants to develop or improve essential public services and facilities in communities across rural America; Community Facilities Technical Assistance and Training Grant offers grants to eligible public bodies and private, nonprofit organizations (such as states, counties, cities, townships, incorporated towns, villages, boroughs, authorities, districts, and Tribes located on Federal or state reservations) to provide technical assistance and/or training in support of the essential community facilities program;
• The Business & Industry Loan Guarantee Program provides loan guarantees to commercial lenders for loans to eligible rural businesses; The Rural Business Development Grant Program is a competitive grant designed to support targeted technical assistance, training, and other activities leading to the development or expansion of small and emerging private businesses in rural areas that have fewer than 50 employees and less than $1 million in gross revenues;
• The Rural Innovation Strong Economy Grant Program offers grant assistance to create and augment high-wage jobs, accelerate the formation of new businesses, support industry clusters and maximize the use of local productive assets in eligible low-income rural areas;
• The Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program provides loans and grants to Microenterprise Development Organizations (MDOs) to provide microloans for microenterprise startups and growth through a Rural Microloan Revolving Fund; and provide training and technical assistance to microloan borrowers and micro entrepreneurs.

Last March, Ernst, who is a Ranking Member of the Senate Small Business Committee, led the Child Care Small Business Investment Act, an effort to make non-profit child care providers eligible for 7(a) and 504 loan programs under the SBA, so long as they are licensed by the state and their employees have had criminal background checks. The legislation would also ensure that religiously-affiliated non-profits qualify for these loan programs.

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department report 41-year-old Robert Hudek, of Creston, was arrested this (Friday) morning, on an Assault charge. Hudek was taken into custody at around 6:35-a.m. in the 600 block of N. Cherry Street, in Creston, and charged with Domestic Abuse Assault 2nd Offense. He was being held without bond in the Union County jail, until seen by the Judge.

(Audubon, Iowa) – Officials with the Audubon County Secondary Roads Department report a bridge replacement project in the County, is finished. Bridgework was being conducted on 130^th Street between Nighthawk Avenue and Oriole Avenue. Officials say 130^th Street is once again open to through traffic.

(Radio Iowa)  – Triple A shows the statewide average price for a gallon of regular unleaded in Iowa is three-36 ($3.36). That’s 20 cents lower than the national average and more than a dollar-30 ($1.30) lower than a year ago. The cheapest gas is in Henry County, where Triple A found it for sale at three-11 ($3.11) a gallon on Thursday. The most expensive fuel prices in the state were in Winneshiek County, where Triple A shows regular unleaded was selling for three-51 a gallon yesterday (Thursday).

(Radio Iowa) – A celebration of the only draft horse bred and developed in the United States is planned for this summer with special programs in three central Iowa communities. What’s known as the American Cream Horse originated in the three towns, Jewell, Ellsworth and Radcliffe. Richard Steffen, spokesman for the Jewell History Museum, says the premiere program about the horse is scheduled for this weekend.  “The first is Saturday at four o’clock at the Jewell Museum,” Steffen says, “and it deals with Eric Christian, who was a local veterinarian in Jewell who had a role in this development.”

Two more presentations about the unique breed are being planned for July to educate people about the historic horse from Iowa. “The first one will be in Ellsworth at the library,” he says, “and then a third program will be the following week at the city park in Radcliffe.”

The horse is characterized by the cream or gold champagne color of its coat. It was developed during the first half of the 20th century. The horse is considered an exceptionally rare breed, with only perhaps 400 remaining worldwide. It’s listed as critically endangered.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa is back in the “Drought Watch” category on the system put together last year to keep tabs on the situation. D-N-R Hydrology coordinator, Tim Hall, works with other state agencies in assessing the issue. “We take a number of factors and look at them together. And we we decide whether a region of the state is normal, drought watch, drought warning, or drought emergency,” Hall says. He says the drought watch is similar to a thunderstorm or tornado watch.

“Which is really just a call for people to be very careful and pay attention. Because things are looking on the dry side,” he says, “and right now they’re getting a little bit worse all the time. So we’re just trying to keep an eye out and work with folks to make sure everybody has the information they need.” Hall says the state is also seeing the start of what could be a “flash drought,” or rapid increase in drought conditions in some areas. “Particularly in the eastern part of the state where things just got really dry really fast. We saw the U-S Drought Monitor pop up with severe drought in in parts of northeast Iowa and southeast Iowa. So you know, we were kind of on the mend there for a while and then March and particularly April and May have just turned dry on us and they have not done us any favors,” Hall says.

He says there are some indications the conditions might change and bring more rain, and June is normally the wettest month in the state. Hall says until we see more rain, everyone should do what they can to stop water waste by fixing any leaky fixtures. “Which is which is about as pure and simple wasting water as you can get. If you’re just dribbling it down the drain, you’re using resources to pump the water, to treat the water to get it to your house. And if you’re just letting it go down the drain, that’s an absolute waste of resources,” Hall says. “So figure out how to get those leaking faucets fixed and leaking toilets fixed.”

Hall says the situation may soon call for other measures as well. “Unfortunately, it looks like we’re getting into a situation where we’re going to have to start to remind people that water conservation is a necessary thing,” he says. “And we’re going to have to try to work on that a little bit in the state as we get through these dry, these dry weeks here.”

Hall says the best case scenario would be for normal June rainfall to return and turn the drought conditions around. But he says we have to be prepared if that does not happen.