(Radio Iowa) – County officials could decide if property owners in their county may continue getting a tax exemption for land with timber or fruit trees on it under a bill in the Iowa Senate.The bill, which changes the state’s forest preserve program, won House approval with just the 51 votes required for passage. Representative Austin Harris, a Republican from Moulton, was the only lawmaker who spoke in favor of the bill.

“This bill is about local control, leaving it up to the counties to decide whether the Forest Reserve program in their county works for them or not,” Harris said. Under current Iowa law landowners who agree to maintain at least 70 fruit trees or at least 200 trees per acre do not pay property taxes on that ground. The Iowa Farm Bureau has long argued the program is unfair to other property owners and in previous years bills called for repealing or reducing the property tax break. This year’s bill gives county boards of supervisors the power to eliminate the tax exemption in their county.

“Leaves it up to our local elected officials that this program impacts and the citizens,” Harris said,” it leaves it up to them to make that decision.” Representative Chuck Isenhart, a Democrat from Dubuque, says the bill gives county officials a green light to raise property taxes on 60-thousand landowners who have enrolled more than 800-thousand acres in the program. “In 1906 the Iowa legislature passed a landowner property tax incentive we now know as the Forest and Fruit Tree Preservation Act to reduce or eliminate property taxes to incentivize landowners to hold their poorer lands in timber for erosion control, watershed protection and game cover,”Isenhart said, “and we have been presented with no evidence that this program is not achieving those goals.”

Isenhart was the only critic of the bill to speak in House debate. If the property tax exemption were eliminated in each of Iowa’s 99 counties, landowners with timber or fruit tree orchards enrolled in the program would owe 12-point-seven million dollars in property taxes next year.

(Radio Iowa) – A deadline is coming up for those who may have unclaimed tax refunds from 2020. I-R-S spokesman, Christopher Miller, says there is a chunk of unclaimed money out there. “The I-R-S estimates there is nearly 11 dollars million waiting for around 10-thousand people in Iowa who did not file a 2020 tax return,” he says. There is a three-year deadline for each tax filing year for you to claim your refund. The deadline for filing for 2020 refunds is May 17th, which gives you a little more time as the normal tax filing deadline was extended by the pandemic.

“So we issued a notice at that time letting folks know that the regular deadline for taxes had been postponed to May 17th which is why it’s the deadline to get those old refunds,” Miller says. Miller says the pandemic left a lot of people in different situations and that is why they may not have filed a return in 2020.

“Perhaps these folks that fall into this category had a part-time job or a small job, and they made money but didn’t make enough to legally require them to file a tax return. So they didn’t,” he says. “But what they may not realize is if your employer was withholding money from your check for taxes, you could get that back in the form of a refund.”

Miller says many low and moderate-income workers also may be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit for 2020 as well.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Glenwood Police Department reports a man was arrested today (April 1st), on an OWI charge. 18-year-old Ethan Kiefer, of Glenwood, was arrested for OWI/1st offense, and possession of a controlled substance. Kiefer was released from custody after posting a $2,000 cash or surety bond.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – Guthrie County Deputy Sheriff/Jail Administrator Jesse Swensen, has issued a report on jail inmate statistics for the month of March, 2024. Swensen said March “Was a decent month.”  He said the County “Processed 71 inmates through the facility,” and “held 25 out of county inmates for different periods of time.” The holding of other inmates in the Guthrie County Jail, Swensen said, “Brought-in $26,140.”

You can see all the Guthrie County Jail stats by clicking on the PDF links below:

March Average Population

March Billing

March Monthly Summary

(Radio Iowa) – Waterloo leaders are considering moving one of the city’s rail-yards to help make the predominately-black Smokey Row neighborhood safer and more equitable. The Canadian National rail-yard creates noise and air pollution, which has driven down property values for generations. Waterloo’s community planning director Noel Anderson says a 750-thousand-dollar study to move the rail-yard could be the first step toward fixing the problem.”It’s a matter of looking at the larger impact on the whole neighborhood,” Anderson says, “and how eliminating some of these problems could help the larger area.”

The rail yard has been in the neighborhood for nearly a century and it physically divides residents there from the rest of the city. The average home in the Smokey Row area is priced at about 60-thousand dollars, less than half of the rest of the city. Anderson says the rail-yard also poses daily safety risks.”It’s an unsafe situation with having a very active railroad yard in an older neighborhood,” he says. “There’s a lot more pedestrians there than you’d find on the average.”

The two-year study is underway to see how feasible it could be to move the rail-yard to an industrial part of town.

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) – An Iowa mother is overcoming her battle with addiction to get her son back. Now, she’s trying to help other mothers in the same situation. Katey Rascon says she was addicted to methamphetamine for six years. During that time, she was reported to the Iowa Department of Human Services.

She says she hit rock-bottom the day her son was taken from her. Since then, she’s managed to get clean and regain custody of her son. Now she’s heading to Washington, D.C. as part of the Strolling Thunder Rally, a nationwide event taking place on April 30.

Families will meet with lawmakers about the need to invest in children and families. Rascon says she wants to see changes with how DHS cases are handled, especially how visitations are scheduled.

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI] — The Des Moines community is mourning the loss of the longest serving Des Moines School Board member on Sunday morning. Des Moines Public Schools was informed by family on Sunday morning that Teree Caldwell-Johnson passed away this morning after a long battle with cancer.

Ms. Caldwell-Johnson just stepped down on March 5 amidst her battle with cancer. She was the longest-serving member of the Des Moines School Board, going back to when she was elected in November 2006.

A biography of Ms. Caldwell-Johnson can be found on the district’s website, along with a video tribute for her after she had stepped down earlier this month.

INDIANOLA, Iowa [WHO-TV]— A fire destroyed portions of the National Balloon Museum in Indianola on Friday morning. Eric Martens, president of the National Balloon Museum, said a worker with the National Balloon Classic was getting ready to start her day at the office when she smelled smoke. She called 911 and emergency crews quickly responded to the scene. Staff believe the fire started in the children’s area of the museum, but the cause of the fire is unknown at this time. No one was injured in the fire, but some historical artifacts and the offices for the National Balloon Classic and Balloon Federation of America were damaged.

On the museum’s Facebook page, officials said as a result of the fire, “The scheduled reopening on April 6th, 2024 is regrettably cancelled until further notice. Renovation of the museum was nearly complete when the fire broke out.

In a Facebook post, officials with the National Balloon Classic, said while the fire was devastating, it won’t affect the festival this summer. The 2024 National Balloon Classic is still scheduled to take place from July 26 to August 3. The museum team is working closely with authorities and insurance adjusters to assess the damage and restore the museum as soon as possible. The public can stay up to date on the progress by following the museum’s Facebook page.

The National Balloon Museum in Indianola, IA (Facebook photo taken before the fire)

The Balloon Federation of America opened the museum in 1973. In 2003 the museum was expanded, allowing the museum to showcase even more aviation history. Another renovation was nearly complete and the museum was set to reopen on April 6. Due to the fire the reopening has been canceled until further notice.

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI] — Hundreds of volunteers rode horseback across the state on Saturday to raise money for adults and children with disabilities. Pony Express Riders of Iowa raises funds for Easterseals Iowa & Camp Sunnyside in Des Moines. Local groups ride horses across the state “relay style” to bring in the funds throughout the year.

Last Saturday, everyone involved with the nonprofit paraded together to celebrate their achievements. Their mission is for all Iowans to be able to experience the joys of camp. The group has donated more than $12 million to support the organization over the last five decades.

Photo from the Jefferson, Iowa PD Facebook page

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Alliant Energy has named 41 Iowa communities, including the City of Atlantic and Creston FFA, as recipients of grants totaling nearly $145,000 through the company’s Community Tree Planting program, part of its One Million Trees initiative.  Alliant Energy partners with Trees Forever to help communities develop, select and plant a diverse mix of trees. A tree expert helps communities select the best species for their areas and create care and maintenance plans to ensure the new trees have long, healthy lives.

Atlantic receives a $3,000 grant for community tree planting at the local campground next to camp sites. Local students will volunteer this spring.  The Creston FFA Chapter will receive a grant for $4,950, for community tree planting led by the local FFA chapter. Locations will be on city property and school locations.

Since 1990, Trees Forever and Alliant Energy have awarded over $7.85 million in grants and planted more than 1.1 million trees through their partnership and programs in Iowa and Wisconsin.  Across Iowa, communities are eligible to apply for grants up to $5,000 to fund new trees.

Some communities will begin to plant trees this spring while others will wait until fall.