(Radio Iowa) — Iowa non-profits are hoping today’s (Tuesday’s) global focus on philanthropy boosts local budgets in the midst of escalating need. Like many organizations, the Food Bank of Iowa has a “Giving Tuesday Now” button on its website. Michelle Book, the president and C-E-O of the Food Bank of Iowa, says food banks and food pantries are serving tens of thousands Iowans who’ve been laid off recently because of the pandemic. “We have those folks who are now new to need,” Book says. “…On top of the 11-12% of the people we were already serving across the state of Iowa, we now have a new group of people.”

Book made her comments during a recent appearance on Iowa P-B-S. The Center for Financial Education, a faith-based non-profit based in Sioux Center, is making an appeal for donations today (Tuesday). Tricia Driesen, the center’s director, says this comes at a time when their services are in high demand as people who’ve lost their job try to figure out their options. “We can help them by establishing a plan, giving them some ideas on where to cut expenses” she says, “helping them negotiate with some of their creditors.”

Museums, community foundations and churches are the among many organizations around the state making pitches on this “Giving Tuesday Now.” Giving Tuesday is normally the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving and over the past eight years it has become a major driver of international philanthropy.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The City Council in Walnut will hold a public hearing this Thursday (May 7th) evening, on an amendment to the FY2019-20 Budget. There will also be discussion on the amendment, followed by action on the adoption of a Resolution amending the current budget for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2020. In other business, the Walnut City Council will discuss: City property closures; the Walnut Community & Fitness Center; the Walnut Antique Show and Optimist’s Antique City Car show. They will also act on approving a Law Enforcement Services contract with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department.

The meeting, which begins at 5-p.m., Thursday, will be held by the “Go To Meeting” electronic conferencing system. To access the meeting through your computer, tablet or smart phone, go to: https://www.gotomeet.me/WalnutCityCouncil1/public-hearingmay-city-council-meeting

To access the meeting over the phone in the United States, call: 1 (872) 240-3412. Use Access Code: 119-550-909

(Radio Iowa) — Farmers made some record progress putting crops in the ground last week. Warm, dry weather allowed the wheels to roll on tractors and planters and farmers now have forty-six percent of the beans in the ground. That compares to nine percent of the soybeans planted one week before — and it marks the most soybeans farmers had planted by May 3rd since records began in 1974. Bean planting is now one full month ahead of schedule. Thirty-nine-percent of the expected corn planting got done last week — and it is the first time since 201 that three-quarters of the corn crop was in the ground by May 3rd.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa State Patrol officials reports what they say is an alarming number of motorists being stopped for driving in excess of 100 miles an hour. Public information officer Sergeant Alex Dinkla says troopers have seen a 52-percent increase over a four-year period for speeds of between 135 and 150 miles per hour. Dinkla says the number-one excuse for speeding is…”We didn’t think you guys were out here actually working, out here checking and monitoring traffic,” Dinkla says. “That’s quite the contrary. We have to protect and we have to serve the citizens of the state of Iowa so therefore our troopers are out on the road. We are out watching and trying to make sure people stay safe out on the roads.”

In addition to the high speeds, he says the number of arrests for driving under the influence has also increased. Dinkla says the fines for excessive speed are hefty and can range from 300 to 500 dollars. “The total number of tickets the Iowa State Patrol has issued to motorists going 100 miles an hour or more in the month of March is 103,” he says, “and in the month of April, we had 138 motorists who were cited for going 100 or more miles an hour.”

The patrol estimates traffic volume on the state’s highways and interstates is down about 40-percent due Iowans staying close to home with the pandemic.

(Reporting by Pat Blank, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds hopes to use federal funds to cover the entire 26 MILLION dollar payment to Utah companies providing “Test Iowa” supplies. Drive-through “Test Iowa” sites have been established in Des Moines, Waterloo and Sioux City — three “hot spots” for COVID-19 activity. Under current arrangements, Reynolds says it appears the federal government will cover at least 75 percent of the costs of COVID-19 testing, so the state would have to come up with the money for the remaining 25 percent. “Then in addition to that, there’s also just some specific funding through the CARES Act for testing, because they’re really wanting states to ramp that up,” she says.

Reynolds is lobbying federal officials to allow the State of Iowa to use money allocated from the CARES Act to cover all the costs associated with COVID-19 testing in Iowa. That includes pay for the laid-off nurses and health care workers from local hospitals who’re being hired to work at the state’s drive-through testing sites in Des Moines, Waterloo and Sioux City. Volunteer nurses and some state employees are also testing Iowans passing through in vehicles.

A traffic stop at around 1:30 this (Tuesday) morning in Montgomery County, resulted in the arrest of a woman from Council Bluffs. 22-year old Danielle Baker was taken into custody in the area of Highway 34 and Dogwood Avenue. She was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and charged with Driving While Suspended. Her cash bond was set at $300.

Two people were arrested Monday night, in Red Oak.  At around 7:10-p.m., 47-year old Alex Edwon Cellan, Jr., of Red Oak, was arrested on a valid Montgomery County warrant for Theft in the 3rd Degree. Cellan, JR., was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

And at around 9:25-p.m., 23-year old Mariah Nicole Moore, of Des Moines, was arrested in Red Oak, for Driving While Barred. Moore was also being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond

(Radio Iowa) – State tax revenues plunged 39 percent in April. One reason for that double-digit drop is the delayed deadline for paying state income taxes. Individuals and corporations normally must pay their state income taxes by April 30th, but during the pandemic state officials pushed the due date to July 31st. State officials will have to come up with an estimate of the pandemic’s economic impact as they rework their state budget plans for the fiscal year that begins July 1st.

The Iowa legislature is currently scheduled to reconvene on May 15th. Leaders say their main goal is passing a new state budget plan. Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s meeting with her staff to come up with budget recommendations. Moody’s Analytics, a research firm focused on finance, has estimated the State of Iowa’s budget must be cut at least five percent.