ESSEX, IA- Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO) recently implemented an Iowa West Foundation Home Repair Grant to help a rural Essex resident address some urgent needs, ultimately keeping her in the home.

Cynthia Samuel had some foundation issues that led to freezing pipes and in turn a deteriorating bathroom. She said she started searching for the possibility of funding to help her correct the issue and got connected with SWIPCO. After speaking with SWIPCO Inspector Mathew Lee, Samuel was quickly put on track to get some repairs. SWIPCO officials say they were able to help get Samuel approved for funding to repair the foundation cracks to prevent the temperature issues from continuing. Once that was corrected, updates were then made to the flooring structure and plumbing of her bathroom. That was followed by renovation and finishing of the entire room.Samuel said it was a blessing to find help, “I didn’t think I was going to be able to stay here with the continuing water issues. I started looking for other places to live. I’m so grateful for the work as I plan on staying here as long as I can.”

Photos of the completed bathroom project and of the resident; Cynthia Samuel in the updated room. (Photos & info. courtesy SWIPCO Communications Coordinator Chris Parks)

Samuel grew up in the area and moved away for an extended period. She came back to take care of her parents that both had cancer. She eventually purchased the home she’s in now.
Samuel had high praise for everyone she worked with during the repairs. “Mathew was so great to work with, we talked like we had been friends. The contractor was excellent and just came and took care of his business.” She liked the simplicity of the renovation. “They just sent me some pictures of a couple options on flooring and fixtures, and I picked what I liked out. They took care of the rest. I’m proud of it even though I didn’t do it.”

SWIPCO implements several different funding sources and programs to help residents in the region get needed repairs to their homes. If you have a need for your home and would like information about what assistance could be provided, please contact SWIPCO at 712-243-4196 or 1-866-279-4720.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education will hold a Work Session on Wednesday, Jan. 24th, beginning at 5:30-p.m. The meeting takes place in the High School Media Center (it will also be viewable through this LINK). The Board’s agenda is shown below.

PRIMGHAR, Iowa (KCAU-TV) — An arrest was made Monday in connection with a bank robbery in northwest Iowa.  According to a release from the O’Brien County Sheriff’s Office, a 911 call at about 1:02 p.m. Monday alerted officials of a bank robbery at the Sanford Savings Bank. Bank officials said that a man, identified as Del Martinnez Evans, Jr., entered the bank and allegedly handed the teller a note that said “this was a robbery and demanded cash.” He did not show or mention a weapon, officials said.

An unknown amount of cash was taken, and the alleged robber left the bank. When officers arrived, a perimeter was set up around 201 West 5th Street. Local schools and businesses were advised to lock down until further clearance by officials.  Evans, Jr. was arrested without incident a little more than an hour later. He was charged with second degree robbery and second degree theft and placed into the O’Brien County Jail with a $15,000 bond.

The incident remains under investigation.

URBANDALE, IOWA [WHO-TV]— Urbandale Police have released the name of a man who was found dead outside an Urbandale gas station earlier this month in subzero temperatures.  The body of 52-year-old Ibrahim Shoddo, of Des Moines, was found early in the morning of January 13th near the gas pumps at a gas station in the 8700 block of Hickman Road. Police say he died of exposure. Temperatures that evening were more than ten degrees below zero, with wind chills making it even more dangerous to be outside. His death remains under investigation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) –  An Iowa DCI agent is being accused of improperly investigating sports wagering by student-athletes. The investigation involves athletes and others associated with athletic programs from the University of Iowa and Iowa State University. KCCI reports an attorney for Eyioma Uwazurike and Isaiah Lee made the accusation in a new filing Monday. The two former Cyclones football players are charged with identity theft and tampering with records related to illegal sports wagering.

In the new filing, Van M. Plumb says Special Agent Brian Sanger conducted a “warrantless search” by placing a GeoFence around certain dorms to investigate underage gambling. Plumb says this was done without any tips to DCI.

The filing also shows the software Sanger used gave him access to see online betting apps that were being used. However, he could not see if bets were actually being made, according to court documents.

(Radio Iowa) – Independent filmmakers in Iowa are appealing to the public for help in getting a movie made in several locations in the state with an all Iowa-cast and crew. Co-director Jake Daniels, founder of Mediaverse Studios in Marengo, says the feature-length film is to be called “Operation: Crimson Night.” It will follow a team of soldiers working for a shadow organization who are sent to find and kill a creature that escaped from its containment area in a small town in Romania. “It’s kind of a mystery and kind of a suspenseful thriller, but there’s also a lot of character-driven aspects to it,” Daniels says. “When we see these kind of movies, we basically just see the action and shoot ’em up stuff, but what we’re trying to create is something that’s more character-driven and has a little bit more heart, and leans more to the horror than the action.”

Daniels says filmmakers don’t need to go to Hollywood, Atlanta or New York to create quality entertainment, as there’s exceptional talent and creativity thriving within the state of Iowa. “The goal of this is mostly to show the film industry that Iowa is here and we are making really good movies,” Daniels says, “and while we have a small budget, we’re able to make it look like something way larger. We’re hoping for film festival releases and then eventually, we’re going to try to get it onto some streaming platforms.” Daniels says he’s also planning for screenings of the film in Iowa theaters. The crowdfunding campaign effort via the website Indiegogo is seeking $7,500 as seed money to make this movie a reality.

Mediaverse Studios image

“We have all of our own cameras and lighting and we’re actually building some sets at our studio, so we’re able to eat a lot of the costs that way ourselves,” he says. “The funding is basically going to the cast and crew to get them fed, get them paid a little bit, and then hopefully on the back end, if we get good distribution, then all that money will go back to the cast and crew.”

It’s hoped the movie will be shot in May and June in locations around Des Moines, Mason City and at the studio in Marengo.

Learn more at: www.indiegogo.com/projects/operation-crimson-night.

(Radio Iowa) – A state expert says the snow this month is going to be a help after months of drought. Iowa D-N-R hydrologist, Tim Hall, says there are some indications melting snow will provide some help for depleted soil moisture. “The numbers I’ve seen suggest that the ground frost is not particularly deep in the state because the really cold weather we just came through happened after we had a pretty decent snow cover on the ground, which tends to insulate the soil a little bit,” he says. Hall the ground is often frozen in January and there isn’t any seeping into the subsoil “So if we were to have a rapid melt off, most of the snow would end up in runoff off the top of the ground. So that’s not the best for soil moisture replenishment,” he says.

Hall says the snow melt will be beneficial one way or another. “That moisture is going to go somewhere, and right now whether it goes into the soil or goes into the streams, either one is a good thing for the state of Iowa,” Hall says. Snow runoff will help bring the water levels back up in rivers, streams and lakes. “Those communities that are working hard to keep up with their water demand, this will be helpful,” he says. “Now it still is the time of the year when there isn’t a lot of water demand, so we’ll just keep sticking water into the system and hopefully we can save it up to the growing season next year.” Hall says there could be some flooding if the snow melts rapidly, but he says the drought has created a lot of capacity in lakes and rivers.

“If you recall about a year ago, we were sitting on record snowpack in Minnesota in Wisconsin. And that snow melted off and we had flooding on the Mississippi River in late spring of last year. But because the overall Midwest has been so dry, that flooding came and went and the Mississippi River was back in low flow conditions by summer,” he says. Hall says that something could happen this year in Iowa if the runoff happens quickly.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report a man from Villisca was arrested Monday night on an Adams County warrant. 36-year-old Jacob Tanner Franson was arrested at around 8:20-p.m. on the warrant for Failure to Appear on an original charge of OWI/2nd offense, and aggravated misdemeanor.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill that’s cleared a Senate subcommittee would require Iowa schools to create expense accounts to help teachers pay for classroom supplies. Senator Kerry Gruenhagen, a Republican from Walcott, is the bill’s sponsor. “Currently they’re using their own funds and this is an attempt to set up a funding stream to assist them with that endeavor as opposed to a lot of them going onto Facebook or setting other fundraising efforts to supply their classroom.”

Under the bill, new teachers would get 500 dollars their first year and all other teachers would get 200 dollars a year. The program would cost eight million dollars statewide for the next academic year and schools would have to shift money from their general budget to cover the expense accounts.

Melissa Peterson, a lobbyist for the Iowa State Education Association, says the teachers’ union isn’t registered in opposition to the bill, but is concerned there’s no new state funding for the program.  “We do appreciate that this bill acknowledges teachers need more resources in their classrooms,” Peterson says, “because we don’t have enough resources.” Margaret Buckton, a lobbyist for Rural School Advocates of Iowa and the Urban Educators Network, says not all classroom needs are equal.  “And we just don’t want to invade on local control and how this might be determined at the local level,” Buckton says.
Senator Lynn Evans, a Republican from Aurelia who’s a retired superintendent, agreed to advance the bill, but he says it needs work.

“Schools are going to budget differently based on their school’s needs, their students’ needs and their school board expectations. This tends to mandate how they’re going to develop their budget,” Evans says. “I don’t disagree that teachers need more financial support in the classroom. I would like to have some further discussion on this bill, on how it would be funded and what the long range, maybe, impact of it would be.”

And Senator Sarah Trone-Garriot, a Democrat from West Des Moines, notes the bill calls for any money teachers don’t spend on classroom supplies to be redirected to raises for all teachers in the district.  “Teachers need to be paid more,” Trone-Garriott says. “We’re not going to accomplish that by just moving the same money around.”

According to a national non-profit that helps raise money for classroom supplies, teachers spent an average of 860 dollars of their own money on supplies for this current school year.