(Radio Iowa) — The mayor of Council Bluffs says Iowa’s property tax system has been “broken” for decades and needs a complete overhaul. Mayor Matt Walsh comments come after the 2019 Iowa legislature passed a bill requiring new public notices and a super majority vote when city councils raise property taxes more than two percent.

“They tinker with it and try to make it workable,” Walsh says. “At this point, it’s like a piece of machinery. You can only repair it so many times. It no longer works.” Walsh says property taxes put Council Bluffs at a “distinct disadvantage” with Omaha.

“No doubt there’s need for property tax reform. I don’t think the legislature accomplished what they wanted to accomplish,” Walsh said. “I don’t think it added any transparency.” Walsh and mayors from eastern and central Iowa discussed property taxes during taping of “Iowa Press” which airs tonight (Friday) on Iowa Public Television.

North Liberty Mayor Terry Donahue says posting public notices about property taxes online and in newspapers won’t be a problem. “When we go through our public process, we have three or four public meetings where people can come in, see what maybe the preliminary budget may be,” Donahue says. “If they wish to make a comment, they’re certainly welcome to do so. We have a public hearing that’s mandated when we do the final adoption. I don’t see that as a problem at all. It’s just adding, maybe, an extra step.”

Nevada Mayor Brett Barker was at the statehouse, lobbying against a previous proposal that included a statewide cap on property tax increases. “The legislators listened. They made changes,” Barker says. “A lot of the unintended consequences we were concerned about were mitigated in the final version of the bill.” Barker says the legislation’s public notice requirements may help the public better understand the existing property tax system.

The Glenwood Police Department reports 45-year old Vernon Lee Brent, of Glenwood, was arrested Thursday afternoon, after the car he was driving was observed by witnesses traveling southbound on Elm Street before it struck a mailbox. Brent was arrested for OWI/2nd offense, and cited for Reckless Driving. His cash or surety bond was set at $2,000. Damage from the incident amounted to $500.

Spring has finally arrived, and just in time for the annual Cass County Master Gardener Plant Sale! The sale is being held at the Cass County Community Center north parking lot, Saturday, May 11 beginning at 8 AM and lasting until the plants are gone. Cost is a free will offering for most plants. The sale consists of perennial flowers and plants from local Master Gardeners’ own beds- hostas, iris, yarrow, sedum, fern leaf peonies, creeping phlox, rhubarb, and day lilies, to name a few. Plant selection changes each year depending on what is being dug and divided by our gardeners! All plants will be labeled with information on color, height, and light requirements, to assist you in finding the perfect spot to plant them in your own landscape.

Besides perennials there may also be some started annual plants, yard art, garden supplies, and garden books to buy. In addition, registration forms will be available to sign up for the Master Gardeners annual bus tour, scheduled for Thursday June 6th this year. It’s recommended you come in the first hour for best selection, as plants go fast! Cass County Master Gardeners use funds from the plant sale to support their scholarships and community grants, as well as projects they do around the county each year.

For more information on the sale, you can find a flier at the Cass County Extension office, or on the Cass County Extension website at www.extension.iastate.edu/cass.  You can also call the Cass County Extension office at 712-243-1132 or email xcass@iastate.edu. Mark your calendar now, and plan to join the Cass County Master Gardeners for their annual Plant Sale on May 11, from 8 AM until the plants are gone!

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — An 18-year-old accused of fatally stabbing another woman in a fight has struck a plea deal during her trial in Burlington. The Hawk Eye reports that Kaylee Wilson pleaded guilty Friday to voluntary manslaughter and weapons charges. The deal was finalized after two days of testimony in her trial on a charge of second-degree murder. Lawyers on both sides agreed to recommend a total sentence of 15 years in prison.

Prosecutors say Wilson stabbed 23-year-old Mallery Doak on Jan. 22 during a fight in front of Wilson’s Burlington home. A criminal complaint says the two had been arguing in instant messages over a man who’d fathered one of Doak’s children. Wilson reported that Doak threatened her for spending time with the man and said she was headed over to Wilson’s house.

Wilson told investigators that she then armed herself with a kitchen knife.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court has rejected an effort by local landowners to block a proposed wind farm in northwest Iowa after it won approval from government regulators. The court’s rulings on Friday remove a major obstacle for the 170-turbine wind energy project in Palo Alto County. It also provides more certainty that similar projects will be able to proceed in the future.

Residents filed two lawsuits challenging the plan by Palo Alto Wind Energy and MidAmerican Energy, one against the Iowa Utilities Board and another against the Palo Alto County Board of Supervisors. The utilities board lawsuit contended board members should have required developers to get a special certificate that requires extensive study of the project’s impact. The county lawsuit challenged the supervisors’ process for approving the project.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Officials with FEMA have updated the status of Iowa Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Loan Outreach Centers (DLOCs). The information below provides the county, address, days and hours of operation.

OPEN DISASTER RECOVERY CENTERS (County/address/hours-days of operation/current status)

• Fremont County: 2014 290th Ave., Sidney – Thursday-Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Open until further notice.
• Mills County: 111 Lacey St. Glenwood – Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Open until further notice.
• Shelby County: Mobile DRC Harlan Fire Hall 906 Cyclone Ave., Harlan, Monday-Wednesday Tues., April 30, noon – 7 p.m. all other days, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Closes Wednesday, May 8.
• Shelby Mobile DRC: 500 East St., Shelby Thursday-Saturday, beginning May 2  Thurs., May 2, noon to 7 p.m. All other days, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. ; Closes Saturday, May 11.
• Harrison: Converted to a DLOC. 800 W. Huron St., Missouri Valley Monday-Friday. A FEMA staff member will be on hand May 13 –15.  9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday. Until further notice.
• Woodbury: Converted to a DLOC. The Security Institute 4647 Stone Ave. Sioux City, Monday-Friday. A FEMA staff member will be on hand May 2-3 and May 6-10. 9 a.m.to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday. Until further notice.

Each DRC provides one-on-one assistance including: ▪ Help to register for FEMA assistance. ▪ Help completing paperwork and checking the status of your application. ▪ Help applying for the SBA low-interest disaster loans for businesses, private nonprofits, homeowners and renters. ▪ Referrals to other state, federal and voluntary organizations offering information about additional disaster assistance. ▪ Help understanding how to appeal FEMA eligibility decisions. ▪ Accommodations to meet the needs of the entire community, including people with access and functional needs. Centers are equipped with video remote interpreting and assistive listening devices.

If you need an accommodation or assistance due to an access or functional need, please notify FEMA staff at the time of registration or anytime during the assistance process. Those applying for assistance at a DRC should have the following information at hand: ▪ Social Security number. ▪ Address of the damaged primary residence. ▪ Description of the damage. ▪ Information about insurance coverage. ▪ A current contact telephone number. ▪ An address where they can receive mail. ▪ Bank account and routing numbers for direct deposit of funds.

The status of a DRC is determined by local government, the state and FEMA based on the need for the facility. To date, more than 1,000 survivors have visited a DRC. Two DRCs have now closed but are still providing assistance to impacted citizens at SBA DLOCs where customer service representatives provide information on the agency’s disaster loan program. Many of the services available at Disaster Recovery Centers also are available by calling the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362, voice/711/video relay service. Multilingual operators are on duty. TTY users may call 800-462-7585. Lines are open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time.

At a DLOC, SBA customer service representatives can answer questions about the agency’s disaster loan program, explain the application process, help individuals apply online and close their approved disaster loans. The centers will be open on the days and times indicated on the chart. No appointment is necessary. Businesses and residents can visit www.SBA.gov/disaster, call SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. TTY users may also call 800-877- 8339. For more information on the Iowa disaster and a variety of recovery resources, log on to: www.floods2019.iowa.gov or www.fema.gov/disaster/4421.

Washington, D.C.- Congressman Steve King has announced that Elise Masters of Crawford County has been selected as this year’s winner of the Congressional Art Competition in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District. Masters, who is a high school student at Odebolt Arthur Battle Creek Ida Grove Community School District, submitted a compelling work entitled “Farm Food Chain.” (The winning entry can be seen below, right)

“Farm Food Chain” by Elise Masters

King said “We have an abundance of talented young artists in Iowa’s 4th District, and I appreciate the efforts of everyone who entered the Congressional Art Competition. This year’s winner, Elise Masters, produced a terrific piece that is visually appealing and representative of the importance of agriculture to our district. I congratulate Elise for her achievement and I look forward to seeing ‘Farm Food Chain’ on display in the Capitol.”

Each year, the Congressional Art Competition, “An Artistic Discovery,” is sponsored by Members of the United States House of Representatives through the Congressional Institute to recognize and encourage artistic talent in each Member’s congressional district. This competition is open to all high-school students and the winner’s art piece will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol for one year. The 4th District winner, along with one guest, will be flown to Washington, D.C. for the Congressional celebration courtesy of Southwest Airlines.

(Radio Iowa) — The all-time worst flood to hit Davenport is no longer the flood of 1993. The Mississippi pushed past the record level Thursday and it’s still slowly rising, approaching eight feet over flood stage. Meteorologist Rich Kinney, at the National Weather Service in Davenport, says the river has surpassed the record of 22-point-63 feet set in July 26 years ago. “Last weekend, there were significant amounts of rainfall, two or three-plus inches across the area,” Kinney says, “and that really fueled this latest rise that we’re seeing.”

Governor Kim Reynolds is scheduled to survey the damage in downtown Davenport this (Friday) morning. The crest is expected soon and the river may fall about a foot over the weekend, but Kinney is worried about the potential for more rain Sunday through Wednesday.  “That, if it occurs, would lead to renewed rises and we’re already at a very high level,” Kinney says. “We’re certainly very concerned about that and even after the crest, folks cannot let their guard down because the river will start to fall a little bit but we could be back on the rise again next week.”

He notes, the Quad Cities weather service is a “24-7 operation.” Kinney says the employees are very busy providing the “latest and best” information to many cities, counties, emergency managers, the news media, and others. Its forecast area includes the Upper Mississippi River between Dubuque County, Iowa and Hancock County, Illinois.

(Radio Iowa) — Early this week, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley warned the “United States Mexico Canada Agreement” won’t get ratified in congress if President Trump doesn’t lift the tariffs on steel and aluminum. Joni Ernst, the other Republican representing Iowa in the U.S. Senate, says those tariffs “need to go away.” “Our manufacturers are having a very hard time with that right now,” Ernst said.

Ernst met last week with about 120 people at Kinze Manufacturing in Williamsburg to discuss the impact the tariffs are having in Iowa.The tariffs on steel and aluminum imports also prompted Mexico to impose tariffs on U.S. pork imports.  “One in five jobs in Iowa is tied directly to trade, so this is an area that our manufacturers, our farmers and our ranchers are very, very interested in,” Ernst said. “But right now, the tariffs we have on those products are overwhelming and it is hurting our farm and agricultural income.”

U.S. farm income fell nearly 12 BILLION dollars in the first three months of the year. “I continue to visit with the president about these issues and am encouraging him not only to get the trade deals done as soon as possible, in particular USMCA and long-term China — we need those done, but also to remove those tariffs, so we can move forward,” Ernst says.

Ernst says she met this week with Iowa businesses that distribute canned beverages and heard their concerns about rising aluminum prices.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — University of Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz and his wife have won another round in a neighborhood fight. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that a judge’s ruling issued Wednesday affirms the Ferentzes do not owe neighbors around $9,600 for road maintenance and don’t have to remove landscaping that affords them privacy from intrusive football fans.

A homeowners association set up by the neighbors sued the Ferentzes in March 2016, accusing they’d breached a contract and committed trespass. A judge ruled in September 2017 that the Ferentzes weren’t required to join the association. The Iowa Supreme Court declined to hear the neighbors’ appeal, setting up what became a nonjury trial on Feb. 12-13 to hear the remaining claims.

The legal dispute is scheduled to continue in court in June next year on another breach-of-contract claim against Kirk and Mary Ferentz.