DES MOINES – Governor Reynolds has announced that 109 soldiers from the Iowa National Guard will deploy today to Texas in support of Operation Lone Star to help secure the U.S. Southern Border following the end of Title 42.

The deployment will last until Sept. 1, 2023, with the mission of deterring illegal border crossings and preventing the trafficking of illegal substances by cartels through Texas. This is the Guard’s third deployment to the U.S. southern border since 2020, but the first pursuant to a state mission.

Following the deployment of Iowa National Guard soldiers, the Iowa Department of Public Safety (DPS) will deploy Iowa State Patrol officers on August 31, 2023, to support Texas State Troopers with criminal interdiction, crime prevention, traffic enforcement, and law enforcement assistance. An investigative team will also support Texas investigations of narcotics, weapons, and human trafficking. The Iowa DPS deployment will end on October 2, 2023.

All costs will be covered by federal funding allocated to Iowa from the American Rescue Plan. States are given flexibility in how this funding can be used provided it supports the provision of government services.

Gov. Kim Reynolds released the following statement regarding the state’s support of Operation Lone Star:

“On his first day in office, President Biden reversed commonsense policies that protected the U.S. Southern border and American citizens. Since that time, our country has experienced a historic rise in illegal immigrants and illicit drugs entering our country. Two years later, every state is a border state, and Iowa’s unique location at the intersection of two major interstates makes it a target for human traffickers and drug cartels.

“The Biden Administration has failed to respond to the crisis at the border and, in doing so, has failed the American people – Iowans included. They have created one of the most significant national security and humanitarian crises of our generation and are blatantly ignoring the impact it’s having on our states, cities, and our people.

“Since the administration refuses to invest in securing the border and protecting its citizens, Texas has asked other states to help, and Iowa is ready and willing to assist.

“Iowa is deploying National Guard troops and personnel from the Department of Public Safety to protect the citizens and interests of our state by supporting Operation Lone Star and helping secure the U.S. Southern border.”

COUNCIL BLUFFS – D’Jay Baxter Betts, convicted of Theft 1st Degree and Robbery 2nd Degree in Pottawattamie County, failed to report back to the Council Bluffs Residential Correctional Facility as required the afternoon of July 31, 2023.

Betts is a 29-year-old black male, height 6’1″, and weighs 222  pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on July 18, 2023.

Persons with information on Betts’ whereabouts should contact local police.

D’Jay Baxter Betts

(Radio Iowa) – The head of the Eastern Iowa Community Colleges has resigned after a little less than a year as chancellor.
Sonya Williams started as chancellor of the Clinton, Muscatine and Scott Community Colleges on August 8th of last year. The board of trustees for the colleges accepted her resignation yesterday (Tuesday) and announced she was leaving for personal reasons.

Williams, an Air Force veteran, was an administrator at the College of Lake County in Illinois and chief academic officer for that school’s 15-thousand students when she was hired for the job in eastern Iowa. The president of Muscatine Community College has been appointed as temporary acting chancellor of the Eastern Iowa Community Colleges system.

It has satellite sites in Maquoketa, Wilton and in Davenport as well as the main campuses in Muscatine, Clinton and Davenport. The Eastern Iowa Community Colleges system was formed nearly 60 years ago when junior colleges and vocational schools were merged and the state’s 15 area community colleges were created.

(Radio Iowa)  – The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation confirms seven athletes from the University of Iowa and Iowa State University are facing sports gambling charges. The D-C-I says three current and one former Cyclone are charged — with the most prominent being starting quarterback Hunter Dekkers. Three from the U-I are charged, including former baseball player Gehrig Christansen, backup kicker Aaron Blom, and former basketball player Ahron Uhlis.

All seven are charged with tampering with records related to the investigation, as the D-C-I alleges that each tried to hide they were using a sports betting account by claiming the account belonged to someone else. The D-C-I says more charges may be filed as the investigation continues.

ATLANTIC — Heavy precipitation is causing a bypass of untreated wastewater from the City of Fontanelle. It is flowing from Washington and Main Street in town to an unnamed tributary which runs over a mile before reaching the Middle Nodaway River. The bypassing began at 2:51 a.m. The amount of the discharge is unknown at this time.

DNR is monitoring the situation and seeking more information about the extent of the discharge. It is recommended to stay away from this area until the bypass has stopped.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office today (Wednesday) released a report on five arrests conducted from Monday through today. There were two arrests Monday, in Mills County:

• 18-year-old Skyler Ann Mixan, of Elkhorn, NE, was arrested Monday morning at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, for  Theft in the 1st Degree. Her bond was set at $10,000. And, 47-year-old Simon Christopher Elias, of Glenwood, was arrested at around 6:30-p.m., Monday, in the area of Levi Road and Highway 34. Elias was charged with OWI/ 2nd Offense, and Driving While Revoked. His bond was set at $3,000.

Early Tuesday morning, deputies in Mills County arrested 27-year-old Brittany Marier Barrett, of Omaha, NE, for Possession of Controlled Substance and Driving Under Suspension. She was arrested on I-29 at mile marker 36, at around 2:14-a.m. Bond was set at $2,000; 25-year-old David Glen Combs, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Tuesday night at the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, on a Mills County warrant for Failure To Appear on an original, Violation of Probation, charge. His bond was set at $1,000.

And, at around 1:23-a.m. today (Wednesday), 27-year-old Nicolas Preston Ramirez, of Omaha, NE, was arrested at Highway 34 and I-29 in Mills County, for OWI/1st offense. Bond was set at  $1,000.

(Harlan, Iowa) – Firefighters in Harlan was dispatched a little before 7-a.m. today (Wednesday), to a structure. The fire was reported at Brockelman & Associates, PC, at 1301 Hawkeye Avenue in Harlan. Upon arrival crews determined the fire was in the attic of the building, where electrical wiring had overheated and started the insulation on fire.

Firefighters started cutting holes in the roof and pulling down parts of the ceiling to get to the base of the fire. Fire fighting crews from the Westphalia and Avoca Fire Departments responded to a call for mutual aid. The Harlan Fire Department was on scene for about three hours. Their effort and the other fire departments, resulted in the damage being contained to about 25% of the building.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Iowa Aviation Museum’s 30th Annual Wings Fly-In/Drive-in and Hall of Fame Induction will be held Saturday, August 19th 2023.  A pancake breakfast will be served from 7:30 to 10 am by the Fontanelle Lions Club.  Price of breakfast, which includes museum admission, is $10 for adults, $5 for 1st to 12th grade students, preschool children and pilots in command eat free.

The Hall of Fame induction of James Zangger will be held following breakfast.  For more information, contact the Iowa Aviation Museum at 641-343-7184.

(Radio Iowa) -Many Iowans were awakened by unfamiliar noises this (Wednesday) morning, claps of thunder and raindrops on the rooftop. Some communities that have seen precious little precipitation in weeks — even months — were hit with a deluge. Hydrologist Jeff Zogg, at the National Weather Service, says multiple flash flood warnings were issued early today as rainfall totals reached seven and eight inches in a few locations. “That’s a combination of some radar estimates as well as some rainfall reports that we received,” Zogg says. “The heaviest rainfall fell in a stripe from southwest into south-central Iowa and amounts there were as high as four to six inches with some locally higher amounts.”

Traffic was slowed on many roadways, including Interstate 29 in western Iowa, due to a combination of standing water and a lack of visibility during the downpour. “We’re not hearing a whole lot in terms of major damage from the rainfall,” Zogg says, “mainly just some road closures, maybe some basements with water in them, but in most places, the rainfall was pretty welcome.” The old adage of “When it rains, it pours,” had dual significance today, as drought-stricken areas badly needed the rain, just not quite so much of it over such a short period of time.”The rainfall fell pretty intensely in some locations,” Zogg says, “so while the rainfall was welcome, in some cases it fell a little too fast for it to soak in, and it ran off and caused some of the problems that we were seeing.”

Wide sections of Iowa have been in drought for a few years now, and this precipitation is coming at a crucial time for farmers. “The rainfall that we’ve received will definitely help,” Zogg says. “It won’t end the drought conditions, but as far as for the rest of the day, the chances for showers and storms will be greatest pretty much across the southern half of the state, basically south of Highway 30. It’s kind of winding down in some areas but better chances as you go further south.”

The long-range forecast calls for at least a chance of rain every day through Sunday.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Small non-farm businesses in 20 Iowa counties and neighboring counties in Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri and South Dakota are now eligible to apply for low interest federal disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Director Tanya N. Garfield with the SBA’s Disaster Field Operations Center-West, says the loans offset economic losses because of reduced revenues caused by drought in the following primary counties that began June 6th

Primary Iowa counties:  Cass, Lee, Lyon and Montgomery;
Neighboring Iowa counties:  Adair, Adams, Audubon, Des Moines, Fremont, Guthrie, Henry, Mills, O’Brien, Osceola, Page, Pottawattamie, Shelby, Sioux, Taylor and Van Buren;

“SBA eligibility covers both the economic impacts on businesses dependent on farmers and ranchers that have suffered agricultural production losses caused by the disaster and businesses directly impacted by the disaster,” Garfield said. Small non-farm businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations of any size may qualify for Economic Injury Disaster Loans of up to $2 million to help meet financial obligations and operating expenses which could have been met had the disaster not occurred.

“Eligibility for these loans is based on the financial impact of the disaster only and not on any actual property damage. These loans have an interest rate of 4 percent for businesses and 2.375 percent for private nonprofit organizations, a maximum term of 30 years and are available to small businesses and most private nonprofits without the financial ability to offset the adverse impact without hardship,” Garfield said. By law, SBA makes Economic Injury Disaster Loans available when the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture designates an agricultural disaster. The Secretary declared this disaster on July 31.

Businesses primarily engaged in farming or ranching are not eligible for SBA disaster assistance. Agricultural enterprises should contact the Farm Services Agency about the U.S. Department of Agriculture assistance made available by the Secretary’s declaration. However, nurseries are eligible for SBA disaster assistance in drought disasters. Applicants may apply online, receive additional disaster assistance information and download applications at https://disasterloanassistance.sba.gov/.

Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services. Completed applications should be mailed to U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX  76155.

The deadline to apply for economic injury is April 1, 2024.