(Radio Iowa) – Some might call it a Christmas miracle. A north-central Iowa community is in the midst of raising money for a new municipal swimming pool, and Hamilton County Supervisor Rick Young says they’ve gotten a tremendous, surprise gift. “In the last week, we received an anonymous donation of $1 million,” Young says, “and this person does not wish to be recognized and they don’t want to name the area for them.” The entire project is expected to cost four-million dollars, so Young says this donation is a huge step forward.

The pool is to be built in Jewell, to replace a pool that’s around 60 years old. “Initially, it was just going to be the Jewell area, but it serves Gilbert, Hubbard, Radcliffe, Blairsburg, Kamrar, Williams, a lot of the towns around the surrounding area,” Young says, “so that entails about 12,000 people.”

Donations are still being taken for the project. There’s no date set on when construction is to begin.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis says former President Donald Trump is moving to the left on some issues. DeSantis points to Trump touting an endorsement from a Rhode Island man who was part of the Black Lives Matter movement. “He was bragging about that on his social media, saying, you know I’m so glad to have the support of this particular gentleman as well as BLM,” DeSantis says. “BLM was responsible for riots in the summer of 2020. That cost billions of dollars and led to a number of deaths and it was something that actually happened under his watch as president of the United States.”

DeSantis says Trump is flip flopping on abortion, by criticizing state laws that ban nearly all abortions. And DeSantis says he and Trump have a different frame of mind about the 2024 campaign and presidential conduct. “I consider myself a servant leader. It’s not about me,” DeSantis says. “…I want people to know that supporting me as president that when I get up there, obviously I’m going to take care of business, but I’m going to be able to conduct myself in a way they’re going to be proud of. They’re not going to have to make excuses for me…We’ll execute, get the job done and we’ll do it in a way that really aims higher.”

C-N-N recently announced plans for a candidate debate on January 10th, with polling thresholds that only DeSantis, former U-N Ambassador Nikki Haley and Trump would meet. DeSantis is the only one of the three who’s said he’ll participate. “I think if you’re not willing to debate in Iowa on the eve of the Caucus, that shows a lot about you and your willingness to engage,” DeSantis says. DeSantis made his comments to Iowa reporters during an online news conference.

Trump is scheduled to campaign in Coralville early this (Wednesday) evening and return to the state for a rally in Waterloo next Tuesday. A recent Des Moines Register/N-B-C News/Mediacom “Iowa Poll” found Trump’s lead has grown since October, with over half of likely Caucus goers backing Trump.

(Radio Iowa) – Members of the panel that predicts state tax revenue say recession fears are receding and, while total receipts are down slightly, that’s due to previously approved tax cuts. The December report from the Revenue Estimating Conference sets the stage as Republican Governor Kim Reynolds and G-O-P lawmakers signal they hope to eventually eliminate the state income tax. Iowa Department of Management director Kraig Paulsen, the governor’s top budget advisor, is chairman of the Revenue Estimating Conference.

“We continue to see modest growth in Iowa’s economy,” Paulsen says “and the revenue numbers coming in support this.” The panel predicts the state of Iowa will collect over nine-point-seven BILLION dollars in taxes during the current budgeting year. By January, there will be more than three-point-six BILLION dollars in the Taxpayer Relief Fund where unspent taxes are being deposited. Paulsen says consumer spending in Iowa appears strong and, while, corporate income tax reductions have been made, total corporate tax receipts are up 15 percent over the past five months.

“To me, this indicates continued organic growth within Iowa’s economy,” Paulsen says. Clear Lake C-P-A David Underwood is another member of the tax-predicting panel. “The continued discussion of when’s the recession coming — it seems like finally everybody’s decided, well, it hasn’t gotten here yet, so maybe we won’t have one at least in the near term,” Underwood says. “That consensus helps a little bit, that we aren’t just wondering when that bottom is going to fall out.”

The Revenue Estimating Conference predicts the State of Iowa will collect over nine-point-seven BILLION dollars in taxes in the current budgeting year that ends June 30th. The prediction for the following 12 months is slightly less, primarily due to tax cuts approved in 2018 and 2022.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports 26-year-old Adam Edward Lee Austin, of Creston, was arrested at around 8-p.m. Tuesday (12/12/23), on three counts Violation of Probation. Austin was transported to the Union County Jail and held without bond, until seen by a Magistrate Judge.

(Radio Iowa) – A couple of donations will allow the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to build out a wildlife tracking system across the state. D-N-R Avian Ecologist, Anna Buckardt Thomas, says the system called Motus is a series of antennae stations and tracking tags that emit a radio signal. “And if they go by a station that’s listening on that same frequency, that station can detect those wildlife. And so we can build a really large scale understanding of movements of these wildlife,” she says.

There are currently 18 stations in Iowa and the 120-thousand dollars in donations will allow them to expand that by 20 stations to create a corridor from east to west across the center of the state. “And then stations bordering the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. And so that way, we’ll be able to understand bird movement along those major river corridors and that movement as well,” Thomas says. “And then, because we’ll have that fence through the middle of the state, we’re likely to detect pretty much any tagged wildlife that would come to Iowa.”

The tags are put on smaller migratory birds and insects like butterflies and dragonflies. The tags vary in size based on what’s being tagged, and that also dictates how long its battery will last. “For something like an insect, that tag lasts maybe a handful of weeks or a month. And for something like a small bird, it might last six months in a large bird, you might get a tag that can last over a year,” she says.

Motus tower station at the Iowa DNR’s Black Hawk Unit office, near Early. Photo courtesy of the Iowa DNR.

Thomas says different groups tag different species based on what they want to research, and she says there is always some sort of tagging going on. She says the stations all over the western hemisphere and Iowa provide a variety of information that the D-N-R can review. “So if we can learn about particular pathways or particular habitats that are really important for these migratory species, we can help inform our conservation and management of those areas,” Thomas says.  The information is also available to the public at the website motus.org.

“And you can explore a map of all the existing stations, you can click on a station and learn about what animals have flown by or moved by and then detected by that station,” she says. “You can look up what species of wildlife are being tagged on the system. You can look up a specific tagging project if you’re aware of it, though. There’s a lot of really cool data to explore.”  Thomas says you can also build maps of individual birds or collections of birds to see where they’re being detected as they move during migration periods.

The D-N-R hopes to add the additional sites in the next five years.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – You’re invited to join Cass County Conservation Department Staff at Atlantic’s Schildberg Recreation Area- Lake number 4, on Saturday, January 6, 2024 for “Soiree with the Swans.” Conservation Dept. Staff will be giving ten-minute presentations regarding the Trumpeter Swans every half-hour, beginning at 11-a.m., with the last one presented at 2-p.m.

There will also be time to view the swans through spotting scopes and witness random swan feeding sessions. Hot chocolate, cookies, and other snacks will be provided free of charge with donations being accepted (for swan care).

The Schildberg Recreation Area is located on the northwest edge of Atlantic, Lake 4 is on the north side of Highway 83. Atlantic is celebrating 24 winters of the Trumpeter Swans wintering here.

This event is not to be missed! IF THE WEATHER IS “BAD” OR THE SWANS ARE NOT AT THE PARK…the program will be at the Atlantic Public Library from 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. with hot chocolate, cookies, and other snacks available. The event is being sponsored by the Cass County Conservation Board, Atlantic Parks and Recreation, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

(Radio Iowa) – A team from the Animal Rescue League of Iowa was called to a house in Des Moines last week to rescue dozens of animals. The A-R-L says it removed 31 dogs and two birds from conditions that were so deplorable, the house was deemed uninhabitable. A news release says the floors were coated with feces and puddles of urine that were warping the flooring. The dogs were as young as a week old and suffered from a host of conditions, including flea infestations. They’re now being cared for at the league’s headquarters.

One of the 31 dogs rescued (ARL photo)

The release says 26 animals were rescued from the same house four years ago. There’s no word on charges against the homeowner.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Having a light agenda, the Adair County Board of Supervisors today (Wednesday), breezed through their business in about 10-minutes.

The Board approved a General Relief application, a 2024 ISAC Wellness Agreement, and .Homestead & Military Disallances. They also passed a Resolution calling for Board Chair Jerry Walker to accept a bid of $211,327.69 from Gus Construction, and sign the contract for, the N-24 Prussia (Township) Reinforced Concrete Box (RCB) Culvert Project for the Local Farm-to-Market road. County Engineer Nick Kauffman said the bid was 17-percent over the engineer’s estimate.

The Adair County Supervisors also authorized the Chair to sign documents pertaining to the N-36 Lee (Township) RCB Culvert Project, and a Right-Of-Way contract for the N-19 Lincoln (Township) Bridge Project on the Local Farm-to-Market road.

Kauffman updated the Board on Secondary Roads Department maintenance work and activities.

(Radio Iowa) – The leader of the University of Northern Iowa’s faculty union is voicing concerns over how the school is handling its money. U-N-I released a statement defending the movement of nearly a million dollars from its general fund to athletics, saying one of its missions is to identify opportunities for those programs to be more self-sustaining. United Faculty leader Chris Martin says that shouldn’t come at the cost of education, especially when athletics can already borrow from the general fund. “There was a deal way back in 2010 that UNI’s athletics programs could take money out of the general fund, but it couldn’t go past 2.4 percent,” Martin says. “So there’s always been money going toward that, but in the past year or two, it wasn’t budgeted for.”

Martin says athletics programs borrowed nine-hundred thousand dollars, which exceeded the allowed percentage. He says the university’s overall budget has shrunk by several million dollars since 2019, largely due to a decrease in funding from the state legislature.  “When we’re confronted with losing academic dollars towards athletics or other auxiliary units, that’s a concern for us on the academic side,” Martin says, “since we’re already feeling an incredible pinch from being underfunded from the state.”

U-N-I’s overall budget has shrunk by about nine-million dollars, and the number of tenure-track positions has dropped by nearly 100 over the past four years.

(Radio Iowa) – Two juveniles face felony charges after allegedly making threats against two small northwest Iowa school districts. Palo Alto County Sheriff John King says a 16-year-old suspect has been charged with a felony for an alleged threat at Ruthven-Ayrshire Community Schools on Friday. A threatening social media post on Saturday against the Graettinger Terril School District was investigated by federal, state and local authorities.

A juvenile located by Eagle Grove Police on Sunday has been charged with making threats of terrorism. The two school districts have a sharing arrangement for their athletic teams, which are known as the G-T-R-A Titans, and one superintendent oversees both districts.