(Adams County,  Iowa) – Officials with the Corning Fire Department said in a social media post, that on Thursday (Nov. 9, 2023), they were dispatched to a combine fire. Once on scene, it was discovered that the field the combine was in had started on fire as well.

Mutual aid was requested from the Cumberland, Grant, Massena and Villisca Fire Departments. Montgomery County EMA provided aerial drone photos during the incident, as well as assistance with finding hotspots.

No injuries were reported. (Photos via Montgomery County EMA)

DES MOINES –  Governor Kim Reynolds has signed an extension of the proclamation relating to the weight limits and transportation of grain, fertilizer, and manure.  The proclamation is effective immediately (11/9/23) and continues through December 11, 2023. It allows vehicles transporting corn, soybeans, hay, straw, silage, stover, fertilizer (dry, liquid, and gas), and manure (dry and liquid) to be overweight (not exceeding 90,000 pounds gross weight) without a permit for the duration of this proclamation.  

The proclamation applies to loads transported on all highways within Iowa (excluding the interstate system) and those which do not exceed a maximum of 90,000 pounds gross weight, do not exceed the maximum axle weight limit determined under the non-primary highway maximum gross weight table in Iowa Code § 321.463 (6) (a) and (b), by more than 12.5 percent, do not exceed the legal maximum axle weight limit of 20,000 pounds, and comply with posted limits on roads and bridges.  

See the proclamation here.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Shelby County Board of Supervisors met in a regular session Tuesday morning (Nov. 7, 2023). According to the meeting minutes provided by Shelby County Auditor Mark Maxwell, the Supervisors reported current activities on the Boards and committees that they are members of, representing Shelby County. Board Chair Steve Kenkel noted that the Iowa Utility Board has resumed their business with the Carbon Capture Pipeline. Next week they plan to finish the current testimonies that they are permitting to hear.

Todd Valline reported on the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce and Industry to the Supervisors. The report included many events that have recently taken place on the Harlan Square. Organizers were pleased with the great attendance at the recent art show. Activities are also on tap for this weekends Veterans Day activities. Chamber involvement is being scheduled with the holiday events coming up in the coming months.

Brandon Burmeister asked the Supervisors to approve a Utility Permit (numbered 2023-11-3) for West Central Iowa Rural Water Association. Parkhurst made a motion to approve the permit, Schaben seconded the motion the motion passed. Burmeister also gave a Secondary Roads report and progress being made on projects throughout Shelby County including bridge crew activities and some department-wide projects.

Chairperson Kenkel then noted that the employee performance evaluations will be due in early December and that employees using the county provided health insurance had enough participation to warrant the full 5% discount on next year’s health insurance policies. November 14th is a special Supervisor meeting to Canvass the first part of the City/School election. Before concluding the special meeting on the 14th an initial budget workshop will be held with Taryn Knapp the new Shelby County Budget Director.

Mark Maxwell, auditor reminded the Board that the Farm Rent Bids will be opened at the next regular meeting November 21st and the deadline for submission to the Auditors office for the bids for both farms is November 17th.

DES MOINES – October’s above-normal precipitation broke a streak of drier-than-normal months that began in March, according to the latest Water Summary Update.

October’s statewide average precipitation was 3.12 inches, or 0.43 inches above normal. The heavy rainfall in northwest Iowa led to an improvement to “normal” conditions according to the Iowa Drought Plan.

“The wetter-than-normal October was certainly very welcome in Iowa,” said Tim Hall, the DNR’s Hydrology Resources Coordinator. “Despite the above-normal rainfall in October, the state is still more than 7 inches short of moisture for this year, which is concerning as we wind down the fall and head into the winter months. We continue to need normal to above normal rainfall across nearly all of the state to get us into better shape headed into next spring.”

October rains resulted in some improvement in drought conditions for most of the state. However, southwest Iowa moved into the “drought warning” category due to a combination of precipitation deficits and streamflow, along with the current U.S. Drought Monitor designation of moderate to severe drought.

A small area of eastern Jackson, Clinton and Scott counties is the only part of Iowa currently not designated with any classification of dryness or drought.

For a thorough review of Iowa’s water resource trends, visit www.iowadnr.gov/watersummaryupdate.

The report is prepared by technical staff from Iowa DNR, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering, and the U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department.

November 9, 2023 (DES MOINES) — The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) today awarded $925,000 in Main Street Iowa Challenge Grants to 10 communities around the state. The grants help redevelop or rehabilitate underused buildings as a way to stimulate economic growth and further investment in Iowa’s historic main streets.

Among the cities receiving grants, is Coon Rapids, which is receiving $100,000 to expand Chuck’s Bar & Grill into the adjacent 514 Main Street building, enabling them to offer a quality family dining experience. The local match is $141,000, for a total project cost of $241,000. And, in Woodbine, the Bothwell Building Project is receiving a $100,000 grant toward the total cost of $234,379, to address urgent structural needs to save the 145-year-old building, which is in a National Register Brick Street Historic District. The project requires a local match of $134,379.

Other Projects include:

• Removing a metal slipcover from a historic building in downtown Spencer to unmask its original façade and reveal historic window openings, which allows for future upper-floor development.
• Giving new life to a vacant, derecho-damaged building in uptown Marion to accommodate a growing business and upper-floor housing.
• Transforming a vacant historic building in downtown Burlington into an old-fashioned ice cream shop.

“The Main Street Iowa Challenge grants help us revitalize and reinvest in our traditional commercial districts, which is good business,” said IEDA and Iowa Finance Authority Director Debi Durham. “It’s good for our economy and good for our state. These projects will bring new businesses and new residents to our downtown districts.”

The grants are administered through IEDA’s Iowa Downtown Resource Center and Main Street Iowa programs. The funding will be distributed in the form of matching grants to the selected Main Street programs. The estimated total cost of these 10 projects is over $3.5 million.

“Each of these projects represents growing momentum for downtown and community revitalization,” said Michael Wagler, state coordinator for the Main Street Iowa program. “This investment in catalytic projects across Iowa will have a significant economic impact and help strengthen local creative placemaking efforts.”

Since the first Challenge Grants were awarded in 2002, about $14.6 million in funds have leveraged more than $68.3 million in further investment.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Department of Corrections director Beth Skinner says the recidivism rate among individuals who’ve been released from prison has dropped for a third straight year — meaning there’s a decline in the number of people violating the terms of their parole or commuting a crime that sends them back to prison.

“We are moving and trending in the right direction in terms of our recidivism reduction efforts,” Skinner says. Skinner says there are several reasons the rate is declining, like focusing on getting substance abuse or mental health treatment for those who are at highest risk and improving the skills of those who’ve been sentenced to prison.

“Our apprenticeship program, we actually did a research study on that, and we found out among those who completed the apprenticeship program the recidivism rate was 16.3% compared to non-completers, which was 32.7%,” Skinner says, “so we want to really double down on our apprenticeship program and our post-secondary education.” There are 30 different registered apprenticeship programs in the Department of Corrections, including training to be plumbers, welders and electricians.

“What’s great about these apprenticeships programs is it’s really preparing people for when they get out, because we know 90% of people are going to be leaving prison,” Skinner says. “They have to show up to work, they get evaluated, they get paid — all of those things. We look at it as a way for preparing them for when they come out.” Sometimes up to half the people who ENTER Iowa’s prison system each year do not have a high school diploma. Skinner says among those who are released, 60 percent have completed high school.

“We want to help them get jobs when they get out, maybe a higher earning base,” Skinner says, “so we here at the Department of Corrections really emphasize the importance of education and apprenticeship programs and work skills.” Due to the government reorganization plan the governor signed into law this spring, Iowa’s community-based corrections system is now part of the Iowa Department of Corrections. Skinner says that may have prevent people released from one of the state’s nine prisons from re-offending.

“We want to improve release plans. We want more of a seamless comprehensive hand-off, continuity of services — so there’s a lot of communication going on now between the counselors and the work release facilities or parole officers,” Skinner says. “Not only are the parole officer and the counselor working together in the prison, they’re working with this individual that’s coming out, so this alignment’s going to have a lot of positive impact on our public safety outcomes.”

The rate at which released offenders were being sent back to prison had been climbing — to as high as 40 percent four years go — but Skinner says she’s confident the recidivism rate in Iowa’s correctional system will continue to decline because of the buy-in from prison employees. “If you don’t have the qualified staff who are committed to public safety outcomes who are committed to this work, it would not be possible,” Skinner says.

Skinner has been the director of the Iowa Department of Corrections since June of 2019. There are nearly 41-thousand people in Iowa’s correctional system today — only a fifth of whom are in a state prison. The rest are under direct supervision in a community setting, like a work release program or halfway house.

(Radio Iowa) -In advance of Veterans Day on Saturday, the University of Iowa will hold a ceremony on Friday afternoon to dedicate a new area of campus to remember those who served our country in uniform. Bill Nelson, executive director of the Iowa Memorial Union, says the 2 P-M service to officially open the new Veterans Plaza will include comments by several dignitaries, including U-I President Barbara Wilson and the head of the U-I’s new student-veteran support program.

“We’ll be presenting and raising the flag for the first time,” Nelson says. “That will be presented and raised by our students with the University of Iowa Veterans Association. There’ll be a playing of the National Anthem. The flag will fly and wave in perpetuity and it will be managed by our UIVA program and it will be illuminated, again, in perpetuity.” The plaza is located near the banks of the Iowa River and is flanked by trees and a green space.

Veterans Plaza (UI photo)

“The plaza is directly north of the Iowa Memorial Union. There are seven granite monuments, one monument for each branch of the armed services and then the seventh monument is a descriptor of the plaza,” Nelson says, “and there are four benches that create a backdrop.” Those six branches are: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard and Space Force. Nelson says this new plaza will be used for decades to come to remember and honor veterans among the U-I’s faculty, staff, students, and alumni.

“It certainly will be featured during our Memorial Day program, some of our Veterans Day activities,” Nelson says. “We have a well-established Hawkeye Distinguished Veterans Awards program which is, frankly, this evening and we will tie that program in.” The location for the new plaza was special and deliberate.

“The Iowa Memorial Union was built in 1924, built for and dedicated at that time to our World War One veterans,” Nelson says, “and so it’s completely fitting that this space be adjacent to our building.” An unnamed donor is making the project possible with a final price tag between 80- and 90-thousand dollars.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak, today (Thursday), arrested a man wanted on a warrant for Motor Vehicle Theft, a Class-C Felony. Authorities say 33-year-old Kiley Brian Caron, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 10-a.m. in the 300 block of E. Valley Street. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $5,000 bond.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Special Education Instructor Jill Miller, Wednesday, updated the School Board on the status of the Therapeutic Classroom. She mentioned she currently has 10 students with significantly varied special needs.

She said all-in-all, “It is a lot to manage and keep track of.” Miller said she spoke with the other SPED (Special Education) Teachers in grades K-through 4, to see what their needs were, especially for Level 2 students in particular. Those students, she said, need a Level 2 Program that would better meet their needs and their ability level.

Miller said while they can shuffle some of the Level 1 and Level 2 teachers to serve Level 2 students, they are currently short to Para-educators, and another teacher committed to Level 2, “Would be beneficial.”

Following her report, the School Board received an update on the Atlantic School District’s Special Education Program (SPED) teachers Melanie Fell, Mary McBride and Oran Perkins.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congressman Randy Feenstra says he remains hopeful Congress will act on a new Farm Bill before the end of the year. Feenstra and some colleagues sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, urging action on the measure, what could end up being the first trillion-dollar Farm Bill. Feenstra also spoke with Pennsylvania Congressman G-T Thompson, chair of the House Ag Committee, regarding the need to act. Feenstra says the bill’s critical components are hanging in the balance.”We’ve got to open new export markets,” Feenstra says. “We’ve got to strengthen crop insurance, we’ve got to fight against animal disease. These are some big things. Ban China from buying our farmland. This farm bill’s critical. We’ve got to get it passed. So, we’re trying to figure out any way that we can try to get it done in late December yet, but it sounds like it may dip into January. So, we might have to do a two-month C.R. on this.”

A C-R is a continuing resolution, or a stopgap measure that extends the deadline. Feenstra, a Republican from Hull, says the flap over the House Speaker’s position delayed work on the Farm Bill and other important issues. “All of a sudden, we did no work for three weeks,” Feenstra says. “We didn’t pass any budget bills. So, that’s taken the forefront right now, is doing all the budget appropriation bills, to try and create a budget that was due September 30th that we haven’t got to yet. That’s all the floor time, that’s all we’re doing is debating right now–which is unfortunate.”

Feenstra says a one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill — which expired in late September — would be harmful to Iowa farmers and to certain programs. “Our farmers need certainty,” he says. “They need certainty in the programs. These programs have all lapsed since September 30th. I’m just fearful if we go another year with some of the old programs, that’s going to be a problem. I really think about what’s happening with fighting against an animal disease. We cannot have African swine fever get into your hog production.”

Last week, Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn expressed confidence the House would avoid a one-year extension of the old farm bill.