(Des Moines, Iowa) – Auditor of State Rob Sand has released an audit report on Audubon County, Iowa:

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS:
The County’s revenues totaled $12,314,147 for the year ended June 30, 2022, a less than 1.0% increase over the prior year. Expenses for County operations for the year ended June 30, 2022 totaled $10,716,449, a 1.9% increase over the prior year.

AUDIT FINDINGS:
Sand reported three findings related to the receipt and expenditure of taxpayer funds. They are found on pages 76 through 80 of this report. The findings addressed issues such as lack of segregation of duties and material adjustments needed to properly record receivables and payables. Sand provided the County with recommendations to address each of the findings.
The segregation of duties finding discussed above is repeated from the prior year. The County Board of Supervisors and other County officials have a fiduciary responsibility to provide oversight of the County’s operations and financial transactions. Oversight is typically defined as the “watchful and responsible care” a governing body exercises in its fiduciary capacity.

A copy of the audit report is available for review on the Auditor of State’s website at Audit Reports – Auditor of State.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Auditor of State Rob Sand has released an audit report on Pottawattamie County, Iowa:

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS:
The County’s revenues totaled $95,971,855 for the year ended June 30, 2022, a 3.7% increase over the prior year. Expenses for County operations for the year ended June 30, 2022 totaled $81,725,336, a 3.9% increase over the prior year. The increase in revenue is due primarily to receipts received from the American Rescue Plan Act and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program due to the floods of 2019. These programs also primarily accounted for the increase in disbursements.

AUDIT FINDING:
Sand reported six findings related to the receipt and expenditure of taxpayer funds. The findings address issues such as errors in reporting capital assets, receipts and transfers, lack of independent review of the coding of receipts received outside of the treasurer’s office as well as transfers. There were also findings related to the preparation and review of bank reconciliations for the sheriff’s office jail account and a lack of independent review of bank reconciliations for the County Recorder.

Also, the budget was exceeded for the mental health function, noncompliance with Chapter 554D.114 of the Code of Iowa pertaining to retaining cancelled checks and paid lunch periods for certain employees in the Sheriff’s Office in violation of the bargaining agreement and County personnel manual. Sand provided the County with recommendations to address each of these findings.

Two of the six findings discussed above are repeated from the prior year. The County Board of Supervisors and other County officials have a fiduciary responsibility to provide oversight of the County’s operations and financial transactions. Oversight is typically defined as the “watchful and responsible care” a governing body exercises in its fiduciary capacity.

A copy of the audit report is available for review on the Auditor of State’s website at Audit Reports – Auditor of State.

(Creston, Iowa) – A motorcyclist from Missouriwas injured Thursday evening, during a collision in Creston. According to Creston Police, 58-year-old Lori Ann Clayton, of Creston, was driving a 2021 Buick Enclave SUV on Highway 34 east, in Creston, and had stopped to turn north into the Dollar General parking lot. A 2022 Kawasaki motorcycle operated by 32-year-old Anthony William Bigby, of Warrenton, MO., was also eastbound on Highway 34, when the cycle struck the rear of the SUV.

Bigby was transported by ambulance to the hospital in Creston, and subsequently flown by LifeFlight helicopter, to Methodist Hospital, in Des Moines. Damage from the collision amounted to $3,800. No citations were issued.

(Radio Iowa) – The summer travel season is starting to pick up with the Independence Day holiday. T-S-A spokesperson, Jessica Mayle (May-lee), works at the state’s busiest airport, and says they one key to successful air travel is to give yourself plenty of time by thinking about every step of your travel journey, not just going through T-S-A, but also parking your car, checking your bag getting to your gate. She says two hours is still the recommended amount of time you should give yourself when you’re flying out. Mayle says they see a lot of people who unintentionally bring items in their bags that can’t be taken on the plane and that can be avoided by starting with an empty bag.

You can learn what is and what isn’t allowed by going to the website, tsa.gov and clicking on the a feature called ‘What can I bring?”.You can type in the name of an item and it will tell you this can go in your checked bags or in your carry on.

(Radio Iowa) – When the full moon rises over Iowa next Monday night, it’ll be the first of what may end up being three “supermoons” in each of the next three months. University of Iowa astronomy professor Casey DeRoo says a supermoon occurs when the moon is closer to the earth in its orbit, making our natural satellite look larger than normal. Next week’s supermoon will appear about five-percent larger, and since it’s closer to us, it’ll be brighter, too.

DeRoo teaches the U-I’s general education course in astronomy for non-majors, and he says if you’d like to start moon gazing, you don’t need a fancy telescope, just using your eyes or even binoculars will offer a spectacular view.

(Radio Iowa) – Saturday, July 1st is the day dozens of state laws take effect, including the massive plan to reorganize state government. The number of state agencies is shrinking from 37 to 16. Next week, thousands of state employees will be reporting to new bosses. Another new state law changes child labor guidelines. It means 14 and 15 year olds can work until 11 p.m. for the rest of the summer and until 9 p.m. once school starts. Sixteen and 17 year olds can serve alcohol if they have a parent’s permission. Sixteen and 17 year olds also can work longer hours and in some jobs that were previously off limits.

Today (Friday) just before midnight is the deadline for low income Iowa parents to apply for a state-funded account to cover private school tuition. It will take a while to verify eligibility and whether there’s a spot in a private school for each child. According to the Iowa Department of Education’s website, July 15th is the earliest date the 76-hundred dollars in state funds will be deposited in one of these Education Savings Accounts.

(Radio Iowa) – U-S Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says as the U-S-D-A extends grants and loans for everything from broadband expansion to production of alternative crops, not all that spending has to be tucked into the Farm Bill.  “Some of it’s going to be met through the Inflation Reduction Act. Some of it can be met through the normal budget process and some of it can be met by creative use of the Commodity Credit Corporation,” Vilsack says. “…If you use all the tools and all the tools are available, then we can get to a point where we have a Farm Bill that benefits the many and the most and not just the few.”

Congress appears on track to release a first draft of the 2023 Farm Bill this fall, close to the September 30th expiration of the last Farm Bill. Vilsack says it’s always tough to put a Farm Bill together. “Not so much because of the partisan challenges, but because of the geographic and commodity challenges and I think there’s also obviously a challenge relative to the financing of the Farm Bill,” Vilsack says. “but I think there is a genuine commitment on the part of both the House and Senate leadership on the Ag Committees to get to yes.”

The current Farm Bill, approved in late 2018, has provided subsidies for crop insurance, but 75 percent of the spending in the Farm Bill has gone to federal food assistance programs. Some House Republicans want to tighten eligibility for food stamps, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. Vilsack says the Biden Administration considers the issue to be resolved after new food stamp work requirements were included in last month’s budget deal that raised the federal government’s borrowing limit.

“I think that there are probably some things that could be done to strengthen the states’ administration of SNAP that would help and I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t see that being discussed in the context of the Farm Bill, but I don’t think you’re going to see additional work requirements or things of that nature,” Vilsack says. “I think that issue’s been, as I like to say, snapped shut.”

Vilsack says congress will have to find a way to permanently raise the pay for firefighters in the Forest Service, which is part of the U-S-D-A. The 2021 infrastructure bill provided a temporary fix, but Vilsack says in order to keep enough people on the payroll to fight wildfires, congress has to put more money into the Farm Bill for their pay.

(Radio Iowa) – Air quality due to smoke across Iowa’s eastern half remains in the “very unhealthy” category today (Thursday) and comparisons are being drawn about the equivalent of how many cigarettes you’d be smoking just by being outside. Des Moines oncologist Dr. Richard Deming says it’s unclear if the environmental conditions are raising our risk of developing lung cancer, but it’s certainly not good.

Inhaling smoke of any kind is detrimental to health, Dr. Deming says, adding it’s “theoretically possible” that inhaling Canadian forest fire smoke for a few weeks increases the risk of lung cancer. The Iowa D-N-R is extending its air quality advisory for the state’s eastern half through midnight tonight, and even healthy adults are urged to limit outdoor activities. Lung cancer is the most common cancer killer in Iowa, accounting for one out of every four cancer deaths.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Lottery sales have already hit records for the fiscal year with the June numbers still to be added to the total. Lottery C-E-O, Matt Strawn, told to the Lottery Board today (Thursday) it will be the strongest year of lottery performance in the 38-year history of the organization. Sales that will approach 480 million dollars once June numbers are in and Strawn says says proceeds returned to the state top 100 million dollars for the first time in the first 11 months of a fiscal year. The fiscal year ends June 30th and a record for sales is assured.

(Creston, Iowa) – A collision Wednesday afternoon in Creston caused $3,000 damage, but no one was injured and no citations were issued. According to Creston Police, vehicles driven by 18-year-old Gabriel R. Lovell, of Creston, and 35-year-old Jamie Anne Horton, of Lenox, were both traveling southbound on Sumner Avenue at around 12:19-p.m., and approaching the stop lights at Russell Street.

Both drivers said that traffic came to an abrupt stop, causing the right front bumper of the 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis driven by Horton, to strike the rear bumper of the 2003 Ford Focus, driven by Lovell.