(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors held their weekly meeting at the Adair County Courthouse, this (Friday) morning, during which they acknowledged receipt of the 5^th Judicial District Report, and a Manure Management Plan update from Prestage Farms applicant Cory Polk. The Board passed a Resolution to extend the City of Stuart LOST/TIF ordinance, with no changes to the ordinance. And, in their COVID-19 discussion, Supervisor John Twombly announced he had tested positive for COVID, but was not experiencing any symptoms.

The Adair County Supervisors received a semi-annual report from County Treasurer Brenda Wallace…

Wallace said her office will have to reprint a section of their report due to an error, prior to publishing.

And, they heard from County Auditor Mandy Berg, who discussed an agreement for the combination of a rural township and City Precinct.

The Board approved the agreement as presented. Berg said also, the County received a report on the LSA Redistricting Plan, and some good news, with regard to the reprecincting plan the County filed.

At Berg’s request, the Board set Feb. 16^th at 9:15-a.m., as the date and time for a public hearing on the plan. In other business, County Engineer Nick Kauffman reported on various pavement, asphalt and/or granular surfacing projects**, a concrete box culvert project on Eureka Road, and a right-of-way contract.Bids on most of those projects will be let on Feb. 28^th. He also discussed his FY ’23 construction program.

The Board approved a “Morning Light Repower” Road Use Agreement (in the Canby area), which is an extension of the agreement that’s been in effect for the past three-years or so, and a longevity raise for a Secondary Roads Dept. Employee Ray Palmer.

The Supervisors finished their meeting with a Fiscal Year 2023 Work Session.

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** Airport Road Asphalt pavement; Iowa Street Extension, Lake View Drive & Adair/Cass County line Asphalt resurfacing projects; American Rescue Plan Act granular surfacing.

SIOUX CENTER – Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has announced $38 million through Iowa’s Water Infrastructure Fund (WIF) to support three water quality and infrastructure projects across the state.  The WIF grants are being awarded to three projects in western, central and eastern Iowa and include the creation of new water system infrastructure, expansion of current infrastructure, and dam mitigation efforts for safer water recreation.

Reynolds says the announcement “Demonstrates our commitment to water quality in Iowa. Our goal…” she says…”is to build and nurture our communities by investing in infrastructure that promotes healthy and welcoming areas to live, work, and raise a family.  Not only will these three grants enhance our state’s water infrastructure, but they will make significant contributions to economic development.”

In December, Gov. Reynolds announced a historic $100M investment in water infrastructure and water quality efforts for the State of Iowa aimed at reducing excess nutrients, improving public health, promoting reuse of water and wastewater, and providing significant economic benefits to communities and the state.  The grants announced today (Friday) are a part of that investment.

The awarded projects are listed below:

• Lewis & Clark Regional Water System – Sioux Center:
  Up to $12 million will be awarded for the expansion of the Lewis & Clark Regional Water System. A first-of-its-kind, tri-state drinking water system estimated to benefit 350,000 people living in northwest Iowa, southeast South Dakota and southwest Minnesota, the project broke ground in 2003. Nearly 20 years later, the system is 86% complete and is awaiting full completion with federal funds. This investment will significantly expand the system’s ability to provide an additional 15 million gallons of water per day to its member communities.
• Dyersville East Road Utilities Project – Dyersville:Up to $11 million will be awarded to the Dyersville East Road Utilities Project at the Field of Dreams site for water distribution and wastewater collection infrastructure. This project will serve 114,000 Iowans across two counties and create approximately 350 jobs.
• ICON Water Trails Project – Des Moines: Up to $15 million will be awarded to the Iowa Confluence (ICON) Water Trails Project in downtown Des Moines to mitigate the dam on Fleur Drive. In addition to removing safety hazards associated with the dam, the mitigation will allow Iowans to enjoy a river run experience on the Raccoon River and lay the groundwork for a recreational destination in the area. The project is expected to create more than 150 jobs and more than $100 million in increased local revenue.

Area and state News from Ric Hanson.

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(Des Moines, Iowa) – Southwest Iowa Republican Representative Tom Moore, from Griswold, says this third week of the legislative session saw a huge uptick in committee and sub-committee work. Moore, who represents District 21, says the Human Resources Committee…

• Passed three House Study Bills (HSB’s) he says will continue an attempt to put tools in the tool belt of child care providers by allowing the negotiating of pricing between CCA recipients and providers, increasing 2-year-old ratios by 1 child and 3-year-old ratios by 2 children thus providing more child care slots in Iowa, and allowing 16 and 17 year-olds to provide childcare for school-age children.
• House File 210, he says, allows for an individual on who is on a ventilator the “right-to-try” an off label use of a drug.

Moore said also, the week was packed full of Sub-committee meetings. Among the list of bills he worked on throughout week, was

• A bill for an act relating to the adoption and use of certain general permits issued by the department of natural resources.
• A bill for an act relating to the release of nursing facility reimbursement rates under the Medicaid program.
• A bill for an act relating to the membership, procedures, and functions of the Iowa council on homelessness.
• A bill for an act relating to the beginning date of the school calendar for school districts and accredited nonpublic schools.
• A bill for an act relating to the composition of a county zoning commission.

Moore says also, this week, he chaired a sub-committee for a bill (House File 656) that Moore has worked on for five years. The basic premise of this bill is that once a patient is stable on a medication their insurance company can’t switch them to a similar but often less expensive drug. This doesn’t happen often, he says, but when it does the outcome can have grave circumstances for the patient. The major issue comes from the insurance industry who says it hampers their ability to control costs. Moore says “For me it comes down to where our priorities lie, with the costs and profits of the insurance companies or the care of the individual patient.”

After working on this for so long, Moore says it was great to see House File 656 pass both sub-committee and the Human Resources committee unanimously. He said also, “It will be exciting to continue working on this as it moves to the House Floor and eventually through the Senate.”

Representative Moore can be reached for questions and comments at tom.moore@legis.iowa.gov and (712) 789-9954.

(Stuart, Iowa) – Officials with the Stuart Fire Department reported on a social media page, that just before 6:30-a.m. Tuesday, Stuart Fire crews were requested for a working residential structure fire at Diamondhead Lake. As crews arrived on scene flames and heavy smoke were visible from both the garage and house. No injuries were reported. Other crews assisting at the scene included Stuart rescue, Dexter Fire, and personnel from “The Cup on 2nd.” (Photo taken by a nearby home owner)

Via the Stuart F,D, Facebook page

(Radio Iowa) – January is going to end up on a warm note. National Weather Service meteorologist, Ashley Bury, says the relief is coming from the south. “We’re going to see some more southerly winds pushing some of that warmer air up into the area — so it’s going to be a nice relief to the temperatures we’ve been having on a little rollercoaster of ups and downs over the past week,” Bury says. Temperatures could be well about freezing in some parts of the state. “We’ll see temperatures increase back up into the 30s for much of the area. Some areas of eastern Iowa could still see temperatures in the 20s –but mainly areas of central and western Iowa could see values even in the 40’s for Saturday,” she says.

The warm conditions will continue into the early part of next week. “It looks like we’re still going to be in the 40s for Monday, and then as we get into the beginning of February — looks like it will kind of hold into the 30s for much of the area — and then dropping down back to the teens by Wednesday,” according to Bury. She says things aren’t usually this warm. “It’s about ten or 20 degrees about average for this time of year. The teens are bit more of what we’d expect, into February as well,” Bury says. The warmer temps will lead to more melting — and that melt will freeze again overnight. “Refreezing is definitely possible, so it’s important to be extra cautious when you are outside for that,” Bury says.

There have been times when temperatures were below zero in the last week, including some days with wind chills in the double-digits below zero.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a traffic stop Thursday night in Red Oak, resulted in the arrest of a woman from Cass County (IA). Deputies pulled over a vehicle at Highway 34 and 4th Street at around 9:40-p.m., and upon further investigation, arrested 23-year-old Parrish Wright, of Cumberland, for Driving While License Suspended. Wright was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – The Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court says she’d like to see more programs that encourage lawyers to live and practice in rural Iowa. Chief Justice Susan Christensen is a Harlan native, and still lives in Shelby County.

Christensen says people talk about helping doctors and dentists pay off student loans if they practice in rural communities, but no one thinks about lawyers until they NEED a lawyer.

Christensen suggests the irony is a lawyer who starts out in a small town is able to get far more experience than a law school grad who lands a job in a big city firm.

Christensen says lawyers who work in large firms often spend years carrying someone’s briefcase before they get to have their own clients. Christensen made her comments during the “Breaking Glass” women’s leadership series sponsored by the Mason City Chamber of Commerce.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety report two suspects have been taken into custody, in connection to the Jan. 7th shooting of 41-year-old Kenneth James, of Coralville. The incident occurred during a drug deal. Authorities say as the result of an investigation, 17-year-old Jaden Miller, of Columbus Junction, and 19-year-old Mya Wright, of Iowa City, were arrested Thursday. They each face Felony charges of Attempted Murder and Robbery in the 1st Degree. If convicted, they face up to 25-years in prison. Both remain held on a $500,000 cash-only bond, each. The investigation continues, and additional charges are possible.

Officials with the Washington Police Department say the suspects invited James to the town of Washington to conduct the transaction, during the course of which James was shot once in the torso by Miller, as James was sitting in his vehicle in a parking lot at 600 W. Adams Street.

James then left the area, eventually crashing his vehicle before calling 9-1-1. He was located and transported to the University of Iowa Hospital for treatment. Washington Police were assisted by the Iowa DCI, Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Columbus Junction Police and the  Washington County Attorney’s Office.

(Radio Iowa) – House Republicans, Thursday, released a tax plan that uses the governor’s outline for lowering the state income tax to a single rate of four percent and making retirement income tax exempt.  “I’ve been clear that we want to have something that’s part of our tax plan, that’s sustainable as part of our tax plan and something that works without having to raise any taxes. I think we have that bill.” That’s House Speaker Pat Grassley. He expects the plan to be debated in the House soon, but he’s not setting a date.

“The governor’s bill that she proposed — lowering the rates to four percent, addressing the retirement — is a great place for us to get a bill that can move through the process very quickly,” Grassley said. The House G-O-P plan does not include a cut in the corporate tax rate as Governor Reynolds and Republicans in the senate have proposed. Grassley says changing state tax policy toward corporations — including a review of tax breaks — should be a separate conversation — for a separate bill.

“I think our focus has to maintain on addressing the governor’s priority that she laid out for the legislature, which I would say is the retirement (income) and the 4% tax,” Grassley says. Democrats say a flat tax will wind up causing some Iowans to pay more and dramatically reduce the amount of income tax the wealthiest Iowans pay.

As Radio Iowa reported Wednesday, SENATE Republicans not only propose a corporate tax cut, their plan includes a maneuver to supply new funding for water quality and outdoor recreation projects.