(Radio Iowa) – On issues ranging from electric cars and ethanol to farm subsidies for billionaires, Iowa Senator Joni Ernst questioned U-S Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack today (Thursday) during a hearing before the Senate Ag Committee. Ernst, a Republican, says it’s hard to understand why the largest ten-percent of farms are raking in 70-percent of commodity payments, and she says critical reforms are needed in how the U-S-D-A decides who gets the cash.

“Thus far, grants totaling $157 million have been awarded,” Ernst says. “Three of the largest grants total $69 million, which comprise nearly half of the funds awarded, three projects who are privately owned by some of the wealthiest people in the United States.” Vilsack, a Democrat and a former Iowa governor, says proper procedures are being strictly followed with regards to the millions of dollars in agricultural grants that are being awarded.

“The level of investment is based on the application that people have submitted,” Vilsack says. “Some of these plants are very small. The Charles City plant, for example, is very small. It needed $8 million and we provided it. The Cherokee plant needed several million dollars, we provided it. So Iowa has received several grants already and I anticipate and expect they’re going to receive at least one more.” Ernst says recent recipients of the U-S-D-A grants include a man who’s on the Forbes billionaires list, as well as a South Carolina family that owns major production facilities in five states.

“I have no objection to families succeeding and owning a lot of businesses and I wish them great success,” Ernst says, “but what I find problematic is that taxpayer dollars are being doled out as free grants to billionaires, while applications from farmer-owned startups like Cattlemen’s Heritage in southwest Iowa are deemed unworthy through these grants.” Cattlemen’s Heritage promises to be a regional cattle processing plant that’s planned for the Council Bluffs area. Owners say they’ll hire 800 workers who will process up to two-thousand head of cattle per day when the plant opens, tentatively in late 2024. Vilsack says he’s well aware of the endeavor.

“The Iowa project you mentioned is actually on the list that’s currently under review,” Vilsack says. “We’re in the process of finishing the environmental review that is required under NEPA, before grants can be issued. So, just be patient. I think you’re going to find that that is a project that merits additional investment.” Ernst applauded the U-S-D-A’s efforts to promote green energy, but denounced what she called an “ardent push toward electric vehicles,” calling Iowa-made, corn-based ethanol a ready-made resource that’s a cheaper energy solution and that’s “very beneficial for our farmers.”

Vilsack didn’t address those comments directly.

(Radio Iowa) – A mobile education simulator is now in Sioux City to provide training to emergency responders in the western third of Iowa.  Iowa College of Nursing senior advisor, Jacinda Bunch, says the “Simulation in Motion” truck will be based a the Sioux City Fire Rescue Training Center. “The truck is equipped with clinical simulation equipment. So we have a simulated emergency room bay in the front of the truck that looks like an emergency room. We have all the equipment and supplies needed to take care of a patient there,” she says. “We have a computer operation station for our educators. And then the back of the truck is set up to look like the back of an ambulance. So again, all of the equipment supplies that you would expect to see in the back of an ambulance.”

“We have an adult male, we have an adult female that can give birth, we have a young child who’s probably about seven to eight years old, and then we have a newborn up to about nine months old,” she says. Bunch says the human simulators allow them to set up all kinds of training exercises. “We create medical or trauma scenarios based on the educational needs and desires of the community that we’re serving we allow the providers to come in and to care for those patients doing hands on skills hands on clinical assessments practice or critical thinking,” Bunch says.

The truck will travel across western Iowa training E-M-T’s and return to Sioux City for training there as well. The truck is part of a University of Iowa program and is one of three covering the state.

(Radio Iowa) – Officials in a northwest Iowa city are considering whether to join other local governments in sending the Iowa Utilities Board a letter objecting to development of carbon capture pipelines. Estherville’s City Council has held a work session to gather information about the Navigator and Summit pipelines that would pass through Emmet County. Estherville Fire Chief Travis Sheridan says if there’s a pipeline rupture, his department would likely need a new mobile vehicle that’s equipped with air packs. “An electric vehicle that we can drive, go in and save people, and get them out,” he says. Sheridan is also Emmet County’s Emergency Management Director Craig Schoenfeld, a spokesman for developers of the Navigator pipeline, says the company will provide equipment and training.

“It is not to be encumbered by the City of Estherville in your general budget or whatever you allot for your fire department,” Schoenfeld says. “Those needs are incumbent upon us to provide, whether that’s personal apparatus, if we need to come up with other types of trucks, other types of personnel…those types of things are on our nickel.” Kylie Lang, the Iowa project manager for Summit Carbon Solutions, says carbon pipelines are not new technology and the companies are preparing for potential leaks.

“(Carbon dioxide) is an asphyxiant. We take that very seriously. That means it displaces oxygen, making it challenging to breathe in high concentrations, but it is not combustible and it is not flammable,” she says, “so in terms of safety and comparison to other pipelines, a lot of different leaders in the industry have come out and said CO2 is safer.” The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association has sent an alert to its members today (Thursday), saying a bill pending in the Iowa House is a major threat to the ethanol industry.

The bill establishes new rules that ethanol backers say would derail the proposed carbon pipelines.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A food truck that drew a large crowd on March 4th, will be back in Atlantic, this Saturday. Officials with the Chick-fil-A food truck operation reports their mobile restaurant will be at A-Plus Designs (56988 635th St.) this Saturday, from 11-a.m. until 3-p.m. For more information, see the chick-fil-A Iowa Food Truck Facebook page. Speaking during the Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening. City Clerk Barb Barrick said the company called City Hall just before they closed Wednesday, and said they had a couple of schedule changes, which will allow them to come to town.

The Council was excited to hear the news. Barrick said the company was easy to work with the last time, and Councilman Halder expressed his hope they might locate hear permanently.

Mayor Garrett was impressed with how long the line was. She said she waited about 50-to 55-minutes before she could order and get her food. Garrett went back after the food truck closed and spoke with the operators, March 4th.

Councilman Pat McCurdy said he hopes everyone turns out at Weitzel’s revamped 80’s-themed restaurant when they hold their official re-branded, re-opening.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans may be more grouchy than usual this week, as they’re not getting enough sleep due to the time change, but there’s also a greater health risk from springing forward an hour. Dr. Denise Sorrentino, a cardiologist with the Iowa Heart Center in Ames, says it’s only 60 minutes, but that can be enough to cause serious trouble. “We see the big rise in atrial fibrillation rates, heart attack, stroke, and even motor vehicle accidents,” she says, “often related to inadequate sleep and just bad decision making while driving the vehicle for that first seven to ten days.” Some of us adjust to the shift in time more quickly than others. Sorrentino says our bodies get used to going to bed and getting up at a certain time, and it’s a jolt to our system to move it.

“That 60 minutes can change what we call the circadian rhythm, which is the rhythm at which our blood pressure and heart rate change in the early morning hours to help wake us up,” Sorrentino says. “And people can have difficulties with sleep, blood pressure can become elevated and a lot of people can also feel very groggy, have poor decision making and jetlag.” One thing that can help us to adjust is to start adjusting our bedtime for a week or so before the time change, though that doesn’t do us any good right now.

“Usually, it’s a week for adults to adjust,” she says, “and to really make an effort to be out in sunlight, if available, while the day is ongoing to help that body’s circadian rhythm adjust for this hour change.” The best remedy at this juncture is to simply try and get more rest, and if your schedule permits, a power nap here and there.

(Massena, Iowa) – The Cass County Conservation Board is hosting an Introduction to Turkey Hunting program this Saturday, at the Outdoor Classroom shelter, located at 76977 Tucson Road, Massena, IA. (Two-miles south and two-miles east of Massena. Two-miles east of Highway 148 on Tucson Road, on the south sign….just look for the sign. The program begins at 10-a.m.  Cass County Conservation Director Micah Lee says turkey hunting remains popular.

Lee explains there is a big difference in hunting for pheasant and turkey: the time of year.

This Saturday’s program will focus on “Becoming a Turkey Hunter,” for first-timers and can serve as a refresher for those who may be a bit rusty where their hunting skills are concerned. CCCB employees will talk about scouting, calling, and equipment needed as well as different techniques and equipment used by successful turkey hunters.

This program will be great for someone who wants to start turkey hunting or those with more experience. The CCCB will have examples of calls, decoys, blinds and other tools used in the turkey woods. And, as with last year, there will be a drawing for a prize at the end of the event.

Bring a notepad to take notes, if you want, otherwise just show-up at the Outdoor Classroom this Saturday, March 18, 2023 at 10:00-a.m., to learn a few things and get started on your turkey hunting adventure. Micah reminds you, that we’re about three-weeks away from Youth Turkey Hunting Season.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports two separate arrests, Wednesday. Authorities say 52-year-old Charles Ray Balius, of Creston, was arrested for Failure to Appear. He was taken to Union County Jail and held without bond until seen by a judge.

And, 53-year-old Michael James Post-Houseman, of Creston, was arrested at a hotel, on charges of Interference With Official Acts, and Disorderly Conduct – Fighting/Violent Behavior. Post-Houseman was taken to Union County Jail. His bond was set at $600.

(Massena, Iowa) – The Cass County Conservation Board is holding Vermicomposting (Worm Composting) Workshop. Cass County Naturalist Lora Kanning says the program will be held at the Outdoor Classroom shelter, located at 76977 Tucson Rd, Massena, IA on Saturday March 25th 2023, 1 PM, all ages are welcome to attend.

Kanning says “Let worms EAT your kitchen waste! All types of composting will be discussed as well!” There is an option, she says, to make and take your own worm bin, for a suggested donation of $25/bin.

(Monroe County, Iowa) – A single vehicle accident north of Albia late Wednesday night, resulted in the death of a man from Pella. The Iowa State Patrol reports 29-year-old Michael Hurley Raper died at the scene, when the 2007 Honda Ridgeline he was driving left the road on southbound Highway 137, just south of 655th Avenue. The pickup entered a ditch, went airborne, and rolled over. The accident happened at around 11:30-p.m.

(Radio Iowa) – A new A-A-R-P report finds the 330-thousand unpaid family caregivers contributed work that would be worth five-point-two BILLION dollars in 2021. A-A-R-P Iowa director, Brad Anderson, says that’s an increase of one BILLION dollars — due in part to severe shortages of workers in the field. “There are a lot of people that are out there right now looking for home based care services, but they’re unable to find them because of the workforce shortage. And so that means that family members are having to step up,” Anderson says.

Anderson says another the reason for this increase is the population of residents over the age of 65continues to grow. “Now we have more people that are going to need care, and then fewer people providing that care. So caregivers are going to be asked to do a lot in the coming years and we need policies in place that support them,’ Anderson says. The study found family caregivers contributed an estimated 310 million hours in unpaid care with the dollar figure derived from pay rate of 16 dollars, 80 cents an hour.

(Reporting by Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)