DES MOINES, Iowa  — Sixteen Iowa State Fair vendors have donated 6,000 pounds of surplus food to Food Bank of Iowa at the close of this year’s fair. (That’s half of last year’s 12,000 pounds, but not surprising given the fair attracted an all-time record number of visitors this year: 1,182,682.)

Food rescued is in addition to thousands of pounds of food donated by fairgoers on Sunday, Aug. 18. That will be sorted and weighed in the coming days. Emily Shearer, Food Bank of Iowa’s senior manager of food acquisition and advocacy said “With some vendors selling out of their most popular menu items by the last day of the fair, it only makes sense there would be fewer leftovers this year. We are grateful to these generous fair vendors who want to prevent waste as well as share food with neighbors facing hunger. We’re also thankful for our volunteers who helped pick up food today and collected donations from fairgoers at all the gates.”

Food Bank of Iowa has been collecting food that goes unsold at the Iowa State Fair since 2018. Among the food picked up by FBOI staff and volunteers Aug. 19, the majority was delivered immediately to metro partners Hope Ministries and Catholic Charities. 791 pounds of bulk Barksdale chocolate chip cookies (baked) will be frozen and repackaged at Food Bank of Iowa this week and placed on inventory for quick distribution across the 55 counties FBOI serves. In addition to cookies, other food items donated included:

• Fresh produce including peppers, limes, lettuce, tomatoes and onions
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Milk
• Cheese
• Assorted bread (pita, buns)
• Pulled pork

The USDA estimates up to 40% of the U.S. food supply is wasted every year. According to Feeding America, that equates to more than $473 billion in food thrown away every year. Food Bank of Iowa annually diverts more than 8.3 million pounds of food from the landfill.

Food Bank of Iowa photo

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Thanks to these Iowa State Fair vendors for allowing Food Bank of Iowa to rescue safe, wholesome food for Iowans facing food insecurity:

• Midwest Dairy
• Iowa Sheep Industry Association
• Iowa Pork Producers Association
• Jalapeno Pete’s
• West Des Moines United Methodist Church
• Biscuit Bar
• Veggie Table
• Stockman’s Inn
• JR’s SouthPork Ranch
• The Depot
• Iowa State Fair
• Versova
• Smith’s
• Fair Fare LLC
• Iowa State Fair General Store
• Brafford

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports a woman was arrested last Thursday for Willful Injury-Bodily Injury, and Child Endangerment. 41-year-old Rachel Christine Cruz-Davila, of Glenwood, was being held in the Mills County Jail on $7,000 bond.

Early Friday afternoon, Mills County Deputies arrested 35-year-old Krista Jo Lynn McKee, of Malvern, on a warrant for Failure To Appear. Her bond was set at $1,000.

Sunday afternoon, 40-year-old Colby Wayne Racine, of Essex, was arrested for OWI/1st offense, with bond set at $1,000.

And, Monday night, 74-year-old Terry Lee Stanley, of Glenwood, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. His bond was also set at  $1,000.

(Radio Iowa) – The state is accusing a southeast Iowa man of failing to check for underground utilities before hitting a natural gas line as he was digging a trench. Iowa’s so-called “One Call” law requires anyone planning an excavation to provide 48 hours advance notice, so underground utility lines can be marked.

The state’s lawsuit accuses Eric Fortune, Junior, of failing to make the call and using equipment that hit and damaged a one-inch natural gas line in Fort Madison that’s owned by MidAmerican Energy.According to the lawsuit, Fortune tried to repair the gas line himself rather than report the breach.

The Iowa Attorney General’s Office has recently settled two other lawsuits with contractors who failed to follow Iowa’s “One Call” law.

(Radio Iowa) – The state auditor’s office has examined operations in the town of Zearing after the city’s former clerk missed two deadlines and the city was unable to collect property taxes for a year. Zearing City Clerk Karen Davis was fired in July of 2022 after she failed to file the city’s budget with the State. It was a 191-thousand dollar hit to the budget for the town of about 500 residents, because no property taxes could be collected. Residents of Zearing asked the State Auditor’s Office to review how their town’s finances are handled.

The general conclusion from the State Auditor’s report is that the Zearing City Council needs to exercise additional oversight of the city’s finances. The review found the city’s balance sheet was not kept up to date and one city employee was responsible for the city’s payroll, for handling cash and checks paid to the city and for paying all the city’s bills.

The State Auditor’s staff also reviewed when city funds were used to buy fuel and other items from a business owned by a member of the city council. The report concludes 72 charges were not properly supported with an invoice.