RENWICK, Iowa (AP) – The once-bustling town of Renwick, Iowa, has lost many businesses as its population declined. But when its sole bar closed this year, a group of friends pooled their money to repair and reopen the place as the Blue Moose Saloon. It was an impressive achievement, and one that is becoming more common as population continues to trickle away from rural America.

Residents of more small towns are scrambling to hold onto places where people can still get together. Some are pooling their money to save bars, groceries and cafes. Others are creating co-ops or seeking private or government grants.

In the village of Decatur, Nebraska, a dozen people put up money when the Green Lantern Steakhouse burned down.

More than a thousand licensed plumbers in Iowa will get a “red tape” break on July 1st. State Labor Commissioner Michael Mauro says current regulations require plumbers who work on construction projects to fill out licensing paperwork with both his agency AND the Iowa Department of Public Health. “Currently, there’s like 1290 plumbers who also register as contractors,” Mauro says.

Starting July 1st, there will be a “one-stop” point of state licensing for those nearly 13-hundred Iowa plumbers who work in the construction industry. “Get that license. It’ll be for three years,” Mauro says. “We think it’s a good thing.”

Currently, the Iowa Department of Public Health issues licenses to plumbers and the Iowa Workforce Development agency’s labor division issues licenses to contractors — so people who do both have to get two licenses. A person must register as a “contractor” in Iowa if they earn at least two-thousand dollars a year from work on construction projects.

Governor Branstad and Republican legislators have been pushing agencies to state government streamline licensing procedures. State agencies issue licenses to a wide range of professionals — including accountants and even interior designers.

(Radio Iowa)

A man is wanted for assaulting a police officer in Urbandale early this (Thursday) morning. Urbandale Police Sergeant Chad Underwood says the officer responded to the report of a possible traffic accident just after 5 a.m. and located a vehicle that matched the description given by the caller. “The officer stopped the car, approached and began talking to the driver, at which time the driver pepper sprayed the officer in the face and fled the scene,” Underwood said.

Police Officer body cam image of Bordinat

The suspect is 25-year-old Brandon Bordinat, a convicted sex offender. While police are asking for help in locating Bordinat, Underwood warns he should be considered armed and dangerous. “It appears that this was something he maybe planned out in order to get away and that obviously makes us fearful of what he could possibly do if we try to apprehend him again,” Underwood said.

Bordinat is approximately 6 feet tall and weighs 200 pounds. He is white, with brown eyes, brown hair, and this morning he had a beard. Bordinat’s vehicle license plate is ERX822. “It’s a black, 1998 Toyota Camry with heavy damage to the trunk area and rear passenger lights,” Underwood said.

Suspect’s vehicle

The name of the officer who was pepper sprayed has not been released.

(Radio Iowa)

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a 22-year-old man has died after a barbell slipped from his grasp and crushed him at a gym in Ankeny. The accident occurred Monday morning at Elite Edge Transformation Center. A spokesman for the center, Mark Yontz, said Thursday that Kyle Thomson was lifting 315 pounds on a bench press when the barbell slipped. Yontz says there were spotters watching Thomson on the bench.

Ankeny Fire Chief James Clack says the barbell fell on Thomson’s neck. Clack says a fire ambulance took Thomson to a Des Moines hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Iowa State University spokeswoman Annette Hacker says Thomson was a student there and lived in Pleasant Hill.

Iowans who shop online using Amazon will have to pay more, starting Sunday. The popular website will begin charging the six-percent Iowa sales tax as of January 1st. Victoria Daniels, spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Revenue, says Iowans who buy items for themselves will be charged that tax, but not necessarily if they’re buying a gift for someone who lives out-of-state. “It depends on where the item is being shipped,” Daniels says. “For example, if you purchase something online but it’s being delivered to Illinois. Illinois law will then dictate what sales tax is charged, or not charged, to the person who is receiving the gift.”

Daniels says the change was not an effort by the state to make money. She says officials at Amazon approached the state first. It’s unclear how much money Iowa may rake in from the tax via Amazon purchases. “What we do know is, a couple of years ago, we did an estimate about what would come in potentially if the federal government were to pass legislation requiring remote retailers to collect the sales tax,” Daniels says. “We estimated at that time it would be anywhere between $18- to 24-million.”

Online retailers that don’t have “brick and mortar” stores in the state typically haven’t forced customers to pay the sales tax. “Target and Walmart and other stores that have a physical presence here, yes, they are required to collect the state sales tax from Iowa customers.”

Amazon already charges sales tax in about 30 other states. Amazon revenues in 2015 reportedly exceeded 100-billion dollars.

(Radio Iowa)