Kids in the area have the opportunity to meet an inspiring author this Thursday, April 18th, at Washington Elementary School, in Atlantic. Eric Ode is a national award-winning children’s singer/songwriter, a widely published author and poet, and a thoroughly engaging entertainer. His upbeat, high-participation programs are bubbling over with fun, interactive music and include stories, skits, poetry, props and puppets. He will present at 9 am to junior kindergarten through first grade and at 10:15 am to second and third grade. There will be books available for purchase at each performance and an opportunity for the author to autograph each book.

Ohde says “Whenever I’m working with students, I want them to understand that they are creative individuals with their own unique and wonderful ideas. I want them to be excited about putting that creativity to work, expressing themselves creatively, persevering, and bringing something new into the world.”  A former elementary teacher of 12 years with a Master’s Degree in Educational Technology, Eric has been invited to share his music and poetry programs with schools, community festivals, libraries, and churches throughout the United States, in Germany, Japan, and in Guam.

To learn more about the author, visit www.ericode.com.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines union official has pleaded guilty to mail fraud and embezzlement from his union. Prosecutors said in a news release that 54-year-old Theodore Watson entered the pleas Monday in U.S. District Court in Des Moines. His sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 23. He was employed as business manager for Local 74 of the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers.

Prosecutors say Watson defrauded United Way of Central Iowa by sending fraudulent requests for grant funds to train adults. In one instance, he received a $19,000 check from United Way that he used for himself. Prosecutors also say Watson took cash advances and made unauthorized purchases on a union credit card and then submitted altered credit card statements and false monthly reports to the union.

DES MOINES – Officials with Google, Monday, launched the Google.org Impact Challenge Iowa, the tech company’s first Iowa challenge inviting nonprofits throughout the state to submit proposals for bold ideas to grow economic opportunity in their local communities. The Impact Challenge was announced at the “Grow with Google” digital skills training event, hosted by the Des Moines Public Library. Dan Harbeke, Head of Public Policy and External Affairs at Google in Council Bluffs, said “Our hope with the Google.org Impact Challenge Iowa is to help Iowa nonprofits bring their great ideas to life. Iowa is an incredibly diverse state, with a wide variety of issues that impact different communities and a huge amount of local talent seeking to solve unique challenges.”

Qualifying Iowa nonprofits are invited to submit their proposals for their most innovative ideas to grow economic opportunity in their community. Together with a panel of local judges, Google will review the applications and choose five winners who will receive $175,000 in grant funding and training from Google. After the five winners are announced, Iowans will be invited to vote on which project they believe will have the greatest economic impact. The winner of that public vote will receive an additional $125,000 in funding. In total, Google.org will grant $1 million to local nonprofit organizations.

The Iowa Impact Challenge local advisor panel includes:

Dr. Dan Kinney, President, Iowa Western Community College
Georgia Van Gundy, Executive Director and Board Secretary, Iowa Business Council
Monica Chavez-Silva, Board Chair of Iowa Council of Foundations & Assistant Vice President for Community Enhancement, Grinnell College
Sherry Ristau, President, Quad Cities Community Foundation
Tej Dhawan, Chief Data Officer, Principal Financial Group

While the $1 million Impact Challenge is the second statewide to date after Illinois, Google.org has offered economic-opportunity focused Impact Challenge grants in Cleveland, Columbia, Oklahoma City and Pittsburgh. The Impact Challenge was announced Monday morning in Des Moines at the first stop of a three-city Grow with Google tour that includes Council Bluffs and Davenport. Through Grow with Google, the company’s aim is to help everyone across America – those who make up the workforce of today, the students who will drive the workforce of tomorrow and the small businesses that keep our economy strong – access the best of Google’s training and tools to grow their skills, careers, and businesses. In Iowa, the Grow with Google team will provide hands-on training to hundreds of Iowans through 12 different workshops and nearly a hundred one on one coaching sessions.

With its tour, Grow with Google aims to help address the skills gap by preparing Americans for middle-skill jobs, positions that require some skills but not four year degrees. According to the National Middle Skills Initiative, middle skills jobs account to 56% of Iowa’s labor force. Google has a data center in Iowa and has invested more than $2.5 billion and established a long-term commitment to the region and state. Iowa nonprofit organizations can find more information on the Google.org Impact Challenge and submit their applications by visiting g.co/iowachallenge. The deadline for submissions is May 17th at 11:59 PM Central. The five winners are expected to be named in the fall of 2019.

(Radio Iowa) — Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro says the new absentee voting option for Iowa Caucus-goers may help spur turn-out among Iowa Latinos and other minorities. “I do think for some people who are uncomfortable going on one night — or they can’t go there on one night ’cause they’re working — and declare their intention in front of many other people, that being able to do that absentee will ensure that more of them actually participate in the process,” Castro says, “which will be a good thing.”

Castro, who spent the past two days campaigning in eastern and central Iowa, is 44 years old and the only Latino in the Democratic presidential race. He’s been making the argument on the campaign trail that Americans are ready for a “new generation of leadership.”

“Having served as the mayor of the seventh-largest city in the country, I have a track record of getting things done,” Castro says. Castro was San Antonio’s mayor for five years before he served as U.S. Secretary for Housing and Urban Development in the Obama Administration. Castro recently released what he calls a “People First” immigration plan. He’d significantly boost U.S. investment to stabilize the Central American countries many of those seeking asylum in the U.S. are fleeing.

Castro would make illegally entering the U.S. a CIVIL offense — punishable with a fine — rather than have illegal entry continue to be a CRIME. “This president has tried to, effectively, use immigration in an emotional way to divide people,” Castro says. “…I’m going to tell about the human lives that are impacted and what we can be as a country that if, of course, we have secure borders, but we also treat people with respect and with compassion and I believe that there are enough people in Iowa and throughout the country that will believe in that.”

Castro says immigration has helped the U.S. economy grow in the past and the U.S. needs immigrants today to fill jobs. Castro formally kicked off his presidential bid in January and has raised about one-point-one million dollars for his campaign in the first three months of the year. Castro says if Democrats choose him as their nominee, he will present himself as “the opposite” of Trump.

“Even to those people who agree with this president, you know I think you also want somebody who that’s being straightforward with you and being open and honest,” Castro said. “And I would say: ‘Don’t mistake bluntness or vulgarity for honesty.'” Like many of his competitors for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination, Castro supports the goal of “Medicare for All” as well as universal preschool and renewing the federal ban on assault-style weapons.

(Radio Iowa) — Former Republican Governor Terry Branstad has donated to a Republican challenging Congressman Steve King’s bid for reelection. Branstad and King had been long-time allies. Two of Branstad’s top 2010 campaign staffers went on to help steer King’s 2012 reelection. Now, Branstad has donated a thousand dollars to Randy Feenstra, the state senator who is running against King in the 2020 primary.

King held a town hall meeting in the small community of Stanhope yesterday (Monday). King said the controversy that led Republican leaders to remove him from House committees derailed his plan to meet in January with Iowa’s two new House members. King says Iowa’s congressional delegation has flood recovery to work on together and he wants to set up a meeting with Congresswomen Abby Finkenauer and Cindy Axne.

“When we get geographical issues like this, they should be nonpartisan. We should lock arms and get these things done,” King says. “I don’t sense any friction or push back.” During yesterday’s town hall meeting, King was asked about his working relationship with the two new Democrats in Iowa’s congressional delegation.

“We lost two good representatives in this state. Now we have two freshmen and we need to communicate,” King said. “And I will take that as good advice. It is, I know.” King will hold a town hall meeting in Pocahontas County later this week. The event will be held at the Laurens Public Library on Wednesday afternoon.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Senate has sent a bill legalizing the growing of industrial hemp to the House for consideration. The Iowa Hemp Act passed the Senate Monday 49-1. Sen. Kevin Kinney, a farmer from Oxford says his goal is to make hemp Iowa’s third commodity behind corn and soybeans. The bill allows licensed growers to cultivate the crop on up to 40 acres.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is asking lawmakers for $15 million from the ending balance of the current year’s budget for immediate work on levees and repairs in flooded communities. She’s also seeking $10 million from next year’s budget to accelerate housing improvements. Reynolds announced her request Monday, saying federal money often takes months or years to arrive. Reynolds also announced the creation of a Flood Recovery Advisory Board, which will coordinate state recovery efforts. .

OTHO, Iowa (AP) — Officials at the 11,000-square-foot Webster County Museum are weighing whether to try and quickly repair a leaky roof, move the artifacts to another building or disband the collection altogether. Phyllis Stewart, the museum’s volunteer curator, said the former Otho Elementary School building holds all of Webster County’s history. Stewart added the museum can’t open this spring because of the water and mold issues.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Cory Booker’s presidential campaign has proposed a significant expansion of the earned income tax credit that he said would lower the annual tax bill for almost half of American taxpayers. The senator from New Jersey, who recently launched a national tour aimed at boosting his 2020 presidential bid, discussed his new tax credit proposal during a visit to Iowa on Monday _ the date that most Americans’ taxes are due to the IRS.