(Radio Iowa) – Students and faculty are watching, taking pictures and video today (Thursday) on the northwest corner of the campus in Ames as LeBaron Hall is coming down to make way for a new building. The Dean of the College of Human Sciences, Laura Jolly, says the pending demolition of the structure built in 1958 has drawn a lot of attention. “Not an implosion. But I’ll tell you that has been one of the most frequent questions is, how are they going to do this?,” she says. “So they did a lot of preliminary work. July one forward, you know, internal taking materials out, took the windows out, and trucked away lots of debris.” Jolly spoke with Radio Iowa at mid- morning and says large excavator is pulling the walls down.

“Grabbing chunks of the building and putting them in the construction site and sorting out the metal from the concrete, which that’s been fascinating,” Jolly says. “Right now, I would says the east wall, middle portion is completely gone, and then they’ve moved further towards Central Campus. So the I guess a good chunk of the east wall of LeBaron Hall is down.” LeBaron Hall house the home economics department and Jolly says they took time to reminisce with a final tour of every floor in June. “So it really was that walk down memory lane for many of you know, faculty and former leaders in the college and students so so we did take that memory lap of sorts,” she says.

Excavator tearing down LeBaron Hall on the ISU campus. (ISU photo)

Jolly says there is a lot of anticipation about what the new LeBaron Hall will offer. “The excitement of what’s to come is really, I think, the main story. You know, there’s a lot of excitement about the future of this building and its focus on completely on student learning and the spaces that will be in the building. So people are very, very excited about that opportunity,” Jolly says.

The new building will expand on the area of the old building and add three floors above ground. It will l include a 100-seat university classroom, teaching, production and design studios for the college’s nationally ranked apparel program; experiential learning space for the event management program, and a historic textiles and clothing lab. Construction on the new building is expected to be completed in 2026.

(Radio Iowa) – Officials in a northwest Iowa community hit by flooding in June are having a historic pedestrian bridge examined. The suspension bridge in Estherville was built in 1937 over the West Fork of the Des Moines River. Penny Clayton is Estherville’s City Manager. “The company that does our roadway bridge inspections will be coming to do an inspection of the swinging bridge,” she says, “because we did have water that was going over the swinging bridge during this flood.” An inspection is required when water flows over the deck of a bridge that carries vehicle traffic and Clayton says it seems prudent to do an inspection of a bridge that carries foot traffic.

“We don’t anticipate that there are any problems, but I’m not an engineer,” Clayton says. “I can’t make that determination.” The Estherville City Council has approved spending about four-thousand dollars for the inspection of the bridge. “It is currently open,” Clayton says. “We have been or will be replacing some deck boards because we have some damage — ends curled up on those treated 2x6s, 2x8s, but I just want someone to look at the structural integrity to make sure everything is fine.”

The bridge is visible from Highway 9. A historical marker at the site notes it was built by the federal Works Progress Administration, one of the Great Depression’s “New Deal” programs. At one point 37-thousand jobless Americans were in Iowa, building public facilities like roads, schools, post offices and even swimming pools.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County (IA) Democratic Party reminds area residents Iowa 3rd District Congressional Candidate Lanon Baccam will visit Cass County this Saturday, from 3:30-until 4:30-p.m. Baccam is being hosted in Atlantic by the Cass County Democrats at their 2024 headquarters (704 Walnut St. Suite 2). Everyone is welcome, regardless of party affiliation.

Baccam, a Democrat, is running for Congress in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional district. The seat is currently held by Republican Zach Nunn. Baccam is a combat veteran whose parents immigrated to Iowa from Laos in 1980. He was born and raised in Mt. Pleasant. Following service in the Army, Lanon Baccam attended Drake University and served in the USDA under former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack.

Democratic candidate Lanon Baccam (Official campaign photo)

For more information, follow Cass County Democrats on social media platforms Facebook or Instagram.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Auditor’s Office will be closed Friday September 6, to undergo significant re-structuring. Auditor Jill Ozuna says the restructuring is expected to be completed by Monday September 9, after which they will resume normal operations. Ozuna says “We appreciate your understanding and support during this minor transition.”

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Glenwood Police Department reports one arrest took place early this (Thursday) morning. 47-year-old Rebecca Poe, of Glenwood, was arrest for Domestic Assault. She was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail, pending an appearance before the Judge.

WOODBINE, Iowa [KETV] — The family-run Food Land grocery store has stood where it is now in downtown Woodbine for 57 years. But as KJAN mentioned, two weeks ago, fire engulfed the town’s only grocery store. It took several hours for the volunteer fire departments to put out the flames. It’s made it more difficult for some to put food on the table. Now the closest grocery stores are in Dunlap and Logan, or the local Dollar General Store. A Food Land spokesperson told KETV in Omaha, the store will eventually re-open. In the meantime, about 30 volunteers are offering to pick up groceries for those who are unable to drive themselves. Even if someone has the ability to drive out of town, they’re happy to help.

John Corbett, who is heading-up the restoration efforts for Food Land in Woodbine, said they’re waiting on word on whether the structure will be strong enough to remain. If so, he said they’ve set an “ambitious” goal of opening by the end of October. The equipment and shelves need to be replaced, and that depends on the production supply chain having those products available.

Woodbine Fire & Rescue Association Facebook page photo

If they can’t get the equipment and shelves in soon, it will likely be next year before the store re-opens, according to Corbett. He said also, the company expects to learn more after their insurance company visits for a more detailed look at the damage this week.

Corbett said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston report a woman was arrested Wednesday at around 7:25-p.m. Authorities say 29-year-old Taylor Dawn Fleming, of Creston, was arrested at the Creston/Union County Law Enforcement Center. She was charged with Operating While Under the Influence – 1st Offense. Fleming was taken to Union County Jail. Bail was posted in the amount of $1000 cash or approved surety.

(Radio Iowa) – A study conducted for the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission finds the state’s horse racing industry needs to make some changes to stay viable. The I-R-G-C requested the study in November of 2023 to get an outside look at the industry as a way to chart its future. Racing and Gaming Administrator Tina Eick says the conclusion of the study doesn’t leave any doubt. “The study did make clear that, frankly, the status quo for quarter horse and thoroughbred horse racing in Iowa is not a good option. The report concluded that the current product in Iowa is not competitive and not of high interest to the public,” she says. Eick says horse racing is like other forms of entertainment as it faces a lot of competition.

“Forty years ago, horse racing and greyhound racing was all there was when it came to gambling in the state. Now there’s numerous ways for the public to gamble in Iowa and around the country,” Eick says. The horse racing study presents several options to improve the Iowa system. “That would include a change to the current system, where purses are subsidized by the gaming revenue at the casino, and instead tie it to handle and simulcast earnings at the track. That change would give everyone, I guess, more skin in the game,” she says. Eick says the report recommends expanding the reach of the industry.

“Another suggestion would be to look at a creating a racing circuit with neighboring states or straight or states in the area, like Oklahoma or Minnesota. And again, that would be to create more interest and give Iowa horses more places to run,” Eick says. There are also suggestions for expanding the options for bettors. “Increasing field size for each race to again, increase interest from the betting public, and then finally, also looking at some alternatives for dates times and the number of days for when to schedule races,”Eick says. Eick says the report lays out some of the options and it now requires action from the horse racing organizations. “The study, again, was to try to come up with some solutions, but all of that would need to be collaborative, and it’s not something that the Commission could do itself,” Eick says.

Racing and Gaming Commission Chair Daryl Olsen of Audubon says he likes the proposal put forth in the study, but also says everyone has to embrace them to make them work. “We can’t dictate any of the things that the study suggests. All we can say is, here’s a study, we encourage all parties to work together to try find the best answer,” Olsen says. Olsen says the future of the horse industry in Iowa depends on making changes.  “Because I think the study was very clear, saying, if we do nothing, you know, that’s a bad option,” he says. Olsen says the study took a thorough look at the industry and gives them a way to move forward.

“You know, if there was a really, really easy fix, I think we’d all have already jumped on it and say, ‘Hey, let’s do that.’ I mean, I think there isn’t an easy fix,” Olsen says. The horse racing organizations have had some disagreements in the past, but Olsen says he is confident they will work together to make changes. “I really expect that they’re going to sit down and they’re going to say, there’s no sense squabbling over this, there’s no sense arguing over it, we need to look at it and see how we can implement some of these suggestions so we can make it better for everybody involved. So I am very, very optimistic,” he says.

Horse racing began at Prairie Meadows in Altoona in March of 1989. The track was granted a casino license in April of 1995.