Johnston, IA —  The Iowa National Guard state headquarters in Des Moines has tasked the 185th Air Refueling Wing and 132^d Wing to provide up to 30 Airmen to help with debris clean up in the wake of historic flooding in Iowa. The Sioux City based Iowa Air Guard unit has been tasked to help in their home county of Woodbury in the western side of the state as well as neighboring Cherokee, Ida, and Buena Vista counties.

As part of their state mission, the Air Guard has Debris Removal Teams, specialized personnel and tools that includes chain saws, skid steer loaders, dump trucks and other vehicles. Airmen assigned to the domestic response mission are primarily assigned to the unit’s Civil Engineering Squadron.

A series of rainstorms caused widespread flooding that quickly overwhelmed dozens of municipalities in the Northwest corner of the Hawkeye state. As residents began cleaning up, communities were faced with large amounts of debris that included items like basement carpet, drywall, furniture, and other household content.

Getting cleanup operations underway as quickly as possible is paramount as flood debris can present public health concerns. The ANG teams will be on duty to assist with recovery efforts, starting in Spencer, Iowa.

Air National Guard Debris Removal Teams were used as recently as 2020 when they were called to Cedar Rapids in the wake of the derecho windstorm.

The Iowa National Guard says F-16 fighter jets will fly over West Des Moines this weekend to honor a retired Air Guard General who has died.  Brigadier General Travis K. Acheson died June 21st after a year-long battle with brain cancer. General Acheson graduated from Valley High School in 1986 and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from The University of Iowa in 1990. He retired from the Guard after 33 years in September 2022.

(Ret.) Brigadier General Travis K. Acheson

He amassed nearly three-thousand flying hours in the F-16 and completed over 500 combat hours during five overseas deployments. He also had a career as a commercial pilot with American Airlines.

Acheson is survived by his wife Brooke and three daughters. There will be an F-16 flyover around 10:30 Saturday at Resthaven Cemetery following a celebration of life ceremony.

(Radio Iowa) -0 Iowa’s Catholic bishops say they celebrate that the Iowa Supreme Court has recognized there’s no right to an abortion in the Iowa Constitution. Their written statement was issued this (Friday) morning, shortly after the Iowa Supreme Court issued a ruling that lifts an injunction that had blocked a six week abortion ban from taking effect in Iowa. Bishop William Joensen of the Des Moines Catholic Diocese spoke last weekend at a rally to celebrate the U-S Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v Wade.

“As much as we heralded the Dobbs decision, we know how it has exposed an underlying attachment in our American culture to that option to procure an abortion, at least under limited circumstances,” Joensen said. “We know a legal sea change of this magnitude does not automatically correlate with changes in hearts and minds and attitudes.” The written statement from Joensen and the other bishops says human life should be protected under our laws to the greatest extent possible. Joensen suggests the next step is banning in vitro fertilization.

“Nobody knows how many human embryos dwell in dark, cold storage tanks, though estimates range from 500,000 to millions and they would make it certainly at least one of the 30 largest cities in America,” Joensen says. “The fact is only a tiny minority will see the light of day.” Maggie DeWitte, executive director of Pulse Life Advocates is also a spokeswoman for the Iowa Coalition of Pro-Life leaders. She calls the six week ban is a life saving measure.

Iowa Judicial Branch Bldg.

“This is a monumental win for Iowa women, for Iowa families, for babies,” DeWitte said. DeWitte says she’s been lobbying for abortion restrictions in Iowa for 25 years and it’s hard to put the magnitude of today’s (Friday) ruling into words.

(Radio Iowa) – Flooding on the Cedar River the past three weeks has conservation officials in the northeast Iowa area concerned about ongoing soil and habitat preservation efforts. Black Hawk County Conservation Executive Director, Mike Hendrickson, says if the river keeps rising and falling so quickly, it could result in unforeseen erosion. “It will eventually take its toll, because it will find ways to cut erosion gulleys down through areas, and that will take out vegetation and every time it does that it’ll get bigger, and we really can’t get in there to fix it until it’s over,” he says. The Cedar River has crested at over 90 feet twice in the past three weeks.

Hendrickson says the erosion from the flood cycles could wipe out several years of work. “If these things keep coming, and if the next time we can’t get some of this water out of here, then we’re going to start having problems,” he says. “Then we have to take a look at when we can get back out there, and are we going to have to fix what we didn’t think we were going to have to fix.”
Flood conditions on the Cedar River are expected to continue at least into the weekend, and more rain is likely.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Area Chamber Ambassadors were hosted by TS Bank on Thursday, June 27th, 2024. The Ambassadors gathered to welcome new staff members to the TS Bank team. The Ambassadors welcomed Le Ann Erickson to her new role as branch manager. Le Ann has worked in banking for the last 24 years and has been a part of two previous banks in the past. She is excited to be working in the Atlantic branch of TS Bank. The Ambassadors were also introduced to Paige Hays who made the move to Atlantic just a few weeks ago. Paige helped open the TS Bank branch in Ames just last year in April. Paige looks forward to getting out into the community and meeting new people.

The Atlantic branch of TS bank opened in December of 2015 and has continued to uphold their mission to Ignite Prosperity in the communities they serve by reinvesting 10 percent of its net income. The Guttau Family has owned TS Bank and Group since the early 70’s and is continuing to lead by example when it comes to investing in every TS Bank community. In Atlantic TS Bank has been involved in Shift ATL, the YMCA, Ann Wickman, among many others. Dave Wise, President of Community Banking stated, “Of all our markets I am excited about Atlantic and all the things happening in Cass County, we are here to continue to grow with the community.”

Ambassador’s Pictured Left to Right: Nina Welter, Jeff Christensen, DeeDee Kalny, Jeremy Butler, Dolly Bergmann, Dave Wise, Le Ann Erickson, Ashley Williams, Adriana Mendez, Paige Hays, Dan Rossell, Kelsey Stupfell Abby Becker, Alex McAfee, Megan Sramek, Colt Doherty, Kathie Hockenberry, Julie Waters, Scott Bennett, Krysta Hanson, Lana Westphalen, Keith Leonard, BJ Hart, Bill Saluk, Jim Kickland

TS Bank is located at 1005 E. 7th Street in Atlantic.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld the law that bans most abortions after the sixth week of a pregnancy. Four of the justices joined the majority ruling that removed the injunction that prevented the law from taking effect. Three justices opposed the move. The majority ruling says there’s no fundamental right to an abortion in Iowa’s Constitution and the court’s review of the historical record shows the right to an abortion is not rooted at all in our state’s history and tradition. Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christiansen wrote a dissent, saying the four justices who joined the majority decision relied heavily on the male-dominated history and traditions of the 1800s and she said the four justices had had ignored how far women’s rights have come since the Civil War era. Governor Reynolds is praising the decision, saying nothing is more worthy of the strongest defense than the unborn. Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart says Republicans went too far with this abortion ban and voters will hold them accountable in November.

Maggie DeWitte is executive director of Pulse Life Advocates. She was the emcee for last Saturday’s statehouse rally to mark the anniversary of the U-S Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v Wade — and set the new legal standard on which today’s (Friday’s) IOWA Supreme Court ruling is based. “Now we can turn the page to a new chapter of defending life right here in our own state of Iowa,” she said. DeWitte says slow and steady wins the race and the task now is to convince more Iowans abortion isn’t the answer. “We are exposing the extremism of the other side and speaking with moral confidence and it’s working. Sixty-six percent of Americans support placing legal limits on abortion,” DeWitte said. “Now, is that enough? No, but it is a step in the right direction.” DeWitte says other restrictions on abortion are needed. “None of us in the pro-life movement are going to stop until we have eliminated abortion in the state of Iowa,” she said.

Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christiansen wrote a strong dissent, saying the four justices who joined the majority decision relies “heavily on the male-dominated history and traditions of the 1800s, all the while ignoring how far women’s rights have come since the Civil War era. Mazie Stilwell of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa spoke during an online event last (Thursday) night. “This case really does determine Iowans’ ability to control their own bodies, their own futures, their entire lives,” Stilwell said, “and so it’s hard to overstate how much is at stake in this ruling.” Stilwell says few people know they’re pregnant at six weeks.

“Taking an element of control over people’s lives, putting us in a position where whether it be politicians or judges are having more control over our bodies and our lives than we do,” Stilwell said, “and that’s a really scary moment to be in and we know that it’s not right.” Stilwell says polling in Iowa shows a majority of Iowans oppose the six week abortion ban. “It’s really nothing more than an unconstitutional power grab by those who are just obsessed with controlling us and making those deeply personal medical decisions for us,” Stilwell says.

After the U-S Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, Governor Reynolds asked the Iowa Supreme Court to let a similar law she signed in 2018 take effect. A year ago, the Iowa Supreme Court deadlocked on the issue, so Reynolds called for a special legislative session last July to pass the same law again. It was immediately challenged in court. Iowa is among a dozen states that have a six week abortion ban. Iowa’s law does include exceptions in cases of rape, incest, fetal abnormality or to save the life of the mother. The law says women cannot be prosecuted for seeking or obtaining an abortion, but it will be up to the Board of Medicine to sanction Iowa doctors accused of violating the law.

The Iowa Board of Medicine approved general guidelines in February for when exceptions would be allowed. For instance, doctors must sign a certification that documents the reasons for abortions in cases of rape, incest or when fetal abnormalities are cited. Iowans for Health Liberty, a group representing some Iowa doctors, has said the rules are too vague when it and will force doctors to withhold care that until a woman’s health declines enough for treatment.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors held their regular weekly meeting today (Friday), instead of Wednesday. During the brief session, the Board passed three Resolutions, including those for Fiscal Year 2025 Appropriations, as previously approved by the Board and Department Heads, and the Transfer of funds. Board Chair Jerry Walker explains…

They passed a Resolution to destroy certain records as allowed under the Code of Iowa, and as recommended by the Auditor Retention Guide. They then approved Fiscal Year 2025 hourly salary wages as passed in the previous Budget Hearing. A Fireworks Permit application for the Adair County Fair was approved, along with a six-month raise for the Adair County Treasurer’s Clerk. County Engineer Nick Kauffman provided the Board with an update on the Secondary Roads Department maintenance and activities.

Supervisor Jodie Hoadley took a moment to commend Kauffman’s crews, the numerous contractors who came in from all around the area, and Sheriff’s Department personnel, who really stepped-up and responded quickly, in the aftermath of the devastating May 21st tornado, which packed Doppler radar estimated winds of as much as 318-mph.

Sheriff Jeff Vandewater told the Board a Sheriff’s Department Tahoe was declared a total loss, and debris hung up on the communications tower has been removed, but at least one of the microwave communications dishes were damaged. Crews are not allowed to climb the tower to make repairs, because inspectors say it’s currently not safe to do so.