(Radio Iowa) – Ground is being broken on an expansion of one of Clear Lake’s most historic sites, on what will be called The Surf Ballroom Music Enrichment & Immersive Center. It will include a visitors center, a gift shop, lesson studios, a conference space, and an exhibit area to showcase the ballroom’s significant contributions to music history. Jeff Nicholas, with the North Iowa Cultural Center & Museum — which oversees the Surf, says the new facility will offer a great learning experience.

“It will inspire our youth not only to learn about the culture of our community, the culture of the Surf Ballroom, about the music, about all the friendships and all the relationships,” Nicholas says. “This place is bricks and mortar, but it’s so much more than that.” City Administrator Scott Flory says the improvements with the center, as well as other improvements to the Surf area, will ensure the legacy of the ballroom remains relevant for many generations to come.

Flory says, “We all know the Surf Ballroom has a very unique story to tell, and the new Music Enrichment & Immersive Center, the streetscape improvements that we are making here, are all things that are critical and pivotal for us to help continue to tell the story of the Surf Ballroom, a National Historic Landmark.” Iowa Economic Development Authority director Debi Durham says the Surf’s mission is evolving, from one that celebrates the legacies of the musicians who have played there, but it also celebrates public art, the lake, and a hands-on learning experience that will inspire generations to come.

“It is game-changing for Clear Lake, and an incredibly successful story for Iowa,” Durham says. “What I love about this project is not just its potential, but its story of reinvention, creative thinking and partnership. You have this collective leadership with the community and the companies that came together around the Surf District.” Rock-and-roll stars Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly and “The Big Bopper” J. P. Richardson all died in a plane crash near Clear Lake in February of 1959 after playing a concert at the Surf. Connie Valens, Ritchie’s sister, says the center will give an opportunity to continue to teach and enrich future generations about what the Surf represents.

Photo by Bob Fisher, KRIB

“The Enrichment Center, through the dedication of the teachers and students, will be at the heart of continuing the legacies of the three young men who changed rock-and-roll history and continue to inspire new generations of musicians.” The rest of the Surf District project, which received a $4.37 million Destination Iowa grant, will include gateway and streetscape enhancements around and on Buddy Holly Place, and waterfront connections from the ballroom to the lakeshore. The Music Enrichment & Immersive Center recently was awarded an additional $400,000 Community Attraction and Tourism grant.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa legislators are making final decisions on next year’s state spending plan, but disagreements remain as the Iowa General Assembly aims to adjourn for the year soon. Senate Republicans propose a two percent salary hike for Iowa judges. House Republicans propose a more than six percent increase that’s in line with what the Iowa Supreme Court’s chief justice has recommended. Caitlin Jarzen, director of governmental affairs for Iowa’s court system, says the pay for county attorneys has kept pace with inflation, but judges’ salaries have not.

“We’re seeing a really a big problem with retention and recruitment,” Jarzen said. “…The Judicial Branch is being left behind while other salaries are increasing.” Some county attorneys are making almost as much as a district court judge. “This is a big problem because a huge portion of our judicial applicant pool is county attorneys,” Jarzen said. “…We’re going to get to a point where the position of a judge is not attractive to a county attorney anymore and we’d like to have their expertise on the bench.”

Jarzen says many attorneys in state government have salaries that are higher than a district court judge. The legal counsels working in state government agencies are even paid more than the Chief Judge on the Iowa Court of Appeals.  “We even understand we’re not going to compete with private industry salaries,” Jarzen said. “An attorney in private practice is going to make more and that’s just an accepted part of reality that you take a salary cut with public service, but now the judges’ salaries are getting to the point that other public servants aren’t even wanting to apply to be on the bench because it’s a salary cut for them, too.”

Iowa judges are paid less than judges in every neighboring state. The six-point-two percent salary hike proposed by the chief justice still won’t raise those salaries above judges in surrounding states.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa legislature has approved the governor’s plan to create a combined system to help Iowans with a mental illness as well as those with addiction issues. Republican Representative Joel Fry of Osceola says it’s the culmination of many years of work to improve services.

“I have worked on a variety of different pieces related to mental health and substance abuse for my last 14 years here,” said Fry, who is not seeking reelection, “and this is a great opportunity for the state of Iowa to be able to see these two worlds merge and to have a system statewide that I believe will benefit Iowans in some pretty dramatic ways.”

There are currently 13 mental health regions and 19 separate substance use treatment regions in Iowa. On July 1st of next year, they’ll be combined into seven behavioral health districts. Advocates say it will be particularly helpful for people who have a mental health diagnosis and also need treatment for substance abuse.

The bill does not provide a new source of funding for the system, but state officials say after the merger, they’ll be able to use 23 MILLION dollars that hasn’t been spent in some of the mental health regions.

(Radio Iowa) – The unemployment numbers for March are out and Iowa Workforce Development executive director Beth Townsend says things are holding steady. “Pretty stable from last month it’s down a little bit from the revised February number of three-point-oh percent down to two-point-nine (2.9) in March, which is a good sign,” Townsend says. The workforce participation rate dropped slightly as well.

“You never want to see a decrease in your labor force participation rate right? We would love for that to get back to where it was pre-pandemic when it was closer to 70 percent,” she says. Townsend says there were four-thousand new jobs in March to go along with the 11-thousand jobs added in February. Townsend says they are starting to see increases in jobs in the typical areas that add employees as we head toward summer.

“You know, ramping up for the summer construction season, which is a good sign so you always want your construction and your manufacturing to be hiring or at least not laying off,” Townsend says. “…As you know, we’ve seen some layoffs, some pretty big layoffs coming in May in June with the Tyson plant closing and John Deere has got some layoffs going on. So it’s a good sign that we added those jobs in February and March.” Townsend says Iowa’s economy continues to be resilient.

“Despite the inflation worries that we’re seeing nationally and the changes in the national unemployment rate — nationally we only have about 62 percent of the labor force participation rate. So, we’re well insulated from what’s going on nationally and that’s a good sign,” Townsend says. The U-S unemployment rate fell in March to three-point-eight percent.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – The Adair-Casey and Guthrie Center School Boards held a joint meeting Wednesday evening, in Guthrie Center. District Superintendent Josh Rasmussen said the Boards began their meeting with a Special Presentation from Senior Class students, with regard to the Senior trip to our nation’s Capital.

The Boards also acted on resignations and contract recommendations. In the Guthrie Center District…

With regard to Adair-Casey resignations and contracts, Rasmussen said…

Josh Rasmussen said they are still looking to fill some positions for the coming school year.

He said the Boards talked about School Safety and a School Safety grant they received from the State.

The Boards also approved their respective 2024-25 Certified Budgets.

Rasmussen said the Board also approved setting the dates for public hearings on the 2023-24 Certified Budget Amendment, as May 13^th in Adair-Casey, and May 14^th in Guthrie Center. The adjustments are needed, he said, due to some underestimated expenditures in both Districts.