(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig says his department is beginning work to restore seven abandoned mine sites in south-central and southeast Iowa. Coal was strip mined from the areas.”So in the 1800s and early 1900s in Iowa, and these were mined at a time where companies were not required to reclaim those sites,” Naig says. He says the soil and rocks were stripped back to get at the coal.

“What you’ve got is sort of the debris that’s left over, the rock, the rock piles and often times there’s a dangerous high wall, meaning that they’ve dug out an area the last place that they mined coal, there’s a large hole, often times a pond,” Naig says. He says the water in the pond is not not good quality, and often very acidic. Naig says this is NOT the same as cleaning up a superfund toxic waste site. “It’s not that we need to clean up any chemicals or those types of things. It’s got a lot to do with just moving dirt around, moving rock, restoring the landscape, and then we have a significant focus on, how do you restore the soil health,” he says. “Oftentimes, that ground is not able to be productive before reclamation. After reclamation, you’ve helped to restore the organic matter.”

Naig says you may not be able to grow crops on the ground, but it can grow grass and other vegetation after the process is done. Iowa is doing the cleanup in conjunction with the federal government in a program that was created in the 1970’s and 80’s. Naig says they’ve made progress in addressing the old mine sites here. “The state of Iowa has had roughly 300 of these abandoned mine sites. And to date, we’ve been able to restore 120 of those. Some have been restored outside of our work and we estimate that we’ve got about 140 yet to do,” Niag says. The program is spending 10 million dollars for these seven projects. Naig says it will take around one year to complete them.

Here are the projects:
Pella North and Pella South (Dutch Hollow), Marion County: 162 acres
Kuiper, Marion County: 81.2 acres
Bos, Wapello County: 34.6 Acres
Eden, Van Buren County:14 acres
Pedrick, Van Buren County: 14 Acres
Vanderzyl, Marion County: 57 Acres
Vanderzyl East, Marion County: 29.5 Acres

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest on Sunday (Oct. 6th), of 45-year-old Joseph Earl Smith, from Red Oak. Smith was taken into custody at around 11:50-p.m., on a Felony charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance inside a Correctional Facility, and on a Taylor County warrant for Failure to Appear (a Serious Misdemeanor). He was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

GREENFIELD, Iowa — [KCCI] – Greenfield is celebrating homeowners and businesses rebuilding after an EF-4 tornado devastated the town back in May. Seven groundbreaking ceremonies were held Sunday across town for six homes and one business who are rebuilding, according to the Greenfield Chamber Main Street. The business breaking ground is Super Suds Auto Wash.

Organizer Gina School said her home and business were ok from the storm so it’s important to be able to give back to people who need it. The chamber says this is just the first round of groundbreaking ceremonies. School said they saved dirt from each house and will use it to plant trees in public places next year.

Pam and Dean Wiggins’ family did start fundraising for new trees in town. The hope is to use the dirt to plant one of the trees. School says she’s also planning another project ahead of the holiday season. She’s raising money to buy Christmas decorations for people who lost their homes so they can have a new tree and decorations.

(Radio Iowa) – Texas Governor Greg Abbott says the Iowa National Guard and state law enforcement officers Iowa’s governor deployed to the southern border earlier this year denied illegal entry to countless migrants.  “Thank you to Governor Reynolds. Thank you to your state legislature. Thank you to the taxpayers of the incredible state of Iowa for sending your National Guard and law enforcement officers to our border to help us secure our border and protect our sovereignty,” Abbott said.

Abbott was the keynote speaker Saturday in Des Moines at Governor Kim Reynolds’ annual campaign fundraiser.  “I invited Governor Abbott tonight so he can give us a real, raw account of the mess Kamala Harris has made at the southern border,” Reynolds said, “and share how he’s been fighting back.” Abbott says there’s been total chaos at the Texas border during the Biden-Harris Administration and he’s been forced to call upon other states for help.

“I cannot count the number of illegal immigrants who tried to get into the United States, but were denied by the help of the Iowa National Guard,” Abbott said, to cheers. Reynolds has deployed Iowa State Troopers, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agents and the Iowa National Guard to Texas on three occasions, starting in 2021.

Governor Kim Reynolds at her annual campaign fundraiser on Oct. 5, 2024 (Radio Iowa photo)

Reynolds, the first speaker at her fundraiser, drew cheers from the crowd when she mentioned the tax cuts and teacher pay raises she’s approved. She also recognized Iowa native Caitlin Clark, who was named the W-N-B-A’s Rookie of the Year late last week. “How great is it that kids around the country and around the world are learning from this example of Iowa character. And let’s be honest, it’s not just something that kids can learn. It’s something that all of us can learn from her example,” Reynolds said. “This is a political event, but the funny thing is I don’t even know Caitlin’s politics and frankly I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. She’s doing amazing things and we are lucky to call her one of our own, so let’s give her a big round of applause that shows just how much we appreciate her and all that she represents.”

Last month, Clark said this is the second election she’s been able to vote in and she encouraged people to register to vote. Reynolds and other top Iowa G-O-P leaders used this weekend’s event to repeat their calls for Iowa Republicans to vote early. Iowans may start voting at county auditors’ offices on October 16th.

(Creston, Iowa) – An accident in Creston early Friday night resulted in a woman being transported to the hospital. According to the Creston Police Department, the accident happened at around 7:40-p.m. on North Division Street, just north of the intersection with West Irving Street. Authorities say a 2016 Dodge SUV was legally parked, when a 17-year-old female from Shannon City, attempted to turn the car she was driving, around. The 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis was backing up, when it struck the SUV.

The teenage driver said she looked but didn’t see the Dodge. The owner of the Dodge, 28-year-old Crystal Whitney Jacobe, of Creston, was in the process of putting her children in the vehicle at the time of the accident. The impact caused her to be struck by the door of her vehicle, causing an injury to her right hip. Jacobe was transported to the Creston hospital by ambulance.

Both vehicles sustained minor damage and were driven away from the scene. The damage amounted to $1,500 altogether, according to the police report. There were no citations issued. The report only noted contributing factors in the accident were starting or backing improperly.