(Radio Iowa) – Wetlands in Iowa help prevent nearly 500-million dollars in flood damage every year, according to a new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Report author Stacy Woods says wetlands are natural floodwater barriers that absorb and slow down rushing water like a sponge. Federal data shows a decline in the number of wetlands, especially in the Prairie Pothole region, Great Lakes and southeast. Woods fears the trend could accelerate, as a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year stripped away federal protections in the Clean Water Act for many wetlands.
Woods says, “It’s critically important that we really step up to protect the wetlands that remain, because we’re going to need them as our flooding frequency increases with this warming climate.” The report’s findings build on peer-reviewed research, which estimates one acre of wetlands provides 745-dollars of flood mitigation benefits to residential homes. “We know that flooding is a significant issue,” she says. “It’s expensive, and it’s getting worse as the climate warms.”
Radio Iowa file photo
Along with flood mitigation, the report says wetlands provide habitat and food for roughly half of the endangered species in the U.S. They also act as natural pollution filters for drinking water. In the last two decades, Iowa has had six flood disasters with losses exceeding one-billion dollars. “In our report, we were only looking at how wetlands benefit communities by mitigating flood damage,” Woods says, “but of course, wetlands bring so many benefits to communities.”
The report recommends boosting conservation programs that help restore and protect these habitats.
The Atlantic Trojan Wrestling team begins their season today with the first dual of 2024 against Earlham. The Trojans bring a roster of 21 athletes and made up of two state qualifiers, a state medal winner in Aiden Smith, and nine letter winners. Despite having a 10-9 dual record a year ago, the Atlantic Wrestling team is bursting with confidence due to the effort and chemistry built in the offseason.
Senior State Qualifier Evan Sorensen was one athlete that noticed the positive energy building for the 2024 season.
Sophomore Collin Harris was another athlete who has enjoyed growing and improving over the offseason. He even commented on the passion that he and his teammates share with the start of a new season.
Senior State medal winner Aiden Smith also pointed out that this Atlantic squad is feeling stronger and they plan on seeing more success in 2024.
On the topic of success, Sorensen noted that Atlantic Wrestling head coach Tim Duff has the goal of seeing his team qualify for state duals.
Harris was also complimentary on the way coach Duff has guided and mold this year’s group.
Smith is confident that if the Trojans dig in to their chemistry and stay hungry, that this year will bring a lot of victories.
Atlantic’s dual with Earlham today will be at the home of the Cardinals, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks says it’s time to crack down on the business practices of Pharmacy Benefit Managers or P-B-M’s. “Currently, 97% of all prescription drugs in the United States flow through just six major PBMs. These entities are destroying independent pharmacies,” Miller-Meeks says. “…This year alone, 25 independent pharmacies have closed in Iowa and this has to stop.” P-B-Ms negotiate the prices of medications on behalf of insurers.
Miller-Meeks and other critics say P-B-M’s drive down the prices paid to the pharmacies that fill prescriptions in order to pocket a bigger cut of the insurance payout. “Every American who utilizes prescription medications experiences the impact that PBMs and vertical integration have on our health care system. Patients everywhere and our independent pharmacists especially deserve a more transparent health care system where patients always come first,” Miller-Meeks said.
Iowa Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks speaks at D.C. news conference with John Nicholson, owner of Mahaska Drug in Oskaloosa, to her left. (Photo provided by Miller-Meeks congressional staff)
Miller-Meeks is among a large, bipartisan group of lawmakers from the U-S House and Senate who are calling for passage of a bill before congress adjourns for the year. “The time for PBM reform is now,” Miller-Meeks said.
Miller-Meeks backs legislation that would prohibit P-B-Ms from forcing patients to use a certain pharmacy rather than the one that’s closest to them. It would also ban P-B-Ms from paying lower rates to independent pharmacies than it pays affiliated pharmacies for the same services.
(Radio Iowa) – A Japanese company has agreed to pay a nearly 460-thousand dollar federal fine after two hazardous chemical releases from its grain processing facility in southeast Iowa. Ajinomoto operates two plants in Eddyville. One makes food and seasonings, the other makes animal feed. The U-S Environmental Protection Agency inspected the facilities after a 2021 incident when hydrochloric gas was released and again after a 2022 chlorine leak.
Both incidents led to evacuations and shelter-in-place orders to residents in the Eddyville area. According to the E-P-A, some Ajinomoto employees were injured by the chlorine leak two years ago. The E-P-A accused Ajinomoto of failing to coordinate with local emergency responders about the risks associated with chemicals being used at the facility. As part of the settlement, Ajinomoto has agreed to install an anhydrous ammonia containment system on its Eddyville campus.
A spokesperson for Ajinomoto was not immediately available for comment.
(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council met this (Wednesday) evening and received a report from Atlantic Municipal Utilities General Manager Steve Tjepkes. He mentioned that in addition to the normal cost increases, their Purchased Power costs are increasing about 10-percent next year (2025). Because of that, and expected local system improvements in their 2025 Capital Projects budget, AMU will be increasing electric rates for the first time in nine-years.
Tjpekes says there will be an average overall increase of 5-percent across all rate classes in 2025. The improvements that are factored-in to AMU’s $2.4-million Capital Improvement Projects Budget, he said, include the replacement of two, 161-Kilovolt (kV) circuit breakers, which are “celebrating their 50th year of being in-place,” Tjepkes said.
On a positive note, Tjepkes said AMU was awarded a National Excellence in Reliability award for reliable electric service, compared to electric companies throughout the country, with an average service availability rate exceeding 99.9%. He said also, AMU’s electric rates are the second-lowest of all 181 utilities. Both the electric and water departments are currently debt-free, according to Steve Tjepkes.
AMU GM Steve Tjepkes
On the water operations side, AMU is planning a 10% overall water rate increase in 2025. What that means is the average residential water bill is $25/month. A 10% increase would add $2.50/per month to that bill.
The utility was awarded a $500,000 CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) to offset a portion of a planned replacement of an underground water storage tank. The new tank will hold treated water that will be ready to be distributed throughout the system.
The Atlantic City Council passed a resolution approving the Calendar Year (CY) 2025 Budget for AMU, which the utilities’ Board of Trustees approved Monday night, following a public hearing. The City Council also heard from Nishna Valley Family YMCA Director Dan Haynes, who mentioned the Recreational Center Building will finally be paid-off by the end of the month, through the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) Fund.
Haynes reminded the Council a project to expand and renovate the recreation center is planned in conjunction with Vision Atlantic and the Charles E. Lakin Foundation, which has committed $6.4-million in grant funds toward the YMCA portion of the Vision Atlantic project. In other business, the Atlantic City Council acted on approving:
An order to approve pay application number three to the Henley Group, LLC, for the Sunnyside Park Splashpad Project.
And, the Second Reading of an ordinance amending the City’s Code of Ordinance, with regard to ATV and Snowmobile use in the City.
Councilman Shawn Sarsfield said there are some misconceptions among some citizens about the ordinance.
The Council held a Public Hearing on a proposed amendment to the Urban Renewal Plan (URP) for the Southeast Urban Renewal District (URD). The hearing was followed by action on passing a resolution to approve the amendment as presented. During their meeting on Aug. 3rd, the Council held a public hearing an passed a resolution adopting the original Prairie Hills Subdivision Project to the Southeast URD.
City Administrator John Lund noted “Amending the Urban Renewal Area to include the new Urban Renewal Project, is a prerequisite to formal debt being incurred and eligible for TIF (Tax Increment Financing) capture under a development agreement, as proposed in a resolution setting the public hearing and date for, approval of a development agreement with Vision Atlantic, which includes an annual appropriation for TIF payments. The council act on [passing] the resolution during their meeting Wednesday evening.
The final order of business for the Atlantic City Council, was act on an Order approving the Annual/Financial Urban Renewal Report, as required under the Code of Iowa.
(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest today (Wednesday), of 44-year old Anthony Michael Petersen. He was taken into custody in the 100 block of W. Coolbaugh Street at around 2:30-p.m., on an active Red Oak Police Department warrant for Sexual Abuse in the 3rd Degree. Petersen was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $10,000 cash-only bond.
Anthony Michael Petersen (Pott. County Jail booking photo from Aug., 2024)
(Radio Iowa) – There is a Iowa connection to today’s (Wednesday) shooting of the C-E-O of United HealthCare in New York City. Fifty-year-old Brian Thompson was a 1993 graduate of South Hamilton High School in Jewell. He graduated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting in 1997. Thompson has been the C-E-O of United HealthCare since 2021. He had been living in Minnesota.
Brian Thompson (UnitedHealth Group photo)
Thompson was in New York attending an investor conference for United Health Care at the time. Police in New York continue with their investigation into the shooting of Thompson. South Hamilton Superintendent Heather Holm said that Thompson was class valedictorian in 1993. He was also a star athlete, Homecoming king, and a respected leader in the community.
Kirk Ferentz says even with revenue sharing and other changes ahead for college football he plans to return for his 27th season as Iowa coach. The Hawkeyes are 8-4 and will discover their bowl destination on Sunday.
Ferentz says he still enjoys leading the program.
Ferentz says while he does not want to build a team through the transfer portal the Hawkeyes are looking at options for quarterback. The Hawkeyes have used three different starting quarterbacks this season. Jackson Stratton started the last two games and Brendan Sullivan started the two prior to that.
Marco Lainez is also on the roster but was limited for the second half of the season by a thumb injury.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – Two Council Bluffs individuals were sentenced to federal prison for possessing firearms as felons. According to public court documents, in December 2022, law enforcement obtained a search warrant for the joint Council Bluffs residence of Anthony Michael Huff, 37, and Bobbie Jo Adkins, 37. Inside the residence, a loaded 12-gauge shotgun was in a bedroom, where a marijuana grow lab was also located, as well as ammunition found in the living room. On Adkins’s cell phone, law enforcement later located photos of the shotgun where Huff told Adkins “we got the gun.”
Huff and Adkins are both felons and prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition. In 2012, Huff was convicted of two felony counts of terroristic threats in the Nebraska District Court for Dodge County. In 2015, Adkins was convicted of possessing a firearm as a felon, in the Iowa District Court for Page County.
Huff received a 37-month sentence, followed by a three-year term of supervised release. Adkins received a 48-month sentence, followed by a three-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Council Bluffs Police Department, and the Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement (SWINE) Task Force.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – A Sioux Falls, South Dakota man and Guatemalan national was sentenced on November 26, 2024 in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, to 15 years in federal prison for possessing a distribution quantity of methamphetamine and possessing a firearm as a felon and in relation to his drug trafficking.
According to public court documents, 47-year-old Johny Fernando Diaz-Mendez, was arrested in March 2024 and found in possession of a firearm in his waistband and a large quantity of methamphetamine. After completing his term of imprisonment, Diaz-Mendez will be required to serve a five-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement and the Iowa State Patrol.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
RSS