(Radio Iowa) – Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks says there are very few uncounted ballots in the first congressional district race and she is comfortable with the current margin of votes that put her ahead of Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan. At the end of Election Night, Miller-Meeks led by 413 votes. Her lead grew yesterday (Wednesday) after a county that had had problems with ballot tabulators completed its count.

“Washington County results are fully in,” she said. “Again those results showed what we expected they would show and what had we predicted they would show, which would be that I would win in Washington County and we did with 58% of the vote. That almost doubled our vote total, our margin of victory of 799 votes.”

Bohannan posted a statement on social media yesterday (Wednesday), saying the race was still too close to call and her campaign expects more ballots to come in over the coming days. Iowa candidates may request recounts in races when the winning margin is less than one percent of all votes cast — but county boards of supervisors have to meet, review the tallies of ballots and vote to make the results official first. Candidates then have three days to file for recounts.

(Radio Iowa) – It will be Kum and Go no more. A trade publication called C-Store Dive reports the Utah company that bought the Iowa-based convenience store chain in 2023 will rebrand all Kum and Go locations as Maverik stores in 2025. Sekar — chair of the department of marketing in Iowa State University’s Business School — says a brand name is one of a company’s assets.

“It’s the trust, it’s the promise, it’s the connection between the consumer and the company and it’s extremely valuable,” Raju says. “If you you look at Apple, for example, much of the value that the brand holds is actually equal to or more than all of the other assets that they have.” Kum and Go has sold caps, koozies and other items that bear the Kum and Go logo, but Raju isn’t sure of the long-term value of that memorabilia once the brand is retired.

“There will be some nostalgia related to the brand,” Raju says. “People might be collecting these things.” The Kum and Go brand was launched in the 1970s by Bill Krause and Tony Gentle, who started the chain. They opened their first gas station in 1959 in Hampton. Jim Davies, a Hampton native who’s chairman of the Hampton Historic Preservation Commission, remembers when the company started selling food and merchandise as well as gasoline.

“The stores were really nothing like the convenience stores of today,” Davies says. “They were much smaller.” Davies and his family attended the same church when the Krause family lived in Hampton. “In 1963, Krause Gentle introduced the company’s first convenience stores,” Davies says. “I think Store #1 is located on north Highway 65. There was another store located on west Highway 3 across from their corporate headquarters.”

The company’s corporate headquarters moved to Des Moines in 1988. According to C-Store Dive — a trade publication for the convenience store industry — a Maverik spokesperson said Kum and Go stores will briefly close, be rebranded as Maverik stores and reopen with the same employees.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City Council in Atlantic met in a regularly scheduled session this (Wednesday) evening. During their meeting, the Council paid special recognition to Assistant Police Chief Paul Wood, who has served as a member of the Atlantic Police Department for 20-years. Mayor Grace Garrett read from a statement provided by Atlantic Police Chief Devin Hogue, with regard to Assistant Chief Paul Wood’s background and experience.

Wood was promoted to Sergeant in the Atlantic Police Department 2011, Lieutenant in 2016, and finally to Assistant Police Chief, in 2022.

Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett congratulates Assistant Police Chief Paul Wood for his 20-years of service on the City’s Police force.

Speaking of people with many years of valuable experience, Councilman Jim Behrens, during the Council Committee report portion of the City Council meeting, said he learned during Tuesday’s fire department meeting, the Atlantic Fire Department is losing four members whose experience will be sorely missed. One of those is Wayne Brosam, who is a Special Agent/Investigator with the State Fire Marshal’s Arson and Explosives Division with the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council acted on passing a Resolution setting Dec. 4, 2024, as the date for a Public Hearing on an Urban Renewal Plan Amendment, with regard to the Southeast Urban Renewal District. With the approval, the Council will adopt a development agreement for the use of TIF (Tax Increment Financing) for the Vision Atlantic housing development project, which City Administrator John Lund says is the largest such project in Atlantic since the Nishna Hills Final Plat was adopted in 1978.

The Council acted also on a Resolution authorizing City Administrator Lund to sign and execute a Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) SWAP Program and other Iowa DOT documents, as required by the Iowa Department Of Transportation, which allows the City to use over $1.056-million in the City’s accrued and borrowing from, future TIP (Transportation Improvement Plan) funds to fund the estimated $1.320-million in costs, for the reconstruction of West 22nd Street. That work is expected to begin next Spring and Summer (2025).

Another Resolution the Atlantic City Council passed, Wednesday, was with regard to the City’s responsibility for Community Sidewalks, and the Development of a Comprehensive Sidewalk Improvement Plan to maintain sidewalks in a safe, and hazard-free condition. John Lund says the Resolution leaves the City as the owner of sidewalks, and liable for damages resulting from failure to maintain them. Lund says the City can transfer liability, but each time it does so, a property owner must receive notice by certified mail requiring the owner to “repair, replace or reconstruct sidewalks within a reasonable time.”

The final item of business for the Council, was to act on passing the third and final reading of an Ordinance pertaining to “Prohibited Trees.” In his report, John Lund sounded a bit like the painter Bob Ross, when describing the 2023 Audit Report.

He said he’s proud of the Audit, and would enjoy talking about it.

(Radio Iowa) – Programs to support housing for homeless youth in Iowa are being awarded nearly seven-million dollars in a grant from the U-S Department of Housing and Urban Development. Courtney Guntly is director of the Iowa Balance of State Continuum of Care, a co-applicant on the grant. Guntly says the money can expand more tailored services for young people across the state, with a focus on those between the ages of 18 and 24.

“Young people may have never had an apartment in their name, and so you just need to walk through what does all of that look like,” Guntly says, “and so the needs of this population are different than the needs of our general homeless population.” The Iowa Institute for Community Alliances received the HUD grant. That agency will distribute the money to organizations across the state, though Guntly says local providers don’t have to be youth-specific to apply for part of the money.

“There’s no way we’re going to be able to do it if we only have our providers that serve youth,” Guntly says. “We need everyone to be up at the table and to talk through how we can really make an impact.” The money is being issued through HUD’s Youth Homeless Demonstration Program. It can be used for solutions like rapid rehousing, transitional housing and permanent supportive housing. Guntly says after the two-year grant is over, HUD will continue to provide long-term funding to support the projects.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors will hold a Special Session 1-p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7th, to consider a request for an Administrative Recount of Precinct 5GF, following Tuesday’s General Election. The request will be presented by Adair County Auditor Mandy Berg.

In a social media post, the Auditor’s Office explained, “We had a successful election with one minor hiccup….We had one issue at our Greenfield precinct, 5GF, with a ballot jam in the tabulator. Our precinct election official and the voter noticed immediately that the ballot was not successfully cast and that our tabulator count did not increase, due to the jam. The precinct followed their backup procedures and our office was notified immediately.

“Auditor Berg was able to verify that the count on the precinct tabulator did not include the one voter’s ballot. This was re-verified at the end of the night because of the checks and balances we have in place, showing that 414 ballots were counted and 415 ballots cast. As a result, we will be requesting an administrative recount for that precinct ensuring that the final results include all voted ballots.”

Following the request, Thursday, the Board will act on approving or denying the recount, as explained.

DES MOINES) – The Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) Board of Directors today (Wednesday) awarded a total of $554,596 to a total of ten Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) providers in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Des Moines, Davenport, Iowa City and Waterloo.  The Operating Deficit Relief Grant to Council Bluffs amounts to $50,000 for New Visions Homeless Services.

PSH is an evidence-based, minimal-barrier housing intervention for persons experiencing homelessness designed to support individuals with complex, multi-occurring conditions. Qualifying households are provided permanent affordable housing with access to case management and support services. It not only improves the housing stability and overall quality of life of Iowans but also generates significant savings for public systems, reducing costs associated with emergency room visits, incarcerations and health care services.

The IFA Board of Directors created the Iowa PSH Fund for the purpose of supporting the operational stability of Iowa’s nonprofit PSH providers, helping to ensure the housing stability of the individuals and families served in those rental units and reducing their risk of returning to homelessness.

“Permanent Supportive Housing has demonstrated long-term benefits in housing stability, employment, mental and physical health and school attendance,” said IFA Director Debi Durham. “By investing in the operational needs of our PSH providers, we are not only investing in the well-being of Iowans, but also strengthening our communities.” 

The Iowa PSH Fund offers two categories of assistance for eligible providers:

PSH Operating Deficit Relief Grant
Eligible applicants can request up to $50,000 to cover operational deficits incurred during the prior fiscal year. The maximum award will be the lesser of $50,000 or the actual operating deficit.

PSH Operating Expense Grant 
A one-time grant of up to $25,000 may be awarded for each completed Federal Housing Tax Credit PSH project, while National Housing Trust Fund PSH projects may receive up to $50,000.

This funding aims to reinforce the essential work of PSH providers, ensuring they can continue to offer vital support to those in need throughout Iowa.

The list of awards is available here.