(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird will deliver a speech at the Republican National Convention later today (Tuesday). “I’m speaking about making America safe again,” Bird says, “a speech supporting President Trump and his priorities of to keep our communities safe and how much he appreciates our law enforcement.” Bird was the only statewide elected official to endorse Trump before the Iowa Caucuses. She declines to speculate on whether she’d accept a role in Trump’s Administration next year if he wins in November.
“Biden’s been a disaster and we all remember how much better we were when Trump was president,” Bird says. “Just glad to be supporting his campaign and be helping him all the way up through the Caucuses until today.” On the convention’s first day, Bird was tapped to oversee the process of nominating J.D. Vance as Trump’s running mate. Bird was standing in a holding area just behind the convention stage when she spoke with Radio Iowa Monday afternoon.
“The mood here in Milwaukee is so positive and everybody’s so excited,” Bird said. Bird, a Guthrie County native, is an attorney who served as Congressman Steve King’s chief of staff and legal counsel for Governor Terry Branstad. She ran unsuccessfully for Iowa attorney general in 2010, finishing 11 points behind long-time Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller. She defeated Miller in 2022 by about 20-thousand votes.
KNOXVILLE, Iowa — The Iowa State Patrol reports one person died and another was injured, Monday afternoon, when a minivan crashed through an exterior wall of a Knoxville health care facility, striking a resident. The accident happened around 3:20 p.m. Monday at the Accura HealthCare facility when a 2014 Chrysler Town & Country van traveled through a parking lot, went out of control and accelerated through the parking lot before crashing into a wall and a resident’s room. The resident was pinned in her room and required extraction.
The resident, 70-year-old Rebecca Richardson, of Knoxville, was pronounced dead at the Knoxville hospital. The driver of the van, 86-year-old Doris McCombs, of Knoxville, was transported by air ambulance to a Des Moines hospital. The incident remains under investigation.
Due to damage to the building and “in an abundance of caution,” first responders ordered the facility to be evacuated until the building can be evaluated, Accura HealthCare said in a press release. By 9 p.m., repairs were made to the building and it was deemed safe for residents to return.
Accura HealthCare of Knoxville has 51 residents. It primarily houses seniors needing long-term care.
The Martensdale-St Marys Blue Devils won 8-0 against the Griswold Tigers on Monday night in the Class 1A Region 4 Final. From the start of the ball game Blue Devils pitcher Campbell German seemed locked in as she collected 2 strikeouts and gave up no hits in the top of the first inning. In the bottom of the first inning is where Martensdale-St Marys made their first splash scoring 3 runs from an error thrown at first and a 2 RBI single by Shelby Woods put them up 3-0. The Tigers still had no luck hitting in the top of the second inning as German struck out two more and forced a pop fly. The bottom of the second inning saw 3 hits in a row for the Blue Devils including an RBI double to increase their lead at 4-0. After the second inning, both teams seemed to be stuck in neutral offensively with Griswold pitcher Karly Millikan only giving up 2 hits through the next two innings.
In the bottom of the fifth inning Martensdale-St Marys caught a second wind and went on to post 4 more runs which included a triple by Mac German and a 2-run homer from Shelby Woods giving them a massive advantage at 8-0. Griswold would remain hitless in the next two innings and never got a runner past second on the day. German ended the game with 3 strikeouts in a row, summarizing the difficult night of hitting for the Tigers as they did not record a hit all game.
When looking back on the regional final against the Blue Devils, Tigers head coach Jody Rossell complimented the talent displayed throughout the evening.
Campbell German had a truly impressive night for Martensdale-St Marys pitching 7 innings, throwing 14 strikeouts, with 3 walks, no hits, and no runs. Griswold saw great effort from Karly Millikan pitching 6 innings, collecting 3 strikeouts, giving up 8 runs, and 12 hits. Tigers catcher Whitney Pennock also helped her team by collecting 2 walks. Griswold’s loss in the regional ends their season, which also ends the high school careers for 3 seniors that coach Rossell admires, Whitney Pennock, Dakota Reynolds, and Karly Millikan.
Coach Rossell also explained that while the season ended shorter than she would like, there was still a tremendous amount of success to be proud of.
The Tigers softball season ends with a well-earned record of 27-4. The Blue Devils will start the State Softball tournament in Fort Dodge on July 22nd.
An Iowa umpire will work Tuesday night’s Major League Baseball All Star Game in Arlington, Texas. Bruce Dreckman lives in Marcus and will be working first base in the midsummer classic. It is his second All Star Game assignment.
Dreckman says an All Star Game is a much different assignment than a playoff series.
Dreckman says for the umpires the goal is the same for every game.
Dreckman will have family with him at Tuesday night’s game.
(Radio Iowa) – A retired U.S. Air Force Special Operations member who used to live in Le Mars was sitting just a few feet away from former President Donald Trump during the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania Saturday.
Jim Truemper had seats in the bleachers slightly to the left of Trump. “It happened quick pretty quick i’ll tell you that. I was standing up everybody was cheering, because when Trump first came up on stage he looked up to us in the bleachers and we’re all going crazy,” Truemper says. “And he was just only you know, four or five maybe six minutes into his spiel whenever the first shots rang out.”
He describes how things unfolded from his vantage point. “I heard three shots. The third shot is when he grabbed his ear and he dove to the floor. He took that third hit in his ear, and he dove to the floor and then Secret Service was immediately on him. They were moving into first down to the first shot. And then there were three more rapid shots. And it was over,” he says. Truemper was not far away from the retired Pennsylvania firefighter who was killed in the attack.
“The poor fireman was about 20 feet to my right guy that was that was killed right in front of his family, there were heroic efforts to try to save him, but he was already gone,” Truemper says. Truemper says there were some anxious moments after Trump went down on the stage. “For that 30 seconds we’re all terrified that oh my god, this is really, really bad. Because they’re not standing him up, you know maybe he was critically shot. Then they stood him up and he raised that fist, oh my god the crowd just lost it,” Truemper says.
Truemper says being a witness to the attempted assassination won’t deter him from attending future rallies. Truemper left Le Mars and returned to his hometown near Pittsburgh after retiring from the Air Force.
Connections Area Agency on Aging official have announced they are hosting two virtual Family Caregiver support groups in August. Connection’s Family Caregiver Specialist Danika Jarrett invites family caregivers to join the virtual support groups a safe place for family caregivers to discuss the challenges and rewards of caring for a loved one.
To register and receive the meeting link contact Danika Jarrett at: djarrett@connectionsaaa.org or call 800-432-9209 ext 8113. The support groups will take place August 15th at 10 am and August 20th at 2:30 pm and will last about an hour. For more information please contact, Danika Jarrett, Family Caregiver Specialist at Connections Area Agency on Aging at 800-432-9209, Ext. 8133 or djarrett@connectionsaaa.org
Connections Area Agency on Aging Family Caregiver Program supports people who care for their parents, spouses, or others aged 60+ by providing information, resources, and support and Grandparents Raising Grandchildren aged 55+ who support their grandchildren.
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Connections Area Agency is one of six Area Agencies on Aging in Iowa, and part of a nationwide network. With a mission of enhancing the quality of life for elders in 20 counties through education, planning and coordination of services, Connections Area Agency on Aging is the premier agency for assisting elders, caregivers, and their families to access the information and services needed for independence and life transitions. Offices are located in Council Bluffs, Creston and Sioux City. For more information, contact Connections AAA at 800-432-9209 or at www.connectionsaaa.org
(DES MOINES) – Governor Reynolds today announced that applications are now being accepted for state housing programs she launched during a press conference last week. “Rebuilding housing for thousands of displaced Iowans presents a significant opportunity for their personal recovery as well as the economic recovery and growth of their communities,” said Gov. Reynolds. “These programs are a crucial first step in ensuring Iowans can rebuild and continue to thrive in the communities they call home.”
The State Disaster Recovery New Housing Grant Program provides financial assistance for the development of new housing for sale or rent in counties eligible for FEMA’s Individual Assistance under a federal disaster declaration. It offers developers grant funding of up to $1 million per project to assist in the development of housing units for sale and rent, with a preference given to single-family detached units, duplex and townhouse style developments. The program will be administered by the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA).
Additionally, Governor Reynolds signed a proclamation activating the Disaster Recovery Housing Assistance Program for homeowners. The program addresses unmet housing recovery needs outside the scope of insurance coverage or FEMA Individual Assistance. Eligible homeowners can receive up to $50,000 for the repair or rehabilitation of their disaster-impacted homes.
Homeowners who live in counties included in a federal disaster declaration are eligible to apply. These counties currently include Adair, Adams, Buena Vista, Cedar, Cherokee, Clarke, Clay, Emmet, Harrison, Jasper, Lyon, Mills, Montgomery, O’Brien, Plymouth, Polk, Pottawattamie, Ringgold, Shelby, Sioux, Story, Union and Woodbury. Additional counties could be added over time if approved by FEMA for federal disaster assistance.
Before applying for the state Disaster Recovery Housing Assistance Program, homeowners must first be registered for FEMA Individual Assistance and have been awarded some form of FEMA housing assistance, which may include home repairs or temporary housing. You can register for FEMA Individual Assistance in the following ways:
Visit any Disaster Recovery Center to apply or get application assistance
Homeowners must also have filed a claim with their insurance company and have received final approval or denial of their claim. Applicable FEMA and insurance documentation is requested as part of the application process.
Applications for both state programs are available on IowaGrants.gov. First-time users must create an account. A short instructional video will help applicants with the login process. A call center is also available for those who need additional assistance with their application.
(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Officials with the Community Foundations of Southwest Iowa have announced that applications are now being accepted from organizations providing charitable services in seven counties: Audubon, Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, and Shelby. Page and Crawford counties participate in proactive grantmaking during the fall, rather than accepting applications. There is more than $400,000 available across the seven listed counties in this grant cycle, and those interested in a breakdown of the funding can learn more at swiowafoundations.org.
Beginning July 15, application details, a fact sheet, and a link to the application form can be found on the website. Applications will only be accepted through the online system. Only organizations providing services in each county are eligible to apply. They must be able to demonstrate broad community/county support and be an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) public charity, a local municipality, or a fiscally sponsored project.
The Community Foundations of Southwest Iowa aims to improve the quality of life in each county by supporting community needs in the areas of civic engagement, culture, health, education, and social services. The objective of the grant program is to fund projects that will have a lasting impact.
The grant funds are made possible by the generosity of local donors.
(Des Moines, Iowa) – Official with Summit Carbon Solutions today (Monday) argued that the main components of two county ordinances in Iowa that sought to limit the placement of carbon dioxide pipelines are entirely overridden by the authority of state and federal regulators. According to the Iowa Capital Dispatch, the company reasserted those arguments in a recent brief in federal court — its response to the appeals by Shelby and Story counties of a judge’s rulings late last year that agreed with Summit. An injunction prevents the counties from enforcing the ordinances.
The filings of written arguments by both sides of the case set the stage for oral arguments before a panel of Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals judges. The oral arguments are not yet scheduled. The judges are expected to issue a decision sometime next year.
Summit Carbon Solutions wants to sequester the carbon dioxide of more than 50 ethanol producers in five states. (Courtesy of Summit Carbon Solutions)
Summit seeks to build a 2,500-mile pipeline system in five states to transport captured carbon dioxide from ethanol producers to North Dakota, where the greenhouse gas would be pumped into the ground. It received preliminary approval in Iowa last month.
The work is incentivized by generous federal tax credits with the goal of slowing climate change. But many opponents of the project worry about the safety of people and animals near the pipeline that might be suffocated if it ruptures. The county ordinances create minimum separation distances — or setbacks — between the pipelines and populated places, such as cities, homes and livestock buildings.
The federal judge who ruled against the first county ordinances said, in part, they were so restrictive that they might make it impossible for a carbon dioxide pipeline to be built at all. A handful of ordinances that were adopted by other counties — most of which are also the target of pending lawsuits by Summit — were increasingly less restrictive. The most recent one was approved in April by Dickinson County, which has not been sued. Summit has declined to comment on the matter.
Chief Judge Stephanie Rose, of the federal Southern District of Iowa, said the Shelby and Story ordinances’ placement requirements are overruled by state regulators — the Iowa Utilities Commission — and that their safety-related provisions are the jurisdiction of federal regulators — the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
Rose went further and decided that the counties’ placement requirements are also a safety feature and are overridden by PHMSA, but the agency itself has contradicted the judge. However, Summit argues Rose was correct about the relationship of setbacks and safety, and its attorneys point to an early version of Story’s ordinance: “Story County started down this path solely out of concern for pipeline safety,” attorney Ryan Koopmans wrote in the recent appeal brief. “The county’s first ordinance, No. 306, focused only on setbacks because there are ‘risks in the event of a spill or rupture.’”
Summit further says county ordinance provisions that obviously pertain to safety — such as requirements to disclose certain information to local emergency officials to aid their potential response to a breach — is also PHMSA’s jurisdiction.As for determining the pipeline routes, Summit argues state law gives the Iowa Utilities Commission absolute authority: “It does not matter whether Summit or any other pipeline company could somehow thread the needle through the counties’ heavily restrictive setbacks, or whether the counties would grant variances and let the pipeline pass through anyway (and they clearly will not),” Koopmans wrote.
The American Petroleum Institute, which lobbies for the nation’s oil and natural gas industries, and the Liquid Energy Pipeline Association also recently filed a brief in support of Summit’s positions. They said pipelines are vital to the U.S. economy, are the safest way to transport energy products, and that the ordinances would have “far-reaching ramifications and unintended consequences.”
The ultimate effect of the court action on the pending lawsuits against other counties is not yet clear. They have been paused until the Shelby and Story appeals conclude. PHMSA is in the process of revamping its safety standards for carbon dioxide pipelines, and the counties have said the current rules are not adequate to protect the public. They argue that there is room for some measure of local control of the issue.
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