ATLANTIC, IOWA – July 3, 2024 – Interstate 29 and I-680 north of Council Bluffs, which was originally scheduled to partially reopen at 3 p.m. today will now partially reopen at approximately 6 p.m. today, following severe flooding in the area.

You should expect intermittent lane closures on I-680 between the Mormon Bridge and Exit 61, Old Mormon Bridge, and on I-29 between I-680 and Exit 71, I-880 near Loveland. All lanes will be open on I-29 south of I-680.

If you are traveling west out of Crescent on Old Mormon Bridge Road, please note that the northbound I-29 on-ramp will remain closed.

Floodwaters remain in the area. The Iowa DOT reminds travelers to never enter a water-covered roadway. Do not move or travel around barricades or fencing as they are placed there for your safety. Turn around and don’t drown.

(Marne, Iowa) – (Update 1:57-p.m.) A dog was shot and killed early this (Wednesday) afternoon in rural Cass County (IA), after a woman was attacked by a dog. The incident took place at 54148 Boston Road, northwest of Marne, at around 12:45-p.m. The woman was bleeding from multiple locations, according to dispatch reports.

Cass County Chief Deputy Sheriff John Westring tells KJAN the woman was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital (CCHS) for lacerations to her arms. Her name was not released. A second person suffered minor abrasions during the incident.  The dog – a pit bull-  was put down by a resident of the home.

Cass EMS, Marne and Atlantic Fire and Rescue were called to the scene.  Additional information was not immediately available.

(DES MOINES) – The Iowa Finance Authority Board of Directors today (Wednesday), awarded a total of more than $10.6 million in federal housing tax credits to support the construction and rehabilitation of a total of 404 affordable rental homes for Iowans. The awards were made to 10 rental housing projects located in Burlington, Charles City, Davenport, Des Moines, Jefferson, Knoxville, Mount Pleasant, Oskaloosa and Spirit Lake.

The Internal Revenue Service makes an annual per capita allocation of federal tax credits to each state for the Federal Housing Tax Credit program. The Iowa Finance Authority is charged with allocating those credits to affordable housing developers. The developers who receive tax credits sell them to investors to generate equity for the housing developments. The Iowa Finance Authority received 27 applications requesting nearly $30 million in housing tax credits in the 2024 tax credit round. IFA had a total of approximately $10.8 million available to allocate. The actual awards total nearly $106 million because the credits are committed annually for a 10-year period.

In addition to the federal housing tax credit awards, the projects received a total of $4.8 million in HOME program funds and a total of $2 million in National Housing Trust Fund and Senior Living Revolving Loan Funds.

“Housing is fundamental to the economic mobility of Iowans and the vitality of our communities,” said Iowa Finance Authority Director Debi Durham. “Congratulations to all nine communities receiving tax credits today, with a special recognition to the four designated as Iowa Thriving Communities, Charles City, Jefferson, Knoxville and Oskaloosa for their exceptional efforts in leveraging innovative practices to attract housing opportunities for their workforce.”

“The Carrie Lane Place development will bring 40 additional apartments to Charles City, enabling our workforce to live closer to where they work and creating positive ripple effects,” said City of Charles City Administrator Steven Diers. “We’re proud of our Iowa Thriving Communities designation, which we’re leveraging as a catalyst for both housing and economic growth.”

The full awards list is available here.

(Council Bluffs, IA) – The Community Foundation for Western Iowa today (Wednesday) announced the appointment of two new members to its Board of Directors, Christina Bateman of Atlantic, Iowa, and Kevin Cabbage of Stanton, Iowa. Bateman and Cabbage joined the Community Foundation’s 15-member board comprised of dedicated community members and leaders committed to improving the lives of all residents in western Iowa. The two began their three-year terms in May, with the option to serve a maximum of three terms.

Christina Bateman

Kevin Cabbage

Donna Dostal, CF President and CEO, said “On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff, we are delighted that Christina and Kevin are joining our Board during such a fundamental time at the Community Foundation. As we continue to grow and expand our services throughout western Iowa, their leadership and expertise will be essential. Given their involvement in the communities of Atlantic and Stanton, I am confident Christina and Kevin will play an important role on the Community Foundation’s future.”

Christina Bateman has been a realtor with Meyer and Gross Real Estate Co. for over 10 years, and previously worked as a project manager for her family’s commercial construction company, Allied Engineering. She and her husband, Joe, and their children reside in Atlantic, Iowa, and in her freetime, Christina enjoys walking, reading, and cheering on the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Bateman is passionate about her hometown and serving others. She is a member and past president of the Atlantic Rotary Club; founder and president of Faith’s Friends; member and past president of the Atlantic YMCA board; a committee chair for the Ann W. Wickman Child Development Center; Board member of Cass/Atlantic Development Corporation; member of Atlantic Community Development LLC; and co-founder and president of Vision Atlantic Inc.

Kevin Cabbage is the chief executive officer at Farmers Mutual Telephone Company in Stanton, where he started as a technician in 1983 and has been employed for over 40 years.
Cabbage is involved in numerous professional organizations, some of which include: the Governor’s Empower Rural Iowa Initiative; chairman of the Iowa High School Sports Network board; CEO of the Stanton Old Lumber Yard (OLY) Events Center; president of the Southwest Iowa Network board; Alquist 3D Printing board and advisory committee chair; and Cellular 29, Ltd. Board. Additionally, Cabbage volunteers his time with the following community organizations: Stanton Child Resource Center board; chairman of the City of Stanton Vision committee; board of trustee member at Montgomery County Memorial Hospital; and board member with the Stanton Community Foundation.

The Community Foundation also welcomed new committee members to help advance the organization’s mission of “creating a lasting legacy in our region by engaging our citizens and communities for durable change and fostering a culture of philanthropy”:

• Jacob Cool, Director of Member Services at the Council Bluffs Greater Area Chamber of Commerce and 712 Initiative, and Kimberly Schneckloth, owner of The Acres Event Center, both joined the Community Impact Grants committee;
• Ryan Daisy, Associate Attorney at Willson & Pechacek, P.L.C., joined the Education committee;
• Meridith Dillon, Director of Strategic Growth and Innovation at Blair Freeman, joined the newly established Housing committee;
• Cara Marker-Morgan, Executive Director at Golden Hills RC&D, joined the committee for the Women’s Fund of Southwest Iowa;
• and Evan Summy, Vice President of Midwest Ag Services, Inc., and Travis Castle, owner and agent at American Family Insurance – Castle & Associates, Inc., both joined the Unmet Needs committee.

About Community Foundation for Western Iowa:

The Community Foundation for Western Iowa, formerly Pottawattamie County Community Foundation, is a tax-exempt public charity, 501(c)(3), that serves thousands of people who share a common interest in improving the quality of life in Western Iowa. Through the Community Foundation, individuals, families, businesses and organizations can create permanent charitable funds that help their communities meet the challenges of changing times. The foundation invests and administers these charitable funds. The Community Foundation is overseen by a volunteer board of leading citizens and run by professionals with expertise in identifying the needs of their community.

In 2023, investors at the Community Foundation awarded 320 grants totaling an astounding $5.4 million dollars to a variety of nonprofit organizations. To learn about the Community Foundation’s growth and impact, view its recent annual report at: www.givewesterniowa.org/impact/report.

(Radio Iowa) – Keokuk is beginning work on the road that leads to the only national cemetery in Iowa. The city has given the street the honorary designation of the Road of Honor. Mayor Kathie Mahoney says a good chunk of the money from city issued bonds for road repairs will be put toward the three-point-four-million-dollar project.

“In honor of the veterans and the Keokuk National Cemetery, that was the first choice of roads to assure a safe trip and a comfortable trip,” she says. The city is also receiving 960-thousand dollars in federal grants for the Road of Honor. The work should be completed by the end of the year.

The Keokuk National Cemetery is the final resting place for veterans dating back to the Civil War.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans’ plans for Fourth of July picnics and fireworks shows could fizzle as forecasters say rain showers are likely tomorrow in wide areas of the state. Meteorologist Roger Vachalek, at the National Weather Service, says parts of Iowa will see scattered rain in the morning, carrying over into more drenchings in the afternoon.

“Unfortunately, it looks like some of those are going to linger into the evening. Maybe some of the holiday festivities — I don’t know if they’ll be postponed, but something to keep in mind, especially if you live in far northern Iowa or even along that Highway 20 corridor,” Vachalek says. “Farther south and west, the rain may break a bit here in the evening hours.”

Forecast models show there’s the potential for severe weather in the approaching storms, with what’s described as a “marginal risk” for lightning, and worse. “The system that’s rolling through may bring enough energy with it to produce some afternoon storms that could have either a little bit of hail, some wind, or maybe an isolated tornado,” Vachalek says. “It’s not a high threat by any means for any of those three factors or items, but just something to keep in mind.”

Storms that rolled across the state last night dumped large amounts of rain in some regions, with Indianola reporting more than five inches of rain over 12 hours.

(Radio Iowa) – State officials estimate 2000 homes were damaged or destroyed during recent flooding in northwest Iowa. After previous flooding in Cherokee, FEMA bought out 40 properties. Another 70 homes in Cherokee were destroyed in this year’s flooding and Cherokee Mayor Craig Schmidt said he doesn’t know where people will go.

“They’re not staying if they can’t find another place to live if their home is devastated,” he said. “The reality of it is, and it’s not comforting, but all the other towns around us are saying the same thing: ‘No workers and no housing.’ So, what do you do?”

Governor Kim Reynolds and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell surveyed flood damage in Cherokee, Spencer and Rock Valley last week. Reynolds said the state needs to figure out how to combine state and local resources and get new homes built as quickly as possible. The governor told reporters she and her staff are trying to come up with some type of transitional housing plan as well as incentives for developers that build homes and apartments.

ATLANTIC, IOWA – July 3, 2024 – Interstate 29 and I-680 north of Council Bluffs are expected to partially reopen at approximately 3 p.m. today, following severe flooding in the area.

You should expect intermittent lane closures on I-680 between the Mormon Bridge and Exit 61, Old Mormon Bridge, and on I-29 between I-680 and Exit 71, I-880 near Loveland. All lanes will be open on I-29 south of I-680.

If you are traveling west out of Crescent on Old Mormon Bridge Road, please note that the northbound I-29 on-ramp will remain closed.

Floodwaters remain in the area. The Iowa DOT reminds travelers to never enter a water-covered roadway. Do not move or travel around barricades or fencing as they are placed there for your safety. Turn around and don’t drown.