(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council will hold a Special Meeting at 9-a.m. Monday, July 1st, in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall. The  only item on their agenda is a presentation, and discussion, with regard to a TIF (Tax Increment Financing) letter received from IEDA (the Iowa Economic Development Authority), as it pertains to the Vision Atlantic Housing Development project.

During their regular meeting on June 5th, the Atlantic City Council approved making an application to IEDA for a waiver to allow a more flexible use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funding to help pay for the proposed housing project. The TIF request  for $10.5 million, is the largest request in Atlantic’s history. TIF funding can be used for market rate housing, but due to regulations, a certain percentage of the TIF funding needs to be set aside for low to moderate income housing. That percentage for the city of Atlantic is 47%, but if the waiver is approved, that percentage could go to 10%.

The idea to use TIF funding was part of the original proposal from Vision Atlantic that included the sale of 48 acres of land for $1 from the city to the group.

As previously mentioned, the project will invest $4,129,597 in infrastructure, $48,800,000 into housing, and a $10,700,000 child development center on the land.

DES MOINES – Governor Kim Reynolds has issued a proclamation for Buena Vista, Cerro Gordo, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, Emmet, Floyd, Fremont, Harrison, Hancock, Humboldt, Kossuth, Lyon, Mills, Monona, O’Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, Plymouth, Pocahontas, Pottawattamie, Sioux, Webster, Winnebago, Woodbury, Worth and Wright Counties in response to widespread flooding in Iowa.

The governor’s proclamation allows for the additional targeted suspension of specific regulatory requirements in affected counties to effectively respond to and recover from the effects of this event.

Suspend the regulatory provisions of licensed professionals who are acting on a temporary basis to aid disaster victims or provide emergency services for the following professions: architecture, engineering or land surveying, social work, psychology, marital and family therapy, and mental health counseling.

Suspend the regulatory provisions and administrative rules promulgated thereunder, requiring a current, active Iowa license to practice architecture and engineering to the extent that the individuals practicing architecture and engineering hereunder meet educational, experience, and training requirements to obtain an Iowa license and are acting on a temporary basis to aid disaster victims or provide emergency services.

Suspend the regulatory provisions requiring state electrical inspection fees be due and payable at or before commencement of the installation and requiring minimum fees when a state inspection is requested by a property owner to the extent said inspections are performed in response to and in aid of residential disaster victims.

(Radio Iowa) – The President and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, Ruth Richardson had this reaction to the Iowa Supreme Court ruling on abortion. “Today’s decision marks a dark moment in Iowa’s history. Iowa’s freedom to control their bodies and their futures has been destroyed,” she says. Richardson says they have been planning for the decision and says they will continue to work to help Iowans travel out of state for an abortion.

“We’ve been making long term regional investments to ensure patients who face bands have regional options. For example, our expansions to Omaha and Mankato health centers will help meet the needs of Iowans who are now facially facing that harsh reality that they must travel hundreds of miles for care,” Richardson says.

Richardson made her comments on a video call this afternoon.

Johnston, IA —  The Iowa National Guard state headquarters in Des Moines has tasked the 185th Air Refueling Wing and 132^d Wing to provide up to 30 Airmen to help with debris clean up in the wake of historic flooding in Iowa. The Sioux City based Iowa Air Guard unit has been tasked to help in their home county of Woodbury in the western side of the state as well as neighboring Cherokee, Ida, and Buena Vista counties.

As part of their state mission, the Air Guard has Debris Removal Teams, specialized personnel and tools that includes chain saws, skid steer loaders, dump trucks and other vehicles. Airmen assigned to the domestic response mission are primarily assigned to the unit’s Civil Engineering Squadron.

A series of rainstorms caused widespread flooding that quickly overwhelmed dozens of municipalities in the Northwest corner of the Hawkeye state. As residents began cleaning up, communities were faced with large amounts of debris that included items like basement carpet, drywall, furniture, and other household content.

Getting cleanup operations underway as quickly as possible is paramount as flood debris can present public health concerns. The ANG teams will be on duty to assist with recovery efforts, starting in Spencer, Iowa.

Air National Guard Debris Removal Teams were used as recently as 2020 when they were called to Cedar Rapids in the wake of the derecho windstorm.

The Iowa National Guard says F-16 fighter jets will fly over West Des Moines this weekend to honor a retired Air Guard General who has died.  Brigadier General Travis K. Acheson died June 21st after a year-long battle with brain cancer. General Acheson graduated from Valley High School in 1986 and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from The University of Iowa in 1990. He retired from the Guard after 33 years in September 2022.

(Ret.) Brigadier General Travis K. Acheson

He amassed nearly three-thousand flying hours in the F-16 and completed over 500 combat hours during five overseas deployments. He also had a career as a commercial pilot with American Airlines.

Acheson is survived by his wife Brooke and three daughters. There will be an F-16 flyover around 10:30 Saturday at Resthaven Cemetery following a celebration of life ceremony.

(Radio Iowa) -0 Iowa’s Catholic bishops say they celebrate that the Iowa Supreme Court has recognized there’s no right to an abortion in the Iowa Constitution. Their written statement was issued this (Friday) morning, shortly after the Iowa Supreme Court issued a ruling that lifts an injunction that had blocked a six week abortion ban from taking effect in Iowa. Bishop William Joensen of the Des Moines Catholic Diocese spoke last weekend at a rally to celebrate the U-S Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v Wade.

“As much as we heralded the Dobbs decision, we know how it has exposed an underlying attachment in our American culture to that option to procure an abortion, at least under limited circumstances,” Joensen said. “We know a legal sea change of this magnitude does not automatically correlate with changes in hearts and minds and attitudes.” The written statement from Joensen and the other bishops says human life should be protected under our laws to the greatest extent possible. Joensen suggests the next step is banning in vitro fertilization.

“Nobody knows how many human embryos dwell in dark, cold storage tanks, though estimates range from 500,000 to millions and they would make it certainly at least one of the 30 largest cities in America,” Joensen says. “The fact is only a tiny minority will see the light of day.” Maggie DeWitte, executive director of Pulse Life Advocates is also a spokeswoman for the Iowa Coalition of Pro-Life leaders. She calls the six week ban is a life saving measure.

Iowa Judicial Branch Bldg.

“This is a monumental win for Iowa women, for Iowa families, for babies,” DeWitte said. DeWitte says she’s been lobbying for abortion restrictions in Iowa for 25 years and it’s hard to put the magnitude of today’s (Friday) ruling into words.

(Radio Iowa) – Flooding on the Cedar River the past three weeks has conservation officials in the northeast Iowa area concerned about ongoing soil and habitat preservation efforts. Black Hawk County Conservation Executive Director, Mike Hendrickson, says if the river keeps rising and falling so quickly, it could result in unforeseen erosion. “It will eventually take its toll, because it will find ways to cut erosion gulleys down through areas, and that will take out vegetation and every time it does that it’ll get bigger, and we really can’t get in there to fix it until it’s over,” he says. The Cedar River has crested at over 90 feet twice in the past three weeks.

Hendrickson says the erosion from the flood cycles could wipe out several years of work. “If these things keep coming, and if the next time we can’t get some of this water out of here, then we’re going to start having problems,” he says. “Then we have to take a look at when we can get back out there, and are we going to have to fix what we didn’t think we were going to have to fix.”
Flood conditions on the Cedar River are expected to continue at least into the weekend, and more rain is likely.