(Radio Iowa) – This week’s drought monitor shows that for the first time since July 7th, no part of Iowa is considered to be in severe drought. State Climatologist Justin Glisan says Iowa has been in a structural drought since May of 2020. “We’ve had ebb and flow,” Glisan says. “We’ve had heat waves. We’ve cold weather outbreaks. We’ve had very dry conditions.” Rainfall was as much as 10 inches below normal in some areas of the state — that is, until the steady rainfall in October.

“We’re not in a drought buster now, but we’re in a semi-drought buster,” Glisan says. “We’ve had anywhere from three to five inches over 14 days across much of western Iowa. You look at eastern Iowa two to three, even four inch totals — above average, of course. We’ve received precipitation amounts in two weeks that we would see in a a month and a half, especially in fall.” Parts of the western U.S. have been in a long-term drought, but Glisan says those kind of sustained dry conditions are unlikely in the Midwest.

“On the west coast, they’re impacted by different weather patterns than we are in the central part of the United States. They’ve also had what we call the ‘mega drought’ along with heat waves, forest fires of a record that we haven’t seen before. When you have burn scars on the topography, you get rain events, that rain runs off, it doesn’t soak in and it perpetuates that drought,” Glisan says. “Luckily, in the central part of the United States it doesn’t look like we can get into a long-term, perpetual drought given the moisture gate from the Gulf of Mexico, but also the different air masses that impact us.”

Glisan made his comments during taping of “Iowa Press” which airs tonight (Friday night) on Iowa P-B-S.

(Radio Iowa) – John Deere could be setting the stage for claiming an impasse in negotiations with the United Auto Workers after a company official called the latest tentative agreement Deere’s “best and final offer.” The proposal included an immediate 10-percent raise and kept the pension program available to new workers. It was rejected by union members in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas this week with just 45 percent voting in favor. Paul Iversen, at the University of Iowa Labor Center, says Deere’s statement shows the company shifting toward a more public negotiating strategy.

“After this second offer was turned down, it seems like they have gone on a media blitz to try to turn public sentiment in their favor,” Iversen says, “since it’s very clear the communities support the workers and support the strike.” The rejected agreement would have increased wages by six to nine-dollars per hour over time and offered greater retirement payments. Iversen says it was a stronger deal, but he says workers are pushing for more to restore previous cuts and take advantage of Deere’s record profits.

“They didn’t feel that Deere was respecting the work that they have done over the years,” he says, “and particularly for during COVID, risking their lives to come to work every day to keep the production going.” Iversen says Deere may be pressuring the union to call another vote, which is uncommon. If John Deere claims an impasse in negotiations, he says the company can offer the proposed contract terms to replacement workers. He says the union could dispute that claim with the National Labor Relations Board.

(reporting by Grant Gerlock, Iowa Public Radio)

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman, Friday, said absentee voting is available for the November 30 CITY OF ATLANTIC RUNOFF ELECTION.  Voters may vote an absentee ballot in the Cass County Auditor’s office during regular business hours (8:00 A.M. thru 4:30 P.M.) beginning Tuesday, November 9 thru Monday, November 29, 2021.

ABSENTEE BALLOTS:  Any eligible voter who so chooses may vote a ballot before November 30 (called ABSENTEE BALLOT).  Deadline to request an Absentee Ballot to be mailed is Monday, Nov. 15.  An Absentee ballot may be voted at the office of the County Auditor on any day the office is open beginning Nov. 9 and ending Nov. 29.

IF VOTING AT THE COUNTY AUDITOR’S OFFICE: the absentee voter may come to the CASS COUNTY COURTHOUSE during the regular office hours of 8 AM and 4:30 PM, Monday thru Friday, up through the day before the election and cast a ballot.  In addition to regular office hours, the office of Cass County Auditor will be open until 5 P.M. on Monday, Nov. 15; and Monday, November 29.

Sample ballot

IF VOTING BY MAIL: A written request may be mailed or hand delivered to the County Auditor’s office.  (Absentee request forms are available at the auditor’s office and on the Secretary of State’s web site: sos.iowa.gov).  A ballot along with instructions on how to complete the ballot will be mailed to the requester.  For the ballot to be counted, the completed ballot must arrive at the auditor’s office by 8 P.M. on Nov. 30.

All BALLOTS ARE TO BE RETURNED, whether they are voted or not voted.  A postage paid return envelope is provided with each absentee ballot mailed out.

The address for the Cass County Auditor / Election Commissioner is:

CASS COUNTY AUDITOR, COURTHOUSE, 5 W 7TH ST, ATLANTIC, IOWA 50022  (Phone:712-243-4570;   Email: auditor@casscoia.us)

On Nov. 30, the voting centers for this election will all be at the Cass County Community Center at 805 W 10th St.:

• Atlantic 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Wards will use the main entrance; and
• Atlantic 4th and 5th Wards will use the south entrance.

Polls will open at 7:00 A.M. and close at 8:00 P.M.

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa City man who was trying to shoot a squirrel in his yard with an air rifle is now facing charges.

Iowa City police found a man involved in a single-car traffic accident on Highway 6 on October 17th was found to have been shot. Sixty-nine-year-old Philip Olson heard about the accident and turned himself in –telling police he was trying to shoot a squirrel from his home along Highway 6 with a .22 caliber air rifle.

Air rifles are not considered dangerous weapons under Iowa code — but city code prohibits shooting an air rifle, toy pistol, toy gun, or slingshot within city limits — and Olson faces a code violation.

Fox Squirrel (Public domain pic)

He also is facing D-N-R charges of hunting without a license or habitat fee, unlawful attempt to take a squirrel, and shooting a rifle over a highway. The man who was shot remains in the hospital.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Iowa’s COVID-19 positivity rate is on the rise again as the number of Iowan testing positive for the virus continues to climb. The Iowa Department of Public Health released new COVID-19 data Friday that shows the number of positive tests at 7,501 in the last week, up from 6,816 at last report on Wednesday. The 14-day positivity rate climbed from 8.2% to 8.4% since Wednesday. A total of 533,872 positive tests have been reported in Iowa since the start of the pandemic.

While the number of positive tests has been climbing for more than a week, hospitalizations numbers are down. There are 464 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Iowa, down from 483 on Wednesday. Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, 73.8% are unvaccinated, while 82.6% of those listed in intensive care with the virus are unvaccinated. The number of long-term care facilities reporting outbreaks in Iowa climbed from 23 to 27.

There have been 3,796,829 vaccine doses administered in Iowa, with 68.1% of those 18 and older fully vaccinated and 70.6% of those 12 and older with at least one dose.

DES MOINES – As Iowa’s arts and culture sector continues to rebound from a challenging year, the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs is granting $1 million to market the return to arts and culture experiences, while encouraging Iowans to safely re-engage with concerts, museums, festivals — and each other. The department today (Friday) announced that 118 arts and cultural groups in 47 Iowa communities will receive funding through the Iowa Arts & Culture Marketing Grant program. The department awarded a total of $1 million in grants, in amounts ranging from $1,500 to $18,000. The new, one-time grants were created with federal CARES Act funds that Gov. Kim Reynolds allocated to the department to provide economic relief to Iowa organizations that have been challenged by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The state arts and cultural agency developed a related promotional campaign and toolkit, based on input from statewide arts and culture leaders, to encourage Iowans to “Re-imagine, Re-engage, Reconnect” with arts and cultural experiences. The list of recipients, dispersed throughout 37 Iowa counties, includes local arts councils, theaters and historical attractions, as well as some of the state’s largest museums, art centers and performing arts venues. Here are just a few from around western Iowa:

• Council Bluffs: Preserve Council Bluffs will bring back its popular Historic Homes for the Holidays Tour and produce advertisements to help residents in a five-county region reconnect with the organization’s work to promote the area’s cultural heritage and historic preservation. Grant amount: $2,100.
• Corning: Corning Opera House Cultural Center received a $2,700 grant for marketing expenses
• Greenfield & Red Oak: The Warren Cultural Center in Greenfield, and The Wilson Performing Arts Center in Red Oak, each received a $15,000 grant for marketing expenses.
• Pottawattamie County Arts, Culture & Entertainment and the Pott. County Genealogical Society, both in Council Bluffs, each received a grant for marketing expenses, in the amounts of $17,800 and $1,700, respectively.
• Other grants for Marketing Expenses include:
  • The Museum of Danish America, in Elk Horn, $17,500
  • The New Century Art Guild in Elk Horn, $4,900.

The return to arts and culture marketing grants were created to help Iowa’s arts and cultural organizations publicize their activities and new protocols they’ve established to ensure safe and healthy cultural experiences for visitors and audiences who are re-engaging in arts and cultural activities across the state.

Through the grant opportunity and marketing campaign, the department is encouraging all Iowans to:

• Renew their love of performances, film, museums and all of the arts and historical attractions that make our communities culturally vibrant.
• Re-engage with Iowa arts, culture, film, history and the humanities to support Iowa’s growing creative workforce.
• Reconnect with arts, history, film and cultural experiences for personal well-being and to strengthen communities.

In a typical year, Iowa’s creative sector contributes $4.2 billion to the state’s economy, employing more than 43,000 creative workers across more than 5,000 businesses statewide. In 2020, Iowa’s nonprofit arts and culture sector lost millions in revenue and at least 4,500 arts, entertainment and recreation jobs, stemming from event cancellations and closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

For a complete list of Iowa Arts & Culture Marketing Grant recipients, visit the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs website. For more information about the Re-imagine campaign, visit iowaculture.