The Reverend George B. Hitchcock House near Lewis opened Monday, for guided tours. The tours are available Wednesdays through Sundays, with the first tour each day beginning at 1:15p.m. Additional tours will start at 2:15 p.m., 3:15 p.m., and 4:15 p.m. In order to comply with CDC guidelines, a mask will be required and social distancing will be observed. A mask will be provided with the cost of admission. The charge for a tour is $5 per person over the age of 14.

George B. Hitchcock House (2018 photo)

The Hitchcock House was built in 1856, and was used to assist in the safe passage of fugitive slaves through southwestern Iowa on their way east and north to Canada during the mid-19th century. The house now serves as an interpretive center of the life of an early pioneer, and the escaping slaves who traveled the Underground Railroad to freedom. The house is on the National Register of Historic Places, and was accepted as a site on the National Park Service Network to Freedom and designated a National Historic Landmark in February of 2006.

National Historic Landmark sites embody the actual sites where significant historic events occurred or where prominent Americans worked or lived, and represent ideas that shaped our nation. National Historic Landmark designations are an official recognition by the federal government of a historic properties’ significance. Less than 3,000 historic properties in the United States are designated as a National Historic Landmark.

(Radio Iowa) – The owners of Iowa wineries, distilleries and breweries would be able to get a state license to sell their products for consumption at a second location under a bill that’s headed to the governor. Under current law, state licenses for selling glasses of Iowa-made wine, beer or spirits are just for the property where the alcohol is produced.

Jane Bloomingdale

Representative Jane Bloomingdale of Northwood says a second location could send business to the first. “This is a good bill for Iowa. It allows our native manufacturers to have a presence on Main Street, which I think is very important in particular to our wineries,” Bloomingdale says. “It also allows them a little more visibility and hopefully they get more visitors out to their vineyard.”

Senator Carrie Koelker, of Dyersville, says this bill means an owner might be able to cut, copy and paste their tasting room and gift shop model to a second retail location. “This is a great tool for Iowa’s economic growth and tourism industry,” Koelker says. “Wineries, distilleries and breweries have become local staples and attract Iowans and are part of our economic engine.”

The bill passed the House in late March and it passed the Senate last Thursday.

(Radio Iowa) – Negotiations continue at the statehouse to try to end the stalemate between Senate and House Republicans over taxes. A proposed cut in property taxes along with an acceleration of income tax cuts are priorities for the Senate G-O-P, but Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver says there are a lot of other decisions to make, too. “The House has passed a lot of different bills. We’ve passed a lot of different bills and we need to just get on the same page and figure out what those joint priorities are, what we can pass to move the state forward, and end with a successful session,” Whitver says. Speaker Pat Grassley, the top Republican in the House, says there are state budget issues to resolve as well. “We’re having conversations with the Senate to try to figure out where the middle ground is on everything,” Grassley says, “whether it’s budget policy, tax policy…just policy in general that’s out there.”

Republicans hold a majority of seats in the House and Senate and therefore control the debate agenda. Democrats in the legislature continue to criticize Republicans for failing to use the state’s budget surplus to provide pandemic relief to small businesses and individuals. Jennifer Konfrst, the second-ranking Democrat in the Iowa House, says back in January, Republicans promised to address a lack of child care in Iowa. “In fact, all we’ve got is another task force that’s been announced to address child care,” Konfrst says. “Well that’s great, but the situation we have isn’t that we don’t understand where the problems are. The situation is we haven’t done anything to fix the problems.”

The Republican-led House has passed a series of tax credits designed to boost the number of child care slots in Iowa, but those have stalled in the Senate. The Senate’s Republican leader says those proposals could be added to a final compromise on tax policy.

Des Moines Police assisted in the arrest on Sunday of a man suspected of having involvement in a Kansas homicide case. KCCI reports police said they learned a potential suspect was in the area on Sunday after a homicide in Prairie Village, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City. They were provided with a photo of 58-year-old Michael Lavaughn Balance, of Des Moines, who authorities believed to have lived in Des Moines. An officer said he recognized the suspect, and said he’d had contact with the suspect the day prior.

The Des Moines Police Department located Balance and took him into custody. Law enforcement in Prairie Village, Kansas, obtained a warrant for Balance’s arrest. The man is in the Polk County Jail awaiting extradition.

The Animal Rescue League of Iowa (ARL) announced Monday that another arrest was made in the starvation death of an Ankeny dog and the neglect of another. Todd Townsend is facing 2 charges of Animal Neglect – Death or Serious Injury. On Friday, Amber Robison of Ankeny was arrested and charged with 2 counts of Animal Neglect – Death or Serious Injury.

Todd Townsend

The ARL said a dead, emaciated dog was brought into the shelter last weekend. The ARL realized another dog was in the Ankeny home and said they were able to save him.

UPDATE 9:25-a.m. from CBPD: Thank you all for your assistance in looking for these two juveniles. Both children have returned to Children’s Square USA unharmed.

The Council Bluffs Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in locating a 10 year old male and 13 year old female who ran away from Children’s Square USA, a little before 9-p.m., Monday.

Authorities say 10-year-old Taylor DeGonia is a white male, 5’4”, brown hair, wearing black shirt and blue jeans. 13-year-old Dakota Van Beek is a white female, 5’4”, blonde hair wearing a blue T-shirt and grey sweatpants.

If these children are located please contact the Council Bluffs Police Department 712-328-4728 or call 911.