(Radio Iowa) – The Mega Millions jackpots us pushing the one BILLION dollar mark for tonight’s (Friday) drawing. Iowa Lottery spokesperson, Mary Neubauer, says it comes on the heels of the more than two-billion dollar Powerball jackpot in November. She says it is really hard to predict when jackpot will get this big. “There have been times when both jackpots have been into the stratosphere at the same time. Maybe this time, the games are being polite and taking turns, I don’t know,” she says. The Mega Millions prize is estimated at 940 million, with a cash option of 483 million dollars. Neubauer says the jackpot has been growing almost three months, and that includes the normally slow ticket buying holiday period.

“This hasn’t been a quote, unquote, normal run, because the last few weeks, everybody has been distracted with holiday travel, and family gatherings and year-end celebrations, as you should be this time of year. But now that we’re into the new year, you know, folks are getting back into their normal routines,” Neubauer says. “And now Mega Millions has caught people’s attention.” Neubauer reminds players to not get carried away with the big jackpot and to play responsibly. One issue that popped up with the large Powerball jackpot was people buying tickets after the deadline.

“Be sure to buy it here in Iowa before 8:59 p-m. If you buy one after that time, it will still be a valid ticket. It just won’t be for that night’s drawing,” Neubauer says. “And there have been people who have waited too long. I don’t know I think as human beings we’re just procrastinators. And then they’ll get an argument about what time their watch says versus what time is showing on the Lottery Terminal. It’s an automated process and it cannot be pushed back. So just don’t cut it too close.” Large jackpots often lead to group ticket buys — which brings another warning.

“During the Powerball jackpot run that just ended late last year, we had multiple office pools here in Iowa win prizes, which is so much fun because you have a whole you know, a whole group of people sharing in that prize. But one of the things that we say to people is, make sure that everybody in your group knows the rules as you’re going into the drawing,” according to Neubauer. “So one of the things we suggest is, take photos of all the tickets, and send them to everybody in your group so that everyone knows the tickets that are in play for your group.” Neubauer says you should then keep really close track of who puts money into the pool and how much so that there’s never a question later about who was in and who was out.

Neubauer says it is interesting that the Mega Millions jackpot was won six times in 2021, and six times in 2022.

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(Stuart, Iowa) – Officials with the Adair County Secondary Roads Department report that due to closure of the N-19 Lincoln bridge (southwest of Stuart), 130^th Street between Sheldon Avenue and Trenton Avenue, will be closed Monday, January 9th and Tuesday, January 10th, from about 9:30-a.m. to 3:00-p.m., each day.  A detour has been established. Rerouted traffic should use 120^th Street, Sheldon and Trenton Avenues. See the map >>>

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson spoke about the ongoing fight to elect fellow Republican Kevin McCarthy as the Speaker of the House during her weekly conference call with reporters.

Hinson was asked if she has any relationships with any of the Republicans blocking McCarthy and if she might be able to help unblock the progress.

Hinson was asked at what point do House Republicans start looking at other options.

She says her message to colleagues holding out will continue to be that Iowans are sick and tired of the “chaos and dysfunction.” Hinson is from Marion and was elected to a second term in November representing the new Second Congressional District.

IA (R) Congresswoman Ashley Hinson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce will be hosting their Annual Dinner Saturday, January 28th, 2023, at The Venue in Atlantic. Chamber Executive Director Bailey Smith says “The Annual Dinner is always a favorite for the Chamber. It’s a great opportunity for us to reflect on what we’ve accomplished, look forward to what we will accomplish and most of all, highlight all of our members and volunteers that have invested their time and money back into our organization and our community.”

The Chamber will be recognizing businesses, organizations and individual leaders in the community. The 37th Annual Distinguished Service Award will also be given out at the dinner.

The Distinguished Service Award recognizes an individual, business or organization who has made the community a better place to live. They have rendered special services for the benefit of the community and have demonstrated an active leadership role through their involvement in business, civic and social service organizations.

Last year, the Distinguished Service Award was given to Greg Schuler for his dedication to tirelessly serving the community any way he can including: Atlantic BPOE Elks Lodge #445, Nishna Valley Family YMCA, Atlantic Lions Club, Cass County Pork Producers, Kiwanis Club of Atlantic, Festival of Trees, Griswold United Methodist Church, Atlantic Community Schools and more.

Nominations for the Distinguished Service Award are due by January 20th, 2023. You can nominate someone by submitting a nomination letter to the Chamber at 102 Chestnut Street, or email chamber@atlanticiowa.com. The Annual Dinner will begin at 6:00 PM with a social followed by dinner at 6:30 PM. You can register for the dinner at www.atlanticiowa.com.

(Radio Iowa) – Residents in a southeast Iowa county will soon vote on a plan to use property taxes to cover emergency medical services. The Lee County Board of Supervisors has set March 7th as the date for a referendum on a new property tax levy. Lee County Auditor Denise Fraise says this would help the county pay the nine E-M-S employees hired last fall after Blessing Health closed its hospital in Keokuk.”This is a way to get a steady funding stream into a fund that’s separate from our general basic fund that we can only use on this ambulance service,” Fraise says.

Like bond election, 60 percent of voters must approve the new levy before it would take effect in September’s property tax bills. A new law that took effect last year lets county boards of supervisors propose property tax levies to support local ambulance services. In November, voters in five Iowa counties approved E-M-S referendums. Voters in Jones, Kossuth, Pocahontas, Osceola and Winnebago Counties approved EMS referendums that were on the 2022 General Election ballot. Voters in Calhoun, Floyd and Worth Counties defeated referendums to raise local taxes for ambulance services.

According to the Iowa EMS Association, about two-thirds of ambulance services in the state are either fully or partially staffed by volunteers and many conduct fund drives to cover expenses.

DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate is proposing a bill to the Iowa Legislature that streamlines the recount process for elections. The bill standardizes the recount timeline in all 99 counties, provides additional flexibility for the makeup of recount boards, and requires uniform methods for how ballots are recounted, reconciled, and reported.

Secretary Pate recommends in his proposed bill that all counties conduct their official canvass of elections on Tuesdays. That would ensure the recount timeline is uniform for every county.

The proposed legislation would also increase the size of recount boards, depending on a county’s population. Currently, recount boards are comprised of three members. Under the proposed legislation, recount boards for counties with a population of 15,000-49,000 would increase to five members. Counties with population over 50,000 would have seven members. Additionally, the members of the recount boards, aside from one designee from each candidate, would be comprised of precinct election officials selected by the chief judge of the judicial district.

Finally, the legislation proposes recounts be conducted in a uniform manner. If a candidate requests a hand recount of ballots, all ballots involved in the recount must be tallied by hand and machine. In recent years, candidates have requested a hand recount in some precincts and a machine count in others. The proposed bill seeks to end that practice. The Iowa Legislature’s 2023 general assembly begins Monday, January 9, 2023.