COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – April 12, 2022 – The Iowa Transportation Commission, during their meeting Tuesday morning in Council Bluffs, approved an amended grant for a RISE grant (Revitalize Iowa’s Sound Economy), to Audubon County.

In Audubon County, a scope of work and grant award change was approved for a modification of the previously awarded Immediate Opportunity RISE grant to remove 100th Street improvements and construct additional intersection improvements to County Road M-66 and 100th Street. Officials say the amendment is necessary to provide improved access to the proposed expansion of Puck Enterprises, a liquid manure application equipment manufacturer. This project is anticipated to be completed by October 2023.

The Commission also approved a grant to Sioux City, for up to $665,264 from the city share of the RISE Fund and $665,264 from the county share of the RISE fund, for a Local Development grant to assist in paving approximately 2,470 feet of Alicia Avenue and construction of a left-turn lane on 225th Street located on the south side of town. This project is necessary to provide access to 37 acres for warehousing purposes. This project is anticipated to be completed by August 2023.

(Anita, Iowa) – The CAM School Board, Monday night, held public hearings on the proposed 2022-23 School Calendar and 2022-23 Certified Budget as published. Superintendent Paul Croghan told KJAN News there were no comments received, therefore the board, in their action segment, approved the School Calendar with very few changes.

The adjusted calendar, he said, calls for the the current school year ending Friday, May 27th with a four-hour early dismissal, due to days missed on account of weather and play-off football.

The 2022-23 calendar includes a two-hour early dismissal on Wednesday’s.

And, they passed the budget, for which the tax asking is slightly lower than last year.

Mr. Croghan said the CAM School Board approved the resignations of ___ staffers.

And, they approved contracts for…..

In other business, the CAM School Board approved a technology purchase amounting to $313,826.25, for teacher laptops, student Chromebooks, an I-Pad, desktops for secretaries, and the nutrition program.

(7-a.m. News) – A traffic stop late Monday night in Creston resulted in the arrest of a woman from Lenox. The Creston Police Dept. says 39-year-old Jennifer Lee Johnson was taken into custody for Driving While Suspended. Johnson was released at the scene with a citation.

(Radio Iowa) – The University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital now has new technology to provide dialysis to its smallest patients. Doctor Jennifer Jetton says the machine can provide dialysis for infants weighing between five and 20 pounds. “For those babies, we have not had machines, dialysis machines that have been designed specifically for that size. And we’ve had to make do with equipment that is designed and F-D-A approved for adults,” Jetton says.

The Cardio-Renal Pediatric Dialysis Emergency Machine (CARPEDIEM) was developed and has been in use in Europe since around 2013, and she says they’ve been just really anxiously waiting to have access to it in the United States. “Just because it is so much smaller. And it is designed specifically for babies in mind. So like the amount of blood that’s out of the body at any one time is much, much smaller than the scales and the accuracy are very precise down to one gram,” she says. Doctor Jetton is a pediatric nephrologist, and says they have been training and establishing protocols for the machine. She says it is not something they will use a lot right away.

“But I think a few times a year is what we are kind of anticipating maybe more than that. I think in the center that first started using it, it started in Cincinnati, children’s they had like one patient, and then all of a sudden they had two and then they had three kids,” she explains. “So again, once you have it, and it’s out there, then the options, you know, cases where it can be beneficial become more, more clear.” Doctor Jetton says the machine helps the babies get through kidney problems. “They’ve developed something called acute kidney injury, where their kidneys are temporarily not working very well. And they need help with getting rid of all the fluids that they need, as part of like their nutrition or medications, and then help with balancing all their body salts like their sodium and potassium,” Jetton says.

She says those are the two main things that the kidneys do normally. Jetton says any new therapy requires lots of preparation before it is put into use. “Anytime you’re talking about a baby within the intensive care unit who’s sick enough to need dialysis, it’s risky. And so there’s a lot of work that goes into training the team and making sure that we’ve thought about safety in every possible way for these kids,” she says.

Jetton says it has been an entire team effort to get the machine and work out all the training and protocols so they can put it into use.

(Radio Iowa) – President Biden will visit an Iowa ethanol plant today (Tuesday) to highlight steps to expand the use of “homegrown” biofuels. The Environmental Protection Agency will issue a waiver so E-15 — gasoline with a 15 percent ethanol blend — can be sold nationwide all year long. Under current regulations, E-15 cannot be sold in most of the country between June 1st and September 15th.

The leader of a trade association for the ethanol industry says this is welcome news for all American drivers seeking lower cost options at the pump. The U-S-D-A is providing 100 million dollars in grants for installing or upgrading gas station equipment that can dispense gasoline with higher blends of ethanol and diesel with a higher concentration of a soybean-based additive.

The event is being covered by the national press corps. The White House has not released any information about how the public can attend the event. Expect security to be tight and some detours in the area.

Republican Senator Joni Ernst says expanding the biofuels industry is a national security issue. “It’s not only important for the United States — clean energy! — but it sure is a great way to push back against Vladamir Putin,” Ernst said.

Ernst was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014 and has lobbied the Obama, Trump and Biden Administrations on policies to expand ethanol production. That includes refusing to issue waivers so oil refinerites don’t have to blend ethanol into gasoline and allowing fuel blended with 15 percent ethanol — E-15 — to be sold year-round all around the country. Anti-smog rules have prevented E-15’s sale in most areas during the summer months. Ernst says Biden’s trip to Menlo was a surprise. “With everything that is going on, I just did not anticipate that he would be traveling right now. His approval levels are very low, but at the same time, you know, he needs to be out engaging with the public. We’ve got high inflation. We’ve got high gas costs…He needs to get out and he needs to explain his position,” Ernst said. “He needs to engage with constituents — and maybe that would help.”

Iowa’s other U.S. Senator, Republican Chuck Grassley, says promoting biofuels and allowing summer sales of E-15 is far better than pursuing expanded crude oil production from Middle East countries and Venezuela. The chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party has said he’s thrilled Iowans can hear directly from Biden about the agenda Democrats are pursuing to lower costs for working families. This is Biden’s first trip to Iowa as president. Biden was last here four days before the 2020 General Election, for a drive-in rally on the Iowa State Fairgrounds.