An Adair County man and his wife have started a non-profit organization as a way to fold the end of the Freedom Rock®Tour into the next chapter. In 1999 Ray “Bubba” Sorensen painted his first mural on a large 90-ton boulder east of Highway 25 and south of I-80, in Adair County. He has repainted it every year since, for the past 22 years.

Sorensen is not commissioned for his work on the original Freedom Rock®. Instead, he does it as a tribute to men and women in the military both past and present. In 2008, Sorensen and his wife Maria, opened a mural and photography business in Greenfield They also created the Iowa & 50 State Freedom Rock® Tour(s) in 2013.

Ray “Bubba” Sorensen, his wife Maria & their children (Photo submitted)

Since then, the couple, along with their two young children, have been traveling the state (and country) placing a Freedom Rock® in all of Iowa’s 99 counties and six other states. With the tour getting closer to completion, Ray and Maria decided the next step would be to create the not-for-profit foundation, which will exist to continue the mission of the original Freedom Rock,® and the Freedom Rock® Tour. It will also assist in creating new murals and memorials as well.

The Foundation will help communities whose own Freedom Rocks may have rock chips or flakes, over time, or even vandalism. Maria Sorensen says “There’s already be a car crash into a Freedom Rock®. We just wanted something in place that will help these communities maintain any upkeep they may have. They supported us when we first announced the tour and now, we want to support them.”

As the Foundation grows the foundation will look to create new Veteran themed murals and memorials, assist schools/classes to work with the Sorensen’s in creating murals in their space, and fixing Veteran’s headstones and memorials. The Sorensen’s have some ambitious goals for the Freedom Rock® Foundation, including to eventually have a physical location for people to visit and for the Sorensen’s to operate out of.

The new Studio/Museum would feature artifacts from the Freedom Rock®Tour, original artworks and a place to watch them work on new pieces and projects. “We welcome anyone who wants to join us in supporting The Freedom Rock® Foundation and we look forward to growing this project,” Sorensen said.

Donations can be made online at: https://www.freedomrock.foundation. Or may be sent to:The Freedom Rock® Foundation, P.O. Box 97 Greenfield, IA 50849

HAMBURG, IA – Iowa 3rd District Democrat Representative Cindy Axne, Wednesday (today) announced a new, nearly $7.9-million dollar grant for the city of Hamburg, to fund critical infrastructure improvements aimed at protecting businesses and neighborhoods at risk of flooding along the Missouri River. The grant, which was provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), is funded through additional funding secured in last year’s federal disaster aid bill.

Her office says Rep. Axne fought to expand the disaster relief bill in order to cover flood recovery and repair projects after disastrous flooding along the Missouri River last March.  The grant was made possible by the regional planning efforts led by the Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO), and is projected to support nearly 350 jobs.

To date, $603-million on federal funds have been spent in Iowa for flood recovery efforts.

A Southwest Iowa care facility has been fined $20,500 for its handling of resident care during the coronavirus pandemic. According to KETV in Omaha, the 60-page state inspection report detailed the facility’s failure to implement an infection control program. It said Oakland Manor did not isolate residents for a minimum of ten days after COVID-19 symptoms first surfaced.

The report also states staff wore ‘incomplete or improper’ personal protection equipment and cites multiple occasions where staff failed to complete proper hand hygiene while caring for residents. Seven residents died during the COVID-19 outbreak. 30 residents tested positive for the virus, along with 17 staff members.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Wednesday, said the State reached an all-time record high Tuesday, for COVID-19 hospitalizations since the beginning of the pandemic. Reynolds said also, in light of the President, the first lady and other high officials in Washington having contracted COVID, it goes to show “None of us live in a bubble.”

The number of hospitalizations in northwest Iowa are particularly troublesome. Reynolds said the numbers are increasing this week, as well.

Reynolds said that in the last 14 days, 72% of all persons hospitalized are over the age of 60, and 68% have pre-existing health conditions. Despite the increase, Reynolds said Iowa’s hospitals are prepared to deal with the increased numbers.

(Updated 1-p.m.) Anita Rescue and Wiota First Responders, along with Cass EMS, were called at around 11:15-a.m. Wednesday (today), to the scene of a motorcycle accident on I-80.
Authorities report person operating the motorcycle was forced into a hard brake for some reason, and lost control of the machine. The driver and his passenger were injured.

The passenger was flown by helicopter to the UNMC in Omaha. The driver was taken by ambulance to the Cass County Memorial Hospital.  Additional information is currently not available.

PALO, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in eastern Iowa have identified two people killed in a crash involving three vehicles, including a semitrailer. The Linn County Sheriff’s Office says in a news release that the Monday afternoon crash at a rural intersection south of Palo was caused when a pickup driven by 17-year-old Jaymin Rathje, of Palo, crossed the center line and hit the semi nearly head-on. The semi then flipped and hit a car driven by 27-year-old Jacqueline Voelker, of Palo. Both the semi and car caught fire.

Investigators say the 61-year-old semi driver was pulled from the burning wreckage by passing motorists and was flown to a nearby hospital. Rathje and Voelker were declared dead at the scene.

The first jury trial to be held in Cass County since the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic put the brakes on cases, will be held next week, in Atlantic. County Attorney Vanessa Strazdas has informed Board of Supervisors Chair Steve Baier, that jury selection will be held at the Cass County Community Center, to allow for social distancing. Baier said Tuesday, a plan is also in-place for the trial itself, but he wasn’t clear what that plan was.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday morning, continued their ongoing discussion with regard to the Iowa DOT’s proposed closing of 570th Street at the Interstate 80 underpass. The Board has held two previous discussions on the matter. The DOT proposes making I-80 six-lanes, which would require the elimination of some underpasses across the state for the purpose of widening the road.

During their meeting Tuesday, Javen and Katherine Smith, who owns 160 acres on the north side of I-80 and 570 acres on the south side, said he would be directly affected by the closure of county roadway at 570th St. / I-80 underpass. Smith said the change would essentially result in him traveling out of his way to get to his 160 acre property on the north side of the interstate.

The Board heard from other property owners/farmers in the area, during their past two meetings. After due discussion (about 50 minutes), Tuesday, a decision was made to invite a DOT representative to the next board session to clarify what will happen if the County chooses to close or not to close.

In other business, the Cass County Supervisors passed a Resolution assigning a county-held tax sale certificate to the City of Atlantic, and to enter into an agreement to abate the taxes, if Atlantic acquires ownership of the parcel at 101 Cedar Street. The City is scheduled to address the matter during their meeting this evening, at City Hall.

(Radio Iowa) – Confirmation hearings will begin Monday for President Trump’s choice to fill the vacancy on the U-S Supreme Court and both of Iowa’s U-S senators are serving on the Judiciary Committee. Senator Chuck Grassley was chairman of the panel in 2018 when the president’s pick of Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed, after much contention. Grassley, a Republican, hopes it will be different next week with Judge Amy Coney Barrett. “I hope the Democrats don’t make a mockery of the process like they did when I was chairing the committee when Kavanaugh was before us,” Grassley says. “I think everybody knows how much of a mockery that was.”

Grassley says he has -not- made up his mind yet about confirming Barrett, while he did approve of her appointment as a federal judge in 2017 and today (Wednesday) called her “very well qualified.” “Although I’ve been pretty open about the fact that, since I voted for her three years ago, there would have to be something dramatic come up that I wouldn’t vote for her again,” Grassley says, “but I even told her that I was going to wait until after the hearing to make a final decision.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee has 22 members — 12 Republicans and 10 Democrats. Two Republicans on the panel are in isolation due to COVID-19, which raises the question of a possible 10-10 tie that would mean the nomination doesn’t get out of committee. Unless more members of the panel are unable to attend, Grassley says he is -not- concerned about a tie vote, even with two fellow Republicans in isolation with COVID. “In some cases, it tends to be 10 days and in some cases it’s 14 days,” Grassley says, “but even if it’s 14 days, by the time we have to vote on it, the rules of the committee require that we lay over one week, so it would be sometime towards the tail end of the next week that we vote on it, so they would be beyond that 14 days.”

While Barrett is expected to attend the hearing in person, Grassley says he’s not sure how many other people will actually be in the room. “I would bet a lot of the members are going to be virtual and not in the committee room,” Grassley says. “I think I will be in the committee room because there’s plenty of distance. People, if they’re close to you, wear masks and they’re pretty good about the things you’re supposed to do.”

While the hearing starts on Monday, that day will be devoted to members of the committee making speeches about the nominee. The questioning will run next Tuesday and Wednesday, with each senator being allotted a total of 50 minutes to quiz Barrett about her judicial philosophy. Iowa Republican Joni Ernst also serves on the committee.

(Radio Iowa) – The latest survey by a group representing 22 of the largest businesses in the state finds a big jump in optimism for the third quarter of this year. Iowa Business Council executive director Joe Murphy says the overall survey index is up by more than 14 points. “We’re very excited to report for the first time in 2020 the Iowa Business Council is projecting a positive economic outlook over the course of the next six months — and that’s really a significant increase in optimism,” Murphy says.

The survey measures expectations for sales, capital spending, and employment for the next six months. Murphy says the survey optimism is at its highest level since the fourth quarter of 2019. “While we are not out of the woods on the pandemic or the pending recession, I think there’s some glimmers of hope out there for Iowa businesses and for Iowa employment,” according to Murphy. One key is the survey number for expected sales. “More than 55 percent of them have said that they expect sales to increase over the next six months,” he says, “which is really important not only for our members but for all Iowa businesses. When you think about the Iowa Business Council, their business partnerships, their customers and clients are really focused in on those Iowa companies as well. We view this as a positive metric for the state.” He says capital spending is another area where the businesses show a lot of optimism. “Forty-five-percent of our members expect an increase in capital spending over the next six months. Which is a huge number when you think about the level of pause that was going on in the first six months of the year, nine months of the year,” Murphy says.

Murphy says a lot of the optimism comes from the businesses seeing how the pandemic has played out and adapting. “We’ve been in this now going on seven months and businesses in Iowa are very capable of adapting to new realities,” Murphy says. “And I think you are seeing businesses — both our members’, large companies in the state — but also medium and small businesses in the state as well, learning but also adapting to this new reality,” Murphy explains. Forty-one percent of the I-B-C businesses expect employment to increase in the third quarter. Murphy says that’s part of moving forward with the knowledge gained from what has happened so far with the pandemic. “I think just getting comfortable with being uncomfortable is a good way to think about it. However you slice it, the fact that we’re projecting optimism, positive economic sentiment, is certainly a good thing for us to celebrate right now,” Murphy says.

While there is optimism, he says I-B-C members continue to cite challenges with attracting and retaining a talented workforce as an issue that was there before the pandemic and continues now.

For more on the survey, go to www.iowabusinesscouncil.org.