(Radio Iowa) – A new eastern Iowa business will soon start recycling wind turbine blades to prevent the massive fiberglass, wood and foam blades from taking up large amounts of landfill space. Jeff Woods, director of business development at Travero, says the blades have to be handled very carefully when they’re removed from the towers, as each blade weighs between eight and ten tons. “They’ll come down in the field as a whole blade, so up to 200 foot or longer, and from there, they’re processed into sections,” Woods says. “The sections are transported to various locations around the country or they can be shredded in the field. What we’re planning on receiving is the shredded material and taking that and breaking it down into the fibers.”

Those fibers can be used in things like mortar and concrete to reinforce sidewalks, roads and floors. The balsa wood and foam inside the blades can also find new life. “Those are recycled into materials that have applications from cement finishing to soil stabilization,” he says. Travero owns REGEN Fiber which has developed what Woods calls an eco-friendly process to convert decommissioned wind turbine blades into reusable materials. A REGEN Fiber factory is being built in the Cedar Rapids suburb of Fairfax to recycle the blades. Specially-trained crews will be dispatched to take apart wind turbines, as the blades have about a 20-year lifespan.

“Once they’re down and they’re cut into sections, they feed them through — for lack of a better description — a giant wood chipper to shred it down to material that is two foot long and smaller,” Woods says. “Traditionally though, that material has been taken to other locations and maybe refined a little bit and burned in cement kilns around the country. Some of it’s been landfilled, unfortunately.” While Iowa has built a national reputation for both manufacturing and using wind turbines, Woods hopes this new venture will build on that reputation to also recycle the blades after they’ve served their purpose. He notes the company should have plenty of business for years to come.

“Research provided from Iowa State University was there are 68,000 or more wind towers in United States, three blades on each one, so over 200,000 blades that are out there turning today,” Woods says. Once the Fairfax factory is in full swing, the goal is to recycle more than 30-thousand tons of shredded blade material every year. REGEN Fiber is already recycling blade materials at a facility in Des Moines.

Travero is owned by Alliant Energy Corporation.

(Radio Iowa) – Des Moines police say an 18-year-old is charged in the shooting deaths Monday of two teens at an alternative education program. Preston Walls of Des Moines faces two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder for a shooting that took place at the non-profit “Starts Right Here.” Police say two male Des Moines students, ages 16 and 18, were killed. Their names have not been released. The program’s founder – local hip-hop artist and activist Will Holmes, also known as Will Keeps — was also shot in the attack. He remains hospitalized in serious condition. Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie began last night’s (Monday) city council meeting addressing the shooting.

“This is another one of those events that seem to take place too often across too many communities in this country. A story that repeats itself. The tragic story of young lives taken far too soon by gun violence. Two teenagers tonight are dead because of this violence,” Cownie said. Cownie called for more gun control. “That is why as elected officials, law enforcement, community leaders, and residents we must do more to battle this issue. And never accept or dismiss teenage gun violence as simply a turbulent sign of the times. Too many young lives depend on it,” Cownie said. Governor Reynolds signed a bill into law In May of 2021 that made it easier to form publicly funded charter schools. She held the bill signing ceremony at the Starts Right Here building. Organization founder Will Keeps spoke at the 2021 event.

“We see that things are not working well for the kids, so what’s wrong with giving them another opportunity, another chance?” he asked. “I don’t see anything wrong with it.” The Starts Right Here board of directors released a statement saying they “are heartbroken and angry” that two students were shot and killed. It says their prayers are with founder and president Will Keeps, along with the families and friends of all those involved in this tragedy. Des Moines Police Department spokesman said Walls entered into a common area where all three victims were located and Holmes, attempted to escort Walls from the area. Walls pulled away from Holmes, pulled a nine-millimeter handgun, and began to shoot both teenage victims. Holmes was standing nearby and was also shot. Walls then fled the scene on foot and later fled from a car that was stopped by police, but was found and taken into custody without incident.

Additional evidence indicates that Walls cut off a court-ordered G-P-S ankle monitor, a supervised pre-trial release condition following a weapons charge, approximately 16 minutes before the shooting. Walls and both the victims who died are known gang members, belonging to opposing gangs, and evidence indicates that the shooting was committed as a result of an ongoing gang dispute. Police have two more people in custody as the investigation continues.

(Natalie Krebs of Iowa Public Radio contributed to this story)

(Note police originally called the organization a charter school, but the Des Moines School District says it is not)

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic School Board will meet in a Work Session, beginning at 5:30-p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 25th. Their session takes place in the High School Media Center.

Discussion items include: Social/Emotional Learning Support, and, a Transportation from Mark Weis. The Board will also discuss their upcoming meeting dates, including their next Regular session (Feb. 8th at 6:30-p.m.), and a Work Session/Public Hearing on the ISL (Instructional Support Levy) on Feb. 22nd at 5:30-p.m..

(Radio Iowa) – Most Republicans in the Iowa legislature have voted for Governor Kim Reynolds’ top 2023 priority — a bill that will provide state-funded accounts for the parents of private school students. (See the list of those who voted against the bill at the end of this story).

Reynolds plans to sign it into law later this (Tuesday) morning. Republican Representative John Wills of Spirit Lake opened yesterday’s (Monday’s) House debate by saying the bill is about freedom. “The parents and the child are the customers in this scenario. They deserve a choice on where their child goes,” Wills said. “…If the current public school isn’t working for a child and those parents want to have a choice, that’s what this bill’s all about.”

Democrats like Representative Sue Cahill of Marshalltown say the choice is up to private school administrators since nothing requires private schools to accept all students. “Private schools can select the students they want to attend and use what I consider discriminatory practices to do so,” Cahill said. After five and a half hours of debate, the bill cleared the House on a 55 to 45 vote. Senators debated in earnest for about three hours, passing the bill just before 12:30 this (Tuesday) morning on a 31-to-18 vote.

Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison, says state funds will now follow a child to the school that best fits their needs. “If we are to improve education, it is past time to fund our students, not the education establishment,” Holt said. “We can support public education and public teachers, while also embracing positive change.” Representative Thomas Moore of Griswold opposes the governor’s two, less expansive “school choice” proposals and he is one of nine House Republicans who voted against this year’s proposal.

“It came down very simply to my constituents — I’m in a very conservative Republican district — and they were telling me, ‘No,'” Moore said. Three Republican Senators opposed the plan. Representative Skyler Wheeler, a Republican from Hull who backed the bill, says public school parents got frustrated during the pandemic and asked for this alternative.  “This is about students, it’s not about systems,” Wheeler said, reciting a theme from the “school choice” movement. “And tonight, in historic fashion, the state of Iowa is going to uphold and uplift every family in this state.” Representative Sharon Steckman, a Democrat from Mason City, disagreed.

“This bill will not uplift every single family,” Steckman said, “only a chosen few.” In the first year, low income parents who enroll a child in a private school could apply for nearly 76-hundred dollars in state funding to cover tuition, computers, textbooks and tutoring. In 2026, all private school parents could apply for the state money. Representative Austin Baeth, a Democrat from Des Moines, says an estimated 79 percent of the money will be spent on kids already enrolled in private schools.

“What this really is is a government handout to people who don’t need it,” Baeth said. Wills says if Iowans didn’t want school choice, they wouldn’t have expanded the Republican majorities in the legislature — and would not have reelected Governor Reynolds by a 19-point margin. “Her stance was she’s going to campaign on school choice all across the state of Iowa,” Wills says. “She never stopped talking about it.” All Democrats in the legislature voted against the bill. Senate Democratic Leader Zach Wahls says the governor’s plan is Robin Hood in reverse.

“Iowa Republicans are giving up on Iowa’s public schools,” Wahls said. “They are quitting and throwing in the towel.” Reynolds held a private ceremony in her formal office Monday to mark the start of “School Choice Week” and plans to sign her bill into law at 11 a.m. today (Tuesday).

(All Democrats and the following Republicans voted against the bill: Representatives Michael Bergen of Dorchester; Brian Best of Glidden; Jane Bloomingdale of Northwood; Chad Ingels of Randalia; Brian Lohse of Bondurant; Gary Mohr of Bettendorf; Thomas Moore of Griswold; David Sieck of Glenwood; Brent Siegrist of Council Bluffs and Senators Lynn Davis of Cherokee, Charlie McClintock of Alburnett and Tom Shipley of Nodaway.)