(Radio Iowa) – Iowa representatives have been assigned to the U.S. House committees that write tax and spending plans. The week-long voting for speaker pushed back the process of committee assignments in the U.S. House. Congressman Randy Feenstra of Hull is now a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion will remain on the Appropriations Committee.

Congressman Zach Nunn of Bondurant is on the House Ag Committee, which will be writing the next Farm Bill. Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of LeClaire is now on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. That committee oversees the wide range of issues in congress, including public health and telecommunications.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council, this past Wednesday, received a presentation from Alexsis Fleener, with Atlantic’s Community Promotion Commission (CPC). Fleener said in the recent past, the CPC commissioned a video about Atlantic that was posted to various websites, but they wanted to determine how to really use the video and further market Atlantic. Through various conferences Fleener, Chamber Director Bailey Smith and CADCO Executive Director Jen McEntaffer attended, they learned about a company that helps small towns to promote themselves online, and for businesses to work together and cross-promote. That resulted in the DiscoverAtlanticIowa.com Project.

They developed a “Brand” that goes along with the City’s colors, logo, etc.

The website helps those who want to stay in Atlantic, whether it’s just for a few days, over the weekend, or those who may want to relocate here. It will be especially helpful for persons wanting to hold an event here.

The visitors and community guides that have been developed and are available at area business, will be incorporated into the DiscoverAtlanticIowa.com website. The site is still a work in progress, but Fleener says for the most part all the business are listed. The next step is connecting with area businesses in order to link their websites to page, or creating a website for business that don’t have one.

While the foundation for the website has been established, the discoveratlanticiowa.com “launch date” has not been set, so the site is not yet up-and-running for public viewing. Fleener said the earliest the site would be ready to incorporate all the elements is expected to be sometime in March.

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department report the arrest at around 3-p.m. Thursday, of a man on a Theft charge. 37-year-old David Wayne Giles, of Afton, was arrested for Theft in the 5th Degree. He was booked into the Union County Jail and has since posted bond.

(Radio Iowa) – A spokesperson for the T-S-A says the number of guns found at Iowa airport security checkpoints was up in 2022. T-S-A spokesperson, Jessica Mayle says 22 guns were found in Iowa, compared to 14 in 2021. “Not what we see in many other parts of the country– but, you know, it’s incredibly dangerous, we just want to remind people that you should never bring a gun through the checkpoint, it’s never going to make its way onto the aircraft in the cabin,” she says “And if you do need to travel with a firearm, there is a way to do it safely.”

Fifteen guns were found at the Des Moines Airport, up six from the previous year. Six guns were found in Cedar Rapids, one Waterloo, which was an increase of one gun for each airport. The nationwide number of guns found was a record for the second year in a row. “Overwhelmingly, when we find a guy and on the X-ray, and we say ‘whose the bag is this’ and we identify the passenger, they say, ‘Oh, my gosh, I totally forgot I had that I did not mean to do that, I did not mean to bring that bag or that item in that bag’, Mayle says. “And we always say responsible firearm owners always know where their firearms are.”

Mayle says having a gun in the airport is dangerous, and when one is found it can back things up. “The entire screening process stops, we don’t even take the gun out of the X-ray machine. Everything stops until the police arrive. They’re the ones who come and take the gun out and handle it,” she says. “So don’t just think about yourself and slowing yourself down and having a big fine on yourself. But everyone in line behind you is going to have their day disturbed as well. So just don’t do it.” Mayle says each city handles the process a little differently when a gun is found — but you can be sure you will hear later from the T-S-A.

(File Photo image from tsa.gov (Not the actual gun seized at Dsm Int’l. Airport)

“You are going to get a fine in the mail. It doesn’t happen that day when you’re at the airport. You get a ticket in the mail, and then you have the option to contest it later. But it can be in the hundreds or even thousands of dollars. So it’s not a cheap mistake by any means,” she says. Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are unloaded, packed separately from ammunition in a locked hardback case, and declared at the airline check-in counter. Mayle says they advise you to start packing with an empty bag to avoid any mistakes. “If you start with an empty bag, you’re much less likely to put one of those items you shouldn’t have in, and you just you’re a lot more conscious of your decisions,” Mayle says. “And I think all of these people who we caught with firearms probably really wish they had just started with an empty bag that day because they never would have put it in.”

The Atlanta airport had the most guns found in 2022 at 448, followed by Dallas/Fort Worth at 385 and Houston at 298.

(Radio Iowa) – A so-called Talent Poll that was done by a coalition of the state’s 15 largest chambers of commerce aims to find out what people who live in Iowa love about the state, and equally as crucial, what might make them want to move away. Dustin Miller, executive director of the Iowa Chamber Alliance, says Iowa has one of the slowest-growing populations in the country, and most employers statewide are desperate for new blood. “We have to grow our population,” Miller says. “The reason we did this Talent Poll was to really kind of put a marker out there to say, how do Iowans feel about the state? Can we learn things from a policy standpoint that we can take to policymakers and say, childcare is important, recreational opportunities is important.”

Iowa’s slow population growth is creating a serious problem for economic growth, Miller says, as labor shortages can strangle expansion opportunities. He says most of the things survey respondents said were the positives that keep them here were of little surprise. “When we look at why do people like the state they live in, we get: small town feel, affordability, the people. We find that ‘Iowa nice’ is a real thing,” Miller says. “One of the things that I don’t think we talk about as Iowans enough is safety. That’s a big priority for people and it’s something that if you’ve lived in other places, maybe as Iowans, we take for granted.”

In the poll, 45-percent of respondents said Iowa’s entertainment opportunities are inferior to other states. While outdoor recreation continues to be a major selling point, respondents aged 18-to-29 said the lack of recreation was a major consideration for leaving Iowa. Miller says those responses are being taken very seriously. “Cities like Davenport are reinvigorating their access to the Mississippi. The same with water trails in the Des Moines area,” Miller says. “Every single community that’s a member has something like that. We know that it’s not as simple as Boomers and Gen X like myself where you’re just happy to have a job. You have to build these places around the state to attract new talent.”

Iowans’ biggest concerns, according to the poll, are with stopping inflation and the rising cost of living. Those were the top priorities with 36-percent of respondents.

The 15 chambers of commerce that are members of the alliance represent 17-thousand Iowa members in these communities: Ames, Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Dubuque, Burlington, Des Moines, Fort Dodge, Muscatine, the Cedar Valley, Iowa City, Marshalltown, Mason City, the North Iowa Corridor, the Quad Cities and Siouxland.

www.iowachamberalliance.com

(updated) (Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a traffic stop at around 3:15-a.m. today (Friday), resulted in the arrest of a woman for Driving While Barred. The traffic stop took place at Highway 34 and A Avenue. 45-year-old Jill Alicia Palmer, of Bellevue, NE, was taken into custody following a records check. She was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $2,000 bond.

Deputies initiated a traffic stop at around 9:35-p.m., Thursday, in Villisca, and upon further investigation, arrested the driver of the vehicle, 29-year-old Tyler Steven Gibler, of Villisca, for Driving While Suspended. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on slightly more than $491 bond.

And, Police in Red Oak, Thursday afternoon, arrested 28-year-old Christian Lee Meek, of Red Oak. He was arrested on a valid Red Oak P-D warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault/2nd offense. Meek was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

(Shenandoah, Iowa) – Police in Shenandoah conducting a traffic stop on a vehicle for speeding a little after 10-p.m., Thursday, ended-up arrested the driver of the vehicle, for OWI/1st offense. Authorities say 51-year-old Timothy James Stuck, of Essex, was taken into custody in the 1500 block of Highway 48. He was being held on a $1,000 bond in the Page County Jail. Stuck was additionally cited for Speeding.