(Radio Iowa) – President Biden’s move to provide student loan debt relief for Americans with an annual income below 125-thousand dollars is getting some strong reactions from Iowa politicians.

Republican Governor Kim Reynolds says Biden isn’t cancelling student debt, he’s shifting the costs to the taxpayer and to those who worked to pay off their loans. Deidre DeJear, the Democrat who’s running against Reynolds, says the president took a historic step that will begin to address income inequality and open pathways for financial wellness.

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley says he doesn’t think the president has the authority to make this move and Grassley says cancelling student debt discourages people from keeping their word that they’ll repay loans. Mike Franken is the Democrat who’s running against Grassley. Franken says the president’s plan is a welcome step, including the new sliding scale for repaying student loans that’s based on income, but Franken says there’s still a need for meaningful legislation to help lower the cost of attending college and trade schools.

About half a million Iowans have unpaid student loans. They still owe, in total, over 13 BILLION dollars as a group on their student loans. The average unpaid balance is nearly 30-thousand dollars.

Both major party candidates in Iowa’s second congressional district are critical of the president’s move to forgive some student loan debate. Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion says those who didn’t go to college or have paid off their loans shouldn’t be on the hook for someone else’s debt. Liz Mathis of Hiawatha, the Democrat who’s running against Hinson, says the president’s plan falls short in addressing the root problems of college affordability.

The major party candidates in Iowa’s first, third and fourth congressional districts have not issued statements on Biden’s decision. Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican, says the president’s plan is unfair to those who didn’t go to college or who have already paid off their student loans.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Members of the Atlantic School Board, Wednesday evening, approved contract recommendations for a Middle School Paraeducator (Daniel Towne), a Preschool Bus Driver (Loretta Barringer), and a Substitute car/van driver (Gerald Luddington). They also approved an SBO (School Business Official) Sharing Agreement for the 2022-23 School Year, with the Adair-Casey School District.

Adair-Casey’s long-time SBO Theresa Elgin, is retiring at the end of September. Atlantic Community School District SBO/Board Secretary Sarah Sheeder was asked by A-C Superintendent Josh Rasmussen if she would be interested in filling the position on part-time basis, with 75-percent of her time dedicated to Atlantic and 25-percent to Adair-Casey. The 25-percent refers to Sheeder being on-hand for the A-C School Board meetings once per month to record the minutes of the meeting, and they will provide 25-percent of the cost for her services.

According to Atlantic Superintendent Steve Barber, Sarah “feels a personal obligation to trying to help them [A-C] as well as [being] committed to the quality of work she does here for us her in Atlantic.” Mr. Barber pointed out that “We tried sharing Sarah with [the] CAM [School District], it didn’t work out very well. I think the variables that exist within this sharing agreement versus CAM is significantly different, and its something that Sarah and I spoke about, and obviously she feels a commitment to her resident District as much as she is committed to our District.”

Next year, there will also be Operational Sharing of about five students, because when positions are shared, each position has a shared amount of students the District receives credit for, or approximately $36,000 the following year, in revenue for sharing with Adair-Casey. A-C would also receive the same credit. Currently the Atlantic CSD has an Operational Sharing Agreement with the Griswold CSD for Transportation Director. Sheeder said she and Superintendent Rasmussen know each other well, and what their expectations/goals are for her.

In other business, the Atlantic School Board approved a change order in the amount of $7,830 additional cost, for repairs to the sidewalk on the south side of High School. When the parking lot was removed for resurfacing, the contractor discovered the portions of the sidewalk was connected to the driveway. Since replace of the sidewalks was not an original part of the scope of the project, and there was no reason to believe it would have to be redone. Mr. Barber said “There’s a section along/next to the concession stand along the driveway, and there’s a couple of spots [in another area].” The damage was not part of a contractor error, according to Snyder and Associates…it was something that no one was aware of going into the project.

Following adjournment, the Atlantic School Board moved into a closed session for the annual evaluation of Superintendent Barber.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with SWIPCO (the Southwest Iowa Planning Council), which oper­ates Southwest Iowa Transit Agency (SWITA), have announced the launch of a new website focused on its public transit services. SWIPCO Executive Director John McCurdy says “Southwest Iowans are very used to seeing SWITA buses. The question is, do they know that SWITA’s public transit service is for everyone? With SWITA. com’s launch, we will be able to reach many more people who can utilize public trans­portation.”

McCurdy added that many in the region assume SWITA’s transit service is only available to the elderly or disabled, but he notes that is only part of the serivce. “All can ride, and we have many who ride SWITA to work and to school—you have somewhere to be, and SWITA takes you there.”

SWITA website homepage image

The new website includes information about each of the types of transit services SWITA operates, including student and medical transportation, taxi, and work routes. Riders can pay their bill and will even be able to request a ride through the website in the near future. Not to worry—the old-fashioned way of calling into the office still works, too.

McCurdy strongly encourages everyone to take a few minutes to check out the www.swita.com website, not only to see about the services that are available, but also to let us know of any issues that they may see. To quote McCurdy, “We’ve been looking at this thing for months, but the volume of information on the website is huge, so we are more than happy to get any feedback to improve the site.”

(Radio Iowa) – A play focused on racial injustice that’s based on a best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning book from 1960 is onstage in central Iowa this week. The Des Moines Civic Center is the first theater west of the Mississippi River to host the touring Broadway production of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Actor Yaegel Welch says Harper Lee’s novel was required reading for generations of students and it’s still extremely relevant, even 60-plus years after it was first published.

“This book, at one point in time, seemed to be the symbol of awareness but now we can look back at it and see where the story might have had some flaws,” Welch says, “but it remains a historical lesson because at one point, it was the standard, and I think we need to see what the standard once was so we can now see how far we’ve come from that.”

Welch plays the role of Tom Robinson, a black man who is falsely accused of raping a white woman in Depression-era Alabama, and he says Lee was unafraid to tackle the strong themes of discrimination, prejudice and classism. “This book, what it touts most importantly is the lesson of empathy and I think it’s important to look back on that strength that was there even then,” Welch says.

Yaegel Welch as Tom Robinson. (Photo by Julieta Cervates)

“I think that’s what makes it necessary. If we can continue that sort of type of empathetic thinking, I think we can continue to grow as a society and as individual people just to be better and more concerned about each other.”

This stage version of Mockingbird was written by Aaron Sorkin, perhaps best known for creating TV’s “The West Wing.” Welch also played Robinson on Broadway and says the role has made him reflect upon the spectres of racism in the Deep South when the book was written versus the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

“It sheds light on the injustice in our legal system today and the unjust killing of citizens, and in this case, black citizens,” Welch says. “I think Aaron Sorkin honing in on that event makes it so current and things keep happening that just sort of highlight it and go, ‘Oh, wow, it’s still happening,’ so it’s not an encapsulated story. It’s current.” Welch says he recently visited the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, which made him consider why people would have risked their lives to stage sit-ins at lunch counters — or for the fictional Robinson to risk going on trial, knowing he’d likely be lynched even if he were found innocent.

“People do things out of boldness for the greater good of society,” Welch says. “They understand fully the consequences of what they’re embarking upon, but sometimes people can be in such a state of oppression, that they are willing to sacrifice their health and safety for the greater good and for the transformation of society.”

The 1962 movie version of the book featured actress Mary Badham as Scout, which won her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress when she was just 10 years old. Badham, now 69, is appearing in the Des Moines production as Scout’s hateful neighbor, Mrs. DuBose. The play runs at the Civic Center through Sunday.

(Radio Iowa) – Democrat Deidre DeJear says if she’s elected governor, in Iowa, she’ll push for an immediate 300 million dollar cash infusion for Iowa’s public K-through-12 schools. DeJear says schools are grossly underfunded and earlier this year her fellow Democrats in the legislature proposed that amount be withdrawn from the state surplus.

“It was based on the response that they were getting from school districts all over the state,” DeJear says, “…to really kind of mitigate the damage that’s been caused, as much as possible, related to the consistent underfunding by this current administration.” DeJear says for the next school year, public schools should get at least a four percent annual increase in general state support. She says that will help schools deal with rising expenses, address unpredictable enrollment numbers and address gaps in student achievement.

“I think that is a good baseline and our students are worth that,” DeJear says, “and if we’re going to think seriously about how we’re going to restore the vitality of our system, then we have to use our resources.” DeJear describes the state’s public education system as the bedrock of our communities and she says it needs real investment.

“Our students are in really good hands,” DeJear says. “Their administrators and their teachers know what’s good for their students and what’s good for their districts, they just need leadership who’s willing to identify that part, that they do know best and that they’re making do with what they have and they need a partner, too, that’s willing to fund this stuff that’s going o be good for everybody in the long run.”

DeJear is also proposing that public sector workers in Iowa regain the right to bargain over things like benefits and working conditions. A state law enacted in 2017 limits contract negotiations for educators and other public employees to a discussion of wages. DeJear says contract talks should give everyone supporting the education ecosystem a chance to suggest improvements.  “We have to hear the voice of the worker who’s embedded in this work,” DeJear says.

Governor Reynolds was lieutenant governor when public sector bargaining rights were limited. Reynolds called the changes long overdue and said they gave taxpayers a seat at the bargaining table. Iowa Republican Party chairman Jeff Kaufmann issued a written statement accusing DeJear of offering false promises and he said Kim Reynolds had put more money toward public education every year she’s been governor.

DES MOINES, Iowa, August 24, 2022 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director in Iowa Theresa Greenfield today (Wednesday) announced USDA is investing $805,213 in critical infrastructure to combat climate change across rural Iowa. The investments include $697,800 for eight projects funded by Community Facilities Disaster Grants (CFD) and $107,143 for eight projects funded by Rural Energy for America Program Renewable Energy Systems & Energy Efficiency Improvement Guaranteed Loans & Grants.

The City of Anita in Cass County is receiving $500,000 from the CFD grants to help resurface streets which are essential to supporting commerce and transportation needs. The Rural Development investment will be used to help the city of Anita resurface streets which are essential to supporting commerce and transportation needs. This project will include pavement milling, when needed, full depth patching, minor curb replacement, accessible pedestrian crossings, and installation of a 3″ asphalt overlay. The project will significantly extend the life of street pavement sections and promote the safe transit of city residents and residents of the surrounding rural area.

And, the City of Randolph in Fremont County is receiving a $13,500 CFD to assist with purchasing a generator for the community center and fire station. The generator will provide electricity during emergencies and severe weather events.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to investing in rural Iowa,” said Director Greenfield. “With continued investments in essential services and expanding access to renewable energy infrastructure, these grants will strengthen first responder services and lower energy costs for agricultural producers.”

These investments reflect the goals of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which addresses immediate economic needs and includes the largest ever federal investment in clean energy for the future.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Auditor’s Office reports two additional filings of nomination papers were filed Wednesday for non-partisan seats. Officials say David York‘s name will appear on the ballot in November for the Cass County Ag Extension Council, and Julie Pollock has filed for Hospital Trustee.

The deadline for candidates to file nomination papers in order to have their names on the ballot, is 5-p.m., August 31st.

Here is the current list of candidates for 2022 General Election:

District 2 Supervisor– Mark O’Brien

District 3 Supervisor– Wendy Richter

Treasurer-Tracey J Marshall

Recorder-Mary Ward

Attorney-Vanessa Strazdas

Auditor- Kathy Somers

Ag Extension- Chad Becker

Ag Extension- David York

Ag Extension

Ag Extension

Ag Extension

Soil & Water-Gregory D Zellmer

Soil & Water- John J Hansen

Edna Twp Trustee- Kevin A Stender

Edna Twp Trustee- Pat Erickson

Edna Twp Clerk-Travis Erickson

Union Twp Trustee-Richard Hoffman

Union Twp Trustee-Clarke Gerlock

Union Twp Clerk- Cheryl Christensen

Hospital Trustee-Joanne Lorence

Hospital Trustee-Mike Klocke

Hospital Trustee- Roger Herring

Hospital Trustee- Julie Pollock