(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks says having the Chinese Communist Party pay for Muscatine students’ travel to China is a bridge too far. Miller-Meeks released a written statement, acknowledging the historical connection Muscatine has with China and its president. ‘

Xi Jinping stayed with a Muscatine family in 1985 during a cultural exchange. However, Miller-Meeks points to a story in The Guardian about an eight day trip to China for 24 Muscatine students that was paid for by the Chinese government. She says the situation is a national security concern and a sobering reminder of China’s aim to infiltrate U-S institutions.

Miller-Meeks issued her statement at 5 p.m. Wednesday and Radio Iowa was unable to reach Muscatine school officials for comment.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education met in a special session this (Wednesday) evening. During the meeting, the Board (according to the minutes provided by Board Secretary/Director of Finance) Lisa Jones, approves the master contract for Certified staff for the 2024-2025 period. The motion included an increase in the base wage by 6%. Additionally, the contract aimed to meet legislative thresholds, ensuring a minimum salary of $47,500 annually for those with 1 to 11 years of experience and a minimum of $60,000 for those with 12 or more years of teaching experience.

Their vote followed a presentation by Denise Masker, president and chief negotiator for the Support Staff Association, of a
specific proposal in the opening session of negotiations. Requesting a 6.38% increase in compensation to address concerns about pay relative to cost of living with a focus on nutrition employees. Additionally, she mentioned other items pertaining to language in the employee handbook.

The District’s Negotiation Committee responded to the proposal put forth by Denise Masker and the Support Staff Association with a counteroffer of a 6% increase across all current support staff positions. This offer represents a slightly lower percentage increase compared to the association’s initial request of 6.38% but higher than last year’s increase which was 4%.

The District’s Negotiation Committee is aiming to find a balance between addressing the concerns of support staff members regarding compensation while also considering budgetary constraints that might limit the extent of salary adjustments. This initial proposal sets the stage for further negotiation discussions between the District and the Support Staff Association. A date will be set this week where both parties will engage in a series of exchanges as they work towards reaching a mutually acceptable agreement that addresses the interests and needs of all stakeholders involved.

Finance Director Jones also provided the media with a list of student fees the 2024-school year. The fee breakdown is as follows:

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has not spoken to Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird since Bird attended former President Donald Trump’s trial in New York on Monday, but both Reynolds and Bird are using the word “travesty” to describe the proceedings.”It should be stopped. If this was anybody else, this wouldn’t be happening,” Reynolds said. “It’s preventing him from being on the campaign trail.”

Reynolds says it’s important for fellow Republicans to attend the trial because the judge has ordered Trump not to speak about the jury, the prosecution or witnesses. “Other people have said, ‘Well then we’re going to go express our First Amendment right because we can say that this is a sham. There is no ‘there’ there,'” Reynolds said. “…And if they think this was going to take him down, I think it’s actually having the opposite impact.”

Reynolds, who has two dozen bills left from the 2024 legislative session to review and sign, told reporters she’s focused on that and has no plan to fly to New York for the trial — but the governor says she intends to make it clear to Iowans how she views the case against Trump. “I don’t need to travel out to Washington, D.C. to do that,” Reynolds said. “…This is ridiculous. It is a sham. It’s an egregious act that’s taking place and however you feel comfortable in helping relay that to the American people or to your constituents, that’s an individual decision, but I think I’ve been pretty clear on where I stand with it.”

Governor Kim Reynolds at Iowa County farm on May 15, 2024. (RI photo)

Trump was first charged over a year ago with making so-called “hush money” payments to prevent two women from publicly accusing him of having sex outside of his marriage. Reynolds, who backed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in January’s Iowa Caucuses, endorsed Trump in early March — right after Trump won the so-called “Super Tuesday” primaries in 15 states. Attorney General Bird endorsed Trump in October and her travel to Trump’s trial was paid for by the Republican Attorneys General Association.

Reynolds, a member of the Republican Governors Association’s executive committee, says she’s not aware of similar arrangements being made by that group to get G-O-P governors to appear with Trump at the New York City courthouse.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Fire Department was paged-out to a garage fire this (Wednesday) afternoon. Fire Chief Tom Cappel said the call about the blaze at 1313 Poplar Street went out at around 4:17-p.m.  Upon arrival, crews encountered heavy black smoke and flames coming from the structure, which was detached from the nearby house.

Crews went into an instant “attack mode,” which involved taking down the power lines down and get the flames knocked down so they could release some of the heat. One of the garage doors had already fallen down. Cappel says the residents told him they were spraying ether into the engine of an old car, but the vehicle back-fired.

Atlantic Municipal Utilities helped to shut-off the power, Atlantic Police were on-hand to assist with traffic control. Cass EMS was on the scene in a stand-by mode, but was not needed. There were no injuries. Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon was also at the scene. He provided KJAN with these pictures:

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City Council in Atlantic this (Wednesday) evening, voted unanimously to approve the sale/transfer of certain City-owned property in the southeast Urban Renewal Area. While it was not specifically stated in the Resolution as spoken, Councilman Mike McDermott said afterward, it calls for the City to sell the property to Vision Atlantic, for the price of One-dollar.

Prior to the Council’s vote, they heard from Jackie Sampson, a life-long City resident, who is on the leadership board for the non-profit Vision Atlantic organization. Sampson said the turning the land over to Vision Atlantic would have far reaching opportunities for economic development project. The Lakin Foundation, she said, is willing to invest in the project by means of capital for a housing project, and an endowment for a child development center. Sampson said the Lakin Foundation believes in Atlantic, and this is something that is desperately needed.

Vision Atlantic Vice-President Nicholas Hunt, said the development project would yield a much greater return on the City’s investment when it purchased the property from the Comes Family Trust, than if it were to used for farming. The fastest way to get the money invested back, is to develop the land for housing.

Vision Atlantic V-P Nick Hunt delivers a passionate appeal to the Atlantic City Council to accept a proposal to turn over the land in question.

“Every City and town in southwest Iowa wants housing, and they want childcare,” he said, and Vision Atlantic is getting the City both, with no risk nor indebtedness to the City. We are doing this because…the City did not want to develop the land on its own and take on the risk” associated with such a move. Vision Atlantic, Hunt said, is comprised of volunteers, who negotiated a deal for the land. They’ve been working with the Charles E. Lakin Foundation for over a year and a-half. He said they have been willing to commit $8.6-million dollars towards the YMCA and also to the childcare center, as an outright grant, plus a $23-million “loan” for begin the process of establishing the infrastructure.

The Committee has also raised over $7.6-million dollars in private donations for the project, Hunt said. Everyone they’ve talked to, he said, believes in the project. “They all agree that we need housing, they all agree we need childcare, and they all believe in the YMCA, which is a great asset to the community.” Nick Hunt closed by saying “No one has profited from all this activity and volunteer time and effort. The money spent and donated have all been for the City of Atlantic,” as it will bring in more tax dollars and added business revenue, jobs, school, other institutions and churches.

“I’d say no city has been given a better deal than this one [meaning the City of Atlantic], Hunt said. “This is a gift. We all just need to cooperate and not fight it, but to work for Atlantic and work for this great project. Every investment has risk. But doing nothing…not investing in this City, also has risk.” That risk he said, is for the City to stagnate, and die. That’s something he doesn’t want to see. Hunt said “I refuse to give up on Atlantic, and I’m asking you (the Council) to believe in the future.”

DES MOINES – Today, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed SF 2391, a bill for an act prohibiting the misbranding of certain food products, and providing penalties, and HF 2649, a bill for an act excluding the net capital gain from the sale of certain livestock from the computation of net income for purposes of the individual income tax into law.  

Gov. Reynolds released the following statement in response to signing SF 2391: 

“This legislation prohibits companies from exploiting the trust consumers have with our livestock producers and misleading consumers into buying products they don’t want. This is about transparency. It’s about the common-sense idea that a product labeled chicken, beef, or pork, should actually come from an animal.” 

(Radio Iowa) – Feeding America’s latest annual study shows that the hunger problem in Iowa is getting worse. Food Bank of Iowa CEO Michelle Book says the new “Map the Meal Gap” report covers 2022.

“Twenty-22 is higher, the highest it’s been since 2017, food insecurity in the state of Iowa. But we also know that in addition to what these numbers reflect with 2022 that we’ve seen a 30 percent increase year over year in ’23 and ’24,” Book says. The report shows nearly 11 percent of Iowans and 15 percent of Iowa children aren’t getting enough food.

“Appanoose County is the highest level of food insecurity according to the Map the Meal Gap at nearly 15 percent of the population. Wappello County, where Ottumwa is, comes in a near second at about 14.2% or 5,000 residents in Wappello County being deemed in need of food assistance,” she says. Other counties facing food insecurity issues are Crawford, Lucas, Clarke and Des Moines counties.

Book says Iowa’s wages are not keeping up with the cost of living. “The last thing they spend money on is food at the grocery store, they’ve got to keep a roof over their head. They’ve got to keep an operating vehicle. They’ve got to pay the utilities at the end of the day there’s just not enough money for food,” Book says. The complete report can be found on line at FeedingAmerica.org