(Radio Iowa) – A small business owner in the central Iowa town of Nevada is marking her tenth year in business and she gives a large part of the credit to a program at nearby Iowa State University. Jennifer Knox runs Saltlickers out of her home kitchen, a company that offers more than two dozen types of cooking spices, including flavors like Cy Salt, Herky Perky and Iowa Nice Spice.

“We have a very unique product,” Knox says. “It is something that you can add to cooking to make your cooking, no matter what it is, taste good. It’s like our product helps them be the cooks that they want to be.” Knox says she’s always enjoyed cooking foods from different places around the world and once she purchased a dehydrator, she was hooked on homemade spices.

“I dried the heck out of everything,” Knox says. “I ended up making Christmas gifts, then I did a little market in Brooklyn, a holiday market and I made $3,000 that weekend and nothing like that had ever happened to me before. I thought, ‘This is paydirt. I have to keep doing it. People like it.'” When she first launched the business, she was living in a small apartment in Brooklyn, New York, and says she never could have succeeded in such a crowded metropolis.

“This would not exist if I was still trying to do this in New York,” Knox says. “We grow every year to the point that we can handle it.” Knox decided to move to central Iowa where she’s now also an English professor at I-S-U. She says she’s consulted the Small Business Development Center and the Center for Industrial Research and Service at I-S-U on a host of challenges.

“At every step that we come to that seems insurmountable, there has been somebody there from Iowa State to help us out,” Knox says. “They helped us streamline the process and do it for a price that we can stay in business.” Officials with the centers say they’ve helped thousands of other businesses across the state, creating an economic impact measured in the billions of dollars.

(Radio Iowa) – Both of Iowa’s U.S. Senators, as expected, joined with their Republican colleagues in defeating the bill Democrats sponsored to guarantee access to abortion nationwide. Senator Chuck Grassley spoke during debate of the bill.

“This legislation is being discussed for political purposes,” Grassley said, “and we’re wasting time on this issue because we could be spending time on things that people want.” Senator Joni Ernst did not speak during debate. The Washington Post has reported Ernst will introduce a bill in the Senate to ban abortions after the sixth week of a pregnancy. Grassley has said in interviews with Iowa reporters he will not comment on a nationwide ban until after the U.S. Supreme Court issues its final ruling.

During remarks on the Senate floor, this is how Grassley described his approach to the issue. “Let me be clear: abortion should not be promoted as a default contraception and family planning tool. Let’s have a productive discussion on what can be done to support women and support ,” Grassley said. “It’s important to be open with our colleagues and peers, but we must unit to protect life because every single life is precious.” Grassley said the bill Democrats were offering would invalidate current state laws that regulate abortions.

“It would allow health care workers to determine when a life is viable which will lead, then, to inconsistent practices across the country,” Grassley said, “and endanger the lives of mothers everywhere.” The U.S. Senate is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats and the outcome of yesterday’s (Wednesday’s) vote was expected, since there weren’t 60 senators willing to allow a vote on the bill.

Abby Finkenauer, one of the Democrats running for a chance to face Grassley in the November election, says yesterday’s (Wednesday’s) vote shows why Democrats need to win more seats in the U.S. Senate. Mike Franken, who is also competing for the Iowa Democratic Party’s U.S. Senate nomination, says Grassley has consistently voted to take rights away from women.

(Updated 5/12/22) – (Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic School Board gathered for their regular monthly meeting Wednesday evening, in the Schuler Elementary School Media Center. During the session, Superintendent Barber handed out certificates to the Board Members, in honor of May being “School Board Recognition Month.” He recapped some of the Board highlights from over the past year. One of the highlights was the district’s response to COVID.

Another highlight was the efforts put forth to return to school following the devastating July 27, 2021 Middle School fire.

In his Superintendent’s Report, Mr. Barber mentioned the District has several teaching positions to fill for the next school year, and that administratively, they “we’re gonna continue to work towards fulfilling these positions with quality teachers.”

He also discussed plans to move forwards with school therapy, and the concept of a Therapeutic Classroom. The goal, he said, is to have a third mental health professional to provide additional Tier II intervention support for 4^th through 8^th graders. On another note, Barber acknowledged the district continues to be challenged when it comes to finding drivers for transportation to various events, thanks in-part to federal regulations.

He said some relief on the demands placed on the Transportation Department will be going away once students can transition back to the Middle School this fall. Mr. Barber also provided an update with regard to the Atlantic Middle School Reconstruction Project (Middle School Reconstruction Update_). He mentioned meetings are scheduled to create a “punch-list” for the subcontractors, with the goal being to get that list completed by June 1^st. New furniture is set to arrived June 20^th, with installation soon afterward.

The Board, Wednesday, approved resignations and contract recommendations from Superintendent Steve Barber. The resignations included those for:

• Molly O’Hara, Middle School Building Secretary; Jennifer Renz, Washington Paraeducator; Regina Honke, Ticket Manager; Dan Vargason, AHS Fuel Sponsor, &Mallory Kirchhof, Junior Class & Prom Sponsor.

The contract recommendations included:

• Derek Handel, Alternative Education Teacher; Angela Behrens, Lori Namanny, and Melissa Balch: Summer Food Service.; Gentri Meier, Mental Health Professional (revised); Sarah Rose & Katie Hedegaard, HS Cheerleading Co-Sponsors; Jazlyn Visek, Substitute Bus Paraprofessional.

The Atlantic School Board, Wednesday, acted on approving several matters, including:

• 2022-23 Substitute Employee Pay Rates: Superintendent Barber had proposed an increase of 50-cents per hour for some classes and a Five-dollar raise for substitute teachers.
• Student Fees for the 22-23 School Year were left unchanged. Additional information on the lunch program was requested prior to approval.
• Renewed sharing agreements with area school districts, with regard to: Girls and Boys swimming; Girls Soccer and Girls Wrestling.