(Radio Iowa) – The U.S. Transportation Secretary says addressing safety concerns is the highest priority for the three-point-nine BILLION dollars in new federal infrastructure money for Iowa roads, bridges and airports. Secretary Pete Buttigieg spoke with Iowa reporters during an online news conference.

“When you have these bridges, for example, in need of repair, a lot of projects, I think, will make their way to the top of the list for that reason,” Buttigieg says. Nearly one in five bridges in Iowa is considered structurally deficient. Buttigieg is holding news conferences around the country to emphasize that 20 percent of the new infrastructure spending is reserved for projects in rural areas — where 19 percent of Americans live.

“This really is a once in a lifetime investment,” Buttigieg said,” and having gotten to know Iowa well, having traveled many of those roads and having gone around those bridges that are load limited or need work, I’ve seen how much of a difference this legislation is going to make in the Midwest generally and in Iowa specifically.” Buttigieg won Iowa’s 2020 Caucuses, but dropped out of the presidential race a month later and endorsed Joe Biden.

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley and Congresswoman Cindy Axne, a Democrat, were the only two members of Iowa’s D.C. delegation who voted for the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Axne says adding money for broadband and water systems, Iowa will receive five BILLION dollars in total as a result of the infrastructure bill.  “This law includes more than 375 programs that rural communities across the third district are eligible for,” Axne says.

Axne says she’s grateful to see the infrastructure funding starting to go out the door. “I am always disappointed, though, when I see too many people taking credit without explaining where the funding does come from,” Axne says. Axne says elected officials, including the governor, should explain the money for infrastructure and other large scale projects came from the bipartisan infrastructure bill as well as the federal pandemic relief packages approved during the Trump and Biden Administrations.

(Neola, Iowa) – In an update to our previous report, the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office tells KJAN News, the driver of a 2011 KIA Sportage was injured Wednesday morning, during a collision that happened near the Tri-Center High School. Authoritiess say 15-year-old Ava Speight, of Logan, was driving the car and pulled up to a stop sign at the T-intersection of 310th and Railroad Highway at around 7:30-a.m.

She proceeded to enter the intersection to make a left turn (northbound), when she pulled in front of a 2018 Ford Edge traveling south on Railroad Highway. The driver of the SUV, 59-year-old Jacaly Ann Velthoff, of Panama, was unable to avoid a collision. Her vehicle struck the KIA on the front, driver side door.

Photo courtesy of Zach Ploen.

Speight was transported by Neola Rescue to Mercy Hospital. Sheriff’s deputies cited the teen for Failure to Yield upon left turn. Damage to the KIA was estimated at $10,000. The Ford Edge sustained about $6,000 damage.

(Cass County, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Cass County report one person suffered minor injuries and was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic, following a collision this (Thursday) morning, near Massena. Authorities say the collision happened at around 10:20-a.m. at the intersection of 750th Street and Highway 92.

The report states the driver of a silver 2020 Chevy Silverado, David Schlater, stopped at the stop sign southbound on 750th at the intersection with Highway 92 in Massena. Due to heavy fog, Schlater was unable to see oncoming traffic. He continued through the intersection and was struck by a westbound 1999 Chevy 2500 driven by Randy Shuey. Shuey was transported to CCMH for treatment of his minor injuries.

Schlater was given a warning for failure to yield the right of way. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by Massena Rescue, Cass EMS, and the Department of Transportation.

(Radio Iowa) – Some House Republicans are publicly stating their opposition to the governor’s plan to create state scholarships to cover expenses for sending 10-thousand students to a private school. Republican Representative Megan Jones of Sioux Rapids, who is opposed to the bill, says the votes just aren’t there in the House to pass it. “I myself have a lot of concerns about that bill, too, because I don’t think it’s going to impact any kids in our area,” Jones says, “and so if we’re going to pile more money into this, I don’t want to see that money just going to Des Moines.”

There are more than a dozen private schools in the Des Moines metro, including Dowling Catholic and Des Moines Christian High Schools — while 42 of Iowa’s 99 counties do not have a private or parochial school. Jones says the 55-million dollar price tag for the governor’s private school scholarships is also a worry. “We could only do 2.5% supplemental state aid for our public schools, but now we’re going to bite off another huge chunk here,” Jones says. “…I’m just not sure we can carry that through.” Jones is vice chair of the legislative committee that meets year-round to oversee state regulations.

The Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and a retiring Republican lawmaker from Walcott announced at a forum in the Quad Cities that they are opposed to the spending plan.

The Glenwood Police Department reports the arrest on Wednesday, of a Sioux City, Iowa, resident. 39-year-old Leslie Wilson was arrested for Driving While Barred. Wilson’s cash or surety bond was set at $2,000.