(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says any unused U.S. military weapons and equipment originally intended for use in Afghanistan should be shipped to Ukraine. “I will continue to advocate for already procured programs and capabilities that are programmed, budgeted, contracted, purchased and sitting in containers unused to go to those who need it the most,” Ernst says.

Yesterday (Thursday), the Biden Administration asked congress to approve 10 BILLION dollars more in emergency spending on humanitarian and military aid for Ukraine. Ernst says she’s encouraged by the request, but still reviewing the proposal, which is linked to additional pandemic-related spending. During a speech on the Senate floor yesterday (Thursday), Ernst called for logistical support and medical supplies as well as weapons that were originally purchased for Afghanistan to be sent to Ukraine immediately.

Ernst says the U.S. has an obligation to Ukraine that dates back to 1994. That’s when Ukraine gave up the world’s third largest stockpile of nuclear weapons — weapons abandoned as the Soviet Union fell apart. “The United States intervened,” Ernst says. “In exchange for protection from the greatest super power in the history of the world, Ukraine dismantled and surrendered their nuclear armament entirely. That agreement made the world a safer place.”

Now that Russia has invaded Ukraine, Ernst says the U.S. must follow through on that 1994 agreement and provide far more lethal aid to Ukraine.

(Radio Iowa) – A coalition of Iowa cities along U.S. Highway 30 has hired a consultant to study the economic impact of widening the highway to four lanes in congested areas. The U.S. Highway 30 Coalition is hoping a study of traffic flow from DeWitt to the edge of Cedar Rapids and from Ogden to Carroll could convince state officials to add lanes in those areas. Andy Sokolovich is the interim president and C-E-O of the Clinton Regional Development Corporation. He says there’s a lot of truck traffic between Clinton and Cedar Rapids and additional lanes makes sense.

“To insure that these trucks can get to and from at a rapid rate, one,” he says. “Two, lower fuel costs for themselves because they’re traveling at a higher rate of speed — they’re not stopping and idling behind a tractor that’s trying to move from one farm to another. And three, really just to kind of open up the artery of transportation into the city of Clinton and surrounding communities.”

Communities in northern Iowa lobbied for years to make Highway *20* a four-lane expressway from Sioux City to Dubuque. The first four-lane stretch of Highway 20 was completed in 1958 and in 2018 — 60 years later — the project was done. Sokolovich says the state is only considering adding passing lanes every few miles along Highway *30* — and that’s not good enough.

“We’ve seen the economic growth along that project of four-lane Highway 20,” he says, “and we’re looking to see the same economic growth along Highway 30.” The consultant hired by the U.S. Highway Coalition is studying four-lane expansion on a 45 mile stretch from DeWitt to Lisbon and the 44 miles between Carroll and Ogden.

U.S. Route 30 — often called the Lincoln Highway — starts in New York City ends in San Francisco. It enters eastern Iowa at Clinton and exits 330 miles to the west, near Missouri Valley.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Business Council is releasing its Competitive Dashboard for 2022, perspectives from executives at Iowa’s 22 largest companies on how the state is competing in the national marketplace. Council chairman Tim Yaggi, president and C-E-O of Pella Corporation, applauds state lawmakers and the governor for the latest tax reforms, as he says Iowa has not been competitive as a state from a tax perspective.

“The new law, which the governor just signed recently, we think is a huge improvement from a competitiveness standpoint,” Yaggi says, “to make Iowa much more attractive as a place to potentially relocate businesses, as a way to get new talent into the state with competitive wages and competitive personal tax policies.” On Tuesday, Governor Kim Reynolds signed the bill which will flatten Iowa’s personal income tax rate to 3.9% by 2026. While Iowa’s population growth has consistently trailed behind the national average, Yaggi notes Iowa is also 45th out of the 50 states in ethnic diversity. He says it’s vital that Iowa work harder to recruit people to move here — and to recruit younger people to move here.

“They are, by definition, going to be more diverse,” Yaggi says, “and we have to do a better job, frankly, of bringing in all people but a great deal of diversity to enable us to strengthen our companies and have the kind of thought leadership that comes and the performance that I think comes from diversifying the organization.” One of the state’s biggest shortcomings, he says, is a familiar refrain — the difficulty of finding and hiring qualified workers to fill the wide array of open positions.

“As we create new jobs, it can be very difficult to find the folks that we need to fill those jobs,” Yaggi says. “When you combine the low unemployment levels, fairly high participation rates with lack of good population growth, the ability for employers to fill jobs as we grow our businesses is a real challenge.” Iowa has much to offer newcomers, he says, including great schools, affordable housing and short commute times.

Leaders of the non-partisan, non-profit council say the Competitive Dashboard was created to serve as a guide to both lawmakers and business leaders in determining policies that will elevate Iowa’s economy.

(Radio Iowa) – The man accused of killing an Iowa State Patrol trooper during a standoff in Grundy Center last year will go to trial for murder this spring in Hamilton County. Forty-two-year- old Michael Lang is accused of shooting Sergeant Jim Smith in Lang’s Grundy Center home in a confrontation on April 9th, 2021. Lang, who himself was shot several times after police used an armored vehicle to breach his residence, is charged with murder, attempted murder and assaulting a police officer.

Prosecutors did not oppose a defense request in January to move Lang’s trial out of Grundy County due to extensive media coverage and public interest in the case. This week, District Judge Joel Dalrymple set May 9th as the date for the trial to begin in Hamilton County District Court in Webster City. Smith was a 27-year member of the Iowa State Patrol when he died of his wounds.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City of Atlantic’s Personnel and Finance Committee held a brief meeting Thursday afternoon in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall. They met to discuss a proposal to purchase property for the development of housing on the City’s south side. City Administrator John Lund explains.

The property in question is currently farmland owned by the Comes Family Trust. Councilman Pat McCurdy said “We need to acquire the land, first. The problem is infrastructure, moving on.”

City officials say a preliminary amortization shows that regular payments of principal, without balloon payments, at 3-percent interest over 20-years would require payments of $56,569, with the total amount of interest at $281,379.

City of Atlantic Personnel & Finance Committee, 3/3/22

The Mayor and Council members in attendance at Thursday’s meeting, were in complete agreement that purchasing the land is the right step in filling the housing needs the City has had for many years. Mayor Grace Garrett…

Two local realtors at the meeting said they know of at least three-to four people each, who are interested in building in Atlantic, and Comes’ property would fit the bill. Marty and Connie Boose, who have another housing project that’s about to get underway, are also in favor of the City’s plan to purchase the land. Marty Boose said he doesn’t see a conflict of interest.

The City’s Engineer, Dave Sturm says work on the preliminary plat is underway, and it’s set to be reviewed and likely approved during a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, next Tuesday (March 8th).

If approved by the full City Council, the closing date on the purchase of the property is May 15.