Lavon Eblen speaks with Teresa Hensley and Glenna Thompson with SCORE about what their group is about and their local projects.
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Lavon Eblen speaks with Teresa Hensley and Glenna Thompson with SCORE about what their group is about and their local projects.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (8.2MB)
Subscribe: RSS
The Atlantic Police Department reports an accident Wednesday afternoon on Chestnut Street caused about $1,500 damage, but no one was hurt. Officials say vehicles driven by Ryan Richie, of Clarinda, and James Adams, of St. Augustine, FL, collided in the 400 block of Chestnut, at around 3:15-p.m.
The accident happened as Adams was traveling south on Chestnut, and making a left turn into the northbound parking stalls. As he was making the turn, a vehicle driven by Richie was backing out, and collided with the Adams vehicle. Adams was cited for “Left Turn for Parking.”
John R. Whitaker, State Executive Director for USDA’s Iowa Farm Service Agency (FSA), announced Thursday, that continuous sign-up for the Highly Erodible Land (HEL) Initiative under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) started on July 23rd, 2012. Iowa received a total allocation of 50,000 acres to enroll in the HEL CRP program. Offers will be accepted until either the state acreage allocation limit is reached or September 30, 2012 whichever occurs first.
Whitaker says “CRP is a voluntary program that shows the commitment that landowners have to protect environmentally sensitive land. This initiative will accept offers with a weighted average wind or water erosion rate of at least 20 tons per acre per year for new cropland or CRP acres that expire on September 30, 2012; however, existing grass stands that are not expiring CRP will not be considered eligible.”
Producers should stop by their local county FSA office to determine if their land qualifies for the Highly Erodible Land Initiative and to receive additional location-specific details. Landowners enrolled in CRP receive annual rental payments and cost-share assistance to establish long-term, resource conserving covers on eligible farmland. Incentive payments are not authorized under this initiative. New land contracts approved during this continuous sign-up initiative will become effective the first day of the month following the month of approval and are valid for 10 years.
Iowa State Executive Director for USDA Farm Service Agency, John R. Whitaker today (Thursday), announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 62 Iowa counties as part of a Secretarial Natural Disaster Designation. Farm operators who have suffered major production and/or physical losses caused by drought beginning August 7th, 2012 and continuing may be eligible for low-interest emergency loans. This designation makes the remaining producers in Iowa eligible for these loans.
The Secretarial Natural Disaster Designation determination of August 15th, 2012 lists 35 Iowa counties as primary disaster areas. These primary counties locally, include: Adair, Adams, Audubon, Carroll, Cass, Crawford, Dallas, Fremont, Guthrie, Hancock, Harrison, Mills, Monona, Montgomery, Page, Pocahontas, Pottawattamie, Sac, and Shelby. Thirty-two Iowa counties are contiguous to this designated disaster area, making those producers also potentially eligible for the program based on this designation. The contiguous counties include: Ringgold, Taylor and Union, in southwest Iowa.
Whitaker says “With this designation, all producers who have suffered a loss due to a natural disaster are eligible to apply for an FSA Emergency Loan. With the various designations that have been issued, producers should contact their local FSA office to determine the application deadline that applies to them.” The Farm Service Agency may make emergency loans to eligible family farmers which will enable them to return to their normal operations if they sustained qualifying losses resulting from natural disaster.
Applicant must be unable to obtain credit from other usual sources to qualify for the Farm Service Agency Farm Loan Program assistance. The final date for making application under this designation is April 15, 2013. Interested farmers may contact their local County FSA office for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. For a list of disaster designations for Iowa, go to www.fsa.usda.gov/ia.
An Atlantic business has won a national award from a group of over 850 retailers. Geis-Perry Jewelry owners Rich and Nedra Perry received the 2012 Diamond Importer of the Year award from the Retail Jewelers Organization (RJO). The award was presented during the RJO’s annual gala, held August 5th, in Milwaukee, WI.
Each year, the RJO selects one jeweler who participates in international diamond buying trips to Antwerp, Belgium, and excels in the selection, grading, and promotion of diamonds and diamond jewelry. One retail jeweler is selected annually, who has demonstrated an outstanding commitment in expanding their knowledge f diamonds, by traveling to the “Diamond Capital of the World,” to hand select diamonds for their store, and clients.
A slight improvement in the atmospheric moisture content has prompted the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency to reduce the Fire Danger index from “Extreme” to “High,” where it had been for several weeks prior to Wednesday’s extremely dry and dangerous conditions. Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Seivert says thunderstorms are in the forecast for the next few days and hopefully, some of that rain will fall over Shelby County.
Seivert is asking participating agencies in the County to move their “Fire Danger” signs back into the High Category. He says while the explosive conditions the area experienced Wednesday have moved on, the wind this (Thursday) afternoon and Friday are expected to increase into the 20-mph range.
Open burning is not recommended. Please call the emergency management Agency at 755-2124 if you feel you need to burn during this time.
The Iowa Department of Transportation reminds motorists that travel during the upcoming Labor Day holiday may be slowed by road construction. The DOT says several projects on Iowa’s interstate and state roadways may warrant advance planning on the part of drivers.
In Southwest Iowa, the projects include:
There are many other ongoing construction and maintenance projects affecting traffic on state, county and local road systems. Details of all current Iowa DOT construction projects can be found at www.511ia.org.
Tips for driving safely in work zones
A representative of the Southern Iowa Regional Housing Authority (SIRHA) spoke before the Cass County Board of Supervisors during their meeting Wednesday, in Atlantic. Gene Eyberg told the Board the Creston-based organization subsidized 1,031 Section 8 housing units that are privately owned in a 13 County area. He says of those 1,031 units, 187 are located in Cass County. 2.3%, or 318 people, are actually being served through Section 8 Housing.
Eyberg says year-to-date, that amounts to $290,635. SIRHA, which provides rental assistance or rent subsidy to low income individuals, families, elderly or disabled who meet qualifying program guidelines utilizing different programs, has a budget of more than $5-million. The organization operates 2 rental assistance programs: Public Housing and the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program.
Eyberg says most of their budget comes through the federal Housing and Urban Development program (HUD). He says HUD has insisted SIRHA dwindle-down their surplus funds which are used for everything that’s involved in the program. Eyberg says they are working to reduce the surplus, as directed. He says they’re proud of the rental assistance program, because it fosters independence and a sense of worth, once those who are enrolled successfully complete the requirements.
He says it encourages people to get out on their own, forward their education, market themselves, and increase their earning potential. The money it saves qualifying individuals also ultimately can be applied for the purchase of a new home. That’s because a portion of the rent that’s paid, goes into a trust fund. For more information, surf the web to www.sirha-ia.org.