(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Legal Aid is now operating four help desks in county courthouses across the state to help tenants avoid eviction. The agency opened its help center at the Johnson County Courthouse this week and has others operating in Polk, Linn and Black Hawk counties. Ericka Petersen, of Iowa Legal Aid, offers important advice to tenants, and is letting landlords know they can get rent assistance without seeking an eviction. “I think the number-one piece of advice for people is to come to your hearing,” Petersen says. “In several counties, you will now be greeted with people that can offer you legal assistance and people that can offer you and your landlord rent assistance.”

A recent federal survey shows some 84-thousand Iowans are behind on rent, many due to the pandemic. Petersen wants tenants to know they do have rights. “If you can, reach out early,” she says. “We’re there. We’ve got rent assistance folks there, but if you reach out to us beforehand, even better. We can get things rolling even faster, maybe we can avoid even having the court date in the first place.”

With the federal eviction moratorium set to expire July 31st, attorneys and service providers are anticipating a surge in evictions. Residents can call Iowa Legal Aid at 800-532-1275.
iowalegalaid.org

(By Kate Payne, Iowa Public Radio)

(Update 9:50-a.m.) – Apparent engine failure is reportedly to blame for the emergency landing of a crop duster Tuesday evening, in Carroll County. According to reports, the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing in near a field off Mahogany Avenue near Swan Lake south of Carroll, at around 5 p.m. Tuesday. The aircraft ended up on a terrace, near a corn field.

Authorities say the pilot suffered no serious injuries, but he crop duster, an Air Tractor AT-401 registered to Central Ag, LLC of Corisca, S.D., was an apparent total loss.

The Federal Aviation Administration, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) were notified and will be conducting a joint investigation into the incident.

(Radio Iowa) – Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa is pushing to ensure a current benefit for military veterans and the families of soldiers who died while on duty is a permanent policy. The National Park Service issues free park passes to veterans and Gold Star families and Miller-Meeks is sponsoring a bill to make that policy law.

“The VIP Act protects these veterans’ passes by codifying them into law and making them lifetime passes instead of annual passes that have to be resent and reapplied for every year,” Miller-Meeks says. “Making the passes lifetime instead of annual makes the job of Park Service easier and ensures our veterans have full access to all the benefits they deserve.” Passes into the Badlands National Park in South Dakota, for example, cost 15 dollars per person and 30 dollars per vehicle.

Miller-Meeks is getting bipartisan support for her bill. More than 140 House members had signed on as co-sponsors.  “As a 24-year Army veteran, I understand the sacrifices made by our military and their loved ones…and as a doctor, I understand the healing power of nature and outdoor activity,” Miller-Meeks said. “with mental and physical benefits.” Miller-Meeks outlined her bill Tuesday during a hearing held by the U.S. House committee that oversees policy on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands.

Ottumwa native John Paluska, a retired Army Captain, also testified. “There’s something about connecting to nature that all these parks have that helps with the healing,” he says. Paluska, who is a Green Beret, says he visited Yellowstone National Park after his deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.  “I’ll always carry the wounds of war with me wherever I go,” he says, “but when I go to these beautiful places I am able to connect with one of the reasons I decided to serve and that is this incredible, beautiful country, so I feel a connection to this country when I visit these national parks.”

Paluska was injured in a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2006 and Staff Sergeant Travis Strong, the soldier at his side, lost both legs. “Now Travis finds his strength in challenging himself physically at a national parks,” Paluska says. “He’s summited various peaks throughout the US with only his hands and, for him, his park is Yosemite.” There are more than two-thousand national parks, national forests and wildlife refuges and Paluska says he looks forward to showing his newborn son Yellowstone and many others in the coming years.

The bill Miller-Meeks is sponsoring would let active service members, who get annual free passes to the national parks, turn that in for a lifetime pass when they retire or are honorably discharged.

(Radio Iowa) – The first woman to serve as a warden at an Iowa prison for men has retired. Chris Weitzel spoke during the Board of Corrections meeting last week and reflected on her career that started as a corrections officer. “When I started in 1982 at Mitchelville my goal was to be a warden. And I have had an amazing career with wonderful opportunities,” Weitzel says, “but those opportunities were there because I made those opportunities. I got involved in every single thing I could possibly involve myself in.” Weitzel’s last position was as the interim warden at the Fort Dodge prison, and she had also held that job in Newton and Clarinda.

Weitzel says there were many things she liked about the job.  “We never have the same day twice. We make a difference in somebody’s life every single day. And I preach that over and over and over to my staff — because corrections is not a positive environment — and I think sometimes we get caught up in the negativity,” Weitzel says. She says the staff doesn’t see the daily impact they make and underestimate their value.

“And so I am constantly reminding staff ‘you make a difference whether you see it or don’t.’ and then, just our staff. We have the best staff in the state, and they are so dedicated to the mission of our work every single day, even in times of hardship,” Weitzel says. Weitzel says the reality of retirement didn’t hit her until the Board of Corrections approved her replacement.

“I have a lot of things that I am proud of through my career,” she says, “buy I think probably the thing that I am most proud of is that I was the first female warden at a men’s institution in Iowa. I hope that that has paved the way — I know it has paved the way for other women.” Weitzel says she looks forward to spending more time with her family and being able to go on vacations without taking along an Ipad.

Department of Corrections director, Beth Skinner, says Weitzel has laid a 38-year foundation in corrections that will never be forgotten.