WASHINGTON – The staff of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) will hold traveling office hours in 21 Iowa counties from November 6 through November 17. Iowans seeking assistance regarding a personal issue with a federal agency or wishing to share views on matters of federal policy may stop by during the scheduled hours.

Grassley will be represented by his regional directors: Penny Vacek of Davenport, Rochelle Fuller of Cedar Rapids, Jonathan Bladt of Council Bluffs, Laney Feight of Des Moines and Jacob Bossman of Sioux City. The senator will not be in attendance.

Grassley’s state offices regularly help constituents contact federal agencies to address problems with Social Security payments, military service matters, immigration cases, veterans’ benefits, IRS challenges and other issues. Iowans can also seek assistance via Grassley’s website.

In our area, the traveling office representative, locations and hours are as follows:

Monday, November 13 – Regional Director Jonathan Bladt

Cass County: 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.; Atlantic Public Library 507 Popular Street, Atlantic

Tuesday, November 14 – Regional Director Jonathan Bladt

Shelby County: 10 – 11 a.m.; Harlan Community Library 718 Court Street, Harlan

Harrison County: 2 – 3 p.m.; Ignite Pathways 6 West 7th Street, Woodbine.

(Radio Iowa) – A wide variety of bond issues are being presented in next Tuesday’s city-school elections in Iowa. According to an Iowans for Tax Relief analysis, over one-point-seven BILLION dollars in borrowing for bonds will be decided by voters. Sarah Curry is the research director for Iowans for Tax Relief.  “When I did this project last March when we had bond elections it was not nearly that high,” Curry says, “so I was actually shocked at how much money local governments were asking for.” Curry contacted every one of Iowa’s county auditors and learned there will be bond questions on the ballots in 50 counties.

Thirty-four school districts are seeking approval to borrow for projects. “We’re not taking a specific stance on any one of the bonds because we’re not living in those communities and we don’t know what the needs are of that community,” Curry says. “We did launch our new website which is IPRlocal.org and so that is more robust than the previous version and it has a breakdown of what school districts and cities and counties are spending their money on and what their property taxes are and their enrollment or population growth so that voters can be more informed.” Most of the borrowing or bonds being requested are for school infrastructure.

“Over $1.2 billion are for schools,” Curry says. “Only $18 million are for cities.” The remaining bond issues are for counties. The largest is in Polk County, where voters are being asked to approve 350-million dollars in borrowing to help fund construction of a new Des Moines Airport terminal and expand the security checkpoint as well as check-in and baggage claim areas.

Airport officials say using county-issued bonds will save money and lead to a quicker repayment of those bonds. The bulk of the airport expansion project is being financed by other means, including airport reserve funds as well as grants from the State of Iowa and the federal government.

(Radio Iowa) – Northwest Iowa authorities say a father and son are dead following a series of incidents at a farm near Hornick. Woodbury County Sheriff Chad Sheehan says a man, later identified as 72-year-old Todd Sulsberger, called for help at about 7:30 Sunday night. “The Woodbury County Communications Center received a 911 call from a male victim, reporting his son was shooting at him,” the sheriff says. When deputies arrived at the farm, they found the suspect — 44 year old Walter Sulsberger — sitting in a pick-up on his father’s farm.

“At 9:10 p.m., I made contact with the suspect via phone and he told me there would be no peaceful resolution and made threats toward law enforcement officers,” the sheriff said. Three armored vehicles were dispatched to the scene and the Iowa State Patrol provided air surveillance. Sheriff Sheehan says a crisis negotiator was on the phone with Walter Sulsberger for hours.

“At approximately 2:45 a.m. while the crisis negotiator was attempting to negotiate a peaceful surrender, the homicide suspect fired multiple shots at tactical teams who were attempting to move in to take the suspect into custody,” Sheehan says. “Being met with gunfire and in fear for their lives and with no other option, law enforcement personnel returned fire, striking the suspect.”

Sulsberger died at the scene. His father was found dead on the property a short time later. The sheriff has confirmed that just before Todd Sulsberger called 9-1-1 to say his son was shooting at him, dispatchers received a call that livestock were running loose and there was a fire on the property. “There were cattle out. How those cattle were made to be free, I don’t know. I’m sure the investigation will determine that,” Sheehan says. “There were fires set. I’m not aware of any that were set to buildings. There were fires that were set to hay bales…large bales that were set on fire.”

Two of the armored vehicles on the scene were struck by gunfire, but no law enforcement officers or first responders were injured. State agents with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation have been called in to investigate the shootings.

(Onawa, Iowa) – A collision between two semi-tractor trailers this (Monday) morning, near Onawa, resulted in one of the drivers being transported to the hospital. The Iowa State Patrol reports the accident happened on southbound I-29 in Monona County, at around 8:36-a.m.

A 2024 Kenworth tractor driven by a man from West Sacramento, CA, was stopped in the right-hand lane of southbound I-29 near mile marker 112. The semi was hauling an over-sized load. A 2023 Volvo semi driven by 29-year-old Caleb Jaton, of Sioux Falls, SD, was traveling southbound when his semi struck the trailer of the first semi. The collision caused disabling damage to both vehicles.

Jaton, who was wearing his seat belt, was transported by Wings Air Rescue to the UNMC in Omaha. The State Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Monona County Sheriff’s Department, Onawa EMS and Blanco Fire & EMS.

DES MOINES- The Department of Management Division of Information Technology, formerly the Office of the Chief Information Officer, awarded $148,960,000 as part of the Empower Rural Iowa Broadband Grant program. 39 broadband provider applications representing 47 Iowa counties received a Notice of Intent to Award (NOIA) for applications submitted under NOFA #008.

This round of grant funds will be used to incentivize broadband infrastructure build out in the newly established Broadband Intervention Zones (BIZ). Through feedback from 55 public meetings in Iowa communities, 96 BIZ zones were created across the state. These are areas deemed to be in the most need for broadband infrastructure expansion.

Funding for NOFA #008 was made possible through the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund. For information on NOFA #008 please refer to the link below. This link provides all application materials.

https://ocio.iowa.gov/empower-rural-iowa-broadband-grant-program-notice-funding-availability-008

DES MOINES – Today, Gov. Reynolds announced a new $6.5 million investment in communities to bolster tourism and quality of life through Destination Iowa. The grant initiative, which launched in 2022 with federal funding, became a state-funded initiative following approval from the Iowa legislature this year.  

“Destination Iowa has inspired communities statewide to dream big about projects that will give tourists a reason to explore and newcomers a reason to call Iowa home,” Governor Reynolds said. “This initiative has advanced 46 projects across the state so far , activating more than $480 million in total investment. Support from the state will open this opportunity for even more communities to boost tourism and quality of life while raising the profile of our state.” 

The IEDA Board approved the Destination Iowa program guidelines and procedures at its monthly board last Friday. Funds will be awarded to projects investing in vertical infrastructure such as land acquisition and construction, recreational trails and water trails. The goal is for Iowa communities to make strategic investments that create or support lasting opportunities to attract visitors and enhance quality of life amenities for residents, thereby boosting local economies and attracting talent.   

Priority will be given to applicants that have not been awarded money from the federally funded Destination Iowa fund or other programs intended to support community attraction and tourism projects after July 1, 2018. Eligible applicants include cities, counties and not-for-profit organizations.  

The program will follow a two-step application process. Pre-applications will be accepted on a rolling basis from October 23, 2023 through January 31, 2024 via a form on IEDA’s website.  For those applicants invited to apply for the full application, the final application deadline is March 1, 2024. 

IEDA will designate a grant committee to review applications and make funding recommendations to the IEDA Board for consideration at the April 2024 monthly board meeting. For more information, visit www.iowaeda.com/destination-iowa-state.