(Radio Iowa) – The board that governs the three state universities has reviewed a report that was mandated by the Iowa Legislature to study the merits of a tuition guarantee program. Board of Regents business officer Brad Berg says the study committee researched several institutions of varying sizes and types around the country. “Several of them implemented a tuition guarantee program and found them to be unsustainable,” Berg says. “The common theme there was they were terminated when experiencing downturns in the economy, which resulted in in jeopardized state support.”

Speaking at last week’s Board meeting, Berg says some schools have a program where students can pay a premium rate that remains fixed or choose a lower initial per credit rate that is subject to annual increases. He says they reviewed that possibility for the University of Iowa and says the upfront premium would have to be 18-hundred-60 dollars. Berg says the current Regent policy of tying tuition increases to inflation addresses on of the main concerns.

“The primary benefit of a tuition guarantee program is to provide predictability for students and families. A board policy just passed last April, caps based tuition increases for undergraduate residents at a three-year inflation average, which does provide some predictability on future tuition rates,” Berg says. He says another issue in implementing a tuition guarantee program is that the three state schools each operate unique student information systems and billing platforms that would require reworking.

“While this alone is not a barrier to implementing a tuition guarantee program, it does present complexities to ensure these systems can accurately track and enforce guarantees across multiple cohorts of students,” he says. Berg says there are a lot of variables that would have to be considered to make a program work. “Students frequently change majors, often moving into higher cost programs. They’ll travel abroad, and they’ll pursue double majors, which are just some of the contingencies that would require attention,” Berg says.

“Implementation of a tuition guarantee program would require careful assisting, planning and testing, and the establishment of clear policies and ongoing coordination and communication with students and families.” Berg points out that Iowa’s state universities continue to outperform outperformed national averages in retention and graduation rates, which are now the highest on record.

Board policy provides access to all qualified Iowans, enrollments are currently strong, and tuition rates continue to be very competitive with that. The Board received the report and will send it to the Iowa Legislature.

ATLANTIC, Iowa – Cass County Auditor Kathy Somers announced recount results for the Atlantic School District Director At-Large race from the November 4, 2025 City/School Election was completed confirming the original election night results with no changes.

Candidate Justin Williams received a total vote within less than one percent of the winning candidate, qualifying him to request a recount under provisions of House File 928 which went into effect July 1, 2025. Williams submitted the qualified request, prompting the official recount process.

The recount was conducted on November 17, 2025, by the county auditor’s staff and precinct election officials. Ballots from eight Cass County precincts, absentee ballots, and ballots cast in Pottawattamie and Audubon Counties for Atlantic School District Director At-Large were included in the recount. The recount used the same machines that were used on election night.

As shown below, the total number of votes for Justin Williams were 1,003. Chet Meneely received 1,091. Incumbent Josh McLaren received 1,031 votes, and Jordan Zarbono received 636 votes. The results confirm McLaren and Meneely were elected to the two open At-large seats on the Atlantic School Board.

(Glenwood, IA) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office has issued a weekly arrest report. In their report today (Monday), the sheriff’s department said a woman from Cass County (IA) was arrested Nov. 12th in Glenwood. 34-year-ol Mikel Ann Erickson, of Lewis, was arrested on a warrant for Failure to Appear on a Class-D Felony charge of Theft in the 2nd Degree. Bond was set at $10,000.

Separately, 46-year-old Amanda Regina Lopez, of Omaha, was arrested in Hastings Nov. 12th, for speeding. Bond was set at $300.

On Nov. 13th, 46-year-old Christopher Joseph Brown, of Pacific Junction, was arrested in Glenwood for Violation of a No Contact Order-Domestic Abuse Assault. Bond was set at $300; And, 43-year-old Dustin Eugene Kalkas, of Shenandoah, was arrested on the 13th for Contempt of Court/Disobediance of a Tribunal Court.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans who want to pack some holiday joy in a shoebox for kids around the world can drop them off this week at dozens of locations across the state. Denise Moore of Ankeny, the area coordinator of Operation Christmas Child in east-central Iowa, says this annual effort brings in many thousands of gift boxes from Iowans, and millions of boxes nationwide.

“It’s a project through Samaritan’s Purse and it collects shoeboxes that are filled with fun toys, school supplies and personal care items and delivered to children in need around the world,” Moore says, “and it’s a way to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way.” The shoebox gifts go to children in 170 nations in all parts of the globe, she says, including some of the hardest-to-reach places, from deep jungles to remote villages on mountainsides. During last year’s campaign, Moore was able to hand-deliver boxes to children in Romania.

Photo by Samaritan’s Purse

“The first stop that we made was with children that had never received a gift, probably in their life,” Moore says, “and to receive items like toothbrushes and hygiene items, along with fun items that we call ‘wow items,’ which might be a doll for a girl or a soccer ball for a boy, and the joy in that room was amazing and it was priceless.” The boxes are being collected this week as they have to go through a processing center before they’re carried by ship or plane to their final destinations. Moore has a tip for Iowans who’d like to create their own Operation Christmas Child box.

“There’s a lot of great information on the website that can be found at samaritanspurse.org/OCC that’ll give you a lot of suggestions of what to pack, add to the box,” Moore says, “and also give you the drop-off locations that you can get by just putting in your ZIP code and finding the local drop-off center near you.” There’s also an option to shop online at samaritanspurse.org/buildonline where you can select gifts matched to a child’s specific age and gender, then finish packing the virtual shoebox by adding a photo and personal note of encouragement.

Now in its third decade, the operation hopes to collect shoeboxes throughout Iowa to help with the global goal to reach 12 million children.

(Radio Iowa) – The last day of this month is the final call for the “Hello Operator” exhibit at the Sioux City Public Museum. It features iconic telephones, historic photographs and switchboards.

Museum curator Matt Anderson says Sioux City was among the first cities in Iowa to have a telephone switchboard that provided commercial service. “The very first telephone exchange was in 1879 in Dubuque,” Anderson says. “Sioux City followed a year later and it was definitely among the first cities to have telephone service and so it was a real leader that way and from really that point on Sioux City was kind of our regional hub for telephone service.”

That exchange was a local franchise of the American Bell Company, owned by Alexander Graham Bell — who invented the telephone. The early patents for telephones began to expire in the 1890s, though, and that let independent companies compete for business. The Sioux City museum’s exhibit shows local telephone service was offered by the Sioux City Telephone Company and New State Telephone offered regional long distance service. “Sioux City Telephone and New State kind of worked hand-in-hand and were a significant competitor for Bell Telephone in Sioux City for about 20 years,” Anderson says.

“Hello Operator” exhibit at Sioux City Public Museum runs through Nov. 30, 2025. (KSCJ photo)

New State — the Sioux City-based long distance phone company — was established by Cloid Smith and he sold it to Bell in 1912. Two years later, Smith founded the American Pop Corn Company that produces the Jolly Time brand. Like the rest of the country, Sioux City’s telephone market ultimately came under the full control of Northwestern Bell and Sioux City had a regional office for Northwestern Bell from 1921 until the nationwide Bell System monopoly ended in 1984.

(Atlantic, IA)  – Officials with Vision Atlantic said today (Monday), Cass County Animal Clinic, led by Dr. Erin Conrad-Schwarte, has made a generous donation in support of Vision Atlantic’s transformative community development project, which includes a new housing development, child development center, and YMCA expansion. As a trusted local business dedicated to the well-being of both animals and families, the clinic is proud to invest in the future of the community it serves. in the news release, Dr. Conrad-Schwarte said “Small town. Big vision. Proud to support Vision Atlantic.”

Vision Atlantic, through extensive research and surveying of the community and surrounding region, identified three areas that will help increase Atlantic’s population: expanded childcare, quality housing and quality of life amenities. Infrastructure for the 142 mixed unit Camblin Hills housing development and 300 capacity child development center is almost complete, with construction of 48 homes currently underway. Construction of the child development center and YMCA expansion is slated to begin early 2026.

Pictured: Christina Bateman, Melissa Ihnen, Dr. Erin Conrad-Schwarte and Staff

Vision Atlantic has a fundraising goal of $39 million, which will be used to construct the YMCA expansion and child development center. To date, they have raised $30.6 million of that goal, thanks to an $8.6 million lead grant from the Charles E. Lakin Foundation and significant support from local donors. In addition to their grant support, the Lakin Foundation has created a separate investment fund of $23 million that will be used to construct homes in the Camblin Hills housing development. The capital will be used as a line of credit, and as the dollars are paid back, the Foundation will donate up to 5% of the interest paid back to Vision Atlantic, who will use those dollars to operate the child development center.

Vision Atlantic’s Project Committee is actively working to secure the remaining $12 million needed to meet their fundraising goal. If you are interested in helping transform Atlantic, whether it’s through monetary donations or acts of volunteerism, please contact Vision Atlantic at visionatlanticiowa@gmail.com. Visit www.visionatlantic.org and follow on Facebook for behind-the-scenes access to project updates and in-depth information of the project scope.

Vision Atlantic is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose mission is to empower growth, enhance lives, and build a thriving community together through the economic development of Atlantic, Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – A non-profit that rates the safety of hospitals nationwide places Iowa’s hospitals near the bottom — at number 48. LeapFrog ranked 30 Iowa hospitals on a wide range of safety measures, based on publicly-available data. Most hospitals in Iowa earned Cs and Ds, while one hospital earned a B grade, and three got Fs. LeapFrog’s Katie Stewart encourages Iowans to ask their hospitals about their rankings.  “Really ask your providers, what are they doing to improve?” Stewart says. “They have this safety grade. Maybe they aren’t doing well on the infections. What are they doing to address that?” Stewart says it often doesn’t take a lot of resources for hospitals to improve, and change starts with top leadership.

“What we know is that it starts with really that commitment to patient safety,” she says, “that has to start at that at that C suite level.” Iowa is one of just four states where no hospitals received an A grade.

More info.:

https://www.hospitalsafetygrade.org/media/file/State-Rankings-Leapfrog-Hospital-Safety-Grades-Fall2025-1.pdf
https://www.hospitalsafetygrade.org/search?findBy=state&zip_code=&city=&state_prov=IA&hospital=

GRUNDY COUNTY, Iowa – The Iowa DCI reports an officer-involved shooting took place Sunday, in Grundy County. Authorities say on November 16th, 2025, the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) requested assistance from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) with an officer-involved shooting that occurred along Highway 20 in Grundy County.

At approximately 9:30 p.m., members of the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa State Patrol and several other area law enforcement agencies attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a vehicle being driven by a wanted male subject out of Waterloo.  The driver refused to stop, and a pursuit ensued.  During the pursuit, the subject’s vehicle was disabled and came to a stop on the side of the road.  The subject exited his vehicle, produced a firearm, and fired at officers.  Deputies with the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office and a Trooper with the Iowa State Patrol returned fire, striking the subject.

Officers performed lifesaving measures on the subject at the scene.  The subject was subsequently transported to Mercy One in Waterloo for treatment but later was pronounced deceased.

The involved officers were uninjured. They have been placed on critical incident leave in accordance with their department policy. This is an ongoing investigation.  Authorities say no further details will be released at this time.