(A report by the Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Iowans eligible for a federal utility assistance program are applying for assistance at higher rates this winter than last year, according to some distributors.  The low-income home energy assistance program is a federal program that helps qualifying households pay for part of their residential heating bill during the winter season.  The program, which is abbreviated to LIHEAP, is administered by community action associations and the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.

A spokesperson for HHS said the state is seeing “a consistent slightly increased level of need” so far into the winter heating season. The spokesperson noted in an email, however, that applications are still being processed by the state and that HHS expects to have a “clearer picture” of need in the next couple of weeks. While overall inflation rates decreased in November, according to consumer price indexes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices for food at home and energy increased slightly.

Photo by KJAN

Christopher Ackman, the communications and volunteers manager at Hawkeye Area Community Action Program, or HACAP, which helps to administer LIHEAP to households, said the organization has already had more than 5,700 applications for the winter season. Ackman said in most years, HACAP has around 11,000 applications.

Ackman said the sub-zero temperatures that most of the state endured in early December were likely a contributing factor to the increase in applications, but he said other factors like the cost of food and energy can also contribute to an increase in applications to the program. HACAP, which is also a food bank and provides other services to low-income households, is experiencing “higher than normal” need at the food pantries it serves, according to Ackman. He said folks seeking energy assistance are typically enrolled in or utilize other programs that HACAP facilitates.

Utility companies also accept and offer a match on utility assistance donations. Programs, like I CARE from MidAmerican Energy, or Hometown Care Energy Fund from Alliant Energy, collect funds and donate to the local community action agencies.  Most rural cooperatives and other utility companies offer similar services or allow customers to round up their energy bills to donate into the community network. Customers who qualify for LIHEAP, which requires an income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, are also eligible for a disconnection moratorium during the cold season, from Nov. 1 through April 1.

Rate-regulated utilities are required to report data of accounts that are past due and have been issued disconnection notices. According to the latest data compiled by the Iowa Utilities Commission, in November there were 49,299 accounts eligible for energy assistance in Iowa, 912 of which were issued disconnection notices.  The total number of accounts eligible for energy assistance is up nearly 21% from November of 2024 and the number of accounts with disconnection notices is about 9.5% higher this year than last.

HHS said LIHEAP applications for both owner-occupied and renter-occupied households will be accepted through April 30, 2026. Applications can be found online and submitted in person, by mail, over the phone or via email.

(Red Oak, IA) – A man from Red Oak was arrested early Sunday morning (Dec. 21), on a drug-related charge. According to Red Oak Police, 67-year-old Ronald Edward Borden was taken into custody in the 1900 block of N. 8th Street, for Possession of a Controlled Substance/1st offense. Borden was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

(Red Oak, IA) – Police in Red Oak arrested a man wanted on Adams County warrants, Saturday afternoon. Authorities say 29-year-old Zachary Aaron Thomas, of Red Oak, was arrested in the 300 block of Broad Avenue, on the following valid warrants out of Adams County:

• Grooming – A Class D Felony.
• Sexual Exploitation of a Minor – A Class B Felony.
• 2 counts of Dissemination & Exhibition of obscene materials to a minor (Serious Misdemeanors), and
• Attempt to entice a minor under the age of 16 – An Aggravated Misdemeanor.

Thomas was turned over to the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and held on a $40,000 cash-only bond. Red Oak Police were assisted in conducting the arrest, by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

(DeSoto, IA) – An eight-month-old boy from Earlham was injured in a head-on crash late Saturday night, in Dallas County. According to the Iowa State Patrol, the boy was a passenger in one of the vehicles, when the crash occurred at around 11:05-p.m. on Highway 169, on the south side of DeSoto.

The Patrol says the 2011 Chevy Suburban was traveling north on Highway 169, when the driver, 24-year-old Dakota Joe Pratt, of Earlham, attempted to pass another vehicle in a No Passing zone as the vehicle was going over a hill. The SUV and a 2014 Chevy pickup driven by 19-year-old Tyler Joseph Houg, of Winterset, head-on.

The infant – who was properly restrained in the vehicle – was transported by Dallas County EMS to Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene.

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Iowa National Guard is honored to announce the return of the two Soldiers, recently wounded in action in Syria, to the United States. The Soldiers arrived on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, and are currently in stable condition. Their families are with them while they begin the next phase of their recovery. The third Soldier involved in the Dec. 13 attack was treated locally and returned to duty.

“Caring for our impacted families and the safe return of our service members is our highest priority,” said Maj. Gen. Stephen Osborn, the adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard. “We are incredibly proud of their courage and sacrifice, and our focus is now on providing them and their families with the comprehensive support they need during this time. We ask that all Iowans keep them in their thoughts and prayers as they recover.”

The Soldiers will continue to receive medical treatment at a dedicated military facility. The Iowa National Guard is committed to ensuring these service members have access to the best care possible. All three soldiers were injured in the Dec. 13 attack in Syria that killed Iowa soldiers Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, and Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and a U.S. civilian who was a contracted linguist working with the soldiers.

The Guard says “Further updates will be provided as appropriate.”

(Des Moines, IA) Drake University is working to launch a new degree program aimed at preparing students who want to dedicate themselves to helping “people with disabilities in living full and self-directed lives.” The Des Moines private university announced in a news release it will offer a bachelor of science in disability and rehabilitation services in its school of education, with enrollment set to begin in spring 2026.

Academic work and hands-on training will be included in the program, the release stated, focused on the cores of advocacy, employment, disability, business and working with people. The degree program will train students to be able to gain employment at agencies handling community rehabilitation or mental health, government programs, school systems and corporate human resources branches.

With both full-time and part-time paths to the degree available, the release stated students can also select “emphasis areas” to tailor their program, in topics including advocacy, counseling, deaf culture, human resources, leadership and youth services.

Students hoping to further their education after earning their degree can specialize in school counseling, rehabilitation counseling or clinical mental health counseling and forge a “strong pathway” into graduate programs in areas like occupational therapy or counseling, the release stated.

If a student wants to join a “state vocational rehabilitation or nonprofit agency” once they’ve earned their degree, they can apply to receive as much as $10,000 in “additional scholarship funds.” Money for the scholarships comes from a Rehabilitation Services Administration grant, the release stated.

“Every state in the country has a critical workforce need for rehabilitation professionals, and this program offers the flexibility to customize a student’s emphasis in pursuit of any number of highly in-demand careers,” said Matt Bruinekool, director of the National Rehabilitation Institute at Drake University, in the release.

(A report from the Iowa Capital Dispatch) – An Iowa nursing home where gift cards for residents were stolen has been fined $500 by the state. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports State inspectors allege that in September, a Walmart gift card belonging to a resident of REM Iowa’s care facility on 33^rd Avenue in Cedar Rapids was found to have been “spent fraudulently and no receipts could be located.”

Also that month, it was determined that at least four McDonald’s gift cards belonging to a different resident had also been spent fraudulently. The inspectors later determined the facility’s program supervisor had kept resident gift cards inside an unlocked cabinet within an unlocked office during the months of June, July and August, 2025.

The facility was cited for failing to ensure all allegations of abuse, neglect and exploitation were reported to the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing in a timely manner and was fined $500.

In southwest Iowa, inspectors with the Iowa Dept. of Inspections, Appeals & Licensing recently fined REM Iowa-Birch Cottage in Shelby $500, for failing to provide nursing interventions to meet a resident’s needs after a 44-year-old male resident of the home died due to a bowel obstruction that contributed to acute respiratory failure. According to inspectors’ reports, the man was breathing heavily the morning of Sept. 19, 2025, and at one point began convulsing and having seizures.

An ambulance was summoned at which point, inspectors said, the resident “acted normal, answered questions, and jumped up from the chair onto the cot” to be taken to a hospital. While at the hospital, the man’s heart stopped and he was pronounced dead at 10:40 a.m., about two hours after the incident at REM Iowa-Birch Cottage.

You can read about the other Iowa care facilities fined recently by the inspections department, HERE.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Gingerbread houses are a staple of the holidays, but can you build one in just an hour? KETV reports that was the challenge laid out by Pottawattamie Arts, Culture & Entertainment, or PACE, Friday night at the Hoff Family Arts & Culture Center in Council Bluffs.

The group hosted a family gingerbread house-making competition. Awards were given for the wackiest, best quality and most creative houses. Paticipants got to take home the all the candy and goodies afterward.

The event also featured live music from the Council Bluffs Symphony Orchestra. The idea was to get people to spend time with their loved ones and turn-off their cell phone, be creative, have fun and conversations in-person.

PACE offers events almost daily. Go to www.paceartsiowa.org/events on the web to see future events.

DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – Iowa’s Office of Ombudsman, which investigates complaints related to local and state government, saw an almost 10% increase in cases opened during the last fiscal year. The agency’s annual report, published this week, indicates that during fiscal year 2025, the office opened 6,266 cases — a 9.6% increase from the previous year.

The number of opened cases represents the second-highest total in the history of the office, and is 57% higher than what was recorded in 2014. The highest number of opened cases was in 2022, when the COVID-19 pandemic was still creating issues for government agencies and the people they serve.

The ombudsman’s office consists of 16 employees, a total that includes two administrative staffers.

In the new report, Ombudsman Bernardo Granwehr said that “with such a big workload, we must be selective about the cases we choose to investigate.” He said the office is focused on prioritizing complaints and “as a result, we can better handle situations when we are called to do more with our finite resources.”

Granwehr credited the staff with building relationships with key employees of governmental entities across the state, which he said has made the office more efficient in its investigations and “increased the probability that state and local government officials will be receptive to our recommendations.”

With regard to the complaints dealing with state entities, the annual report shows that 56% of those cases involved the Iowa Department of Corrections, and 24% involved the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.

In December 2024, the office published a public report, “Sitting in Place: A Re-Examination of Restraint Device Use and Regulations for Iowa’s County Jails.” While restraint chairs can serve a legitimate function in protecting inmates and staff, prolonged use and a lack of medical oversight can lead to injury. The report noted that some Iowa jails lacked written policies that aligned with state standards, while other jails failed to document the duration and justification for their use of the devices.

The Office of Ombudsman says it will continue to monitor restraint-chair use in county jails, but notes that the Department of Corrections has yet to complete “needed revisions to jail administrative rules.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – The Iowa Department of Education released the latest enrollment numbers showing public schools continue to lose students while private schools gain enrollment across the state. Public school and public charter enrollment dropped about 1.5 percent from last year, while private school enrollment increased about 6.5 percent.

The uptick at private schools in recent years comes as Iowa launched its education savings account program in 2023, which pays qualified private school expenses, like tuition. These vouchers pay private schools up to about $8,000 per student this school year. This is the first year where all students qualify for ESAs.

About 98 percent of private school students used an education savings account voucher this year, the first year the program opened to any student in kindergarten through 12th grade regardless of income.