(Radio Iowa) – The outgoing leader of Democrats in the Iowa House says he isn’t backing away from politics and is likely to run for re-election in 2022. Representative Todd Prichard of Charles City has been House Minority Leader for three years and House Democrats meet Monday to select his successor. “I’m stepping down but not stepping back in any measure. I’ve got a lot of fight left in me and I’m going to continue to find ways to serve,” Prichard says. “…I care too much about my home state.”

Prichard will serve out the remainder of his current term and, at this point, is planning on seeking reelection to the House. Prichard isn’t ruling out a run for another office, but has made no moves in that direction. Prichard briefly ran for governor in 2017. “I’ve been down that road years ago…but I was asked this question a few months ago (and) you don’t rule things out,” Prichard said. “…I view myself as a public servant and try to offer or work in ways that I can be most useful.”

Todd Prichard – Official portrait.

Prichard says it’s time for the state to tackle big issues, like water quality, and address the core issues that are driving an increase in gun violence in places like his hometown of Davenport. Prichard issued a written statement last week to announce he was stepping aside as a House floor leader. Today (Tuesday), during an online news conference organized by the Iowa Capitol Press Association, Prichard answered questions about his decision.”After three years and trying to juggle a career in the Army Reserve and my small businesses and my commitment to my family, it’s time to kind of step back and…take my professional life out of overdrive so I can focus on a few other things,” he said.

Forty-one Democrats are serving in the Iowa House and Prichard says there are good leaders among them who can carry House Democrats forward, but he’s not publicly endorsing a successor.

Officials with Guthrie County ISU Extension & Outreach say they are excited to launch their first annual “Wild Things in Guthrie County,” tourism event! The self-paced, family friends event will run from June 10, 2021 to July 8, 2021. You can pick up or print off a flyer to follow along by:

• Visiting the GC ISU Extension website at https://bit.ly/3uKOjzN
• Stop by the Guthrie County Extension Office
• Stop by a Guthrie County library

There are five attractions in Guthrie County that are being highlighted this year. The flyer provides you the coordinates to each location and it’s up to you to look up the coordinates and go on an adventure to find that attraction. At each location there is a QR code that will link back to a short YouTube video that discusses some of the history of that place. We hope to continue this event each summer over the upcoming years to continue to highlight all the amazing amenities that Guthrie County has to offer.

When you are visiting each site, be sure to snap a picture to be entered in a drawing for a prize. Post it on Facebook, tag Guthrie County Extension, and #GuthrieCountyWildThings. If you post entries at all five locations, you’ll receive 5 extra entries. All entries are DUE by July 8th, 2021. The best part about this event is that you get to have FUN with your family and friends at each location and enjoy the great attractions Guthrie County has to offer!

The event is hosted by the Guthrie County ISU Extension & Outreach office. If you have any questions regarding the event, please call 641.747.2276.

(Atlantic) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors met Tuesday morning, and heard a request from rural Atlantic resident Glen Nelson, to pave Great River Road (635^th Street), which runs just east of the KJAN Studios. The road runs north to Dunbar Road, which is near the Nishna Valley Trails, trail head. Supervisor Steve Green said there have been discussions held about paving the road for trail use over the years, but it always came with a hefty price tag.

He said it also didn’t meet the requirements and specifications for a bike trail. And, there were other routes that were looked at. There have also been issues with right-of-way easements. Green said Cass County Naturalist Lora Kanning has looked at acquiring a “Rails to Trails” grant, but the organization didn’t want to shell out the money required for the project.

Ideas are still being batted around, but to-date, there’s been no firm action that would allow such a project to proceed. Supervisor Mark O’Brien said there’s definitely a lot of interest, but no one wants to fork over the money.

In other business, the Cass County Supervisors approved permits to sell cigarettes, tobacco, alternative nicotine or vapor products, for three area businesses (as previously mentioned), and they approved the abatement of taxes on parcels owned by: the Iowa DOT (a sliver of land in a ditch near Massena); The City of Massena (104 Spruce), and three parcels owned by the City of Wiota (as previously mentioned).

The Board heard from Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon, who reported the Iowa Alert System WENS (Wireless Emergency Notification System) is being retired and replaced with a similar system for notifying residents of severe weather, civil emergencies and other special announcements. Once the new system comes on-line in July, persons currently registered through Cass County’s Alert Program will have to re-register in order to continue receiving those announcements.

Additional details are expected to be released soon. Kennon said also, they’re using COVID Relief Funds to paint a wall in the Supervisor’s Board Room, and will install a 70-inch flat screen TV, which can be used for multi-media presentations and video conferencing purposes. The TV will be installed where the cabinet-style white board/bulletin board was, on the wall.

(Radio Iowa) – Cyberattacks are becoming more plentiful, disrupting Iowans’ lives, businesses and educations, and U-S Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s hopeful the federal government can intervene. Given recent attacks by computer hackers that have shut down gasoline pipelines, meatpacking plants and even community colleges, Grassley says there’s an urgent need for action. That may start, he says, with better communication. “There’s got to be greater cooperation between government and the private sector,” Grassley says. “There’s a reluctance in the private sector sometimes to talk about being hacked. And the government has some information that they ought to give. We ought to have a close working relationship and I think that would take some legislation.”

Grassley said he wished he could say something was in the works to address the issue in Congress, but there isn’t. Authorities indicate the cyberattacks are coming from within Russia. President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet next week with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva, Switzerland. “This is supposed to be a point of discussion,” Grassley says. “If we had criminals in the United States attacking Russia, they’d expect us to do something about it and vice versa. I think it’s perfectly legitimate for the president to bring it up and be tough.”

The hackers have reportedly asked for — and received — millions of dollars in bitcoins as ransom, which Grassley says makes the complicated problem even more difficult to rectify. “There’s no paper trail on this cryptocurrency stuff,” Grassley says, “so when a crime’s committed, you can’t track it like you can if it was just regular currency through the banking system.”

The senator suggests it may be time to impose more regulations on cryptocurrency in order to make it easier to track the transfer of electronic funds, especially in criminal cases. The J-B-S meatpacking plants in Marshalltown and Ottumwa had production disrupted last week after a company-wide cyberattack, while Des Moines Area Community College has cancelled classes at all campuses for a fourth day due to a “data security incident.” DMACC officials say there’s no evidence student or faculty data has been compromised.

(Radio Iowa) – Classes have been cancelled for a fourth day at Des Moines Area Community College due to what DMACC officials call a “data security incident.” House Speaker Pat Grassley says the Information Technology Committee he established in the House in December spent the past few months working on the governor’s broadband initiative, but will now focus on cyber security issues.

“As you’ve seen more and more incidents happen across the country, whether it’s pipelines, meatpacking — any of those kinds of critical infrastructure needs, we have a situation in the House where we have a committee that will make that part of what they will look at and be working on between now and the upcoming session,” Grassley says.

DMACC’s president says it does not appear student or faculty data has been compromised by the security breach. The school has outside security experts and the F-B-I working on the case, but has not described it as a ransomware attack.

OSKALOOSA, Iowa – June 8, 2021 –  The Iowa Transportation Commission today approved more than $7 million in funding for 78 new public transit vehicles that will replace vehicles past their useful life. Funds are granted through the Federal Transit Administration’s Grants for Bus and Bus Facilities Formula Program as well as the Federal Highway Administration’s Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program.

Vehicle replacement projects were approved for 21 different public transit systems, including Council Bluffs, which is receiving $951,374. Creston and Carroll are also receiving funds (in amounts of $337,272 and $257,361, respectively) for bus replacements, The complete list of funded vehicles can be found at https://iowadot.gov/transit/Funding-programs-and-applications/funding-programs.

Public transit is vital to enhancing the mobility of Iowans, getting them where they need to go.  Iowa has public transit service in all 99 counties.

With Ric Hanson.

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(Atlantic) – A northwest Iowa man who announced in mid-February his bid for the U-S Senate, was in the Cass County area Monday afternoon. Iowa Republican Senator Jim Carlin, from Sioux City, plans to run for Chuck Grassley’s seat, regardless of the senior senator’s decision on running. The 87-year old Grassley is serving his seventh term in office. He has not yet announced if he will seek re-election. A recent Iowa Poll by the Des Moines Register and Mediacom, shows that most Iowans don’t want Senator Chuck Grassley to seek another term.

Carlin told KJAN News, he commends some of the work Grassley has done in office, especially on the last Supreme Court nomination that Carlin stood behind, but he still has concerns about the direction the country is going.

He says the country is “Not going in the right direction,” with regard to our freedoms. Carlin is a trial lawyer and Veteran of the Army, serving from 1983-85. He served in a Field Artillery Unit in Ft. Lewis, Washington, and set up a solo law office in Sioux City in 1992, specializing in medical malpractice and injury litigation. Carlin has served in the Iowa Senate since 2017. Carlin says he stands behind former President Trump’s assertion election fraud was the reason for Joe Biden’s win in November, 2020.

**FILE** Shown in this Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, file photo is State Rep. Jim Carlin, R-Sioux City, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Carlin says “”When there’s evidence of fraud, the people of this country rely on [their leaders] to pursue the truth and define where the problems are, where the leaks are, and to hold people accountable.”

As for his accomplishments in the Iowa Legislature, Carlin says who served one-year in the house and won a Special Election in the Senate, says they were able to get some “Good things done” in the just ended legislative session.

Carlin says if Senator Grassley does not decide to retire, HE won’t drop out of the race.

A Creston man reported to police, Monday, that sometime during the early morning hours on Monday, someone vandalized his vehicle with spray paint, while it was parked at his residence in the 700 block of N. Mulberry Street, in Creston. The damage was estimated at $500.