(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s U.S. House delegation has voted along party lines as Democrats passed their Build Back Better Act. Congresswoman Cindy Axne, a Democrat from Des Moines, calls the bill transformational. “I don’t look at this as a bill for Democrats,” Axne says. “I look at this as a bill for Iowans and a bill for Americans because it fulfills the promises I made to the people here in the state when I decided to run which was putting money in people’s pockets and bringing more opportunity to the people that live here.”

The bill extends the enhanced child tax credits parents have been receiving since July and aims to lower the cost of some prescription drugs for seniors and for diabetics who rely on insulin. The legislation also provides federal funding to a variety of clean energy and climate initiatives. The House Republican leader spoke against the bill for eight-and-a-half hours, ending his remarks at about 4 a.m. Iowa time. Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Marion, says the bill is a monstrosity. “I can tell you from all the town halls on the road, the folks at home are frustrated by runaway government spending,” Hinson says. “They don’t want to see their hard-earned paychecks spent like Monopoly money.”

Congressman Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull, says the bill is a complete disaster. “We can’t continue to go down this path of continuing to see increases in our gas and our groceries and our hardware supplies,” Feenstra says, “all because of this reckless spending that continues to happen.” Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa, the other Republican in Iowa’s U.S. House delegation, also voted no on the bill. Miller-Meeks says increasing government spending will make inflation worse.

(Radio Iowa) – Students at the Iowa Culinary Institute’s Baking & Pastry Arts Program at the DMACC Newton Campus are using the upcoming holiday as a learning experience. Chef Ryan Binney says they are selling Thanksgiving Dinner rolls and have had to learn about the whole process beyond baking. “We ran into some glitches in finding things. I involved the students in trying to order up all the ingredients and get everything in in time. Especially with the supply issues that we are going through right now — it’s definitely a challenge — and I want them to know what that looks like in the real world,” Binney says.

It is the second year of the program and they are selling the rolls by the dozen in either white or whole wheat. “Both of the rolls are made from scratch, there’s no preservatives at all,” according to Binney. “They are a lot better for you. They don’t really keep for a long time — so I would say if you have extra you can freeze them. I find that most people eat them all on Thanksgiving — or make some sandwiches after.”

Rolls cooked by students. (photo from DMACC.)

The rolls cost six dollars for a dozen and they come in a foil pan to make them easy to heat up. But Binney says these are much better than the traditional frozen rolls you buy to heat up for dinner. “A lot of times the students are surprised when you take all those preservatives and enzymes and stuff out of there just how good it actually tastes when you are actually tasting the wheat and the fermentation and the alcohol,” he says.

The Baking and Pastry Arts program is a one-year course. “So in the fall, they take artesian breads and fundamentals baking. And in the spring they take plated desserts and international pastries. And in the summer they take chocolate and sugar and cake decorating,” Binney says.  The money raised from selling the rolls is used to send students on a trip to a baking exposition show. Binney says there is a great demand for their skills in the food industry. “Students that I graduated in August, they are landing some of the top jobs in Des Moines and beyond,” he says. “I had a student who got a job offer at Disney and students who are really excelling in the field and becoming successful pastry chefs and bakers.”

Online orders for the rolls are being accepted now through noon on Monday, November 22nd. You can order by visiting baking.dmacc.edu. Rolls will be available for pickup between 10 a-m. until noon on Wednesday, November 24th at either the DMACC Campus in Newton or the DMACC Urban Campus in downtown Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa) – Four Iowans have pleaded guilty to a scheme that prosecutors say led the U.S. Small Business Administration to lose more than four-and-a-half million dollars on bank loans.
Three of the people who pleaded guilty worked for Valley Bank, based in the Quad Cities and shut down by regulators in 2014. Seventy-year-old Larry Henson of Davenport, the bank’s president, and two other bank employees have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution. The president of a company that provided lending services to Valley Bank has pleaded guilty to the same charge.

According to a news release from the U.S. Justice Department, the group altered loan payment histories, renamed businesses and hid the fact that borrowers had previously defaulted on loans. Court records indicate the scheme involved getting the Small Business Administration to guarantee the failed loans. Each of the four defendants face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

Valley Bank had six Quad Cities locations, plus banks or loan offices in Altoona, Ames, Clive, Ankeny, Pleasant Hill, Knoxville, Oskaloosa and Cedar Falls when regulators declared it “unsound” in 2014. Great Southern acquired the banks assets, but not its losses, estimated to be in the range of 81 million dollars.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports 49-year-old Connie Ann Hallberg, of Lorimor, was arrested late Thursday afternoon, in Creston. Hallberg was taken into custody at 302 N. Pine Street on a charge of Failure to Appear (in court). She was transported to the Union County Jail and later posted a $300 cash bond, before being released.

And, a Creston lawn service (Green Valley Pest Control& Lawn, reported Thursday afternoon, a Stihl leaf blower had been stolen from 1103 N. Birch Street. The loss was estimated at $125.

(Radio Iowa) – A national report ranks Iowa’s highway system 22nd in the country, a drop from 20th last year, in terms of its condition and cost-effectiveness. The study’s lead author, Baruch Feigenbaum of the Reason Foundation, says they calculated the rankings based on a series of 13 categories, including pavement quality, spending, safety, and traffic congestion. “Iowa does nothing outstanding but it also does nothing terribly,” Feigenbaum says. “Its highest ranking is 13th and that’s in rural and urban fatality rates, and its lowest ranking is — well, it does one thing poorly — structurally deficient bridges which is 48th, but the majority of Iowa’s rankings are right there in the middle.”

Among Iowa’s other placements, the organization’s Annual Highway Report showed Iowa ranked 30th in urban interstate pavement condition, 22nd in traffic congestion and 18th in overall fatality rate. The study also rated the states for how much they spend per mile of state-controlled road. “In terms of state-controlled highways, Iowa’s spending $63,471 (per mile) and that is an average across all state-controlled roads,” Feigenbaum says. “In overall spending, Iowa’s 19th and in capital and bridge costs, Iowa’s 34th.” Earlier this week, President Biden signed a massive infrastructure bill into law which promises to pump some five-billion federal dollars into Iowa for projects from roads to public transportation to airports. It likely won’t mean anything visible right away, he says, as far as improvements to our highways.

“I don’t think they’ll change radically in the near future,” Feigenbaum says. “It tends to take a couple of years for any changes that the state DOT makes in terms of more repavings, newer roads, things of that sort, to take effect.” Even with the influx in federal dollars, he’s doubtful Iowa’s 22nd place ranking on the report will shift significantly in either direction. “Over time, I think that will improve the state’s performance, but it will also improve other states’ performance,” Feigenbaum says, “so everyone will get better, hopefully.”

Compared to nearby states, Iowa’s overall highway performance is better than Illinois (ranks 40th overall) and Wisconsin (26th) but worse than Missouri (2nd), Minnesota (18th) and Nebraska (21st). The Reason Foundation is a non-partisan, non-profit think tank, based in Los Angeles.

See the full report at:
https://reason.org/policy-study/26th-annual-highway-report/