(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Economic Development Authority awarded more than two million dollars to seven towns Thursday in what are called Community Development Block Grants. Authority spokesperson, Nicole Hansen, says the grant money is provided by the federal government for water and sewer system improvements. “It is a competitive program — we do receive more requests than we are able to fund — unfortunately,” Hansen says. She says they always try to fund as many projects as they can because there is a big need for water and sewer improvements.

Anthon, Blairstown, Fontanelle, Guttenberg, Lake Park, Massena and St. Olaf all were awarded the grants in this round. Fontanelle received a $300,000 grant for a local match of $1,627,500 for Wastewater Treatment Plant improvements. Massena’s grant of $300,000 plus a local match of $1,852,000 is also for Wastewater Plant Improvements.

Hansen says there are several factors involved in the selection process. “We take a look at project need, we take a look at project impact and readiness. We also take a look at the benefit to low and moderate income persons,” according to Hansen. “One of the national objectives with the federal C-B-G program is benefit to low and moderate income individuals.” The grants are targeted to the smaller communities in the state. “The largest communities in Iowa, Davenport, Des Moines — those communities with populations over 50-thousand — they receive their own Community Development Block Grant allocation from the federal government. So, they are not able to apply for the state program because they receive their own allocations,” Hansen explains.

Communities that didn’t get grants this time have another chance before the end of the year. “We are accepting applications currently. That application window will close on October 1st. And then we’ll make awards in November for the fourth quarter,” Hansen says. “And then we’ll open it up again on January first for 2020.” Hansen says they usually have around ten million dollars to award each year.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CDT

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Police in western Iowa have charged a man with kidnapping and abusing a 4-year-old girl. Council Bluffs police say officers were investigating a report of a missing child when 28-year-old Michael Brandstrom brought the girl to officers, saying he had found her outside and brought her into his apartment to keep her safe. But police say Brandstrom had kept the girl in his apartment for more than an hour without called authorities and that he had taken several nude photos of the girl.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Agriculture Department has announced the award of $36 million to buy conservation easements on Iowa agriculture land damaged by flooding this year. The funds are available through the flood plain easement component of the Emergency Watershed Protection Program. Iowa Natural Resources Conservation Service field offices are accepting applications through Oct. 18.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Texas health and human services official has been named the new director of the Iowa Department of Human Services. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says Thursday she has appointed Kelly Kennedy Garcia to head the department that oversees the state’s Medicaid program, mental health centers and child welfare services. Former DHS Director Jerry Foxhoven was ousted from the job in June for reasons Reynolds has not fully disclosed. He’s filed a $2 million wrongful termination claim.

GREENFIELD, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a pilot suffered minor injuries when his airplane crashed in a south-central Iowa cornfield. The Adair County Sheriff’s Office says a 911 caller reported Wednesday that a man had walked to the caller’s home, saying the small plane he’d been flying had gone down. First responders found the single-engine plane lying on its top about a mile northwest of Greenfield. The pilot was taken to a hospital and soon released. He’s been identified as 59-year-old Eric Chrystal, of Jefferson.

(NBC News via Radio Iowa) — Iowa Congressman Steve King says he drank from a toilet tank at a migrant detention center recently to show the water was safe for drinking. N-B-C News recorded King during a town hall yesterday (Wednesday) in Eagle Grove as he talked about touring detention facilities for asylum-seekers.

Still frame image from NBC video

“I actually went into that cell where it was reported they were advised they had to drink out of the toilet,” King said. “I took a drink out of there and it was actually pretty good, so I have a video tape and I smacked my lips.”

King told the crowd in Eagle Grove he hadn’t posted the video online, to help put complaints about conditions in the detention centers “in the rear view mirror.” But after N-B-C’s reporter posted King’s comments online, King tweeted out the video . He described the system this way in the audio recorded by N-B-C News:

“These toilets in these prisons are solid stainless steel. They’re built so that they are semi-indestructible by the inmates that are there,” King says. “And in the back, where the lid would be on our toilet, that’s also sealed and there’s a water fountain there and you push the button and the water comes out and you take a drink,” King said. “That’s how it is. It’s not drinking out of the toilet. It’s drinking out of the water fountain that’s integral with the back of the toilet.”

King says he believes a “language barrier” prevented those being held in the cells from understanding the words “potable water” printed on a sign above the tank. A Democrat in congress who visited the detention centers criticized King. She said migrants told her the guards directed them to drink out of the toilet because the water fountain was broken.

The Cass County Auditor’s Office said Thursday, Thomas R Harris has filed to run for the office of the Mayor for the City of Anita. Two other men are running for City Council seats in Anita: Kevin Littleton and Mark Harris.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Agriculture Department has announced the award of $36 million to buy conservation easements on Iowa agriculture land damaged by flooding this year. The funds are available through the flood plain easement component of the Emergency Watershed Protection Program. Iowa Natural Resources Conservation Service field offices are accepting applications through Oct. 18.

Under the program, eligible applicants voluntarily agree to sell a permanent conservation easement to the federal government. Compensation is based on the value of the easement rights acquired based on rate caps and market analysis.

The easements may occur on public or private agricultural land and/or residential properties damaged by flooding. Applications will be prioritized by a statewide ranking. The conservation service will work with landowners to restore easements to their natural flood plain condition.