(Radio Iowa) – The leader of one of the businesses that will benefit from a new state economic development program is providing more details about their plans. Vermeer Corporation in Pella is receiving incentives from the Business Incentives for Growth or BIG program. Vermeer C-E-O Jason Andringa says they are building a new 300-thousand square foot state-of-the-art plant in Bondurant to build parts for it trenchers and drilling equipment.

“For trenchers, the booms, and the cutting teeth that a trencher uses to make a trench. For horizontal directional drilling, which is an incredibly important product line for Vermeer, it’s the tooling that goes on the front of the drill stem and the tooling that opens up the hole,” he says. Andringa says the facility will also include machining, welding, painting and assembly functions to give Vermeer Des Moines versatility to meet a continually growing demand, including new generations of equipment, from their Utility, Tree Care and Landscape product line ups. Andringa says their Des Moines operations began in the spring of 2023 by leasing a 108-thousand square foot facility, but now need more space. He says the Des Moines metro also supplies more employees.

“And here in Pella, I would say that the size of our facility has more or less fully occupied the workforce that is available within a driving distance of Pella,” Andringa says. “With our experiment in Des Moines, we are able to tap into a much greater pool of workforce. And that’s what we need.” The IEDA says the new Vermeer plant in Bondurant promises to create 182 jobs with a capitol investment of nearly 103 million dollars. Vermeer Corporation is family-owned and began an agricultural equipment manufacturer, with 80 percent of its business now focused on industrial equipment.

Other companies that were awarded incentives under the BIG program include: Arconic aluminum of Davenport for a casting facility in Bettendorf, CCB Packaging in Hiawatha for an automated production line for packaging it provides to food and pharmaceutical companies, Sewer Equipment Company of America in Illinois plans to purchase a facility in Iowa to manufacture its sewer cleaning and vacuum equipment components, and Revolution Concrete Mixers in Minnesota will purchase an existing facility in Waverly and install approximately eight million dollars in equipment to establish new production and assembly operations.

(Radio Iowa) – The State Transportation Commission is discussing cutting a portion of the D-O-T’s snow removal budget. D-O-T Winter Operations director Craig Bargfrede says they haven’t been as busy as past years. “The last two years and what not, have shown us…we just didn’t have as much winter,” Bargfrede says. The storm last week dropped large amounts of snow across the state, but Bargfrede says it hasn’t been consistently busy all winter. “From a materials standpoint, we haven’t had to utilize as much of the budget for materials as we had previously. And so, yeah, there’s been a lot of discussions focused around the budget,” he says. D-O-T staff told the Transportation Commission at their meeting early this month they are looking at a one million dollar cut in the winter budget for materials like salt and sand.

Bargfrede says he thought the dry winter trend had turned around until we got into the new year. “The way our winter started this year, I thought, ‘oh boy, hold on to your hat.’ You know, we could be in for one of these winters,” he says. “And I certainly didn’t anticipate that when January came around, that we were basically going to shut everything off and hardly get any snow at all in the month of January.” Bargfrede says they don’t have to worry about salt and sand spoiling if it isn’t needed. “There’s really no shelf life to those materials. So yes, we can carry that over into the next fiscal year and the next winter season,” he says.

The Transportation Commission will look at making that snow removal materials adjustment when they approve the next budget.

(Radio Iowa) – The American Gothic House Center in Eldon, which sits beside the tiny home that inspired Grant Wood’s famous painting, will see a major expansion with a 412-thousand dollar federal grant. Third District Congressman Zach Nunn touted the southeast Iowa landmark as a “mandatory stop” for anyone traveling through the state and says he’s thrilled to have played a role in landing the money for the addition.

Nunn says, “This facility will also able to be used not just for American Gothic but for both the city and the county and the entire state as a resource learning opportunity.” Nunn says he pushed for the investment in Eldon which out-shined hundreds of thousands of other communities to get the funding through the U-S-D-A’s Rural Development program. The facility will be adding an educational learning center that will be able to host up to 100 learners of all ages. Center administrator Cari Nicely outlined her vision for the expansion. “I think it’s an important place for the community to be able to come together and feel safe to send their kids there for programs,” Nicely says. “Recently, I was asked, ‘Where do you go in Eldon to meet the locals and to really find out about the people?’ I want that to be the sentiment in this new classroom.”

Nicely hopes the new addition will be open by the 2027 tourist season.

DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – The Iowa House passed a measure Monday to make the current pilot program providing free child care for child care workers permanent.

Iowa’s Child Care Assistance (CCA) program is available to parents with a gross monthly income below 250% the federal poverty level, if they are gone during the week days due to their job, schooling, vocational training or state PROMISE JOBS activities. However, Iowans working at least 32 hours a week in the child care field have also been able to access the CCA program outside of the income restrictions through a pilot program implemented in 2023 and extended in subsequent years.

House File 2514, passed 86-3, would make this program permanent. Rep. Ryan Weldon, R-Ankeny, said since July 2023, 2,105 families have received child care through the CCA pilot program, with the average family receiving support being at 302% of the federal poverty level. The funding for the program has come, and will continue to draw from the state’s Child Care Development Fund, which Weldon said had $112 million in the previous fiscal year, with a projection of carrying forward $107 million in FY 2026 and $91 million in FY 2027, alongside federal funds.

According to the Legislative Services Agency fiscal note, the bill would have an estimated cost of $11.7 million in FY 2027 — with the state paying $7 million — and $12.1 million in FY 2028, with the state paying $7.3 million. The bill was amended to require an annual report on state and federal costs, the number of participating families and children and the average household income of those receiving the CCA program support.

Rep. Tracy Ehlert, D-Cedar Rapids, said she was “excited” the bill was introduced, as it was a proposal House Democrats have introduced in previous legislative sessions and Iowans working in child care have called for lawmakers to approve.

Another proposal — which survived the first legislative funnel as House Study Bill 623 and Senate Study Bill 3111 — also contains language to codify the CCA pilot program. These companion bills are the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services’ larger proposal making changes to the state’s child care system, including a shift in some funding from the Early Childhood Iowa system to HHS.

(Atlantic, IA) – A Special Meeting of the Atlantic School Board will be held beginning at 6-p.m., on Wed., Feb, 25th, to consider and take possible action on, the appointment of former Board member Kristy Pellett, to serve as a temporary member of the Board of Directors for the Atlantic Community School District. Pellett would hold the position until the March 31st Special Election results are certified.

Kristy Pellett did not run for re-election last November. She previously served on the Board for 18-years, including as Board President.

In other business, the Atlantic School Board will review and discuss the proposed FY2027 Property Tax Levy and anticipated State Supplemental Aid (SSA)), but no action will be taken.

Wednesday’s SPECIAL Board meeting takes place in the High School Media Center. The next REGULAR school board meeting will be held March 11th in the High School Media Center, beginning at 6-p.m.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s public K-through-12 schools will get a two percent increase in general state support — so that total state spending on each student will be over 81-hundred dollars next year. Republicans in the Iowa House approved the plan late last week and on Monday Senate Republicans voted to send it to the governor. Republican Senator Lynn Evans, a retired superintendent from Aurelia, says there are bookkeeping changes, too, like updating October’s enrollment count in January and sending school districts state funding in quarterly rather than monthly installments.

“Quarterly payments will address a school district who face cash flow problems or issues in July and August,” Evans said. “This will provide a summer payment and reduce administrative costs.” The decision also means every state-funded Education Savings Account for a private school student will get over 81-hundred dollars for the next school year. Senator Molly Donahue, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, says Iowa’s public schools need far more than a two percent state funding increase and school boards will be forced to cut programs.

“Somehow when it comes to private schools, the checkbook is open,” Donahue said, “but when it comes to the public schools — the backbone of the rural Iowa small towns and cities, suddenly we are told to ‘tighten the belts.'” Senator Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames, says local public schools are struggling, cutting staff and programs — and some may be forced to consolidate.”We are already beginning to see from local school district decisions just exactly what the damage could be of falling short,” Quirmbach said.

The deal includes a commitment to spend seven MILLION dollars raising the pay of teachers’ aides, plus money to help school districts that spend more than the statewide average on busing students to and from school. House Speaker Pat Grassley says those were items House Republicans pushed for. “What we’ve been hearing from our schools is: ‘Get us the money. Get this locked in. We’re coming up on budget time,'” Grassley said. “That’s why we made this deal right now to get this done and then give the certainty to our schools.”

School boards must negotiate pay with staff, hold public hearings and file a final budget plan by April 30th — for the fiscal year that starts July 1st.

(Radio Iowa) – Another member of the Iowa Senate has announced they are being treated for cancer. Senator Dave Rowley  of Spirit Lake says he has been diagnosed with tonsil cancer and will be undergoing treatment over the next several weeks. Rowley says tonsil cancer is treatable and curable — and he’ll be fighting it with everything he has.

Rowley expects to be back at work in the statehouse later this spring and has filed the paperwork to run for re-election in November. Senator Jack Whitver of Ankeny has been undergoing treatment for a brain tumor since mid 2024 and just last month Senator Catelin Drey of Sioux City announced she’s undergoing treatment for stage one uterine cancer.

Drey was elected last fall filled a vacancy in the senate created when Senator Rocky DeWitt of Lawton died of pancreatic cancer in June.

(Radio Iowa) – It’s not yet clear if Republicans in the Iowa House will pass a bill to block lawsuits alleging Roundup causes cancer if the pesticide’s label follows federal guidelines. President Trump last week cited the Defense Production Act as he issued an executive order to ensure a steady supply of glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup. Pat Grassley, the speaker of the Iowa House, says he hasn’t assessed that order’s impact on Iowa.

“My understanding is the president wants to see these products made in America,” Grassley told reporters, “kind of something we’ve been talking about.” Both Grassley and House Republican Leader Bobby Kaufmann said before the 2026 legislative session started that Iowa farmers are better off having Roundup made here, since 70 percent of the Roundup sold in North America is made at a plant in Muscatine. Senate Republicans passed the Roundup protection bill last year and

Senator Majority Leader Mike Klimesh says he hopes the House G-O-P takes action this year. “Companies should not be held to a legal standard for something that they’re not allowed to put on the label by the EPA,” Klimesh said. Democrats in the legislature have opposed the bill. Representative Austin Baeth, a Democrat from Des Moines, is a doctor of internal medicine. “The optics of it are horrible for anybody to be in support of this bill when Iowa is in the midst of a cancer crisis,” Baeth said.

Georgia and North Dakota are the only states that have passed laws to protect Bayer from lawsuits alleging Roundup caused cancer. Last month the U-S Supreme Court agreed to hear Bayer’s appeal to block thousands of lawsuits alleging the weed killed caused cancer and other serious illnesses

(Radio Iowa) – Health care providers say Iowans should continue to take precautions to stay healthy amid high respiratory virus activity in the state, especially from the flu and R-S-V. Janae Brown, a nurse practitioner at UnityPoint, says most folks should know the drill but some need a reminder.

“Wash your hands. Stay home when you’re sick. Stay away from infants and elderly people, especially if you’re sick,” Brown says. “Try to utilize the urgent cares and family practice clinics as much as possible over the ER.” Brown says emergency rooms in the Des Moines area continue to see high numbers of people with respiratory virus symptoms, and there can be long waits due to overcrowding.

“If you’re having symptoms of the flu or RSV or COVID, go to your urgent care, go to your primary care provider,” Brown says. “Save the ER for chest pain, weakness on one side, loss of vision, severe abdominal pain.” According to state data, only about 30 percent of Iowans received a flu shot so far this season. Brown says it’s still not too late to get the shot, as respiratory virus activity can linger until summer.