(Council Bluffs) — A committee tasked with filling a vacancy seat on the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday afternoon, elected to appoint Keith Jones to fill the seat remaining on the Board, following the removal on December 4th of former Supervisor Scott Belt. The committee included the county auditor, county treasurer, and county recorder.  Once formally accepted by the Board, Jones will receive the Oath of Office at the next Pott. County Board of Supervisor’s meeting, and begin serving immediately thereafter.

Assuming there is no petition for a special election, Jones will serve the remainder of Belt’s unexpired term, which runs through December 31st, 2026.

Earlier this month, a district judge ruled that Belt could not return to his seat on the board after a legal petition was filed by County Attorney Matt Wilber against Belt in November. Wilber cited Belt’s actions at a town hall meeting in Carson on November 5th and other incidents of alleged drunken conduct.

POLK COUNTY, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – The Iowa Utilities Commission will have to decide whether Summit Carbon Solutions can change the ending destination for its carbon sequestration pipeline before a case against the company’s permit can proceed, an Iowa court ruled. The Iowa District Court for Polk County ruled in favor of Summit’s motion to pause the case that landowners, counties and the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter filed in 2024.

Opponents of the proposed carbon capture pipeline sued over the IUC decision to issue a conditional permit to Summit in June 2024. The permit allowed the company to use eminent domain to build a pipeline that would connect to biorefineries across the state and transport carbon dioxide to North Dakota for underground storage. Per the IUC permit decision, Summit was required to obtain permission for its pipeline in North Dakota and South Dakota before it could begin construction in Iowa.

Since the permit was issued, however, South Dakota enacted a law prohibiting the use of eminent domain for CO2 pipelines, which complicated Summit’s plans to transport the captured CO2 to an underground storage site in North Dakota. Eminent domain forces unwilling property owners to accept easements on their land for projects considered in the public interest, for payment determined by a county commission.

In light of these developments along with ongoing legal battles in North Dakota, Summit filed for an amendment to its permit with the IUC in September 2025 to remove the requirement that the company receive approval from the Dakotas. Instead of specifying a state, Summit asked for the permit to prohibit construction until the company has “secured access to one or more sequestration sites and permits or agreements to allow it to reach such storage.”

Summit also requested the court stop proceedings on the lawsuit pertaining to the original permit until the IUC rules on the newly filed amendment. Polk County District Court Judge Scott Beattie sided with the company and remanded the case back to the IUC. In the decision Beattie, wrote that the South Dakota ban is “influential” to the decision.

During oral arguments, opponents said Summit’s requested permit amendment did not change the basis of their argument that Summit did not meet the definition of a common carrier and should not be granted eminent domain capabilities. The groups also argued, as described in Beattie’s decision, that it was unfair to pause judicial review based on “the mere possibility that a permit might be amended.”

Beattie wrote, however, that a pause in judicial proceedings while the permit amendment is evaluated is “warranted” as the court would otherwise be evaluating “outdated” facts. Emma Schmit, an organizing director with the pipeline fighter group Bold Alliance, said in a statement the ruling did “not come as a surprise.” “After years of working to protect property rights from hazardous carbon pipelines, we know not every judge, regulator, or legislator will stand by us the first time around,” Schmit said in the statement. “But, we know the people of Iowa stand with us. So, we’ll continue to explore property rights protections through every possible avenue, including through the courts, the Iowa Utilities Commission, and the legislature.”

Summit Carbon Solutions did not respond to a request for comment on the decision.

(Radio Iowa) – Work is underway to remove an Iowa River dam on the western edge of Steamboat Rock just upriver from the popular Hardin County Pine Ridge park. D-N-R River Programs Coordinator Nate Hoogeveen says they’re coordinating with the county and the U-S Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the structure. “One of the reasons for that is flathead catfish don’t really go upstream of the dam, and we’re going to open up about 24 miles of the Iowa River to that species,” he says.

Hoogeveen says the one-point-three million dollar project has other benefits. “It’ll improve fishing, mussel issues, and then very importantly, we’ll take the campground at Pine Ridge Park, which is now in the two-year floodplain and it’ll actually be in the five-year floodplain,” he says. Hoogeveen says the project includes bank restoration and other features that should make it easier for people to float down the river.

“I think we’ll see people starting upstream at the park more frequently and floating through some of the structures that we’re building in the water. I think because there’s an easy way to walk up and down you’ll see like local kids with inner tubes going through this area,” he says. “There’s no big rapids, but there will be some kind of ripply stuff that will be, you know, some low key fun.” The improved access should draw more anglers.

“I think we’ll see more fishing in the area too, up and down the river because we’re intentionally creating some deep-water habitat, as well as more accessible banks to get down and fish by the river,” Hoogeveen says. He says that should help out the Steamboat Rock economy. Hoogeveen says the work is underway, but it could take two years because of the silt and sand built up behind the dam.

“So we’re trying to move that out gradually instead of it all going at once. So, we’re taking about a quarter of the dam out at a time. We’re trying to make sure that’s a controlled release of the sediments, so that they don’t harm any aquatic life in the river downstream,” Hoogeveen says. He says the speed of the process depends on the flow levels of the water in the river. Hooveveen says the dam had at one time been used as some sort of mill, but was eventually covered over in cement.

(Radio Iowa) – Some of the temporary trailers FEMA set up in Spencer to house people who were flooded out of their homes in mid-2024 were occupied for nearly a year and a half. Spencer City Manager Kevin Robinson says this fall, there were about a dozen individuals who living in the trailers — but the last occupant was able to move into other housing Monday of this week.

“Sixty-five percent of our rental market was impacted by the disaster,” Robinson says. “Most of those rental units, whether they were single-family homes or apartments that were repaired, if they were renting for $650 before the flood they were somewhere closer to $900, $950 after the flood.” The FEMA trailers arrived in Spencer on September 24th of 2024 and a FEMA spokesperson says they will be removed by the end of this month. Two temporary housing sites were set up in Spencer following the flooding in June of 2024.

The FEMA trailers have been in a commercial area on the north side of Spencer. The State of Iowa set up a separate site, near the Clay County Fairgrounds and Robinson estimates at one point as many as 100 people who couldn’t find or afford housing were staying there.

“If they had not found permanent housing when the winter of 2024 hit, they were transitioned into hotels and motels and through last winter they were transitioned out into permanent housing,” Robinson says. At one point, 44 households were living in the FEMA trailers in Spencer. A FEMA spokesperson says the trailers will be put up for auction rather than moved to house storm victims in other parts of the country.

(Radio Iowa) – In a split ruling, the Iowa Supreme Court is granting a West Des Moines doctor found guilty of sexually abusing a child a new trial — because the seven-year-old testified via a live video feed shown in the courtroom.

The Iowa Supreme Court ruled last year that defendants have a constitutional right to confront their accusers in the courtroom. The justice who wrote yesterday’s (Tuesday’s) majority opinion says the 1857 Iowa constitution was written because Iowa’s founding fathers were concerned there might be false testimony if defendants didn’t get to confront their accuser face-to-face during a trial.

Iowa’s attorney general and state legislators have proposed a constitutional amendment that would overturn the Iowa Supreme Court’s opinions on face-to-face testimony, but it will be several years before it would be on the ballot for Iowa voters to decide the issue. Iowa is currently the only state that does not allow children or witnesses with disabilities to testify remotely.

(Cerro Gordo County, IA) [updated 6-a.m., 12/24] –  A firefighter from Cerro Gordo County was struck by an SUV Tuesday evening on the northern side of Ventura. The Iowa State Patrol says the unidentified firefighter from Ventura, was standing on Highway 18 directing traffic around the scene of a previous collision, when they were struck by a 2015 Ford Escape driven by 66-year-old Kevin R. Berry, of Britt (IA).

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Iowa National Guard announces the funeral arrangements for the two fallen Soldiers who were killed in action on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Syria. Staff Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard of Marshalltown, Iowa, will be honored with visitation and funeral services on Saturday, December 27th in Marshalltown. All information on service details
and arrangements are available at Mitchell Family Funeral Home website. Mitchell Family Funeral Home will be recording the service. The link to view the service will be available on their website after the ceremony concludes.

Staff Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar of Des Moines, Iowa, will be honored with a visitation on Sunday, December 28 in Des Moines, followed by funeral services and burial on Monday, December 29. Specific information on service details and arrangements are available at the Hamilton’s Southtown Funeral Home website. There will be no recording or livestreaming of these ceremonies.

These services are open to the public; however, the families have respectfully requested no media coverage. Members of the media are asked to honor and respect the families’ wishes during this time of mourning.

The Iowa National Guard extends its deepest condolences to the families, friends, and fellow Soldiers of Staff Sgt. Howard and Staff Sgt. Torres-Tovar. We are grateful for their selfless service and sacrifice in defense of our nation.

(Glenwood, IA)  – Officials with the Glenwood Police Department report the arrest on Monday afternoon, of a man on a drug charge. 40-year-old Lucas Paul Jay, of Glenwood, was arrested at around 3:15-p.m., for Possession of Marijuana/1st offense. His bond was set at $1,000.

(Radio IOwa) – A nonprofit dedicated to literacy and health education is placing 30-thousand books in pediatric clinics statewide for free distribution to Iowa children. Laura Holms, the Midwest regional director for Reach Out and Read, says each book helps spark language development, encourages positive behaviors, and strengthens the bond between kids and their caregivers through shared reading. Holms says the books are going to dozens of Iowa doctor’s offices.

“The main focus we’re working on are the federally-qualified health care centers and free clinics, and especially clinics across the state that serve children that are underinsured or uninsured,” Holms says. “Lots and lots of children just simply don’t have access to books, and so by using this model, embedding literacy in the Well Child visit, we’re able to reach 90% of children because 90% of kids go to their Well Child visit.” Some 20-thousand books were distributed in the past month, while another ten-thousand were mailed out in the past week or so.

Holms says books like “Susie’s Big Day” and “Doc the Dog’s Healthy Habits” will promote early literacy and healthy routines, plus, there are several other titles. “So for example, if we’ve got a lot of rural kids out there, they really might love books about farming. We’ve got great titles that talk about tractors and things like that, that our Iowa kids really can relate to,” Holms says. “And then we also have other books that are in our catalog that will relate to those kids that are in the urban setting that maybe want to learn more about zoo animals or spacecraft or things like that.”

Reach Out and Read Midwest partnered with Iowa Total Care to distribute the 30-thousand books, which will be able to reach many thousands of Iowa children to inspire curiosity, confidence, and good health habits. “During the Well Child visit, when a family comes in, the provider will actually select a book for that particular child,” Holms says. “Oftentimes, they have a great relationship with the family, so they know a little bit about them and they might even know if they’ve been given a book in past visits, so they want to make sure that they don’t duplicate that book.”

Holms says pediatricians and other healthcare professionals will encourage parents to crack open the books on the spot and start reading to their children. “The provider actually uses that as an assessment tool,” Holms says. “During the visit they can help with motor skills, that can help them determine if that child might need some other referrals. We’ve even had one provider explain a story where the child took the book and put it so close up to their eyes, they thought, ‘Maybe we really need to start looking at their vision,’ and they did in fact refer that child to a specialist for their vision.”

Holms says Reach Out and Read Midwest strives to ensure every child, regardless of ZIP code, has access to books and early literacy support in the places they already receive trusted guidance, pediatric clinics. She adds, donors who visit ReachOutandRead.org/Midwest can designate their gifts to help children in a specific county.