(Radio Iowa) – Communities in northwest Iowa are waiting for FEMA to approve buyouts for properties that were damaged by flooding in the summer of 2024. Tom Van Maanen — the city administrator in Rock Valley — says his community is asking for federal funding to help buy and demolish just over 12 dozen homes. “For the homeowners, this has been a very long and painful process ’cause they’re paying mortgages in homes they don’t live in,” Van Maanen says.

Under FEMA’s buyout program for homes in flood zones, 75 percent of the funding comes from the federal government, the state provides 10 percent and 15 percent comes from the local community. Rock Valley is seeking 40 MILION dollars from FEMA to support buying 145 homes, but FEMA asked for more information about a few of the properties.

This home in Rock Valley was destroyed by flooding in the early morning hours of June 22, 2024. (2024 file photo by Iowa Public Radio’s Sheila Brummer)

“It’s been quite a journey for a small-town local government having to go through the gauntlet that is FEMA funding. It has been a challenge, but we’ve worked with some very good people along the way and we’ve made a lot of progress,” Van Maanen said. “…We’re really looking forward to being able to contact the homeowners and say: ‘Hey, our project has been approved. We’re going to move forward.’ And we’ll be working on a timeline that’s up to us so we can help them.”

State officials say Sioux County as well as the cities of Spencer, Rock Rapids, Hawarden, Correctionville and Sioux Rapids have submitted buyout requests to FEMA. Estherville and Cherokee are still finalizing their applications and have until the end of the year to submit the paperwork to FEMA. Once a property is purchased under this program, the parcel becomes public land and made into a park or water retention area.

(Radio Iowa) – An investigation by the state auditor’s office has found a state contractor that provides outpatient mental health and addiction treatment services in southern Iowa misused tens of thousands of dollars in federal grant money.

Crossroads Behavioral Health Services has offices in Creston and Osceola. The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services asked the state auditor’s office to review the non-profit after learning it had failed to pay a subcontractor based in Atlantic nearly 200-thousand dollars.

The investigation found Crossroads deposited federal grants, opioid settlement funds and other payments into a single bank account and didn’t separate payments based on which program the money was supposed to support. Auditors reviewed two years’ worth of records and found 11 checks written on the Crossroads account bounced and 77 checks generated more than five-thousand dollars in overdraft charges.

The report recommends that the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services increase financial oversight of the agencies it designates as regional providers of mental health and addiction services to Iowans.

(Des Moines County, IA) – One person died and another was injured during a head-on crash early  this (Monday) morning, in southeast Iowa’s Des Moines County. The Iowa State Patrol reports the crash happened at around 2:10-a.m. on U-S Highway 34 at mile marker 255.

The Patrol says a 2002 Chevy S-10 pickup was traveling east in the westbound lanes of Highway 34, when it struck a 2012 Hyundai Sonata. The collision resulted in the driver of the pickup being ejected from their vehicle. The names of the crash victims have not been released at this time.

The crash remained under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – State Climatologist Justin Glisan says the heavy snow we got this weekend bumped up what had been a dry November. “If we take the rain we had and then combine that with the liquid equivalent of the snowfall that we had at the end of the month, preliminarily we’re coming out at at about one-point-six (1.6) inches of moisture and that’s about a quarter inch below average,” he says. Glisan says the preliminary average snowfall is eight inches for November, which puts the month into record territory.

“If that holds, around that eight inch mark, it’s about five-and-a-half inches above average, which would put us in the top ten snowiest Novembers in 138 years of records,” Glisan says, “which is kind of astounding, giving that it was basically snowfall over 36 hours. So it was a very potent system that came through.” The average November temperature is 37 degrees, and early on it looked like we’d be well above that.

“Mid-month we had temperatures in the 60s and 70s and then we kind of nosed nose dove towards the end of the month. Overall though, we were about three degrees above average for November,” he says. Glisan says there’s good and bad to having a snowpack. One of the good things is a shallow frost depth. “And a more shallow frost depth gives us a higher potential as we melt in late winter and early spring of infiltrating that melted snow pack into the profile versus it running off,” he says.

He says getting more runoff into the ground will help those areas that have been dryer than normal. There’s also a negative to having snow on the ground. “Of course having a snowpack on the ground also produces colder temperatures, so you know, depending on what you like, I think we have a variety out there for everybody,” he says. The forecast is calling for varying amounts of snow and colder temperatures this week to keep that snowpack in place.

(Radio Iowa) – A new poll ranks Iowa number-one nationally when it comes to people’s experience with the health care system. The poll conducted by Gallup and the non-profit West Health asked nearly 20-thousand Americans their opinions on their state’s health care costs, quality and access. Iowa ranked highest but only received a C-plus overall, while the nation averaged a C. West Health C-E-O Tim Lash says the overall low grades reflect a growing frustration with the health care system.

“In the top 10 states, on average, one in five individuals are saying they are not getting the treatment that’s recommended because they can’t afford it,” Lash says. “In the bottom 10, it’s 40-percent, but neither are acceptable.” He says some of Iowa’s investments in rural health and Medicaid expansion helped, but the state still barely got a passing grade.  “Iowa performing better than the bottom states shows us there are things you can do to do better,” Lash says, “but we need to do more of that.”

The survey found one in four Iowans reported distance to medical professionals delayed or prevented receiving care in the past 12 months, while more than 50 percent said long wait times for appointments affected their care. Also, more than one in ten reported either cutting back on driving, borrowing money or skipping pills in order to afford care or medication.

(Atlantic, Iowa) — Healthy Cass is inviting local food producers and all interested community members to a special meeting on Monday, December 8th at 12:00 PM at the Cass County Community Center (805 W 10th St., Atlantic, IA) to discuss the role of local food in improving community health.

Recent health data shows that Cass County currently has the highest rate of new cancer incidences in Iowa. Following the 99 Counties Cancer Presentation on December 3rd, Healthy Cass is shifting focus toward lifestyle factors that can positively influence long-term health—particularly nutrition and access to fresh, healthy foods. Studies indicate that only 7.3% of Iowa residents consume the recommended daily servings of vegetables according to the CDC. Healthy Cass sees an important opportunity to strengthen the connection between residents and the fresh, nutritious foods grown within Cass County.

The December 8 meeting will begin a community-wide conversation about:

• Increasing access to locally grown foods
• Collaborative marketing opportunities for local producers
• Strengthening the visibility of local food in Cass County
• Exploring how local agriculture can support better health outcomes

Local food producers—including farmers, gardeners, market vendors, and anyone involved in food production—are especially encouraged to attend. Community members who care about health, local food access, or supporting local agriculture are also welcome. Community members are encouraged to attend and share their perspectives. Attendees are also welcome to extend this invitation to others who promote, produce, or sell locally sourced food. If you’re interested in learning more or signing up for updates, please reach out to Grace McAfee at mcage@casshealth.org or call 712-250-8170.

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About the Healthy Cass Coalition: The Healthy Cass Coalition is dedicated to improving the health and wellness of Cass County residents by fostering community collaboration and supporting local initiatives. Through partnerships and community engagement, the coalition addresses key issues like food security, mental wellness, and overall public health.

(Glenwood, IA) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest at around 4:15-a.m. on Nov. 25th, of 49-year-old Lisa Marie Elliott, of Malvern. The woman was taken into custody in Malvern, for OWI/1st offense. Her bond was set at $1,000.

(Radio Iowa) – The Trump Administration has signed a settlement granting state election officials free access to a federal immigration database for the next 20 years. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird says on the eve of the 2024 election, the Biden Administration denied the Iowa Secretary of State’s request to do a cross check to ensure non-citizens had not registered to vote. Bird sued the federal government for access to that information and discussed the lawsuit during a recent appearance on “Iowa Press” on Iowa P-B-S. “We want to make sure that the system we have in place makes it easy for that kind of verification to happen, “Bird said, “so that we can make sure that if someone is a new U.S. citizen that they fully can enjoy their right to vote, but also that there is no illegal voting.”

Bird says it is clearly illegal under state and federal law for non-citizens to vote and this settlement will help Iowa safeguard the integrity of elections for years to come. “We want to know that when Election Day comes and the votes are counted that no illegal votes are mixed in with legal votes, cancelling a vote out, even if it’s just one,” Bird said “Elections come down to some pretty tight margins sometimes and we want Iowans to have faith in the outcome of their election.”

The settlement indicates that within 90 days the state of Iowa will have access to the federal immigration database — well before Iowa’s Primary Elections in June.

(Guthrie Center, IA) – The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office, today (Monday), released reports on five, non-injury accidents that took place between Nov. 13th and the 25th.

• At around 5:45-p.m. on Nov. 13th, an SUV driven by 64-year-old James M. Schultz, of Casey, struck a deer in the 1500 block of Highway 25. The vehicle sustained damage estimated by authorities to be around $7,500.
• At around 8:50-p.m. on Nov. 20th, a car driven by 21-year-old Angel Berndardo Gonzalez-Rodriguez, of Omaha, struck a deer on Luna Avenue, that popped-out of a ditch in front of his vehicle. The car sustained an estimated $1,500 damage.
• The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office says at around 4:20-p.m. on Nov. 27th, a car driven by 19-year-old Colin Trent Adams, of Stuart, crashed into a ditch off of Wax Trail near 340th Street. Authorities say Adams’ car was traveling too fast for the gravel, went out of control, and rolled onto its top, sustained $5,000 damage. None of the three occupants in the car were injured. The State Patrol assisted sheriff’s deputies at the scene and in the follow-up investigation.
• At around 4:10-p.m. on Nov. 24th, a 2023 Mack semi hauling a grain hopper and driven by 60-year-old Robert D. Barker, of Coon Rapids, and a 2014 Dodge RAM pickup driven by 67-year-old Nicholas J. Miller, of Lake City, collided on Highway 25, near the railroad bridge underpass. The Sheriff’s Office says  the pickup was traveling south on HIghway 25 and was hauling a homemade trailer carrying a large roll, and was slowing down while going under the railroad bridge, when the semi failed to stop or reduce speed. The semi struck the pickup/trailer on the rear, causing an estimated total of $20,000 damage.
• And, on Nov. 25th at about 12:36-p.m., a Guthrie County Deputy was dispatched to the scene of an abandoned vehicle with its airbags deployed, in a field, near 3471 280th Road. An investigation determined the vehicle has been involved in a collision, causing disabling damage. After speaking with the vehicle’s registered owner, 39-year-old Donald P. Felgate, of Panora, he advised he had driven straight off a curve in the road, due to dense fog in the area. The accident took place at around 12:01-a.m. The car sustained an estimated $10,000 damage.

No citations were issued with any of the aforementioned accidents.

(Radio Iowa) – The top two leaders on the board that oversees the three state universities will step down Thursday. Board of Regents president Sherry Bates of Scranton took over as interim president in January of 2024 when then president Michael Richards stepped down, and then was elected permanently to the post. Bates first joined the board in 2014, and her latest term expires in April of 2029. She says in a statement she wants to spend more time with her family.

Board president-pro tem Greta Rouse of Emmetsburg first served as a student regent from 2008-2012. She was later appointed to six-year term on the Board again in April of 2021. She did not say why she is leaving the board.

The Regents will meet Wednesday to elect new leadership.