(Radio Iowa) – About 2,000 people who set of fireworks for a living will be in central Iowa for a convention over the next week and they’ll open two nighttime shows to the public that promise to far outshine the most spectacular 4th of July celebrations. Connie Widmann is spokeswoman for the Pyrotechnic Guild International, which is meeting August 2nd through the 9th in Boone. Daytime activities will focus on safety, seminars and certifications.

“We are a volunteer organization,” Widmann says. “We’re basically a club and this club supports people who have interest in pyrotechnics at all levels, whether they shoot public displays for local municipalities, whether they’re a hobbyist, they may be interested in consumer fireworks, and people who make fireworks for a living.”

One of the public shows will feature “pyro-musicals” where the colorful explosions in the sky are precisely choreographed to music. “It is important, if people are going to come from the public, to actually buy a ticket and come in,” Widmann says. “It’s flat here in Iowa, so people think, ‘Oh, I’ll just go park on the road and watch it from there.’ There’s a very different experience when you’re up close with these types of pyro-musicals, and these are not shows that you will ever see in a municipality.”

Pyrotechnic Guild International photo

Sunday night’s public show will include four pyro-musicals and what Widmann describes as a breathtaking, unforgettable fusion of fireworks and drones. “We will have 2,500 drones — and that is a very large number of drones — that will be choreographed with pyrotechnics and some of the drones will have pyrotechnics firing off of the drones,” Widmann says. “That’s a totally new concept, and Sunday night will be quite a spectacle.”

Most fireworks you buy at roadside tents are in the two- to four-inch range, and while the Boone shows will feature six-, eight- and even 12-inch shells, Widmann says they’ll be setting off one very special firework for a jaw-dropping grand finale. “The 24-inch shell, the chrysanthemum, is a big flower in the sky,” Widmann says. “It would be the largest shell shot this week and certainly ever in Iowa, probably be about a quarter-mile diameter.”

That single shell alone is worth about $2,000. The public shows are planned for the nights of August 3rd and 8th. Purchase tickets here.

(Radio Iowa) – The City of Sioux City will be applying for grants to help finance replacing lead pipes in water lines. Many Sioux City residents got a letter last November, warning that their property could have a water service line or a galvanized service line affected by lead. Brad Puetz, the utilities director for Sioux City, says an E-P-A mandate issued last October means those pipes must be replaced.

“Between now and 2027 we have to have a Lead Service Line Plan put together,” he says, “and that’s what kicks off all of the replacement.” Sioux City then will have until 2037 to complete the project. Puetz says the city has identified seven MILLION dollars in grant money that’s available.”That has to be applied for by December 31st of this year,” Puetz says. “That project is really going to entail picking 100 homes to start and that will really get us into the rhythm of how we want to pursue replacing those lines.”

Puetz says the city will pursue other grants as well and an unexpected classification may help with federal funding. “They’re considering Sioux City disadvantaged for this project,” Puetz says, “so 49% of whatever we apply for is forgiven and then the other 51% is some of the information that we’re going to have to seek council information on.” An initial estimate indicated there were 72-hundred locations in Sioux City where lead lines need to be replaced, but Puetz says that list has been reduced by a few hundred after water utility records were reviewed and lines were found not to contain lead.

It is the city’s responsibility to make sure the utility’s lead lines are replaced, but city council member Julie Schoenherr says the 100 property owners involved in the first wave of replacements will have to sign off on the lead pipe removal. “The homeowner, whether they live there or not, has to agree to it as well. That’s another caveat,” she says. “We don’t just go and do it. They have to agree to it.” Homeowners will be approached three times about the replacement and Puetz says it’s not clear what happens if they refuse.

Early last year, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird joined a 15-state coalition that sued the Biden Administration over this mandate, arguing it may force homeowners to pay to replace their own water lines if they contain lead and connect to a city-owned water utility line.

The City of Lewis Special Election will be held in Cass County, IA on Tuesday, August 19, 2025. Polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Precinct and Polling Location: City of Lewis voters will vote at the Lewis Community Center, 400 W Main Street Lewis, IA 51544.

Office and Candidates on the Ballot:

City Council At-Large

• David J Raymond
• Russell Miller

Accessibility:

Any voter who is physically unable to enter a polling place has the right to vote in the voter’s vehicle. For further information, please contact the county auditor’s office at 712-243-4570, or email auditor@casscoia.us

Proof of Identification at the Polls:
• Pre-registered voters are required to provide an approved form of identification at the polling place before receiving and casting a regular ballot.
• Voters who are not pre-registered, such as voters registering to vote on election day, and voters changing precincts must also provide proof of residence. A voter who is unable to provide an approved form of identification (or prove residence if required) may:

1. Have the voter’s identity/residence attested to by another registered voter in the precinct, or
2. Prove identity and residence using Election Day Registration documents, or
3. Cast a provisional ballot and provide proof of identity/residence at the county auditor’s office by August 21, 2025, at
12:00 p.m. Election Day Registration attesters must provide an approved form of identification.

For additional information about providing proof of identity and/or residence, visit https://sos.iowa.gov/voterid, or phone 712-243-4570. Additional Election Day Registration information may be found at https://sos.iowa.gov/voters/election-day.

Absentee Voting:

• In-person-absentee voting will take place at the Cass County auditor’s office:
o 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. August 4 – August 18, 2025
o 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. August 15, 2025

• To vote by mail, submit an absentee ballot request form to the county auditor’s office by 5:00 p.m., August 4, 2025.
o Absentee ballot request forms are available at sos.iowa.gov/elections/electioninfo/absenteeinfo.html, or the county
auditor’s office. Request forms received after the deadline will be rejected in accordance with state law.

o Absentee ballots must be returned to the county auditor’s office by 8:00 p.m. on election night, August 19,2025.
• Absentee and special-voter ballots will be counted at the county auditor’s office on Election Day.

Election Security and Audit:
• Voting equipment will be used to tabulate the election results.
• The public test of election equipment will be held Tuesday, August 12, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. in the courthouse, and will
continue until the required test is completed.

Sample Ballot:
May be viewed on the County’s website: https://www.casscountyia.gov/county-government/elections/special-elections/

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird says a northeast Iowa facility that produces kosher beef, chicken and turkey has agreed to pay a $50,000 penalty to settle a lawsuit over 60 wastewater violations.

The attorney general says Agri Star Meat and Poultry in Postville is responsible for toxic ammonia concentrations in nearby Hecker Creek and has failed to submit timely reports about wastewater problems. The company has a wastewater treatment system with lagoons that discharge about a million gallons each day into Hecker Creek, which flows to the Yellow River.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird (RI file photo)

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has cited Agri Star for having excessive amounts of ammonia as well as chloride, copper and other pollutants in that wastewater.

Agri Star has agreed to fully comply with its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit by the end of next year.

(Radio Iowa) – The Board of Regents has approved a proposal from the University of Northern Iowa to charge in-state tuition rates for incoming freshmen or transfer students from the nearby states of Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin. U-N-I president Mark Nook says the plan will help the Cedar Falls school and the state. “The data from neighboring states that have tuition reciprocity indicate that U-N-I will see a seven-fold increase in enrollment and graduates from the six neighboring states. Once this initiative is fully implemented, U-N-I should increase the number of workers placed into Iowa workforce annually by a little over 300,” he says. Nook says there are some start up costs when the program begins this fall.

“The first few years of this initiative will cost the university significantly. This fall we do not expect to see a significant increase in enrollment due to this initiative. However, there will be approximately 160 new entering students from six states who would have paid non-resident tuition,” Nook says. He says the school will absorb the cost of the higher out-of-state tuition for those students until they graduate. “The university needs approximately one-point five million (dollars) per year for the next few years to close this financial gap. After the initial start up period, enrollment should grow to the point that this new revenue will cover the financial gap and provide the resources necessary to cover the additional costs,” Nook says.

U-N-I will use funds from its foundation to finance the difference in cost for the current out-of-state students. Governor Kim Reynolds had recommended in January giving U-N-I three million dollars in state funds to support the initiative, but lawmakers only included half that amount in their budget plan and Reynolds vetoed the money.