(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says as she meets with local government leaders, business owners and legislators, she’s keeping an open mind about their ideas for reducing property taxes. Reynolds say local law enforcement, streets, schools and other services are largely financed with property taxes, so completely eliminating property taxes is not something that can happen overnight.

“I think it is the expectation of Iowans that we get something done to address the property taxes,” Reynolds said, “at least, to bend the curve and start to look at flatlining and taking them, eventually, down just a little bit.” Reynolds says finding ways to deliver services differently is a priority. Local governments in Iowa have already struck more than 24-thousand agreements to split the costs and share services and Reynolds says she wants to explore how to build on some of those.

Reynolds made her comments after a meeting with local officials in Dallas Center and two members of the Iowa House were there. Representative Carter Nordman is chair of the House committee that will draft tax plans in 2026. “We talk so much about the government entities, the ones who are collecting the taxes, but we don’t talk enough about the people who are paying them,” Nordman said. “…We’ve got to talk about the taxpayer and make sure they are the ones in the driver’s seat during these conversations.”

Representative David Young, a Republican from Van Meter, is chairman of the House Commerce Committee. He expects the House to consider ways to reduce residential property taxes AND the property taxes businesses pay. “We understand it’s going to be meaningful and bold — and it’s going to be hard as well, but we don’t want to come back and revisit this every year,” Young said. “We want reliability and certainty for local governments as well as the taxpayers who work hard and are paying the property taxes.”

The 2026 Iowa Legislative session starts in January 12th — that’s 87 days away.

(Radio Iowa) – Federal funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP is not yet known for this year. Utility analyst Keetah Horas told the Iowa Utility Commission the he proposed federal budget zeroed out funding but both the Senate and House had proposed bills at the time of the shutdown to increase total funding. She says some states have paused the program, but Iowa has not. this week.

“The Iowa profile for LIHEAP funding year 2024 indicates that the program served more than 83-thousand households. This includes the one time heating assistance, year round, crisis assistance, and weatherization.” She says sign up for this winter has already begun for one group. “The early application period for households with elderly or disabled members opened on October 1st. Our latest communication with H-H-S reports over 15-thousand applications have been received,” she says.

Horas says other applicants will be able to sign up at the end of this month. “The general application period for all other households begins November 1st. And the deadline for all applications is April 30th. Eligibility is primarily based on household income, specifically, 200 percent of the federal poverty level,” Horas says. She says a family of four making just over 64-thousand dollars annually would qualify for assistance.

The winter moratorium on utility shut offs starts November 1st.

(Radio Iowa) – October continues to remain unseasonably warm, but the Iowa D-O-T has started putting snow plows and salt spreaders on some trucks. Winter Operations director Craig Bargfrede says they start their winter prep every year at this time. “We have to start installing the wedge tanks in the back of the truck that holds some of our liquid brine, installing the spreaders and what not on the back end of the truck, getting the plows out and getting them mounted.

Making sure everything is set and ready to go,” Bargfrede says. They check all the controls to make sure the plows go up and down and the right amount of salt or salt brine is being spread. Bargfrede says the big orange trucks are used year round, so they have to start getting some set up for winter operations.”We’re continuing to do summer time, fall maintenance activities, getting those projects wrapped up,” he says, “but yeah we still have to have a certain percentage of trucks ready to go should we get anything that we need to go out and do some application or do some plowing.”

Bargfrede has been overseeing winter operations for 12 years and says planning ahead is always the key. “I think we got a good routine, yes. But you know, there’s always those crazy things that get tossed at you that make you kind of take a step back and go ‘hmm’, never had that happen before,” he says. The wind storm last March in western Iowa that toppled power poles like dominoes is an example of Mother Nature throwing in something new. “When we had to close I-29 down, that’s the first time in my career that I’ve had to close down the interstate because we had live power lines down across the interstate. So obviously that was a huge safety issue,” Bargfrede says.

The D-O-T hires a lot of part-time workers to help them handle winter operations and Bargfrede says they are still looking to fill the ranks. “So if anyone is interested in coming to work for us part time, contact the nearest D-O-T garage. Last I saw, would have been the end of last week, I think we had about 175 of those 630 positions that have been not filled. So we’re getting a good start,” he says.

The D-O-T has one-thousand-72 full-time equipment operators, mechanics, and supervisors to go along with the temporary employees. The equipment fleet includes 910 trucks, 40 motor graders, 33 tow plows, and 10 heavy-duty, self-propelled snowblowers.

(Radio Iowa) – First District Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks says the effects of the federal government shutdown are being felt in Iowa. She said 18- thousand federal employees in Iowa are furloughed or working without pay because of the federal government shutdown – which she blames on Democrats.

“When I voted to fund the government, I voted people. I didn’t vote politics. They need to stop using this as a political football and taking the American people hostage,” she says. Miller-Meeks held a town hall-style event over the phone last night (Wednesday night).

One caller said they were worried about the effects of the Big Beautiful Bill on Iowa’s renewable energy sector, which supplies the state with over 30-thousand jobs. Miller-Meeks said she wants to protect all jobs and added it has been a tough year for farmers. “We know that our ag sector has been under stress since ‘22-’23, and this year is going to be a tough year for them. So it’s looking at how we can support our businesses in Iowa, how we can have the energy so that companies can continue to grow,” she says.

Miller-Meeks has not held an in-person town hall so far this term. In a video that recently surfaced, she said she would hold an in-person town hall when hell freezes over.

(Radio Iowa) – A state panel is predicting state tax revenue will fall nine percent during the current state budget year compared to the 12-month period that ended June 30th. The group met today (Thursday) and reduced the tax estimate it released in March by another 375 million dollars — citing factors like Iowa’s rising unemployment rate, falling soybean prices and the state income tax cut that took effect in January.

Kraig Paulsen, the governor’s budget director, serves on the panel. He says Republican lawmakers who passed the tax cuts planned for this, socking away six billion dollars’ worth of taxes over the past several years that can be spent to balance the state budget. “Is this where we want to be? Is it the most comfortable spot? No,” Paulsen told reporters, “but…the State of Iowa is in a good financial condition.”

Recent federal tax reductions are having an impact, too, since Iowa tax policies automatically adjust to mirror federal changes. Jennifer Acton, fiscal division director for the Legislative Services Agency, says declining consumer confidence could be concerning if trends continue.”Businesses appear more hesitant to hire and are leaving more jobs open due to softer sales and uncertainty,” Acton said. “…Meanwhile, manufacturing and finance, the two largest employer sectors in Iowa…have lost jobs over the past year.”

Former State Banking Superintendent Jeff Plagge says there are some worrisome signals in the ag economy. “Grain producers are going to have a difficult year, as they did last year,” Plagge said. Plagge and the other two panelists on the State Revenue Estimating Conference predict Iowa tax revenue will stabilize and begin to grow in 2027 — if there’s no recession. Governor Reynolds says now that Iowa’s three-point-eight-percent flat income tax is fully implemented, Iowans have more of their own money than they did at this time last year — and that’s just as it should be.

Democrats like Representative Dave Jacoby of Coralville say the state’s finances are plummeting. “I think it’s plain to see that the Republicans have been squeezing the tax balloon for years,” Jacoby said, “and that balloon has finally popped.” Senator Janet Petersen of Des Moines says the tax cuts have created a billion dollar hole in the state budget and state reserves will eventually run out. “This isn’t just a dip in revenues,” Petersen says. “This is a historic drop.”

Petersen is the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Police Department has released a report on arrests and other incidents that occurred between Sept. 21st and Oct. 15th.

• 31-year-old Donovan Bruning, of Griswold, was arrested Oct. 4th for Driving While Barred.
• 42-year-old Julie Meisinger, of Atlantic, was arrested Oct. 3rd for Failure to Maintain Control.
• 28-year-old Christopher Martin, of Atlantic, was arrested Sept. 30th for Public Intoxication and Providing False Identification information.
• Atlantic Police arrested 20-year-old Kanden Hensley, of Stuart, on Sept. 27th, for OWI/1st offense.
• 22-year-old Chance Kline of Atlantic, was arrested Sept. 23rd for Public Intoxication, and
• 50-year-old Juan Hernandez-Brito, of Atlantic, was arrested Sept. 21st, for OWI/1st offense/

Atlantic Police report also, the following individuals were cited into court on charges of Theft in the 5th Degree:

• 9/23: 34-year-old Scott Belew, of Atlantic.
• 9/25: 60-year-old Rachelle Hegreberg, of Atlantic.
• 9/26: Lori Gilleland, of Atlantic.
• 9/27: Michelle Carey, of Adair, and 50-year-old Joann Schafer, of Villisca.
• 9/30: 61-year-old Connie Nichols, of Atlantic. And,
• 10/13: 81-year-old Larry Johnson, of Atlantic.

These individuals from Atlantic were cited into court for Disorderly Conduct:

• 10/6: 33-year-old Anthony Asay
• 10/14: 27-year-old Allen Van Aernam, and
• 10/15: 26-year-old Logan Russell.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) — A 7-year-old Adair County boy will be this week’s Kid Captain when the Iowa Hawkeyes take on the Penn State Nittany Lions. KCRG reports Micah Norby, from Greenfield, was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy at 5 years old, after his parents noticed him falling more often and lagging behind on the soccer field.  Micah received a new gene therapy on the day before his sixth birthday at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. The treatment was intended to slow the progression of the disease.

University of Iowa health care (photo)

The treatment needed to be administered before he turned 6. His health care team had to appeal for insurance coverage, and an illness caused a delay in treatment. Micah was the first child in Iowa outside of clinical trials to receive this treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. He is now 7 years old and enjoys swimming, fishing, and using his remote-control car.

(Radio Iowa) – Democrat Jackie Norris has ended her campaign for the U.S. Senate. Norris, who is president of the Des Moines School Board, says the recent crisis surrounding the immigration arrest for former superintendent Ian Roberts has demanded her full attention — and has made her and the school board the target of vicious and coordinated attacks. Norris says it’s clear she needs to focus on her role on the school board and the campaign to pass a 265 million dollar borrowing plan for Des Moines Public Schools this November.

Des Moines School Board President Jackie Norris ends U.S. Senate campaign (Norris campaign photo)

Norris has worked on high profile Iowa campaigns and taught history and government at high schools in Ames, Perry and Johnston and was elected to the Des Moines School Board in 2021. Norris says ends her senate campaign with her head held high and will keep fighting for better politics and for a Democrat to win Iowa’s U.S. Senate seat in 2026.

(Radio Iowa) – A pitch competition — like what you see on the “Shark Tank” T-V show — is scheduled in Des Moines next Wednesday — and it will feature start-up companies from Argentina, India and Nigeria. World Food Prize Foundation C-E-O Tom Vilsack says the foundation is putting up 65-thousand dollars in prize money. “We’re really excited about the inaugural Innovate for Impact challenge,” Vilsack said. “We were sort of taken aback by the response. We had 387 applications from 62 countries.”

Executives from each of the three companies will make their pitches to a panel of judges, who will award 50-thousand dollars for first prize, 10-thousand dollars for second and five thousand dollars for third prize. The event will be held in downtown Des Moines as part of the annual World Food Prize Dialogue that starts Monday. “There’s an opportunity, I think, for us to learn a little bit more about innovation that’s taking place and the entrepreneurship that is alive and well in this field of agriculture,” Vilsack said. Vilsack says the three companies have the potential for worldwide impact. APOLO Biotech in Argentina uses R-N-A technology to produce an alternative to traditional pesticides.

(Pictured: WFP CEO Tom Vilsack – Radio Iowa/IA PBS credit)

Capsber Agriscience in India is already working with over 150-thousand small-scale farming operations to use microbes that are native to the soil rather than fertilizers to boost crop yields. The third business — Vet Konect in Nigeria — has created a digital platform that has connected tens of thousands of farmers in eight countries to information about raising livestock. Tickets are required to attend the pitch competition and can be purchased on the World Food Prize website.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig says the number of businesses listed on the state’s “Choose Iowa” website has doubled since January. The online marketplace was created during the pandemic when demand for locally raised food rose. “I want to encourage Iowans — shop local. Go to www.chooseiowa.com. You can find all manner of products — everything from cut flowers to honey to beverages to certainly protein, fruits and vegetables,” Naig said. “You name it, you can find all of the above in the Choose Iowa directory.”

This past spring the website opened up to horticulture businesses that sell trees, shrubs and other garden plants. It costs a business 100 dollars a year to be listed on Choose Iowa dot com. “Buy local and surprise some folks for Christmas this year,” Naig said.

The Choose Iowa website lets people search by location, by the name of the business or the type of product someone hopes to buy. It also includes information about whether the products can be purchased online or in person.