(Radio Iowa) – An emergency food group is concerned about how proposed legislation could contribute to the spiking demand for food assistance. Des Moines Area Religious Council spokesman, Blake Willadsen, says DMARC assisted a record-breaking 19-thousand people last month. He’s concerned the bill which would add further hurdles to SNAP applicants, meaning more households turning to emergency food.

The state ended some Iowans’ access to maximum SNAP benefits in March of 2022, and Willadsen says that decrease was followed by record levels of visitors by last August.

The bill in the Iowa Legislature would limit assets households can have to get food assistance, and require more frequent eligibility checks. The bill would kick an estimated 28-hundred people off SNAP.

(reporting by Zachary Oren Smith, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of a train derailment Thursday in Sioux City.

A Union Pacific spokesperson says about one dozen cars on a freight train derailed upright on the edge of their Sioux City yard around 6 p.m.. There were no injuries and no releases of contents from any of the rail cars.

Union Pacific crews put all cars back on the rails this morning and 28th Street will remain closed for at least a few more days because of the repair work.

Derailed cars in Sioux City. (KSCJ photo)

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Chamber Ambassadors were hosted by Atlantic Parks & Recreation on Thursday, April 6th, 2023. Ambassadors welcomed Wyatt Adderton as the new Atlantic Parks & Recreation Director.

Wyatt Adderton moved to Atlantic from Savannah, Georgia in mid-March and hit the ground running, scooping snow and meeting with various businesses, organization, and City officials. Wyatt graduated with an Associate’s Degree in Liberal Studies, a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Parks & Recreation Management from North Arizona University, and has begun grad school at Indiana University for Recreation Administration. Wyatt shared that he truly admires the passion Atlantic residents have for their community, and he hopes to be a role model for young people that want to make a difference in their community.

Ambassadors (Left to Right): Colt Doherty, Jen McEntaffer, Dany Haynes, Kate Olson, Kelsey Beschorner, Graydon Schmidt, Kirk Knudsen, Dr. Keith Leonard, Laurie West, Jeremy Butler, Wyatt Adderton, Avery Zakrzewski, Dolly Bergmann, Shirley Jensen, BJ Hart, Tori Gibson, Alex McAfee, Jolene Smith, Lana Westphalen, Elaine Otte, Donnie Drennan, Megan Sramek, Jeff Christensen, Anne Quist, John Bricker, Bailey Smith, Ed Smith.

Atlantic Parks & Recreation maintains 13 properties, 236 acres, and over 3,000 trees. The department also provides programming and special events including the Park Party that is scheduled for July 8th,10-2 pm.

Wyatt’s current goals for the department include reinvesting in Sunnyside Pool by repainting the existing buildings, adding a new waterslide, and installing new membership software. Wyatt and his team are also looking forward to planting more trees, completing the Mollett Park raised bed project, and working with Kirk Knudsen, Public Works Director, on finishing the walkway at Schildberg Recreation Area and addressing erosion issues throughout town.

Atlantic Parks & Recreation Office is located at 1200 Sunnyside Lane in Atlantic. For more information about Parks & Recreation please call, 712-243-3542. To keep up with Atlantic Parks & Recreation, follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/atlanticparksandrecreation

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on Friday morning of 33-year-old Janssen S. Ludwigs of Oakland on a warrant for Theft in the 5th Degree. He was located on a traffic stop by the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office and was transported to the Montgomery County Line and then taken to the Montgomery County Jail by Montgomery County Deputies. The arrest took place at 9:39 a.m. on Friday morning. Ludwigs was being held on $300 cash bond.

(Radio Iowa) – The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee says by this time next week, Iowans should see the details of next year’s state spending plans from House Republicans. Representative Gary Mohr, a Republican from Bettendorf, says the bills, in total, would spend about 89 percent of projected state tax revenue.

That’s about one percent higher than the spending level Governor Kim Reynolds recommended in January. House Republicans say their budget includes the extra money the legislature approved for schools in February and they are proposing more state support of nursing homes than the governor suggested. Senate Republicans have released a series of budget bills this week, but none show dollar amounts. Mohr says every legislative year is different.

April 28th is the 110th day of the 2023 legislative session. It’s a target date for adjournment, but state law does not require that lawmakers end then. It is, however, the final day legislators get daily expense money to cover things like accommodations and travel to Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court has overturned a judgment against a central Iowa landlord who was convicted of discriminating against tenants. The Des Moines Civil and Human Rights Commission alleged Patrick Knueven of Des Moines and his wife tried to steer prospective tenants away from their properties because of their religion or national origin. The jury found only Patrick guilty and assessed a 50-thousand dollar penalty. He appealed on several issues including the jury instructions.

The Iowa Supreme court agreed the district court incorrectly instructed the jury on “steering” and exposed the defendants to liability for conduct not prohibited by the Iowa Civil Rights Act or the Des Moines ordinance. The court also ruled Knueven should be paid attorney fees.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa native and former astronaut Peggy Whitson will come out of retirement and return to weightlessness next month as the first female commander of a private space mission. Whitson, who grew up on a farm near Beaconsfield, will lead a four-member crew on a ten-day mission to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX capsule. Already a veteran of three trips to orbit, Whitson says she and her crew have spent months training for the mission at various locations.

NASA file photo

Axiom 2 is slated to launch from the Kennedy Space Center on May 8th aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket. Whitson says the crew plans more than 20 different experiments aboard the space station, including those related to science, outreach and commercial activities.

Axiom plans to launch the first module of its commercial space station in 2025. Whitson, who’s 63, retired from the NASA astronaut corps in 2018. She says she’s particularly intrigued by one of the experiments.

Whitson holds the record among American astronauts and women for the number of days in space at 665. She was the first female commander of the I-S-S and the only woman to serve as its commander twice. In addition, Whitson holds the record for most spacewalks by a woman at ten, and during her last mission, became the oldest woman in space.