(Radio Iowa) – State liquor sales set records dollar sales in each of the last two fiscal years during the pandemic. Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division spokesman, Jake Holmes, says the sales since the end of the last fiscal year. “The fiscal year ended June 30th — so from July 1st through the end of November is the start of fiscal year ’22. And those numbers are up five-point-seven percent from the fiscal ’21 numbers,” Holmes says. Sales increased 13 percent and eight percent in the last two fiscal years — each setting a sales record. “That five-point-seven percent is a lot more similar to what we saw prior to the pandemic. We’ll just have to keep tracking those numbers to see where it ends up,” he says. Holmes says they are in their busiest time of the year.

(Image from IABD website)

“Traditionally, October, November, and December is definitely the busiest time of the year, the higher sales numbers. We have seen recently there are spikes in other times of the year too — but traditionally those October, December, November months are the highest,” Holmes says. He says while the sales have set records in the last two fiscal years — the favorite brands haven’t really seen much change. “The most popular item is still Black Velvet. It’s been at the top of the list for a number of years,” according to Holmes. “One product in particular — Tito’s Vodka — has really been increasing in popularity of the last several years…five years ago it was number 12 on our list and now it is number two. Other than that, Captain Morgan, Fireball, those are always near the top of the list. As far as Iowa products — Blue Ox Vodka is the top-selling Iowa product for the third year in a row now.”

Holmes says they always kept a good supply of the most popular items in stock and that helped them overcome any shortages.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council, Monday, following a public hearing, approved the Food Pantry’s application for the CDBG COVID-19 Program. Their action followed a report presented Nov. 17^th by Kristine Stokes, SWIPCO (Southwest Iowa Planning Council) Community Development Specialist, who was present for Monday evening’s meeting, as well.

The Atlantic Food Pantry is requesting $100,000 in grant funding from the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA). The grant will help the food pantry buy food in 2022 and early 2023. They previously received $23,000 as a grant match, from the recent Atlantic Chamber of Commerce’ “Scrooge” Contest, which in addition to cash, provided much needed non-perishable goods for the pantry.

Mayor Dave Jones said the Atlantic Pantry is staffed by hard workers and volunteers.

In her presentation, Monday, Stokes made it clear, the request for funding is not for a new building, as some may have thought. It’s a request for food and non-food items.

Stokes said also, the Atlantic Food Pantry has served as much as three-times the number of households since before the pandemic began, and their costs to purchase groceries has nearly quadrupled since 2019. The Southwest Iowa Planning Council requested that the city be the applicant for a one-time $100,000 grant in 2023. She says $95,000 will be for the Pantry to purchase food and non-food items (Such as hand soap and toilet paper), $5,000 will be used for grant administration, to be performed by SWIPCO. The Food Pantry would be a sub-recipient of the grant funding.

Stokes said Food Pantry volunteers conducted personal income surveys for each household they serve, over a period of four-weeks earlier this Fall.

In addition, she said based on the food pantry’s sign-in sheets, an average of 86-percent of the recipients live in Atlantic. The Atlantic Food Pantry has served the community for the past 40-years. Their staff consists of 30-volunteers. Stokes said there is no deadline to submit the application, but she hopes to do so in mid-January. She said they should know if the request is approved, by late February.

(Radio Iowa) A state senator from central Iowa is predicting Governor Kim Reynolds will soon propose major funding for a new terminal at the Des Moines airport. Senator Brad Zaun of Urbandale, a Republican, expects Reynolds to use part of her “Condition of the State” message in January discuss using new federal infrastructure dollars for the expansion. “And that’s going to be a win-win for all of us not only as passengers, but from an economic development standpoint,” Zaun says.

A plan unveiled in 2020 calls for constructing a new terminal, with 18 gates, that would open before the end of the decade. Zaun says there’s demand for more flights in and out of Des Moines, but no space in the terminal that was originally built in the 1930s and expanded in the 1970s. “Full disclose: most of my customers are outside the state of Iowa, so I’m in that airport about every other week,” Zaun says. “…There’s no doubt that we need more terminals. Every gate is full.”

Matthew Ahmann, an assistant vice president at Principal Financial Group, is the Greater Des Moines Partnership’s 2021 government policy council chairman. He says expanding gate space at the Des Moines airport won’t just benefit central Iowa. “Anybody that’s been on one of those late flights where you’re flying in at about 10 or 11 o’clock and you’re talking to somebody next to you who’s hopping in their car and driving to Clear Lake — it’s really an Iowa issue,” he says.

House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights says many people have described the Des Moines Airport as Iowa’s front door. “Especially, let’s not forget, people who are interviewing for jobs — when they come in, that’s the first thing they see,” Konfrst says. “…It helps people see what we have to offer right away.” Republican Representative Brent Seigrist of Council Bluffs says an affordable, robust airport like Eppley Airfield in Omaha has been critical to business in western Iowa.

“Air transportation is very vital for economic development,” Siegrist says. “Des Moines needs to be better and I think the state should be part of that partnership and I think it would have a pretty good hearing moving forward.” Senate Democratic Leader Zach Wahls of Coralville says he mainly flies out of the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids, but would support an upgrade to the airport in Des Moines.

“The funds that are coming out of Washington, D.C. from the bipartisan infrastructure deal are obviously going to be huge for the State of Iowa,” Wahls says. “not just our airports, but our roads and bridges.” Congresswoman Cindy Axne of West Des Moines, a Democrat who supported the bill, says it will provide 120 million dollars for airport projects in Iowa.

A total of five billion dollars is headed to Iowa for road, bridges, broadband and other infrastructure like ports and rail lines.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council and guests said “Thank you,” to two Councilpersons who will not be returning to the Council’s Chambers in January, and welcomed two others who will fill their seats. Before Mayor Dave Jones Administered the Oath of Office to Dana Halder and Harlan Lee Sisco, the approved the appointments of Bill Garrett and Brad Henningsen to the Atlantic Airport Commission.

Dana Halder, At-Large Councilman Elect

Harlan Sisco, 2nd Ward Councilman Elect

Mayor Jones said Bill Garrett, the husband of Mayor Elect Grace Garrett, expressed his interest four-years ago in serving on the Commission. With the resignation of Dr. Trewet, the Airport Commission was unanimous in its decision to recommend Mr. Garrett. After his appointment was approved, Garrett said he takes the appointment seriously.

Bill Garrett

He said he started his pilot training in 2016 and finished it in 2017.

Following regular reports from the City Administrator and Council, Mayor Jones administered the Oath of Office to newly elected 2nd Ward Councilman Harlan Sisco. He’s lived in Atlantic for 11-years.

Next up was Dana Halder, who had previously served on the City Council. Mayor Jones welcomed Halder back to the Council. He won the 5th Ward seat over Richard “Dick” Casady during the Nov. 2nd election. Halder recalled his time on the Council, and how Garrett took over his seat in 2019

Mayor Jones then presented Mayor Elect Grace Garrett with her own gavel made by Atlantic resident Steve Livengood.

Mayor Dave Jones & Mayor Elect Grace Garrett.

Dave Jones credited his wife Rosie for supporting him over the years he’s served in public office. Mayor Elect Garrett presented the couple with a gift.

Rosie and Dave Jones

The Atlantic City Council will fill Garrett’s former At Large seat by appointment. The public has the right to petition for a special election within fourteen days after the appointment is made or the notice is published, whichever is later, and contains enough signatures of eligible electors of the city.

(Radio Iowa) – The supply chain shortage has had an impact on all types of materials right down to our favorite morning treats and carbonated beverages. Ankeny-based Casey’s convenience stores president, Darren Rebelez recently talked about the issue during a conference call with investors. He says getting supplies for their morning prepared food was one of the biggest challenges.

“We had some suppliers with donuts in particular who weren’t able to meet our needs — and so we were out of stock on some key top sellers. And that certainly impacted that category,” Rebelez says. It also became an issue for fountain beverages when cups were not always available.

“With dispensed beverages and fountain cups, when the cup is not there, we don’t believe we are losing that guest. We believe the guest will take a look at that — see that they don’t have a cup — and then they’ll walk two or three steps over to the cooler and pull out the beverage that they would have bought on the fountain,” he says. Rebelez doesn’t think they lost a sale either to every customer who couldn’t get their favorite donut.

“We definitely believe that there are some bakery guests who come in, maybe not found exactly what they were looking for in the prepared foods case, and moved over to the center of the store and made another purchase,” according to Rebelez. He says that showed up in increased sales of their prepacked donuts and other bakery items.

Rebelez says the lack of some supplies continued throughout the second quarter.

(Radio Iowa) – A 20-year-old Des Moines man will spend the next 12 years in federal prison for his role in transporting drugs from Mexico to Iowa. According to a news release from the federal prosecutor’s office, Jack Mazariegos-Galicia picked up kilos of meth in Mexico from an organization linked to a drug cartel. He was caught in a traffic stop in central Iowa in June of 2020.

Court records indicate a search found nearly five-thousand grams of pure “ice” methamphetamine in the vehicle.

(Radio Iowa) – House Speaker Pat Grassley says with a billion dollars sitting in the state’s Taxpayer Relief Fund, cutting personal income taxes — as quickly as possible — is the goal for House Republicans.  “We want to get that back in the economy,” Grassley says. The state’s economic emergency fund and cash reserve are full. Another account, called the Taxpayer Relief Fund, has more than a billion dollars because state tax revenue soared past official estimates. Grassley says Iowa is in an enviable position.

“This is good news when you look at other states. We have a billion dollars,” Grassley says. “Now we have to decide: ‘How’s it going to go back?’ We’re looking at, in lifetime, record inflation and other things that are going on, so we want to provide that relief to Iowans as quickly as possible, but I also think we need to do it in a way that we’re not necessarily picking winners and losers.” Fellow Republicans in the Iowa Senate AND Governor Kim Reynolds are all exploring tax cutting ideas, but no one is ready to reveal the details.

“We’re not all in agreement on one bill, but I think we are in agreement we want to continue to lower the rates on Iowans, so I think that being the goal, it’ll work itself out.” Business groups are pressing for a reduction in the state’s CORPORATE income tax as well. “While the number of a corporate tax rate may give some folks some sticker shock, don’t forget in Iowa we have some very, very what I would call aggressive credits and other things that we use to help incentivize business growth.”

A few years ago, Grassley led discussion of reducing the corporate tax rate IF the tax CREDITS were reduced as well, but could not find enough support to make those changes. The 2022 legislative session begins January 10th.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports a traffic stop Sunday on an SUV resulted in the driver’s arrest. 77-year-old Sandra Kay Aparo, of Clarinda, was arrested for OWI/1st Offense. She  was transported to the Page County Jail and held on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Sheriff’s Department reports two arrests took place last week. On the 16th, 57-year-old Donald Duane Worth, of Lewis, was arrested in Adair, by Adair Police, for OWI/1st offense. He was taken into custody following a traffic stop at around 8:40-p.m., for failure to operate headlights and taillights. During the traffic stop, and while running Worth’s registration information, the Adair Police Officer noticed Worth pour something out his vehicle.

Worth admitted the substance was whiskey and water, and that he had consumed a couple of drinks at a bar, and that he stopped at the Kum and Go in Adair to get some food, before driving back to his semi truck. The Officer conducted a Field Sobriety Test on Worth, along with a Preliminary Breath Test (PBT), the results of which showed a breath alcohol content of .162%.  Worth was taken into custody soon thereafter, and transported to the Sheriff’s Office. He was released later that same night on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

And, on Dec. 12th, 26-year-old Aspen Renee Riley, of Bridgewater, was temporarily arrested in Bridgewater, for Driving While Barred. She was released at the scene with a citation.

DES MOINES – The Iowa Department of Corrections (IDOC) today (Monday) announced that the statewide, independent external review of its prison system is complete. Following the tragic events of March 23, 2021, the IDOC conducted the state’s standard bidding process to bring in an independent, outside organization to perform an in-depth security review of its prison system. Once the bidding process was complete, CGL Companies, a nationally recognized corrections consulting firm, was selected to lead the review.

Commenting on the completion of the external review, IDOC Director Beth Skinner said the following: “The completion of this review is the next step in improving the safety and security of operations in this department. There are challenges that lie before us but they are an opportunity to build upon our efforts that lead the country.”

Director Skinner went on to say, “I am thankful for CGL’s professionalism and hard work throughout this process. We look forward to carefully analyzing their findings and working hand-in-hand with our facilities around the state to implement them. The events that took place in Anamosa earlier this year were an unimaginable tragedy, and we continue to work through it together as a corrections family. I am confident that the completion of this review is another positive step in the right direction for this department.”

A summary of the findings and recommendations of the external review can be found here. The IDOC has also made available an updated timeline of safety and security measures implemented at the Anamosa State Penitentiary since March 23, 2021. A copy of that document can be found here.