ATLANTIC, Iowa – The Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO) hosted members, staff, and supporters for their 50^th Anniversary Celebration and Annual Meeting on Thursday, September 25^th at the C.G. Cass County Community Center in Atlantic. The gathering included dinner, annual report presentation, partnership awards, and the Inaugural Ron Kohn Servant Leadership Award presentation.

SWIPCO celebrated 50 years of impact on Southwest Iowa, moving from an initial budget of $45,000 and 2 employees in 1975 to a budget of $8 million dollars and 108 employees in fiscal year 2025. Some highlights include $300 million in total grants to the region, over 262 plans written for communities and counties, $90 million in grant funds for water and wastewater projects, 1,706 homes rehabilitated, over 384 homeowners assisted with down-payment funds, and 9,235,700 rides provided by Southwest Iowa Transit Agency.  The return on investment for SWIPCO member communities has been over $150 for every dollar invested in the agency.

Ron Kohn Servant Leadership Award Nominees (L-R): Kevin Cabbage, Steve Herrington, Grace Garrett, Carol Vinton, Angela Winther, Joanne Kohn (Ron’s Widow), Eric Johansen (Winner), Ryan Campbell, Kattie Lewis, John McCurdy (SWIPCO Executive Director).

Eight individuals were nominated for the Inaugural Ron Kohn Servant Leadership Award. The award was created to honor the legacy of the late Ron Kohn who was a Glenwood educator, Mayor, and Mills County Supervisor. Ron showed tremendous selfless leadership throughout his life, and the award shines a light on those that go above and beyond to serve the region, often without fanfare. The nominee class was Ryan Campbell, Mayor of Hastings; Carol Vinton, Former Mills County Supervisor; Kattie Lewis, SWITCH Tech Career Hub Director; Grace Garrett, Mayor of Atlantic; Steve Herrington, SWITA Driver; Kevin Cabbage, FMTC CEO; Angela Winther, Logan City Clerk; and Eric Johansen, Police Chief of Glenwood.

Each nominee was recognized for their work and ultimately Chief Eric Johansen was named the winner of the Ron Kohn Servant Leadership Award for 2025. Chief Johansen has served the Glenwood Police force as an Officer and Chief for over 30 years and has created many community-centric events and programs to bring residents together. He started a Cultivate Community event that is very popular, recently launched a junior cadet program, driver safety courses for youth, and serves on the Mills County Chamber Foundation Board. Chief Johansen was nominated by former Mills County Chamber Director and current realtor Jennie Davis. Davis introduced Chief Johansen and Ron’s widow Joanne Kohn was there to present the award and congratulate all the nominees.

(L-R): Joanne Kohn, Widow of Ron Kohn; Eric Johansen, Ron Kohn Servant Leadership Award Winner; John McCurdy, SWIPCO Executive Director.

Eight partnership awards were presented in recognition of individuals, organizations, and businesses that help SWIPCO achieve their goals of serving the residents of Southwest Iowa.

Iowa DOT Office of Public Transit for their continued support of SWITA’s operations and working to make public transit the best it can be in the State of Iowa.

Nishna Valley YMCA for their many project partnerships with SWIPCO for facilities and youth transportation for preschool and other care programs.

Snyder & Associates, Inc. for their collaboration on over 100 projects with SWIPCO over the years. Helping make ideas come to life with plans for execution.

Atlantic Media- KJAN Radio, Atlantic News-Telegraph, and KSOM/KS 95.7 Radio for their continued support of informing the region of SWIPCO and SWITA’s projects and services. We are blessed to be so well represented by willing information providers.

(L-R): Bill Saluk, KSOM; Mandy Billings, KSOM; Tom Robinson, KSOM; Brian Rathjen, Atlantic News Telegraph; John McCurdy, SWIPCO Executive Director; Christian Adams, KJAN; Jack McGonigal, KJAN; Jim Field, KJAN.

Sherry Kuntz, Senator Charles Grassley’s Office for being a tireless advocate for our needs in Washington, D.C. Sherry is always very informed on our issue topics and is a strong advocate for the services SWIPCO and SWITA provides.

Iowa West Foundation for their continued funding support of many projects throughout the region. SWIPCO works often with projects that involve Iowa West Foundation funds and has been blessed to receive grants in the past three years for housing rehabilitation from Iowa West.

Danelle Bruce, Disability Access Point for partnership and advocacy for SWITA transportation to assist those with mental health service needs. She has long supported our work and helped coordinate services where needed to help the people of Southwest Iowa.

Tru Pro Construction for contract work helping make SWIPCO’s Lead Hazard Reduction grant work a success. They have been a major player in completing lead remediation in our lead projects over the past two years.

Also, during the meeting four SWIPCO employees were recognized for milestone work anniversaries. Awards were presented to Mike Ballinger, Safety Coordinator, for 5 years of service; Phil Richter, Building Inspector I, for 5 years of service; and Nicole Rhodes, Grants Specialist II, for 5 years of service. SWITA Driver of the Year Mike Ames was also recognized.

SWIPCO is proud of the accomplishments of the past 50 years and looks forward to helping the region continue to thrive moving forward. SWIPCO, founded in 1975, is a council of governments serving eight counties in Southwest Iowa with public transportation, community development, and housing assistance. Counties served are Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, and Shelby.

SWIPCO is an equal opportunity employer, provider, and lender.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Kiwanis have donated $5,000 to Vision Atlantic’s transformative project, which will bring a housing development, new child development center, and YMCA expansion to Atlantic.

Pictured: Members of Atlantic Kiwanis and Vision Atlantic.

Vision Atlantic, through extensive research and surveying of the community and surrounding region, identified three areas that will help increase Atlantic’s population: expanded childcare, quality housing and quality of life amenities. Infrastructure for the 142 mixed unit Camblin Hills housing development and 300 capacity child development center is almost complete, with construction of 48 homes currently underway. Construction of the child development center and YMCA expansion is slated to begin early 2026.

Vision Atlantic has a fundraising goal of $39 million, which will be used to construct the YMCA expansion and child development center. To date, they have raised $26 million of that goal, thanks to an $8.6 million lead grant from the Charles E. Lakin Foundation and significant support from local donors. In addition to their grant support, the Lakin Foundation has created a separate investment fund of $23 million that will be used to construct homes in the Camblin Hills housing development. The capital will be used as a line of credit, and as the dollars are paid back, the Foundation will donate up to 5% of the interest paid back to Vision Atlantic, who will use those dollars to operate the child development center.

Vision Atlantic’s Project Committee is actively working to secure the remaining $13 million needed to meet their fundraising goal. If you are interested in helping transform Atlantic, whether it’s through monetary donations or acts of volunteerism, please contact Vision Atlantic at visionatlanticiowa@gmail.com. Visit www.visionatlantic.org and follow on Facebook for behind-the-scenes access to project updates and in-depth information of the project scope.

Vision Atlantic is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose mission is to empower growth, enhance lives, and build a thriving community together through the economic development of Atlantic, Iowa.

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Des Moines Public School Board voted Saturday to place Superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts on administrative leave after he was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, on Friday. According to KCCI-TV, the vote during Saturday’s (Sept. 27th) special meeting was 7-0.

Their action means Matt Smith, former associate superintendent, will continue as interim superintendent until further notice.

Prior to Saturday’s vote, the board told KCCI that they were aware of a previous gun charge Roberts received in Pennsylvania before he was hired. However, the district said Roberts provided “sufficient context and explanation of the situation to move forward in the hiring process.” The district says it was not aware of a May 2024 order of removal against Roberts, which required him to leave the United States.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Red Oak Police, Saturday (Today), report the arrest of 30-year-old Luis Rodriguez. The man was arrested in the 1200 block of Senate Avenue for Public Intoxication. Rodriguez was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Two juvenile males were arrested in Red Oak, following an investigation into information the Red Oak Police Department received Friday, regarding threats that were made in the Red Oak School District. Red Oak Police, today (Saturday), said the juveniles were charged with Threat of Terrorism. Authorities said it is believed this was an isolated incident, and there is no on-going threat related to the incident. Additional information was not provided, except to say the Red Oak P-D thanks the Red Oak School District for their cooperation during the investigation.,

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Finance Authority is sending more than one million dollars to homelessness prevention programs across the state to help fill a gap left behind by expiring federal COVID assistance. Emily Harvey is the Executive Director of the Muscatine Center for Social Action and says the Finance Authority is giving them around 100-thousand dollars.

They are losing 600-thousand federal dollars.

Here is a listing of the other recipients:
Central Iowa Shelter & Services: Rolling Hills Jasper, Poweshiek, Warren, Marion,
Mahaska, Lucas, Monroe, Wapello, Jefferson, Wayne, Appanoose, Davis, Van
Buren, Keokuk, Iowa ($65,000)
City of Sioux City Siouxland Coalition to End Homelessness (Woodbury County) ($104,000)
Community Solutions of Eastern Iowa: Clinton, Delaware, Dubuque, Jackson ($80,600)
Crisis Intervention & Advocacy Center:Harrison, Shelby, Audubon, Cass, Mills,
Montgomery, Fremont, Page; Guthrie, Dallas, Adair, Madison, Adams, Union, Clarke, Taylor, Ringgold, Decatur $145,600
Family Crisis Centers, Inc. Northwest Iowa: Carroll, Cherokee, Crawford, Ida, Lyon,
Monona, O’Brien, Osceola, Plymouth, Sioux ($65,000))
Friends of the Family Northeast Iowa: Black Hawk, Grundy, Tama; Cerro Gordo, Floyd, Franklin, Hancock, Kossuth,Mitchell, Winnebago, Worth; Allamakee, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Chickasaw, Clayton, Fayette, Howard, Winneshiek ($210,600)
Heartland Family Service Threshold Continuum of Care Pottawattamie County ($65,000)
Humility Homes and Services, Inc Quad Cities Bi-State Scott County ($65,000)
Muscatine Center for Social Action Southeast Iowa Cedar, Muscatine, Louisa, Henry, Des
Moines, Lee ($104,000)
Primary Health Care, Inc. Polk County Continuum of Care Polk ($80,600)
Shelter House Johnson/Washington Johnson, Washington ($104,000)
Shelter Housing Corporation The Bridge Home, Two Rivers Boone, Marshall, Story, Hardin, Greene County ($65,000)
Upper Des Moines Opportunity, Inc.: Des Moines Buena Vista, Calhoun, Clay, Dickinson,
Emmet, Hamilton, Humboldt, Palo Alto, Pocahontas, Sac, Webster, Wright County. ($80,600)
Waypoint Services Linn/Benton/Jones Linn, Benton, Jones ($65,000)
Institute for Community Alliances Statewide ($35,000)

(Radio Iowa) – Immigration agents detained the superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district this (Friday) morning in Des Moines and federal authorities say he is being held a western Iowa jail. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says in May of last year an immigration judge had ordered that Des Moines superintendent Ian Roberts be removed from the country. Federal officials say Roberts entered the U-S from Guyana in 1999 on a student visa, was not authorized to work in the U-S, and had been charged will illegally possessing weapons in 2020. Records indicate Roberts had a loaded handgun, three-thousand dollars cash and a hunting knife when he was arrested. Three officials with the Des Moines school district spoke to the media this (Friday) afternoon, but did not take questions. Jackie Norris, chair of the school board, says Roberts had been an educator in other states for 20 years when he got a state license to lead the Des Moines district in July of 2023.

Norris praised the superintendent’s work in the district and did not directly address the information released by the U-S Department of Homeland Security.

Norris began her brief remarks by quoting Roberts

Matt Smith, appointed interim superintendent Friday, said Roberts’ arrest will not stop the district’s important work with and for students.

Smith quoted Roberts at the end of his prepared remarks.

Des Moines School district spokesman Phil Roederer told reporters the district is dealing with a legally complex and developing situation. A spokesperson for Governor Kim Reynolds said the governor is aware Roberts was taken into custody and is in contact with state and federal authorities. According to the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Roberts was arrested after fleeing ICE agents who initiated a traffic stop.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn says Senate Democrats need to drop their objections to the bill he and other House Republicans approved in mid-September — so the federal government doesn’t shut down October 1st.

That includes two-thousand Iowa National Guard soldiers who are currently deployed in the Middle East.

Nunn says he’ll refuse to accept his congressional pay during a shutdown, if there is one. Senate Democrats have been pressing to add an extension of the federal subsidies for insurance policies purchased on the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Nunn says it’s an issue congress should consider later.

Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart says if those tax credits expire on December 31st, it will create a health care crisis.

Nick Larson, a farmer from Walker, gets insurance through the Affordable Care Act for himself, his wife and three children.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says she visited the border crossing between Israel and Gaza during her recent trip to the Middle East.

Ernst, a Republican from Red Oak who served 22 years in the Iowa National Guard, says the fuel appears to be more important than the food.

In August, the World Health Organization — an agency of the United Nations — reported half a million people in Gaza were trapped in famine. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the United Nations Thursday morning. Ernst met with Netanyahu earlier this month during her overseas trip. It was shortly before Israel escalated its attacks on Gaza City.

Two Americans are among the hostages still being held in Gaza.

Ernst made stops in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Iraq as well as Israel during her overseas trip and she was able to meet with Iowa National Guard soldiers who’ve been deployed to the Middle East.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says former F-B-I Director James Comey ought to be held accountable if he lied to a senate committee. Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson reports.