(Radio Iowa) – Classes have been cancelled for a fourth day at Des Moines Area Community College due to what DMACC officials call a “data security incident.” House Speaker Pat Grassley says the Information Technology Committee he established in the House in December spent the past few months working on the governor’s broadband initiative, but will now focus on cyber security issues.

“As you’ve seen more and more incidents happen across the country, whether it’s pipelines, meatpacking — any of those kinds of critical infrastructure needs, we have a situation in the House where we have a committee that will make that part of what they will look at and be working on between now and the upcoming session,” Grassley says.

DMACC’s president says it does not appear student or faculty data has been compromised by the security breach. The school has outside security experts and the F-B-I working on the case, but has not described it as a ransomware attack.

OSKALOOSA, Iowa – June 8, 2021 –  The Iowa Transportation Commission today approved more than $7 million in funding for 78 new public transit vehicles that will replace vehicles past their useful life. Funds are granted through the Federal Transit Administration’s Grants for Bus and Bus Facilities Formula Program as well as the Federal Highway Administration’s Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program.

Vehicle replacement projects were approved for 21 different public transit systems, including Council Bluffs, which is receiving $951,374. Creston and Carroll are also receiving funds (in amounts of $337,272 and $257,361, respectively) for bus replacements, The complete list of funded vehicles can be found at https://iowadot.gov/transit/Funding-programs-and-applications/funding-programs.

Public transit is vital to enhancing the mobility of Iowans, getting them where they need to go.  Iowa has public transit service in all 99 counties.

With Ric Hanson.

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(Atlantic) – A northwest Iowa man who announced in mid-February his bid for the U-S Senate, was in the Cass County area Monday afternoon. Iowa Republican Senator Jim Carlin, from Sioux City, plans to run for Chuck Grassley’s seat, regardless of the senior senator’s decision on running. The 87-year old Grassley is serving his seventh term in office. He has not yet announced if he will seek re-election. A recent Iowa Poll by the Des Moines Register and Mediacom, shows that most Iowans don’t want Senator Chuck Grassley to seek another term.

Carlin told KJAN News, he commends some of the work Grassley has done in office, especially on the last Supreme Court nomination that Carlin stood behind, but he still has concerns about the direction the country is going.

He says the country is “Not going in the right direction,” with regard to our freedoms. Carlin is a trial lawyer and Veteran of the Army, serving from 1983-85. He served in a Field Artillery Unit in Ft. Lewis, Washington, and set up a solo law office in Sioux City in 1992, specializing in medical malpractice and injury litigation. Carlin has served in the Iowa Senate since 2017. Carlin says he stands behind former President Trump’s assertion election fraud was the reason for Joe Biden’s win in November, 2020.

**FILE** Shown in this Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, file photo is State Rep. Jim Carlin, R-Sioux City, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Carlin says “”When there’s evidence of fraud, the people of this country rely on [their leaders] to pursue the truth and define where the problems are, where the leaks are, and to hold people accountable.”

As for his accomplishments in the Iowa Legislature, Carlin says who served one-year in the house and won a Special Election in the Senate, says they were able to get some “Good things done” in the just ended legislative session.

Carlin says if Senator Grassley does not decide to retire, HE won’t drop out of the race.

A Creston man reported to police, Monday, that sometime during the early morning hours on Monday, someone vandalized his vehicle with spray paint, while it was parked at his residence in the 700 block of N. Mulberry Street, in Creston. The damage was estimated at $500.

The 7:07-a.m. broadcast news, from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Members of the Atlantic School Board will meet in a regular session that begins 6-p.m. Wednesday (June 9), in the High School Media Center. On their agenda is action on:

• Resignations, including: Elizabeth Reid, TLC Instructional Coach, and, Pamela Klar, Bus Monitor/Car Driver.
• Contract Recommendations for: Bryce Smith, Assistant 9th Grade Football Coach, and Derek Hall, Head Boys Basketball Coach.
• The 1st reading of Revised Board Polices – 800 Series: The only real change is increasing the value of inventory requirements, from $1,500 to $2,500. (See other policies in the chart below).
• The Board will also act on 2021-22 TLC Contracts: approving the list of 19 teachers and TLC roles they will serve in 2021-22, at a cost of $94,985, to be budgeted for through the General Fund for Teacher Leader Compensation Funds.
• A phone system upgrade. NishnaNet has proposed to replace the District’s current, antiquated phone system with an IPO system that will serve multiple purposes of communication, both internally and externally. It will also provide notice of incoming calls, without interfering with learning in the classroom. The cost of the system is $46,350.
• and “Return to Learn” Plan modifications. Superintendent Steve Barber says “Even though our plan is basically resuming back to our pre-Covid procedures and practices, [with the exception of] cleaning procedures we still need to maintain our plan as documentation.”

The Atlantic School Board is also set to receive a special presentation from High School Principal Heather McKay, Alyssa Dovenspike and Sarah Rose, with regard to [student] College and Career Readiness. They will also receive an Athletic Facilities Project update.

(Radio Iowa) – Students from three Iowa high schools are among 100 teams nationwide competing in this month’s American Rocketry Challenge. It’s the Aerospace Industry Association’s flagship program, designed to encourage students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math. Jayce Abens is one of six members on the team from Webster City High School which will compete in the finals in Dayton, Ohio. “We compete to fly to a specific altitude and flight time, which they give us at the beginning of the season,” Abens says. “This year, we’re flying to 800 feet and 40 to 43 seconds.”

Photo via Rocketcontest.org

Each rocket is carrying fragile cargo. “We carry one egg as a payload,” he says. “It can’t be broken at all, otherwise, you’re disqualified.” After many months of test launches, the practice paid off as the team’s qualifying numbers were exceptional. “This year, we qualified with a score of 15 off of three qualifying flights,” Abens says. “We get a point per foot off of our altitude and four points per second out of the time range. We were right on time and just a few feet off for each flight.”

The finals are ordinarily held in Washington D-C but due to the pandemic, they’re being held in ten different cities this year between June 11th and 20th. Teams from Maharishi High School in Fairfield and Cedar Falls High School will compete in the challenge in Brighton, Wisconsin. Webster City and Maharishi were both in the 2019 national finals as well, while the team from Maharishi is all-girls. In addition to competing for the title of national champion, teams are also competing for $100,000 in prizes.