(Red Oak, IA) – Following a presentation from representatives with the Red Oak Chapter of Altrusa, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, today (Tuesday), approved a request from the non-profit organization to place a durable bench on the southeast side of the Courthouse lawn, in Red Oak. Altrusa member Rosalie Hansen has been with the local chapter for 35-years. She said the organization’s mission is to improve communities through leadership, partnership and service. The local chapter has 40 members and three Emeritus members.

The bench they want to donate will be placed on a 5 1/2-inch thick, ground-level concrete slab. The powdercoated red metal bench from Red Oak Fabrication will feature the organization’s logo, and 100-years of service. There will also be a planter nearby. It’s intended to be maintenance-free. The Board approved the request unanimously.

MC-BOS meeting 2-24-26

In other business, the Montgomery County Supervisors held a public hearing on the proposed vacation and closure of Locust Avenue (an unimproved Street) in the unincorporated town of Hawthorne. Following the hearing – during which there were no comments – the Board passed a resolution vacating the road as described. The Board also discussed and then denied the abatement of mobile home taxes on two lots. They discussed and then approved a portion of a draft 28E agreement for law enforcement services with the City of Villisca. The County’s contribution will be $45,000 for two-years. Under the contract, the sheriff’s office would provide three hours of coverage per day to the community. Attorneys with both Villisca and the county must review the agreement before returning to the supervisors for final approval.

Their final order of business was to acknowledge the receipt of a Multi-County 28E agreement with the Juvenile Detention Center and Emergency Juvenile Services.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says tonight’s (Tuesday) State of the Union Address will certainly cover topics like tariffs and the economy, immigration, health care and more, but some Iowa-specific items may also make the president’s list.

“I would hope that he would talk about agriculture,” Grassley says. “Now, that may only be about five to ten-percent of the Iowans that are involved in agriculture, but it’s the most important industry in Iowa.” Grassley, a Republican, says President Trump will likely tout how people who are in the process of filling out their tax returns will see a big increase in their withholding this year, thanks to passage of the Working Families Tax Act. He also hopes the president will discuss transportation. “Maybe since the Highway Bill that I voted for in 2021 runs out this year, and we still have a lot of work to do to improving the safety of Iowa’s bridges,” Grassley says, “maybe the Highway Reauthorization Bill would be on his agenda, because that’s a very important issue for rural America.”

Grassley says his guest at the address tonight will be Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Uhl from the Iowa Air National Guard’s 185th Air Refueling Wing in Sioux City.

(Des Moines, Iowa, February 24, 2026) – U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development’s Iowa State Director Michael Sexton today announced that the agency is awarding a total of $19 million for two projects to improve electric infrastructure in Iowa. In southwest Iowa, Southwest Iowa Rural Electric Cooperative received an $11 million loan through the Electric Infrastructure Loan and Loan Guarantee Program. The project will finance conversion and line changes, substation, switching station, metering line changes, and distribution equipment. Southwest Iowa Rural Electric Cooperative is a non-profit, member-owned electric utility and serves the needs of approximately 6,000 members with over 2,500 miles of energized line in Adair, Adams, Cass, Decatur, Fremont, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Ringgold, Taylor, and Union counties.

In northeastern Iowa, the Butler County Rural Electric Cooperative received an $8 million loan through the Electric Infrastructure Loan and Loan Guarantee Program. The project will finance distribution facilities and improvements including new underground and overhead connections, tie-lines, line conversions, transformers and meters, service changes, line sectionalizing equipment, line regulators, pole replacements, as well as security lights. The project will include 9.5 miles of new consumer lines and 146.4 miles of line improvements. Butler County Rural Electric Cooperative is a member-owned electric utility that has been active since December 24,1936. The co-op serves over 5,000 customers with 1,864 energized miles throughout seven counties in the eastern part of Iowa, including Bremer, Butler, Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw, Fayette, Floyd, and Franklin.

“At USDA, we are on a mission to improve the reliability and the affordability of our shared electrical infrastructure,” said Sexton. “Under the leadership of President Trump and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, USDA is using its capital to upgrade and expand Iowa’s power grid to boost economic productivity and to make life better for us.”

(Creston, IA) – The Creston Police Department reports the arrest Monday morning on a felony drug charge, of 60-year-old Deborah Lynn Graham, of Creston. Graham was taken into custody a little before 11-a.m. at the intersection of W. Union and New York Ave. She was charged with Possession of A Controlled Substance – 3^rd or Subsequent Offense (FELD). Graham was taken to the Union County Jail, and later posted a $5,000 cash or surety bond, before being released.

(Atlantic, IA) – Cass County Democrats have scheduled an event for this weekend intended to inform people about what those serving on county boards and commissions do, and how you can serve in those types of positions if you are so inclined. The event, “Interested in Running?” takes place Saturday, Feb. 28th, from 10-until 11-a.m., at the Atlantic Public Library (507 Poplar St., in Atlantic). The event is free, non-partisan, and open to the public. All people, regardless of party affiliation, are encouraged to attend. Panelists scheduled to share their experiences include Russell Joyce, Mary Ward, Jody Lorence, Denise O’Brien, and a representative for the Cass County Agricultural Extension Council.

• Russell Joyce will be speaking predominantly about the County Supervisor position. He started his public service career as a township trustee, served on the Cass County Extension Council, spent time as an Assistant Soil and Water Commissioner, followed by two terms on the Board of Supervisors, before becoming the Cass Atlantic Development Corporation (CADCO) Director. He retired from that position in 2018; The County Supervisor positions for District 2 (incumbent Mark O’Brien) and District 3 (incumbent Wendy Richter) are on the ballot this November.
• Mary Ward is running again for the position of Cass County Recorder in this year’s upcoming election. She has held the position since November of 2014.
• Jody Lorence has actively served on the Cass Health Board of Trustees since 2018 including serving in the role of Board Secretary. Jody’s position on the Board of Trustees will be on the November ballot this year along with those of Julie Pollock, Michael Klocke, and Roger Herring.
• Cass County Agricultural Extension Council members serve four-year terms, and the following seats will be on the November ballot: incumbents David York, Bradley Pellett, Jeb Peck, Chad Becker, and Todd Weppler.
• Lastly, Denise O’Brien will serve as the panelist for the Cass County Soil and Water Conservation District Board. Denise served as Assistant Soil and Water Conservation Commissioner in the years 2018 through 2021. Soil and Water Conservation District positions which are on the ballot this fall are for the seats of incumbents John Hansen (Grove Township) and Greg Zellmer (Pymosa Township).

Other local positions on the ballot this fall are: Cass County Treasurer (Tracey Marshall); County Attorney (incumbent Vanessa Strazdas); Edna Township Trustees (incumbents Kevin Stender, Patrick Erickson); Edna Township Clerk (incumbent Travis Erickson); Union Township Trustees (incumbents Richard Hoffman, Clark Gerlock); and Union Township Clerk (incumbent Cheryl Christensen).

Doors will open at 9:45 a.m. on Saturday. Light refreshments will be provided. For more information on the Cass County Democrats, or to join the Cass County Democrats email newsletter, contact casscountyiadems@gmail.com or follow the Cass County Democrats on Facebook @CassCountyIADems.

(Radio Iowa) – The leader of one of the businesses that will benefit from a new state economic development program is providing more details about their plans. Vermeer Corporation in Pella is receiving incentives from the Business Incentives for Growth or BIG program. Vermeer C-E-O Jason Andringa says they are building a new 300-thousand square foot state-of-the-art plant in Bondurant to build parts for it trenchers and drilling equipment.

“For trenchers, the booms, and the cutting teeth that a trencher uses to make a trench. For horizontal directional drilling, which is an incredibly important product line for Vermeer, it’s the tooling that goes on the front of the drill stem and the tooling that opens up the hole,” he says. Andringa says the facility will also include machining, welding, painting and assembly functions to give Vermeer Des Moines versatility to meet a continually growing demand, including new generations of equipment, from their Utility, Tree Care and Landscape product line ups. Andringa says their Des Moines operations began in the spring of 2023 by leasing a 108-thousand square foot facility, but now need more space. He says the Des Moines metro also supplies more employees.

“And here in Pella, I would say that the size of our facility has more or less fully occupied the workforce that is available within a driving distance of Pella,” Andringa says. “With our experiment in Des Moines, we are able to tap into a much greater pool of workforce. And that’s what we need.” The IEDA says the new Vermeer plant in Bondurant promises to create 182 jobs with a capitol investment of nearly 103 million dollars. Vermeer Corporation is family-owned and began an agricultural equipment manufacturer, with 80 percent of its business now focused on industrial equipment.

Other companies that were awarded incentives under the BIG program include: Arconic aluminum of Davenport for a casting facility in Bettendorf, CCB Packaging in Hiawatha for an automated production line for packaging it provides to food and pharmaceutical companies, Sewer Equipment Company of America in Illinois plans to purchase a facility in Iowa to manufacture its sewer cleaning and vacuum equipment components, and Revolution Concrete Mixers in Minnesota will purchase an existing facility in Waverly and install approximately eight million dollars in equipment to establish new production and assembly operations.

(Radio Iowa) – The State Transportation Commission is discussing cutting a portion of the D-O-T’s snow removal budget. D-O-T Winter Operations director Craig Bargfrede says they haven’t been as busy as past years. “The last two years and what not, have shown us…we just didn’t have as much winter,” Bargfrede says. The storm last week dropped large amounts of snow across the state, but Bargfrede says it hasn’t been consistently busy all winter. “From a materials standpoint, we haven’t had to utilize as much of the budget for materials as we had previously. And so, yeah, there’s been a lot of discussions focused around the budget,” he says. D-O-T staff told the Transportation Commission at their meeting early this month they are looking at a one million dollar cut in the winter budget for materials like salt and sand.

Bargfrede says he thought the dry winter trend had turned around until we got into the new year. “The way our winter started this year, I thought, ‘oh boy, hold on to your hat.’ You know, we could be in for one of these winters,” he says. “And I certainly didn’t anticipate that when January came around, that we were basically going to shut everything off and hardly get any snow at all in the month of January.” Bargfrede says they don’t have to worry about salt and sand spoiling if it isn’t needed. “There’s really no shelf life to those materials. So yes, we can carry that over into the next fiscal year and the next winter season,” he says.

The Transportation Commission will look at making that snow removal materials adjustment when they approve the next budget.

(Radio Iowa) – The American Gothic House Center in Eldon, which sits beside the tiny home that inspired Grant Wood’s famous painting, will see a major expansion with a 412-thousand dollar federal grant. Third District Congressman Zach Nunn touted the southeast Iowa landmark as a “mandatory stop” for anyone traveling through the state and says he’s thrilled to have played a role in landing the money for the addition.

Nunn says, “This facility will also able to be used not just for American Gothic but for both the city and the county and the entire state as a resource learning opportunity.” Nunn says he pushed for the investment in Eldon which out-shined hundreds of thousands of other communities to get the funding through the U-S-D-A’s Rural Development program. The facility will be adding an educational learning center that will be able to host up to 100 learners of all ages. Center administrator Cari Nicely outlined her vision for the expansion. “I think it’s an important place for the community to be able to come together and feel safe to send their kids there for programs,” Nicely says. “Recently, I was asked, ‘Where do you go in Eldon to meet the locals and to really find out about the people?’ I want that to be the sentiment in this new classroom.”

Nicely hopes the new addition will be open by the 2027 tourist season.

DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – The Iowa House passed a measure Monday to make the current pilot program providing free child care for child care workers permanent.

Iowa’s Child Care Assistance (CCA) program is available to parents with a gross monthly income below 250% the federal poverty level, if they are gone during the week days due to their job, schooling, vocational training or state PROMISE JOBS activities. However, Iowans working at least 32 hours a week in the child care field have also been able to access the CCA program outside of the income restrictions through a pilot program implemented in 2023 and extended in subsequent years.

House File 2514, passed 86-3, would make this program permanent. Rep. Ryan Weldon, R-Ankeny, said since July 2023, 2,105 families have received child care through the CCA pilot program, with the average family receiving support being at 302% of the federal poverty level. The funding for the program has come, and will continue to draw from the state’s Child Care Development Fund, which Weldon said had $112 million in the previous fiscal year, with a projection of carrying forward $107 million in FY 2026 and $91 million in FY 2027, alongside federal funds.

According to the Legislative Services Agency fiscal note, the bill would have an estimated cost of $11.7 million in FY 2027 — with the state paying $7 million — and $12.1 million in FY 2028, with the state paying $7.3 million. The bill was amended to require an annual report on state and federal costs, the number of participating families and children and the average household income of those receiving the CCA program support.

Rep. Tracy Ehlert, D-Cedar Rapids, said she was “excited” the bill was introduced, as it was a proposal House Democrats have introduced in previous legislative sessions and Iowans working in child care have called for lawmakers to approve.

Another proposal — which survived the first legislative funnel as House Study Bill 623 and Senate Study Bill 3111 — also contains language to codify the CCA pilot program. These companion bills are the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services’ larger proposal making changes to the state’s child care system, including a shift in some funding from the Early Childhood Iowa system to HHS.