ALTOONA, Iowa, Jan. 12, 2024 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director in Iowa Theresa Greenfield today announced that the Agency is awarding $14,943,812 in grants to three U.S. companies with locations in Iowa. The grants will increase the availability of domestic biofuels and give Iowans cleaner, more affordable fuel options at gas station pumps as part of President Biden’s Bidenomics agenda to lower costs and invest in America.

The Department is making the awards through the Higher Blends Infrastructure   Incentive Program (HBIIP), made possible with funding from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.

“The Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program provides grants to fueling station and distribution facility owners to help expand access to domestic biofuels. These grants will help owners install and upgrade their fueling pumps, dispensers, and storage tanks,” said Director Greenfield. “At over 75 fueling stations across Iowa, families will have more options and will have lower costs to purchase homegrown biofuels.”

Today’s announcement is part of a larger national announcement made by USDA Secretary Vilsack during his visit to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in Altoona on January 11^th. Secretary Vilsack was awarded the Lifetime Champion of Renewable Fuels Award by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association during the summit.

Award Recipients with Ties to Iowa

–Casey’s General Store Inc. received a $4,999,992 grant to create infrastructure to expand the sales and use of renewable fuels. Casey’s General Stores, Inc is the owner of more than 10 fueling stations. This project will install 456 E15 dispensers at 111fueling stations located in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Among the area Casey’s locations impacted by the grant, are those in: Atlantic, Carroll, Clarinda, Corning, Essex, Lenox, Mapleton, Onawa, Sidney, Villisca, Winterset, and Woodbine. Projections show the grant will serve to increase the amount of ethanol sold by 49,084,590 gallons per year.

–Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc. received a $4,943,820 grant to create infrastructure to expand the sales and use of renewable fuels. Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, Inc is the owner of more than 10 fueling stations. This project will retrofit 704 E15 dispensers at 88 fueling stations located in 17 states, including one in Sioux City, Iowa. The grant is projected to increase the amount of ethanol sold by 86,085,412 gallons per year.  As a core pillar of the President’s Investing in America agenda, the Inflation Reduction Act is the largest investment in climate action in history. It is also the largest single investment in rural electrification since the Rural Electrification Act of 1936.

–Bulk Petroleum Corporation received a $5,000,000 grant to create infrastructure to expand the sales and use of renewable fuels. Bulk Petroleum Corporation is the owner of more than 10 fueling stations. The project will install 73 E15 dispensers, including two in Davenport. The project aims to increase the amount of biofuels sold by 7,841,796 gallons per year.

(Radio Iowa) – Pam Jochum, the Democratic leader in the Iowa Senate, will not run for reelection. Jochum, who was chosen in June by Senate Democrats to be their leader, made the announcement this (Friday) morning. Jochum has represented Dubuque in the Iowa legislature since 1993, first as a member of the House and she’s been a state senator since 2009. Jochum served four years as Senate President when Democrats were in the majority. She’s one of three women to have served as senate president — but the only Democratic woman to do so.

“In my lifetime I’ve cracked a few ceilings. I’m not so sure they’re glass. Sometimes they feel like marble,” Jochum told Radio Iowa in December. “…In fact, I was the first woman from Dubuque to get elected to the Iowa legislature.”

Senate Minority Leader Pam Jochum (D-Dubuque) has announced she will not seek reelection. (Official photo)

Jochum, who is 69, said in a written statement released this (Friday) morning that she’s excited to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders.

Double click on the image to enlarge.

(Radio Iowa) – Much of Iowa is under a Blizzard Warning and the Iowa State Patrol is posting photos taken this (Friday) morning on its Facebook page of mangled cars on snow-packed roads to discourage motorists from venturing out. With heavy snow falling and strong winds, many areas are seeing white-out conditions. Woodbury County Emergency Management’s Michael Montino says everyone should think twice about going out the next few days. “This can be dangerous at times,” Montino says, “so we recommend that people take appropriate precautions and do what they can to keep themselves and their families safe.” Forget driving on the iffy roads, just going outside to shovel the walks or driveway is extremely risky, as he says the bitter cold is dangerous, especially with those strong winds.

“If you can avoid going out and traveling during this time, I would highly recommend staying indoors. It is going to be very, very cold, and we’re going to see those wind chills drop into the negatives,” Montino says. “As a result of that, I would recommend avoiding long-term exposure outside to avoid hypothermia and frostbite.” National Weather Service meteorologist Kristy Carter says storms of this magnitude are fairly rare and usually only occur once or twice per decade.

Crash on I-80 near Hickman Rd. in Des Moines (ISP Facebook photo)

“We’re already seeing plenty of blowing and drifting snow from what’s already fallen,” Carter says. “We’ve had rates around half an inch to an inch per hour at times through some of our stronger bands in central Iowa. So overall, conditions are pretty hazardous out there on the roadways with completely snow-covered roads.” Schools and businesses across Iowa are closing by the dozens and many churches are already calling off their Sunday services. One Des Moines TV station has a closing list 266 items long. Carter says it’ll be a good weekend to stay home and stay safe.

“We are going to be looking at dangerous temperatures that are going to be following all the snow, blowing snow, as we get into the weekend and early next week,” Carter says. “We have wind chills as low as 45 below zero, so some of the early mornings — Sunday and Monday — it’s gonna be dangerously cold out there.” Keep up with the changing forecast at weather-dot-gov.

LE MARS, Iowa (KCAU) — A former Iowa police chief who was accused of misusing his position to stalk his ex-girlfriend has been sentenced to what amounts to essentially one-month in jail. KCAU-TV in Sioux City says according to court documents, 55-year-old James Dunn, of Kingsley, was sentenced Jan. 8th. All six felony counts of unauthorized access to or dissemination of intelligence history were deferred with all but one fine of $1,025 being suspended.

On the three counts of non-felonius misconduct in office, a serious misdemeanor, he was sentenced to 364 days in jail on each count and to be served concurrently, but the sentence was suspended to 30 days in jail. The fines were also suspended. Dunn will also have to serve three years on probation.

Dunn started his jail sentence on Wednesday. Dunn pleaded guilty to the nine charges on Oct. 13, 2023, as part of a plea agreement. Two felony stalking charges, six misdemeanor counts of unauthorized access to or dissemination of criminal history data, and one felony count of unauthorized access to or dissemination of intelligence history data were dismissed as part of the agreement.

Dunn, the former Kingsley police chief, was in a relationship with his now ex-girlfriend before it ended in November 2022. He later learned in February of 2023 that she was in a new relationship. In the plea agreement, Dunn admitted to misusing his position as police chief to obtain intelligence data on his ex, her boyfriend, and the boyfriend’s roommate. Dunn was arrested on Feb. 15, 2023, on the 19 charges.

ONAWA, Iowa (KCAU) — The Monona County Sheriff’s Office said that a person of interest they were looking for is now in custody.  Thursday morning, the sheriff’s office asked for the public’s help to locate Derrick Lee Meadows, 36, as a person of interest as part of an investigation. As of 3:43 p.m., he was taken into custody. The sheriff’s office didn’t say what the case involved.

Derrick Meadows

In an earlier release, the sheriff’s office said they and the Iowa State Patrol Tactical Team executed a search warrant at 329 E. Main St. in Ute Thursday around 6 a.m.

Two people were arrested as part of the search warrant. They were identified as Lavelle Annet Meadows, 71, and Larry Lee Meadows, 69, both of Ute, on drug charges.  According to court documents, both Lavelle and Larry Meadows were charged with one count of controlled substance violation and one count of failure to affix a drug stamp, both class D felonies. Larry Meadows was also arrested on a warrant charging him with second-degree theft for a stolen vehicle in December.

Court documents state that a search warrant was served for an unrelated matter when authorities found “a marijuana grow” of six plants in the residence.

(Radio Iowa) – The Sioux City Community School District has won a federal grant of almost six-million dollars to buy 15 new school buses, what are considered “clean” buses. Shelly Reimer, a grant project officer with the U-S Environmental Protection Agency, says the grant process was very competitive and Sioux City stood out as an ideal candidate for the effort. “The Clean School Bus program is being funded by the bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides $5 billion over five years for schools to replace older diesel buses with new clean school buses,” Reimer says, “which includes electric school buses, propane and compressed natural gas.” The electric buses are proving to be the most popular option, according to Reimer, and she says the clean buses will help to improve the air quality for children and their families, as they’re low- or zero-emission vehicles.

“The diesel exhaust has particulate matter, emissions, nitrogen oxides,” Reimer says. “There’s definitely health benefits for the students and anybody who’s in and around or riding on the buses.” She says the E-P-A is hearing very positive feedback from other school districts that have already made the switch from diesel to electric buses. “They’re keeping their charge, they stay warm, they reliably start up in the morning — which can be an issue with the diesel buses when it gets extremely cold,” Reimer says. “Drivers like them. They’re very quiet.” In addition to being better for the environment, she says the clean buses will be cheaper for school districts to operate.

“There is a savings,” Reimer says. “The schools that are already operating electric buses in their fleet are definitely collecting data and we are hearing reports of significant cost savings in fuel.” Other Iowa school districts have a few weeks to apply for similar grants. The E-P-A is taking applications for the 2023 Clean School Bus Rebate Program through January 31st.

(Radio Iowa) – The final weekend of campaigning is ahead, leading up to what may be the chilliest evening ever for the Iowa Caucuses.  The candidates are fully aware of the forecast. Ron DeSantis says Floridians usually don’t go north in the winter. “I haven’t ever experienced negative 15 degrees in my life,” he said at an event Thursday. DeSantis says his winter coat is getting shipped up to Iowa from Tallahassee.

Nikki Haley is from South Carolina. “In October and November and December I’m like: ‘It’s cold!’ And everybody was like: ‘No, it’s really mild,'” Haley said Thursday morning. “I get it now.”

Iowa State University political science professor Dave Peterson says the temperatures will be a test of voters’ attitudes about the candidates. “You’re going to have to be pretty enthusiastic to go out there Monday night,” Peterson says. Peterson has been directing a monthly “Civiqs” poll for the past five months. In December, he described support for former President Trump as “durable.” Peterson is using the word “immovable” after this month’s poll. “Nothing’s changed,” Peterson said. “It’s an entirely stable race.”

Jean Schlichtemeier of West Des Moines is a Trump voter who went to see him in Newton last weekend. “I think the other candidates are just playing politics and we need someone who’s gutsy — and this man seems to have guts,” she said. In 2016, 37,000 Iowans who were Democrats registered as Republicans on Caucus Night in order to cast a straw poll vote for president. Mary Howard of Cedar Rapids says it’s hard to decide which party’s caucus she’ll attend this year. “I want to vote against Trump which would be the reason to go to the Republican Party thing,” Howard said at the end of December, “but I’m unsure of the candidates.”

There is one sure thing. The Caucuses will start at 7 p.m. Monday, regardless of the weather.