(Radio Iowa) – Ending chronic homelessness is the goal of an experiment in the Quad Cities. By mid-summer, Humility Homes and Services plans to launch what it’s calling the Supportive Housing Pilot Project. Spokesman Ryan Bobst says the project will provide a range of services to ten people for the next three years. “These are generally individuals who have experienced chronic homelessness,” Bobst says. “They’ve got a history of arrests, typically for trespassing, and then they also have a behavioral health disorder so they’re frequently in and out of our emergency shelter, in and out of the hospital, and in and out of jail.”

Funding for the pilot project comes from a pair of 100-thousand-dollar grants, from the Quad Cities Community Foundation and the Ryan Foundation of Omaha. Bobst says that’s a lot less than these ten people would cost in what’s referred to as “non-housing services.” “These ten individuals, over the same time period, would cost taxpayers nearly $1.8 million dollars by using emergency shelter, and jails, and being hospitalized for treatment,” Bobst says, “whereas we’re able to house them for a fraction of that cost.”

He says the ten participants will receive rental assistance, intensive case management, learn basic living skills, and get help with food and transportation. Humility Homes and Services is in its 31st year of offering transitional housing to homeless people in the Quad Cities.
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Iowans who received COVID stimulus checks earlier this year but don’t really need the cash are encouraged to help others who’ve been hurt by the pandemic. That’s the goal of a campaign in the Quad Cities called “Spread the Relief,” led by several religious and social service organizations. Rabbi Henry Karp, from the group One Human Family, says millions of Americans have lost their jobs, lost access to health care, and can’t afford food and housing, while others — like him — received a stimulus check but don’t really need it.

“Let’s pay it forward,” Karp says. “Let’s re-direct this money to where it needs to go, where it’s intended to go, to help save those in our society whose lives have been thrown in jeopardy.” Karp says he and his wife split up their stimulus check among 11 programs and agencies. One Human Family and the other groups have posted a long list of programs and agencies that could use donations to help people impacted by the pandemic. Other groups involved in the “Spread the Relief” campaign include the Diocese of Davenport’s Immigration Office, Quad Cities Interfaith, NAACP, and Progressive Action for the Common Good.

(Radio Iowa) – Sioux City’s 185th Air National Guard Refueling Wing has been participating with Air Guard units from Maine and Ohio in a first of its kind missile defense exercise in the United Kingdom. Major Noelle Jacobs is one of the Iowans taking part. “Part of the uniqueness of this mission is we can get with a unit from Ohio or Maine, as we have been this week, and work with them to get the mission done –whether it’s the maintainers we are using or the actual crews themselves,” Jacobs says. The exercise has more than three-thousand participants from the European nations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, the U-K and U-S.

The mission is hosted by the U-S Naval Sixth Fleet and the British Royal Navy in the Western Isles of Scotland and covers the areas of the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean. “It’s continuous conversation with people who are operating out of Germany. People who are operating out of Ramstein, Everybody is in a different location, so not everybody is coming out of Scotland, it’s just the K-C 135’s that are here,” according to Jacobs. She says weather has been a big issue.

“Obviously here in the United Kingdom we have a lot of inclement weather, so that’s one thing that’s affected us over the last week — trying to kind of roll with the changes of the every changing weather here,” Jacobs says. The K-C 135 air operations are staging out of the Glasgow-Prestwick Airport in Prestwick, Scotland.

The Atlantic City Council will hold its first meeting of JUNE this Wednesday, beginning at 5:30-p.m., in their Chambers at the Atlantic City Hall. First up on their agenda, is the review of a permit request by Wild Willy’s for a Community Fireworks Demonstration scheduled for June 12th. If the permit is approved, the demonstration will take place at the Little League diamonds across from the KJAN Studios on north Olive Street. It’s intended to be a family friendly event, with the possibility of food vendors on site. Wild Willy’s is owned by local business owners, and as such, subject to the Local Option Sales Tax, which benefits the City. City Administrator John Lund says “If residents desire to buy fireworks, we [The City] should encourage them to buy locally.” Under an agreement, the debris afterward, would be cleaned-up by the Boy/Girl Scouts.

The Atlantic City Council will also act on an order with regard to an application for the closing of East 6th Street between Chestnut and Poplar, from 10-a.m. until 12:30-p.m. June 13th, for the benefit of children during a church service. The Council has traditionally allowed requests for street closures that benefit small community events like block parties. City Administrator John Lund says “A closure for a religious event would be similar in nature,” and should be approved.

The Council, Wednesday, is expected to set June 16th as the date for a Public Hearing on the passage of an Ordinance (#1009), that would amend Chapter 6 of the City’s Code of Ordinances, changing the method of election to runoff elections. John Lund says Atlantic currently has a “plurality-takes-all” system, where someone only needs to get the most votes on the first and only ballot, to win. As such, only 50.01% of the vote is required to become Mayor, a member of the Council, and Park Board. Iowa allows for two types of elections, either the current system, or an alternative where a true majority of voters is required to win. Lund says the benefits of changing to a majority system, include: The winner of the final vote has a genuine mandate to lead the City by a majority of the voters, and can claim their leadership and priorities are what Atlantic wants; and, it prevents a scenario where the Mayor is the plurality winner, not because they are a respected individual in the community, but because they have a devoted base of support and respected candidates divide the vote. In this scenario, according to Lund, someone could become Mayor for four-years that half Atlantic or even a super majority activity opposes.

Lund says the Personnel and Finance Committee reviewed the options during their meeting on May 26th, and unanimously recommends the Council change the election system to a majority, run-off election. In order for a motion to that effect to pass, the Council must first set the date of a public hearing and pass each reading during their meetings on June 16th, July 7th and July 21st. In related business, the Council, Wednesday, will also set June 16th as the date for a public hearing on an ordinance amendment that would change the term for Park Board members from six-years to four-years, which the Park Board favors.

The Council will also act on the setting of wages for 2021 Pool personnel, and, review the contract and bonds for the West 22nd Street Sidewalk Project. Afterward, they will act on passing a Resolution approving the project contract and bonds. John Lund says the FY22 Budget calls for $117,500 to construct the walking path, which was awarded to Henningsen Construction during the Council’s meeting May 19th, and came in under budget, in the amount of $103,904.56.

Officials with the Pottawattamie County Community Foundation have announced the Foundations’ 2021 grant award recipients. According to their report, after a thorough evaluation process, the PCCF grants  committee – a group of county residents and board members – elected to award 40 Community Impact Grants totaling $60,040 to area nonprofit and city organizations, a 10% increase in available grants from the 2020 grant cycle.

Annually, Community Impact Grants funding is eligible to any tax-exempt, nonprofit organization or governmental entity for creative or impactful projects that meet a clear, identifiable need in Pottawattamie County. Grants are allocated to projects in a variety of focus areas, such as: Arts & Culture, Community Betterment, Community Engagement, Education, Environment, Health, Human Services, and Youth. The list of grant recipients, their projects and award amount, can be found below:

Sheriff’s officials in Ringgold County, Sunday, said a central Iowa man died over the weekend during a canoeing accident on a farm bond. Sheriff Rob Haley says his office received a call at around 10:40-p.m. Saturday about Daniel Clint Ahrens, of Adel, who went missing during a fishing excursion on a rural farm pond near Ellston. Upon law enforcement and rescue crew’s arrival at around 11-p.m., a canoe was found upside down in the water, about 15-feet from shore. Ahrens’ body was found about 40-minutes later, also about 15-feet from shore, in about eight-feet of water.

The man was transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny, where the cause of death was pending results of an autopsy. The Ringgold County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by Mount Ayr Fire, the Ringgold County Dive Team, Union Township Fire Department, Ringgold County Emergency Management, the Ringgold County Medical Examiner, and Ringgold County Ambulance.