Genelle Deist, Chair of the Audubon County Community Foundation, is pleased to announce that grants totaling $116,841.19 were awarded to Audubon County nonprofit agencies. The following nonprofit organizations, which submitted applications to the Audubon County Community Foundation by the February 1st deadline, were awarded grants by the Audubon County Community Foundation Board of Directors:

• Audubon County Conservation Board – Littlefield Recreation Area Playground, $20,000.
• Audubon Recreation Foundation – Bowling Lanes, $30,000.
• Exira Community Club – Rec Reno Project, $25,000.
• Exira Parks Committee – Exira Legion Playground Project, $10,000.
• Friendship Home Foundation – Memory Support Unit Improvements, $19,091.19
• The Children’s Nest – Playground Renovation Project, $12,750.

Nonprofit representatives receiving grant awards (left to right): 1st row: Mary Wede, The Children’s Nest; Jess Nixon, Friendship Home Foundation; Lexi Christensen, Exira Parks Committee; Harper and Abby Rasmussen, Exira Community Club; 2nd row: Bruce Haag, Audubon County Conservation Board, Troy Wessel and Jenny Smith, Audubon Recreation Foundation; 3rd row: Audubon County Community Foundation Advisory Board Members Shelley Burr, Genelle Deist, and Bob Blomme.

All grantees met the criteria as Audubon County nonprofit agencies or organizations with charitable missions in the areas of civic, cultural, health, education and social services. Only organizations providing services in Audubon County were eligible. Audubon County agency representatives received their checks on April 5th. During brief check distribution activities, Deist commended the nonprofit agencies for their individual efforts to provide a better quality of life for the residents of Audubon County.

The Audubon County Community Foundation, as an affiliate of the Omaha Community Foundation and member of the Community Foundations of Southwest Iowa, receives funds annually from the State of Iowa County Endowment Fund Program for endowment building and grant-making throughout the county. Created in 2004, the County Endowment Fund Program is funded by a percentage of the state’s commercial gaming tax revenue. These funds are distributed annually to participating community foundations and affiliate community foundations associated with counties without a state-issued gaming license.

Beyond the County Endowment Fund Program, the Audubon County Community Foundation works with individuals, families, businesses and organizations to create permanent funds that address changing, vital community needs and interests. Donating to a permanently endowed fund helps your neighbors today AND you help build a stronger community tomorrow. Not only that, you may be eligible to receive a 25% Endow Iowa Tax Credit for each donation, in addition to any Federal tax benefits for which you may qualify.

For information about donating or establishing an individual foundation/fund, please contact any of the Board Members, or call Stacey Goodman, Iowa Foundations Director, at 800-794-3458.

OSAGE, Iowa (AP) — A northern Iowa sheriff says a woman was fatally injured when a tree fell on her. The accident occurred around 3:10 p.m. Thursday in Osage. Mitchell County Sheriff Gregory Beaver says 52-year-old Jacqueline Kapustynski was clearing an area of trees when one that had gotten lodged against another fell, striking her. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that police departments can keep investigative reports secret even after an inquiry has concluded. The finding is significant because it could be used by municipalities to justify withholding a range of documents, including video, from the public and media. The court ruled Friday that an exemption to the Iowa Open Records Act for police reports does not apply only to ongoing investigations. Instead, the ruling says lawmakers intended to treat those reports — which often include video from police cameras, audio of 911 calls and other records — as confidential indefinitely.

Justice Thomas Waterman says police only have to release the “immediate facts and circumstances” of a crime or incident under the law. The finding came in a dispute between the city of Cedar Rapids and a black motorist who was shot and paralyzed after a struggle with a white officer. The court says a judge didn’t err by ordering the city to turn over some records related to that shooting without a protective order barring their public release.

AMES, Iowa – When dealing with flooding or other natural disasters, Iowans can turn to Iowa Concern for help, says Tammy Jacobs, coordinator for the long-time service from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. With a toll-free phone number, live chat capabilities and a website, Iowa Concern services are available 24 hours a day, seven days per week at no charge. Iowa Concern provides access to stress counselors and an attorney for legal education, as well as information and referral services for a wide variety of topics.

“If you are dealing with stress, or if you have questions about your insurance coverage or your legal rights after a flood, or whether you qualify for state or federal disaster assistance, Iowa Concern can help, 24/7,” Jacobs said. To reach Iowa Concern, call 800-447-1985; language interpretation services are available. Or, visit the website, https://www.extension.iastate.edu/iowaconcern/, to live chat with a stress counselor one-on-one in a secure environment. Or email an expert regarding legal, finance, stress, or crisis and disaster issues.

“All personal information given to Iowa Concern, whether on the hotline or through e-mail or live chat, is kept confidential,” Jacobs said. She also suggests visiting Human Sciences Extension and Outreach’s “Finding Answers Now” website for additional information and resources on dealing with stress.

DES MOINES – The City of Atlantic was recently honored with the 2018 Tree City USA Award at the 29th Annual Community Forestry Awards Luncheon in Des Moines. The award was presented by the Arbor Day Foundation and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources April 3rd at the Sheraton in West Des Moines. State Forester Jeff Goerndt says “The Tree City USA award is a symbol for communities who have made a commitment to the management of public trees .“The City of Atlantic has provided an outstanding example for other Iowa communities by enhancing our forest resources and demonstrating the great value of trees in providing multiple benefits for future generations.”

Jeff Goerndt, State Forester, Bruce Trautman, Acting Director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Bryant Rasmussen, Interim Atlantic Parks and Recreation Director and Roger Herring . (Photo courtesy Dolly Bergmann)

Atlantic was one of 80 Iowa communities to qualify for Tree City USA status. To receive the award, a city must, at a minimum, have either a city forester or an active city tree board; have a tree ordinance; spend at least $2 per capita annually for its community forestry program; and have a tree planting and maintenance plan.

The Iowa Board of Pharmacy was made aware of a direct-to-consumer marking campaign, designed to lure unsuspecting Iowans to purchase brand and generic prescription drugs from foreign sources. The Board would like to remind Iowans of the potential dangers of purchasing prescription drugs from unregulated online pharmacies. While there are many established American-based online pharmacies that are properly licensed and operate legally, there are many more—often from other countries—that lure customers with artificially low prices or don’t require a prescription, and sell unregulated products that may be ineffective or even dangerous.

A drug may contain an incorrect active ingredient, the dosage may be wrong, it might not even contain the listed active ingredient, or it could include other ingredients that may cause harm. Pharmacies that ship prescription drugs into the state of Iowa must maintain licensure with the Board. The Board encourages consumers to utilize its online license verification to search for and verify licensed pharmacies when deciding to purchase prescription drugs.

(Radio Iowa) — A Senate committee has advanced a bill that would raise the penalties for abusing, neglecting or torturing animals. However, key lawmakers expect farm interests to seek major changes if the bill is debated in the full senate. Senator Tony Bisignano of Des Moines says he believes the bill, as written now, will not impact the agricultural community. “I mean, there’s something fundamentally wrong when torturing dogs and cats doesn’t seem like something you care about,” Bisignano said. “Tell us what we’re missing, so we can correct it.”

Senator Rich Taylor, a Democrat from Mount Pleasant, voted against the bill in committee. “I think this bill will actually hurt my good pet breeders, which I have several (in my district) and I’ve been to several of their facilities and know that they take very good care of their animals,” Taylor said.

Senator Brad Zaun, a Republican from Urbandale, says public sentiment is behind the bill. “Companion animals are members of our families,” Zaun said. “I know when we lose our pets, it’s devastating.” An animal cruelty bill has never gotten to this point in the Iowa Legislature. It cleared the House by unanimous vote a week ago and was approved by a senate committee Thursday on a 12 to two vote.

(Radio Iowa) — Some Iowa farmers won’t have any crops to harvest this fall as they won’t be able to plant anything this spring due to the flood-soaked soil. Meteorologist Dennis Todey, director of the U-S-D-A’s Midwest Climate Hub, based in Ames, says some areas of the state are still underwater and the farmland in those areas has been inundated. “Things will probably be delayed for sure in those locations,” Todey says. “There probably will be some areas that will not be able to be planted this year, period. Delayed planting is an issue over the whole region because we have soil moisture, we have wet soils over the whole region, so any additional rainfall is going to be problematic.”

Many fields are littered with debris left by the flooding, including trees, metal fuel tanks, pieces of structures, and all sorts of trash, but it’s the smaller stuff that will be harder to remove. “The areas that are heavily inundated, the soils there will be degraded because of depositing of sand,” Todey says. “Silt is not so bad because that’s a bit better, but the additional deposits of sand will degrade the soils and cause some problems.”

Millennia ago, giant glaciers helped to form the land now known as Iowa, but this spring, we saw a much smaller, much faster example. “We had large movement of large blocks of ice so there’s a lot of damage done to things like bridges because of the ice,” Todey says, “and then other structural areas and other loss of soil because of large movements of ice over the regions.”

Todey says all of that is beyond the damages to roads, bridges and culverts that will take time to repair. Spring flood damage in Iowa is estimated to exceed two-billion dollars.

The Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce reports the nomination deadline has been extended for the 6th Annual Young Professionals Awards Luncheon and Dessert Gala. The previous deadline was April 3rd, but that’s been extended now to Monday, April 8th. The Young Professionals of Atlantic (YPA) awards program takes place April 26th. Community-wide nominations for the awards are being accepted. The awards are designed to recognize the achievements of young professionals who demonstrate a commitment to excellence and innovation in their profession and within the community. The awards are open to any Young Professional that meets the following criteria: the professional is between the age of 21-45 years old as of January 1, 2019, and they either work or reside in Cass County.

Young Professionals will be nominated for their excellence in four different categories: YP Newcomer, YP Entrepreneur, YP Business Leader and YP Public Servant. There will also be one YP Choice Workplace Award given. The YP Choice Workplace Award recognizes a company who effectively attracts, retains and develops young professionals. Individuals can either nominate their company or another company. Companies must be Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce members. You can check the membership directory at www.atlanticiowa.com for eligibility. Nominees for Newcomer, Entrepreneur, Business Leader, and Public Servant do not need to be members of Atlantic Rising to be eligible for nomination.

To submit a nomination, go to www.atlanticiowa.com for a nomination form or pick one up at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce Office (102 Chestnut, Atlantic, IA 50022). All nomination forms must be submitted by Monday, April 8, 2019 by 5 PM. The Atlantic Rising nominations will be reviewed by a selection committee including: an AR Representative, an Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce Board Representative, a member of CADCO, an Atlantic City Official and an out of town guest. For more information, call Ashley at 712-243-3017.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — The University of Dubuque says a $2.4 million organ with more than 3,000 pipes will be installed in the university’s Heritage Center. The Opus 97 pipe organ is being constructed by Dobson Pipe Organ Builders, of Lake City. The pipes will range in length from the size of a pen to 32 feet (9.75 meters). It will be used for campus events such as worship, convocations and choir performances and will be a practice and recital instrument as well.

The university said Friday that the organ is a gift from university trustee John Butler and his wife, Alice, for whom the Heritage Center’s John and Alice Butler Hall is named. Construction began in Dobson’s workshop last year. The university says installation will begin in May 2020 and be completed by November 2020.