(Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Officials with JBS announced plans today (Thursday), to build a $135 million sausage-production facility that will create more than 700 jobs in Perry. Cameron Bruett, head of corporate affairs for the company, said the facility will be “state of the art” and that “there’s gonna be nothing like it” in America.  “This would probably be the first facility of its kind built in the last 40 years. And so that’s exciting for us to be a new entrant, a new competitor, in a growing space in agriculture,” Bruett said in a call with Iowa Capital Dispatch.

The announcement comes nearly a year after the shuttering of a Tyson Foods pork processing facility in Perry that employed nearly 1,300 people.  Bruett, who was in Perry Wednesday along with other members of JBS senior staff, said the reception to the project has been overwhelmingly positive. The new facility will have 500 direct positions. While it doesn’t fill the 1,300-slot hole left in Perry by Tyson’s departure, Bruett said he believes there will be “ample opportunity” for former Tyson employees in town to find work at the new facility.

A rendering of a sausage production facility in Perry, proposed by JBS USA. (Rendering courtesy of JBS)

Perry Mayor Dirk Cavanaugh said at the time of the Tyson plant closure he was unsure how the town of about 8,000 would recover from the closure and loss of jobs.  Following the news from JBS, Cavanaugh. said the project was a “potential game-changer” for Perry. Bruett was unable to share wage ranges for the jobs the facility, if approved, would provide. He said the starting salary for other JBS facilities in Iowa is about $22 per hour and the Perry site would be comparable. JBS also anticipates the construction of the facility will require around 250 local construction jobs, starting in 2025 when it hopes to begin building. The company expects the facility will be operational in late 2026.

The sausage-making facility would process around 500,000 sows to create 130 million pounds of sausage each year. Bruett said the facility will create an additional outlet for local pork producers who currently transport most of their sows east for processing. Additionally, JBS plans to invest in the Perry community through its Hometown Strong and Better Futures programs which fund projects in the community and help JBS team members and their family members attend community colleges.

JBS will submit a request to the City of Perry to change the zoning for the property, located on the southeast side of town, from agricultural to heavy industrial, according to Bruett. The city council will have to approve the project before it can begin construction.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City of Atlantic’s Parks and Recreation Department has received a contribution from Gregg Young Chevrolet, to offset the costs of two professional makeup artists and a balloon artist for the 4th of July Freedom Festival, which will be held on the lower side of Sunnyside Park. Gregg Young representatives recently presented a ceremonial check in the amount of $2,360.

The Freedom Festival will be held at Sunnyside Park from 5-until 9-p.m., on July 4th. It will feature food trucks, a live band, pony rides, hotdog eating contest, burger battle grill off, facepainting, bingo, and more! Fireworks at the Atlantic Sports Complex ballfields (Across from KJAN) will be presented at dark shot from the bike farm, but there is NO PARKING at bike farm this year. Parking will be available at the sports complex. For the best views, park at the ballfields or gather along the walking path between KJAN and the quarry.

L-R front row: Josh Nielsen, Adam Wanie, Aaron Holtz, Matt Miller, Casey Swanson, Dave Archibald, Ali Pieken, Jose Quintero, Dan Vargason 2nd Row: Michael Gall, Tom Murphy, Brent Magee, Lynsi Lamp, Spencer Walton and Jeff Christensen. Photo courtesy Ali Pieken

Parks and Rec Commissioner Ali Pieken invites anyone who would like to enter the hotdog eating contest, play in slow pitch or enter the burger battle competition during the Freedom Festival, to e-mail her at  alipieken@gmail.com, to enter.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City of Atlantic’s Parks and Recreation Advisory C omission during their monthly meeting Wednesday afternoon, heard from Trees Forever Representative Brad Riphagen, with regard to Community Visioning, specifically for the City’s Parks system. Riphagen explained Community Visioning is a program established in 1997, and provided for communities with a population of less than 10,000, in partnership with the Iowa Department of Transportation (for funding), and Iowa State University.

He said it’s up to the community to determine what their concerns are. Riphagen said there are three parts to the process. It begins with collecting information from various groups and individuals, and analyzing what’s already available.

That data is compiled into a feasibility study, that includes maps, goals, proposed projects and associated costs, and how to implement project plans. The whole process takes about a year, he said. The last time a feasibility study was conducted in Atlantic, was in 1998.

Brad Riphagen w/Trees Forever

The process, Riphagen said, “Has changed immensely since then.”

The application due date – if the City wishes to proceed – is September 1^st. The planning service is essentially free, but does require local funds to be set aside, as a commitment to begin whatever the first project is.

The Commission tabled action on moving ahead at this time, and to conduct a little more research for discussing the next steps in moving forward. They noted there’s still plenty of time before the application to conduct the survey, needs to be submitted.

In other business, the Atlantic Parks and Rec Advisory Commission discussed signage for a County monument in the City Park. Commission Chair Kevin Ferguson presented a plaque honoring sponsors: Atlantic Junior Federated. A design for mounting of the sign will be presented to the Junior Federation before the plaque will be affixed to it.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop at around 3-a.m. today (Thursday), in Red Oak, resulted in the arrest of a man and woman from Denison. According to Red Oak Police, 28-year-old Matthew Jordan Moran and 63-year-old Linda Sue Moran, were both taken into custody for Violation of a valid No Contact Order. The pair were transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held without bond. Red Oak Police were assisted during the arrest, by Deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

(Radio Iowa) – Sioux City was the site of one of the Iowa National Guard sendoff ceremonies on Wednesday. Eighty-four soldiers with 113th Cavalry are headed to the Middle East in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. Staff Sergeant Nery Ortiz says they will be involved in base defense and have undergone training for that mission. “I think the medics went to a certain advanced course stuff for them and other people went to drone courses. So they were showing them about how the drones work, how they can be dangerous or can be friendly and then different types of weapon systems that we have to take them down,” Ortiz says. This will be his second deployment, and he knows it will be difficult for his family while he is away.

“It’s a roller coaster of emotions for them. They’re proud that I serve, but they’re also sad that I’m gonna be gone. And I mean they had a little taste of it when I went to Kosovo. But right now it’s just another it’s a new mission, I guess for them,” he says. Kari Lara is a mom who has two sons serving their country. “It’s always hard. This is the fourth one for my family, so it doesn’t get any easier,” Lara says. “The first one was Afghanistan in 2010 and then 2020, I had one in Kosovo and one in Africa. And then this time I have one going overseas again.” Lara has this advice for families going through a deployment for the first time.

IANG send-off ceremony in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. (5/28/25; Photo via IA Gov. Kim Reynolds’ Facebook page)

“Just take it one day at a time and wait for that communication. You’ll always hear from them. It’s way better now than it used to be. The Africa deployment we heard from him, like every week. So, just keep that close to you,” she says. More sendoffs are scheduled today (Thursday) and tomorrow.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa native Peggy Whitson will be inducted into the U-S Astronaut Hall of Fame in Florida this weekend, recognizing her near-four decades of work at NASA and her continued career at Axiom Space. However, Whitson won’t be at the Kennedy Space Center event as she’s preparing to launch into space on Axiom-4 next month. It makes her the first inductee to go into space at the time of her induction. Six-time shuttle astronaut Curt Brown, executive director of the Hall of Fame, says Whitson is America’s most experienced astronaut and is well-deserving of this honor. “She did three long-duration missions. She commanded two of the International Space Station expeditions. She did a gob of spacewalks, I think 10 spacewalks or so, and then she was actually chief of the astronaut office. We call it the chief astronaut,” Brown says. “And even now, after she left NASA, she’s working with Axiom. She’s flown with them once, and she’s going to fly with them again as an astronaut.”

Whitson, who grew up on a farm near Beaconsfield, is scheduled to launch June 8th to command her second two-week Axiom mission to the International Space Station. She’ll lead an international crew of four, with the other three astronauts hailing from India, Poland and Hungary. So far, Brown says Whitson’s spent 675 days in orbit — and counting. “She’s wide open. She has more time in space than any other woman astronaut, and she has the most time in space of any American astronaut,” Brown says. “So she’s one of the most deserving folks I know to be inducted in the Hall of Fame.” Astronauts are typically lauded as American heroes with parades and all sorts of accolades, like having schools or bridges named after them, so Brown was asked how big of a deal it is to be reach the Astronaut Hall of Fame. Brown was inducted in 2013.

Peggy Whitson in space suit (Axiom photo)

“I think it’s one of the greatest things that happened in my career,” Brown says. “You know, these are all your peers that vote you into this. So it’s quite an honor to receive that kind of praise or that kind of recognition from your peers, your leaders, your subordinates, the whole group that was part of the shuttle program or the astronaut program.” Whitson decided to become an astronaut after watching the first moon landing on television as a child in 1969. She turned 65 in February. There will be a gala Hall of Fame event on Saturday morning to induct Whitson, and fellow astronaut Bernard Harris, at the Kennedy Visitor Complex, beneath the retired Space Shuttle Atlantis. The space center draws one-and-a-half million visitors a year, and during a January interview with Radio Iowa, Brown said Whitson will become a part of the Hall’s permanent display. “In the Heroes and Legends Hall, you’ll see a big plaque of Peggy with her likeness, and then all her mission patches and a short recap of her career at NASA,” Brown says.

Whitson’s first mission was aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 2002, heard here on NASA-TV:

Since 1990, the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, which oversees the Hall of Fame, has provided more than nine-million dollars in college scholarships to hundreds of promising STEM students.

On the web: www.AstronautScholarship.org

https://www.axiomspace.com/

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – An arrest has been made in the murder more than 40-years ago, of an eastern Iowa man. Linn County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 64-year-old Michael Shappert, of Fairview, Oregon, in connection with the death of of Ron Novak. The Linn County Sheriff’s Office and the Linn County Attorney’s Office held a news conference on the cold case Wednesday afternoon. Shappert is charged with first-degree murder and premeditation.

Investigators say they connected him to the case through blood and touch-trace DNA located on Novak’s clothing and a hammer used in the attack. According to investigators, someone murdered Novak at his home on Rolling Acres Road about three miles north of Center Point on December 23rd, 1983. They found his hands tied behind his back and said someone had beaten Novak with hammers and golf clubs before shooting him.

Investigators never released a motive, but say he was likely a dealer. In his home, they discovered $32,000 in cash and about $7,000 worth of marijuana. Schappert is currently in the Multnomah County, Oregon jail awaiting extradition.

(Radio Iowa) – Kentucky Senator Rand Paul is in Iowa, meeting with fellow Republicans, talking about tariffs and government spending — and admitting his views on those topics do not align with President Trump’s. “We have before us a ‘big beautiful bill,’ Paul said. “….But what if there’s so much in it that we stuff stuff in it that’s not good for the country. I think that’s where we are…I think the spending cuts are wimpy and anemic.”

Paul favors raising the retirement age for Social Security and Medicare and he says deeper cuts are needed in Medicaid, too, since those three programs account for two-thirds of federal spending.  “I don’t want to kick people off of Medicaid. I want to get them better insurance. I want to get them jobs with insurance. That’s what we should talk about,” Paul said, “but if we don’t do anything, there’s just too many people on the wagon. We can’t have everybody getting something for free.”

Paul says the big bill that’s cleared the House — at President Trump’s urging — fails to reign in federal spending and reduce the national debt.  “I think the debt is still the number one issue of our time and the biggest problem we have,” Paul said. “I think it’s the greatest threat to our national security. Destruction of the dollar could destroy our country and make us weak enough that we would actually crumble from within.” Paul made his comments last (Wednesday) night in West Des Moines at a Polk County Republican Party fundraiser.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul speaking at Polk County GOP fundraiser on May 28, 2025. (RI photo)

“Some of you may have heard I’m not a big fan of the tariffs. Does that mean President Trump and I don’t get along? Well, he sends me text messages in all caps telling me why I’m wrong about tariffs,” Paul said and the crowd laughed. Paul says trade is mutually beneficial and there’s no going back to a time when Americans make things like shoes. Later, Paul took questions from the crowd and two people cited some of Trump’s arguments in favor of tariffs.

“A country run just on tariffs that’s the size of the 19th century with no income tax — sign me up,” Paul said. “…I get a lot of criticism, look at my Twitter feed now, I’ve got a lot of people who love Donald Trump and aren’t so sure about me anymore — and they’re like: ‘You know he’s going to get rid of the income tax,’ and I was like: ‘I’m hopeful, but I haven’t seen any proposal to get rid of the income tax.'”

Senator Paul will be in Cedar Rapids tonight (Thursday), speaking at a fundraiser for the Iowa Republican Party. He is one of a few prominent Republicans making trips to Iowa, where the Caucuses have been the lead off event in presidential campaigns for decades. Rand Paul ran for president in 2016, finished fifth in that year’s Iowa Caucus and dropped out of the race as Texan Ted Cruz and Trump emerged from Iowa as the leading candidates that year.

Hormel Foods Corporation, a Tucker, Ga. establishment, is recalling approximately 256,185 pounds of canned beef stew product that may be contaminated with foreign material, specifically wood, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The canned beef stew item was produced on February 4, 2025. The following product is subject to recall [view labels]:

• 20-oz. metal cans containing “Dinty Moore BEEF STEW” with “BEST BY FEB 2028” and lot code “T02045” printed on the can. The lot code may have an additional number at the end.

The product subject to recall bears establishment number “EST 199G” printed on the can. These items were shipped to retail locations nationwide.

The problem was discovered after the establishment notified FSIS that they had received three consumer complaints reporting pieces of wood in the beef stew product.

There have been no confirmed reports of injury due to consumption of this product. Anyone concerned about an injury should contact a healthcare provider.

FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers’ pantries. Consumers who have purchased this product are urged not to consume it. This product should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.