(Griswold, Iowa) – A Sophomore at the Griswold High School is organizing an effort in support of the June 8th Community Baby Shower, in Atlantic. Hayden Jones is spearheading the effort to add diapers and baby wipes for expectant and new moms, in advance of the event that will be held at the Cass County Community Center and Island Community Church, in Atlantic. Jones spoke about the event, and his role to try and help make it a success.

The Community Baby Shower, as previously mentioned, will be held at the Cass County Community Center, from 1:30-until 3:30-p.m., and at the Island Community Church in Atlantic, from 4:30-to 6-p.m., June 8th. Hayden said he’s pig-tailing off the event with the diaper and baby wipe drive, because he knows families are struggling, and don’t show-up for their doctor’s appointments before their child is born.

His project “NO if’s; Just Butts,” is in an attempt to solicit donations from businesses and individuals, so diapers and baby wipe products and/or donations of funds to purchase those products for the Community Baby Shower. The deadline to donate the products or funds to purchase them, is June 4th.

Drop-off locations for new diapers and baby wipes include:

• The Griswold Tiger Mart
• The Cumberland Methodist Church
• Griswold Community School District
• Coffee Girl in Atlantic, and Cass Health in Atlantic.

As he mentioned, there are Amazon.Com and Venmo QR Codes. You can find the flyer with those codes pinned to the KJANRadio Facebook page. Businesses interested in donating can call Hayden Jones at (864)-580-1128. The wipes will be distributed at the Community Baby Shower, which is intended for any woman who is pregnant, planning for the future, or who have an infant who is less than six months old.

(Radio Iowa) – Lawmakers approved a tax cut for Iowa businesses, made final state spending decisions and ended the 2025 Iowa legislative session at 6:31 this (Thursday) morning. Senate President Amy Sinclair, a Republican from Allerton, says the session’s top accomplishment is the bill reducing the tax rate businesses must pay into Iowa’s Unemployment Trust Fund. “A billion dollar tax cut for the people who drive Iowa’s economy, for the employers of the folks that live here, work here and raise their families here.” House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst says Republicans failed to address the state’s housing crisis, improve access to child care or lower property taxes.

“Working Iowans lost and special interests won,” Konfrst said. “Not a single bill was passed and I mean not a single bill that will lower costs for Iowa families.” Representative Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican from Wilton, says the property tax system was set up 50 years ago and the groundwork was laid this year for reform next year. “I consider it to be thorough and thoughtful because we’re meeting with stakeholders, we’re meeting with the taxing entities, we’re meeting with the taxpayers,” Kaufmann says. “We’re going to get it done right.” Democrats also criticized the G-O-P’s nine-point-four BILLION dollar state budget plan, which relies on withdrawing 900 million dollars from state reserves. Senator Matt Blake, a Democrat from Johnston, says Republicans are deficit spending.

House members have final debate of 2025 legislative session. (RI photo)

“We are struggling to even pay our bills without using our savings,” Blake said, “which I don’t think I would advise any of my family members to do.” Other Democrats say not enough was spent to provide health care to needy Iowans and boost budgets for public schools. Republican Representative Austin Harris of Moulton led negotiations on education spending. “As we know in this building, you don’t get the budget you want, you get the budget you can get,” Harris said, “and I think we have a pretty good budget.” Lawmakers began Wednesday with meetings and periodic bursts of activity of debate on bills. By sunrise Thursday, Senator Tim Kraayenbrink of Fort Dodge — the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee — was leading debate on the final piece of legislation.

Senate President Amy Sinclair had a message as lawmakers headed into the closing minutes.

The Senate concluded its work for the year shortly after 6 a.m.

The House ended the 2025 legislative session about half an hour later.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – A petition with 800 signatures was delivered to the Iowa State Patrol’s Cedar Rapids office, Wednesday morning. KCRG reports the petition demands the state cancel its voluntary 287 (g) ICE Task Force program, which allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement to delegate work to local law enforcement, like the Iowa State Patrol, who can then act as ICE agents.

Staff with the nonprofit Escucha Mi Voz Iowa and Iowa City Catholic Workers delivered the petition, Wednesday. Their action came after immigrant workers and Escucha Mi Voz Iowa filed a civil rights complaint over an April 18 traffic stop near Dubuque.

During the traffic stop, seven Latino construction workers were held for immigration-related questioning. It also came a day after ICE canceled a scheduled check-in with Reina Marroquin, a Guatemalan woman living in Postville, and delayed her next appearance until December.

The nonprofit said she has faced four ICE check-ins this year, including an unannounced visit from ICE in March. Escucha Mi Voz says the woman has lived in Iowa for several years after fleeing violence in Guatemala. The nonprofit credits community pressure for the cancellation of the check-ins.

In delivering the petition on Wednesday, the nonprofit said the community is demanding the state end racial profiling and keep families together. A bill that would have required local law enforcement to participate in the voluntary Section 287 (g) program was withdrawn by Iowa lawmakers.

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – Governor Reynolds has ordered flags to fly at half-staff today (Thursday), for National Peace Officers Memorial Day. The Governor says “Today, we pay tribute to two sets of heroes. We honor those with the courage to wear the badge, accepting all the dangers and sacrifices it entails, even, potentially, the ultimate sacrifice. And we honor their loved ones who have the courage to share the people most precious to them for the sake of a better world.”

She added, “To the families of officers killed in duty, the gratitude we owe you is unbounded. Your loved ones have left a legacy that lives on in the communities they served, in the lives they protected, and in the hearts of those who carry their memory forward. They remind us that peace is not promised—it is preserved by men and women of courage.”

All flags at public facilities will fly at half-staff today. That includes at the State Capitol Building. All others are encouraged to fly the flag at half-staff as a sign of respect. The Iowa Peace Officer Memorial site has flown its flags at half-staff since Sunday. Flags will continue to fly at half-staff through Saturday in honor of National Police Week.

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI-TV] — Polk County Deputy Administrator Sarah Boese has filed a lawsuit against three elected supervisors, claiming she has been subjected to harassment, retaliation and a hostile work environment. Boese alleges she was passed over for the interim county administrator position in January, despite her job description stating she would serve as acting administrator in the administrator’s absence. Instead, Frank Marasco, a sheriff’s office director, was appointed as interim administrator after John Norris was placed on administrative leave.

The lawsuit, filed on May 10, names Polk County and supervisors Matt McCoy, Jill Altringer, and Mark Holm, who are in their first year of office. Supervisors Angela Connolly and Tom Hockensmith are not named in the lawsuit.

Mark Holm declined to comment on the lawsuit. Polk County officials said they also will not comment on pending litigation, other than to say the county denies the allegations, and that it intends to defend itself in court.

WAUKEE, Iowa (KCCI-TV) — Police in Waukee, Wednesday, arrested a man after he allegedly caused a scene at a local business, and sent concerning messages to the Waukee Community School District.

Authorities say Waukee Police say they were called around 3:30-p.m. to Grand Prairie Parkway for a welfare check. The call followed reports of a man who allegedly sent concerning messages to a school district employee. When officers arrived, they talked with the individual, who they say was having a mental health crisis. Police were able to initially de-escalate the situation, but when officers told the man he had to leave the business, the subject became combative. Officers used a taser to safely take him into custody.

The man was booked into the Dallas County Jail on multiple charges. The Waukee Police Chief says “at no time was there any credible threat to any district facility, student, teacher or staff member.”

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak, Wednesday evening, arrested a woman on a warrant. 28-year-old Destiny Jill Anderson, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 7:45-p.m. in the 1300 block of Broadway. She was wanted on a Montgomery County felony warrant for Violation of Probation. Anderson was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $1,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Some of Governor Kim Reynolds’ policy priorities that were bottled up since January won approval in the final hours of the 2025 Legislative session.

After three years of trying, the governor’s plan to provide state employees four weeks of paid maternity leave and one week of paid paternity leave has passed the legislature. It will also provide four weeks of leave to state employees who adopt a child. Senator Dawn Driscoll, a Republican from Williamsburg, is the only senator who spoke before the bill passed yesterday (Wednesday).

“House File 889 is an important step in showing how much we value Iowans,” Driscoll said. “This bill will help significantly in recruitment and retention for young employees.” The House endorsed the policy in March. Governor Kim Reynolds says the policy will provide the crucial time needed for employees to bond with their a newborn or an adopted child.

The federal government and 24 other states have similar parental leave policies for employees.

(Radio Iowa) – A tax break for businesses has cleared the Iowa legislature in what may be the final day of the 2025 Iowa General Assembly. The bill reduces the business tax rate for the state fund for unemployment benefits. Representative David Young, a Republican from Van Meter, says the current tax rate was set in 1987.

“With an Unemployment Trust Fund at almost $2 billion, the sound argument is being made that we’ve been over-collecting, especially compared to other states,” Young said. “The proposal before us saves employers and businesses approximately $975 million over 5 years, injecting that back into the private sector.” The bill has been one of Governor Kim Reynolds’ priorities since last year. It passed the House and Senate today (Wednesday) with G-O-P support. Democrats opposed it.

Representative J.D. Scholten, a Democrat from Sioux City, says the legislature isn’t looking out for working class Iowans. “We’re living in the second gilded age with massive income inequality, record economic concentration and expansive corporate greed,” Scholten said. “It’s bills like this that put a thumb on the scale towards billionaires and towards massive multinational corporations.” Other Democrats said the Unemployment Trust Fund is flush it’s paying out far less after Republican lawmakers cut unemployment benefits from 26 to 16 weeks.

Senator Janet Petersen, a Democrat from Des Moines, says the legislature should focus on helping laid off workers. “You want to pull money out of Iowa’s unemployment insurance system to give another corporate tax break to companies that are laying them off,” Petersen said. Other Democrats said the system could fail if there’s a recession.

Senator Adrian Dickey, a Republican from Packwood, says state law ensures the fund is stable because higher tax rates can be triggered. “If…the fund starts dipping to the point where it looks like it’s in danger, that the claims going out are more than the monies go in,” Dickey says, “…there’s mechanisms put in there to protect that.”

Governor Reynolds says Iowa’s unemployment insurance tax has needlessly punished Iowa businesses and the bill will end the over-collecting.