(Radio Iowa) – The four Republicans representing Iowa in the U.S. House have voted for a massive package that extends the tax cuts Trump signed into law in 2017, eliminates the federal tax on overtime and tips and provides more money for the defense department and Trump’s deportation plans. It also tightens eligibility rules for federal food assistance and Medicaid. Fourth District Congressman Randy Feenstra, who is a candidate for governor, said the bill aligns federal policy with taxpayer priorities. “President Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ delivers on the promises that we made to Iowa workers, manufacturers, farmers and small businesses and our families,” Feenstra said in remarks on the House floor.

Feenstra, who recently launched a campaign for governor, said Trump promised voters a strong economy and Iowa will lead the way. “The bill increases the small business deduction, helping Iowa small businesses invest in their workers and grow their operations. It also doubles 179 small business expensing which means better paying jobs for every Iowa worker,” Feenstra said. “President Trump promised a manufacturing revival in our country and Iowa will be the first to deliver it. We restored (research and development) expensing and 100% bonus depreciation to rebuild domestic manufacturing, creating new jobs and bringing investment back to our country and back to our state.”

Third District Congressman Zach Nunn spoke on the House floor early this morning. “Border security, energy independence, tax cuts for working class families. Now my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, millionaires many of them themselves, may bemoan what it may do, but I promise you this, for folks back home in Iowa this is a working class tax cut,” Nunn said. “…I support this bill. The American people demand this bill.” Nunn disputed a Congressional Budget Office estimate that the national debt will increase by $3.8 trillion over the next decade if the bill becomes law. “In fact, the average household will see a $5000 increase in real income that goes straight back into our economy and that, my friends, is how you not only grow the economy, but pay down a national deficit,” Nunn said. “This mechanism is something the CBO apparently doesn’t understand.”

U.S. Capitol (RI file photo)

First District Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks and other members of the House “Main Street Caucus” touted the bill during a news conference outside the Capitol this week. “I’m proud to stand in support of President Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,’ a transformational package to lower taxes; secure the border; restore integrity and strength in Medicaid; eliminate waste, fraud and abuse from our government and revive the American Dream,” Miller-Meeks said, “and, yes, we are doing our jobs!” Miller-Meeks said the bill “preserves” Medicaid for those it was intended for. “No more handouts to adults without disabilities who refuse to go to work,” Miller-Meeks said. “No more people who are ineligible for Medicaid being on Medicaid and taking up a position that a child or a disabled adult or senior could have.” And Miller-Meeks called it “unacceptable” to let Trump’s 2017 tax package expire at the end of the year. “This ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ protects America’s small businesses, makes the Trump tax cuts permanent,” Miller-Meeks said. “…That’s real relief for hardworking Iowans and Americans.”

In a written statement, Second District Congresswoman Ashley Hinson said “Iowans overwhelmingly voted for President Trump’s America First agenda” and the legislation “will fast track the country back to prosperity.”

Democrats say the bill makes hundreds of billions of dollars worth of cuts to Medicaid that will endanger rural hospitals and nursing homes. Twenty percent of Iowans are currently enrolled in Medicaid and about 86,000 Iowans will no longer qualify for Medicaid coverage if the bill becomes law. The bill also requires the State of Iowa to pay at least $26 million annually to cover SNAP benefits, also know as food stamps, that have been fully financed in the past by the federal government.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where some Republicans have said the bill does not do enough to cut federal spending.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – Members of the Adair-Casey and Guthrie Center School District Boards of Education held their regular, joint monthly meeting Wednesday evening. Shared District Superintendent Josh Rasmussen said with May being School Board Appreciation Month, the Boards at AC-GC play a big role in the “education journey” undertaken each year by students and staff.

Superintendent Rasmussen said the Boards approved numerous contracts during their meeting, Wednesday, they include, but are not limited to, teachers and activities sponsors.

Other approved contracts include…

There were also a couple of Summer Custodian positions approved. The Guthrie Center Board approved a handful of resignations.

Mr. Ramussen said no action was taken on the Whole Grade Sharing Agreement, due to inaction with regard to incentives to reorganize by the Iowa Legislature. The Districts’ Whole Grade Sharing committees will come together this Fall and review the current contract before it is renewed for another five-years. In other business, the Adair-Casey Board approved a $280,508 contract with McKinnis Roofing and Sheet Metal in Omaha, for the Elementary School and Junior High gymnasium roof projects.

Graduation was held last Sunday in the AC-GC District, with 51 Seniors walking across the stage to receive their diplomas.

DES MOINES—Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate and his Auditors Advisory Group are joining forces to share best practices, collaborate, and support safe, secure, and fair elections across the state. According to a press release from Pate’s office, the Auditors Advisory Group is comprised of a bipartisan coalition of county auditors nominated by Secretary Pate to advise on and support effective election administration. Secretary Pate regularly appoints new county auditors from various parties and regions to serve on the group, ensuring new perspectives are continually brought to the table.

“Election security is a team sport, and I’m confident in the team we’ve built here. This group is dedicated to maintaining Iowa’s election integrity not just in their own counties, but across the entire state,” said Secretary Pate. “I look forward to working with this team over the next year as we fine-tune election processes and deliver safe, secure, and fair elections on behalf of Iowans.”

Hailing from rural and urban regions, the 12 auditors on Secretary Pate’s Auditors Advisory Group represent all six auditor districts identified by the Iowa State Association of County Auditors (ISACA). The group includes two revolving seats filled by the sitting ISACA President and Vice President, and two auditors appointed to represent at-large.

The members of Secretary Pate’s Auditors Advisory Group include:

• Adam Wedmore, Cerro Gordo (President of ISACA)
• Karla Weiss, Winnebago (Vice President of ISACA)
• Mandy Berg, Adair
• Becky Bissell, Adams
• Karen Showalter, Black Hawk
• Diane Patrick, Boone
• Sheila Shekleton, Chickasaw
• Whitney Helm, Jones
• Carmen Moser, Palo Alto
• Jamie Fitzgerald, Polk
• Amanda Waske, Ringgold
• Tibe Vander Linden, Muscatine

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Two Atlantic men were arrested recently, on drug charges. According to the Cass County Sheriff’s Department, 51-year-old Gene Christopher Reed and 61-year-old Brian Joseph Iwersen were arrested Wednesday, May 21st. Both were charged with: Drug trafficking (5GM-100KG Meth); Gathering where controlled substance used; Possession of drug paraphernalia, and Drug Tax Stamp violations. Reed was additionally charged with being a person ineligible to carry dangerous weapons. Both men were being held in the Cass County Jail.

And, on May 15th, sheriff’s deputies in Cass County arrested 58-year-old Kimberly Dawn Koenck, of Atlantic, for OWI/1st Offense. Koenck was transported to the Cass County Jail where she was booked and later released on her own recognizance.

(Radio Iowa) – An eastern Iowa museum is unveiling a new installation that covers the outside of the building with colorful, moving lights, what’s now the largest public art installation in Iowa. The artwork called Evanescent Field was revealed at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport as part of the museum’s 100th anniversary. Artist Leo Villareal says he used more than one-thousand L-E-D lights and custom software to create changing light patterns that don’t repeat.

“You’ll never see the exact same progression twice, and it will maintain a sense of mystery,” Villareal says. “So I think people can see something new in it all the time. And this truly is a gift to the community that anyone can look at and see something new and special.” Melissa Moore, the museum’s executive director, says it was important to use the anniversary as an opportunity to give back to the community.  “You don’t have to be in a large metropolitan area to experience world-class art,” Moore says. “So it’s in that spirit that we’re really celebrating Evanescent Field as a gift for the next 100 years and beyond.”

Photo by Josie Fischels, Iowa Public Radio

The four-million dollar project was funded by state and local grants along with private donations. It will continue to light up the downtown museum each night beginning at sunset.

(Radio Iowa) – A northeast Iowa mining company plans to expand its quarry along the Mississippi River — and it’s filed a request with the state for permission to nearly quadruple the amount of water it uses from local wells and the river. The Pattison Company, located in Clayton County, pumps the water to mine sand and also uses water to rinse the sand before it’s carted away by train.

The City of Garnavillo has sent a letter to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, saying residents in the area are worried the company’s expanded water usage could impact private wells and cause shortages in the Jordan Aquifer.

The aquifer provides drinking water to about half a million Iowans. The aquifer is about 25-hundred feet below ground in southwest Iowa, but near surface level in northeast Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – You may have noticed lots of those helicopter maple tree seeds filling up rain gutters or piling up on the sidewalk this year. State Forester Tivon Feeley says the large amount of seeds created a momentary concern for some homeowners.

“A lot of the silver maples, or the red Maple or red silver Maple hybrids that we planted in this state, it didn’t look like they were going to leaf out in the top third of the tree,” Feeley says. “And then I started getting phone calls from people said, well, it’s turning brown instead, and it turned out it was just a massive seed production.” Feeley says the trees were just adjusting to conditions. “And those seeds are in mass quantities at the top of the tree, and so the tree didn’t put on a flush of leaves. It’s going to wait to do so until the seeds drop and put all of its resources into the seeds,” he says. “But we’re recovering from that, all those trees appear to be doing just fine with new leaves, so I think we should be set for a decent season.”

Feeley says the amount of seeds can depend on the type of tree and also can depend on dry or wet weather conditions. “You know, some of the oaks will produce acorns every year, and other oaks will be every other year or every three years,” he says. “With maples, it’s yearly, and you’ll have a kind of a low, seep crop, especially when they’re dry, or they might even drop that seed crop, really not let it develop all the way. But we get plenty of moisture this year, and so we’re seeing a bumper crop just about every tree species.”

Feeley says there have not been a lot of major issues for trees this year outside of the normal invasive bugs and some storm damage.

(Radio Iowa) – A University of Iowa program called Simulation in Motion-Iowa reached a milestone this week in its effort to provide emergency health care providers statewide with continuing education. U-I Nursing Professor Jacinda Bunch, the program’s senior advisor, says with the latest stop in Chickasaw County, after three years, they’ve done training in all 99 Iowa counties, reaching more than ten-thousand individuals. Bunch says, “We’re able to provide hands-on clinical simulation for critical access hospitals, rural hospitals, EMS providers, first responders, and even community members who are interested in improving health outcomes for Iowans across the state.”

Using three large trucks, three teams of highly-trained staff have been taking their mobile simulators on the road since 2022, driving the equivalent of going around the world three times. Bunch says they’re offering a vital service. “People get the chance to perform hands-on skills,” she says. “They get the chance to take care of patients they may not see commonly, but those cases are going to be critical when they present themselves. So it’s really a chance to hone their critical thinking skills, practice their clinical skills, and work toward improving healthcare for Iowans.” The mobile simulators are packed with emergency gear and “human patient simulators” depicting an adult male, an adult woman, a child, a baby, and a premature infant. The trucks roll into town hauling everything that’s needed for a full training mock-up.

University of Iowa photo

“You have a simulated emergency room to your right,” Bunch says. “We have some slide outs that make that a little bit larger. We have all of the equipment and supplies that you would expect to see in an emergency room for the providers to use and then toward the back is set up like an ambulance.” Now that the 99-county goal has been reached, Bunch says they’ll be setting the bar higher, as they continue to train dedicated teams and reach out to those they haven’t met yet. “It really does take time to build relationships in those communities. Getting the word out, letting people know that we are there, we’re there to support them,” Bunch says. “We’re there to help them, obviously not trying to come in and take over, but again, just support the good work that they’re already doing.”

The program was launched with just one mobile simulator truck, but now with three on the move, Bunch says the new goal is to visit all 99 of the state’s counties every year.

(Atlantic) An official with the Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department’s Advisory Board said Wednesday, that the Board is excited to report the Atlantic Splash Pad will be open to the public May 26th, 2025. The hours of operation will be 10-a.m. to 7-p.m., 7 days a week.

Commissioner Ali Pieken said in a press release, that a ribbon cutting ceremony for the splash pad will be held in June, with the date and details to be released in the coming weeks. Pieken said “We cannot begin to express our gratitude to everyone who has donated to this project. We are so excited to watch the community enjoy this amenity!”

The Splash Pad covers approximately 5,000 square feet. It features a variety of interactive elements such as fountains, spray pads, dump buckets, water cannons, and a first-of-its-kind rabbit racer located next to the dump bucket.

The grass around the site has been seeded, picnic tables and benches are in-place, and the trash cans have been set out and ready for use.

(State Center, Iowa) – A man on a Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) was injured Wednesday afternoon near State Center in Marshall County, when the 2021 Polaris XP-1000 he was operating at around 3:40-p.m., was struck by a 2010 Ford Edge SUV, near 190th Street and Binford Avenue.

According to the Iowa State Patrol, the SUV, driven by the (unidentified) 16-year-old, and the UTV operated by 78-year-old Jeffrey Larsen, of State Center, were both traveling eastbound on 190th Street, when the UTV entered a farm field access road, with Larsen intending to make a U-turn and head back west. When he pulled the machine out onto the roadway, it was struck by the right front side of the SUV.

Larsen was injured and flown by helicopter to Methodist Hospital, in Des Moines. The teenage driver of the SUV and their passenger were not injured in the collision.