(Radio Iowa) – A new member has joined the Iowa House of Representatives on what may be the last week of the 2025 legislative session. Angel Ramirez, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, won a special election two weeks ago for a vacancy in the Iowa House. She was sworn into office this (Tuesday) morning. “I am the first Latina in the Iowa state legislature, but I am not going to be the last,” she said. “…That fuels me to make space for other young voices and other Latina voices to be heard.” On her first day as a legislator, Ramirez wore a blazer designed by a friend, with a phrase hand embroidered on the back. “Tu lucha es mi lucha’ means ‘my fight is your fight,'” Ramirez said. “…I have this slogan tattooed on my arms, it means that much to me as I am advocating for every Iowan to have a better life and a better future here in this state.” Ramirez, who is 25, is the youngest member of the House.

She moved from the west coast to Iowa to attend Coe College and stayed in Cedar Rapids after graduation. “I think this is what Iowa is about, right? It’s about being able to make your home here, making it an accessible and proud place to live,” Ramirez said. “And I’m looking forward to helping make Iowa a more welcoming, inclusive place for all.” Ramirez is the third lawmaker to win a special election this year for a seat in the state legislature.

At the end of January, DeWitt Democrat Mike Zimmer was elected to the senate seat that had been held by Lieutenant Governor Chris Cournoyer. After the unexpected death of a southeast Iowa lawmaker, Republican Blain Watkins of Dunkerton was elected to the Iowa House in March.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, May 13th, received an update from Jerald Palmquist with the Veterans Affairs Commission,and a request to approve an application to the Commission.

(Palmquist recommended Bret Sherkenbach, a Red Oak Junior/Senior High School Business Teacher)

Sherkenbach was in the Army for 25-years, with the rank of E-9, or, Sgt. Major. He and his wife live in Carson. He will become the new Veteran’s Affairs Director beginning June 17th.

The Board heard also, from Tom Honeyman, from Emerson, who made a request to proclaim May 23rd, 2025, as Alvin D. Hays Day. Hays, who is from Red Oak, was a U.S. Navy Frogman in WWII. The “Frogs” Hays said they were called, were the predecessors to the U-S Navy Seals. Honeyman expanded on their duties…

MC BOS mtg 5-13-25

After hearing Hays’ story, Supervisor Alex Burton read the proclamation approved by the Board.

The proclamation recognizes Hays for his extraordinary life and calls him “A true American hero.” Hays’ 99th birthday will take place this Friday, May 23rd. He received his Navy Trident pin – which is presented to those who pass their SEAL training – 80 years after the Frogs were officially designated as Navy Seals. Documents that were previously classified, with regard to the Frog’s missions, were declassified 15-years ago. Up until then, Hays was never able to tell his story to anyone, including his own family.

The Board gave Mr. Hays a standing ovation following approval of the proclamation. The Board then received a regular weekly report from Montgomery County Engineer Karen Albert, who mentioned an upcoming bridge dedication ceremony.

And they authorized Board Chair Charla Schmid to sign the final plans for a pipe culvert project on G Avenue, and set Tuesday, July 15, 2025 at 9:15-a.m., as the date and time for bid-letting on the pipe culvert.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he had a private meeting late Monday afternoon with Mexico’s ambassador to the U-S. Grassley says he and Ambassador Esteban Moctezuma Barragán focused on trade issues between our two countries, which included discussion of deadly threats to livestock and humans from a tiny parasite. Grassley says the Mexicans are also concerned about exports of a certain vegetable. Grassley says, “He’s asking for consideration of certain attempts by some members of Congress to end a decades agreement that we’ve had on tomatoes.” Almost all of Mexico’s tomato exports come to the U-S, and the Trump administration plans to end the trade agreement that allows Mexican tomatoes into the U-S duty-free. Starting in July, the U-S Commerce Department says tomatoes from south of the border will face a tariff of nearly 21-percent.

“A certain percentage of the tomatoes that are eaten in the United States come from Mexico,” Grassley says, “and that’s under some agreement that certain states — and their senators from those states — want to abrogate that agreement.” The looming changes worry Mexican growers, Grassley says, as tomato exports to the U-S generated more than a billion dollars in revenue in 2023. Grassley says there’s rising concern about parasitic screwworms that are coming into the U-S on some livestock from Mexico, though he notes the animals may have originated in South America. A release from the U-S-D-A says New World screwworms are deadly flies that lay eggs in open wounds. Once the larva hatches, it attacks living flesh and can be extremely deadly for livestock, pets, wildlife and even humans. “So yesterday, the Secretary of Agriculture put some restrictions on bison, cattle and other animals coming into the country because they could possibly bring in screwworms,” Grassley says. “That’s hopefully just a temporary restriction.”

The U-S has halted all imports of live cattle, horses and bison from Mexico, a ban U-S-D-A officials say will be reviewed on a month-to-month basis.

(Creston, Iowa) – A man from Kansas was arrested on theft and other charges Monday night, in Creston. According to the Creston Police Department, 38-year-old Diubel Javier Nunez Herrera, of Shawnee, KS, was arrested at around 8:40-p.m. in the 100 block of W. Taylor Street, in Creston.

Herrera was charged with Theft in the 1st Degree – General $10,000+, and Ongoing Criminal Conduct – Unlawful Activity. He was taken to the Union County Jail and held on a $35,000 bond.

GREENFIELD, Iowa [KCCI-TV] — Volunteers with Habitat for Humanity have started a five-day building blitz in Greenfield to construct two new homes that are intended to replace rental homes lost in a tornado nearly a year ago.

Organizers said this is a special moment for the families who will eventually make these houses their homes. Danny Akright, director of communications for Habitat for Humanity says by the end of the week, the frames and roofs of the homes will be complete. The homes are being built at 406 and 408 SE 3rd Street, in Greenfield.

If everything goes as planned, the families will be walking through the doors of their new homes in September. Learn more about other tornado-related recovery updates at https://www.greenfieldiafoundation.org/tornado-relief/recovery-updates

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education will hold a regular, monthly session Wednesday (May 14th) beginning at 6:30-p.m. in the High School Media Center. The Board is slated to receive a Special Presentation from District Nutrition Director Natalie Ritter, and later on, act on approving milk and bread bids, along with Nutrition Meal Prices for the 2025-26 School Year. Other action items include several personnel matters:

Resignations

• Lily Renfro, Special education paraprofessional, effective May 23, 2025
• Naela Block, Asst Middle School Volleyball for Fall 2025 season
• Mary McBride, Special Education Teacher, effective end of current school year
• Andy Mitchell & Stacey Schmidt, Robotics Club Sponsors
• Wade Johnson, Middle School Evening Custodian
• Jeff Hetrick, Bus Driver
• Holly Esbeck, Summer School Teacher
• Elizabeth Herrick-Williams, Theatre Sponsor
• Logan Gerdes, High School Choir Director
• Katie Chamberlain, Teacher Leader

Transfers

• Voluntary Transfer Heath Kelley for 25-26 School year
• Voluntary Transfer Vanessa Perkins for 25-26
• Voluntary Transfer Taylor Vargason for 25-26

Recommendation to Hire

• 6th Grade, English Language Arts Teacher Cadee Burnison, 25-26 School year
• 9th Grade Baseball Coach: Andy Mitchell, Summer 2025
• HS Varsity Volleyball Coach: Alyssa Boltz, Fall 2025
• HS JV Volleyball Coach: Lisa Sonntag, Fall 2025
• 9th Grade Volleyball Coach: Anna Pauley, Fall 2025
• 9th Grade Football Coach, Brenden Casey, Fall 2025
• Middle School Football, Harrison Hoegh, Fall 2025

View the complete agenda, here: Public AGENDA 05142025

(Radio Iowa) – A free webinar will be held next week to help Iowans navigate the complicated topic of long-term care insurance. Rayna Stoycheva, director for retirement security policy at the Harkin Institute, says they’ll have a panel of experts, including the director of the Washington Cares Fund, the nation’s first state-level, universal long-term care insurance program. “He is both an expert as the person who is managing this program, but he has also done a lot of research, especially in Europe, in other countries,” Stoycheva says,”so he brings two types of expertise to the panel.” Many people think long-term care insurance is only for the very old, but it could be of crucial importance to someone much younger if there’s an accident or a crisis with physical or mental health. The webinar will include a question-and-answer session, though the questions often boil down to just a few key points.

“The Center for Retirement Research has done a lot of research on long term care. Who will need it? How much does it cost?” Stoycheva says. “How short projections, these are not easy — but still, how short potentially people are in terms of their savings towards that.” The Harkin Institute, based at Drake University in Des Moines, says the cost of long-term care has nearly doubled since the early 2000s, both for at-home care and nursing home care, pushing costs out of reach for everyone except the very wealthy. Stoycheva says it’s important that Iowans become educated about the options for this type of insurance, especially, how soon you should buy.

“Part of the reason why we are having these conversations, it is not universally available through employers, but to the extent that you do have access, it is cheaper to buy it earlier in your life,” Stoycheva says, “so if that’s an option, the answer would be, you should buy it as early as possible.”

The free webinar over Zoom is scheduled for next Thursday (May 22nd) at 2 p-m. Learn more HERE: https://harkininstitute.drake.edu/2025/04/29/12170/

(Red Oak, Iowa)  – Police in Red Oak arrested a man Monday night on an assault charge. Authorities say 31-year-old Joshua Michael Lowe, of Red Oak, was arrested a little after 10-p.m., for Assault with a deadly weapon (an Aggravated Misdemeanor), and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (A Simple Misdemeanor). Red Oak Police Officers were assisted by Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies in handling the arrest.

Lowe was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – A University of Iowa fraternity has been suspended until at least July 1, 2029, for a hazing incident that happened in November 2024. The incident was discovered when police and firefighters responded to a fire alarm at the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity at 703 North Dubuque Street. While there was no fire found, police went to the basement and discovered 56 pledges in two separate rooms.

Some of them were blindfolded, some of them were shirtless, but all of them were covered in what police say was ketchup, mustard and alcohol. The court filings included several still images from police body camera footage. Joseph Gaya, of Riverdale, was arrested and charged with Interference With Official Acts for allegedly attempting to block officers’ view of what was going on in the two rooms.

According to the filing, Gaya wanted evidence gathered inside the house by law enforcement to be suppressed. He specifically wanted to have observations and statements he made suppressed.

A judge has denied that request.