The Cass and Audubon County Community Foundations report applications are now being accepted from organizations providing charitable services in either Cass or Audubon County. As part of this fall grant cycle, $30,375 is available to support Cass County nonprofit organizations and community projects, and $46,500 is available for nonprofits and community organizations in Audubon County. The deadline to apply for funds through the online application process is September 1.

Of the total allocated funds in Cass County, $1,000 is restricted to the community of Griswold, and $29,375 is available to support projects throughout the county. Of the total allocated funds in Audubon County, $2,650 is restricted to the Exira area, $2,220 is designated for the community of Audubon, and $41,630 is available to support projects throughout the county.

Beginning July 15, application details, a fact sheet, and a link to the application form can be found online by selecting Cass (or Audubon) County under the County Listing at www.swiowafoundations.org. Applications will only be accepted through the online system. Only those organizations providing services in Cass or Audubon County are eligible to apply IN THEIR RESPECTIVE COUNTY ONLY. They must be able to demonstrate broad community/county support and be an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) Public Charity, a local municipality, or a fiscally sponsored project.

Both Community Foundations aim to improve the quality of life in their counties, by supporting community needs in the areas of civic engagement, culture, health, education, and social services. The objective of the grant program is to fund projects that will have a permanent impact on, and in, the two counties. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, for Fall 2020, both the Cass County Community Foundation will entertain requests for program and operating support, in addition to the historic focus on items of permanence.

The grant funds are made possible by the generosity of Cass and Audubon County Community Foundation donors. To inquire about donating to either the Cass County or Audubon County Community Foundation, please contact the Community Foundations of Southwest Iowa staff or any board member listed below.

Gifts to permanently endowed funds through the Cass County Community Foundation may be eligible to receive a 25% Endow Iowa Tax Credit.

Board members of the Cass County Community Foundation are Chair, Kristi Burg of Massena; Vice Chair, Gary Maas of Anita; Secretary/Treasurer, Roland K. Landsness, Esq. of Atlantic; Royal Bierbaum of Griswold; Sue Hunt of Atlantic; and Mark D. Kyhnn, CPA of Atlantic. Board members of the Audubon County Community Foundation are Chair, Genelle Deist of Audubon; Vice Chair, Joel Hoegh of rural Brayton; Secretary/Treasurer, Megan Wagner of Audubon; Gina Benton of Exira, Bob Blomme of Audubon; Steven B. Hansen of Audubon; and Donna Olson of Kimballton.

Please contact Stacey Goodman (stacey@omahafoundation.org) or Tess Houser (tess@omahafoundation.org) at 800-794-3458 with application-related questions. All completed grant applications will be considered at the October Board meeting, with applicants being notified of funding decisions by the end of October.

(Radio Iowa) – The manager of the University of Iowa’s Van Allen Observatories says if the clouds clear, Iowans should take advantage of a very rare opportunity to see a comet this week. Caroline Roberts, who also coordinates the U-I’s Astronomy Laboratory, says to spot this spectacle in the sky, you’ll either have to stay up late or set the alarm to get up early. “About an hour-and-a-half before sunrise is going to be best, that’s about 3:30 to 4 o’clock AM,” Roberts says, “but also, it is viewable after sunset which is a lot more convenient for people, and that’s about an hour or an hour-and-a-half after sunset, so maybe 10:30 to 11 PM.”

Comet Neowise (NASA photo)

Its full name is Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE, or just NEOWISE for short. The comet gets its name from the orbiting NASA space telescope which discovered it, called NEOWISE, for Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. If you want to see the comet, you’ll have to be looking in the right place — low on the horizon, depending on when you venture out. “If you hold your fist out above the horizon, the comet’s about 10 degrees — the size of your fist — up from the horizon,” Roberts says. “If you’re looking in the morning, you want to look towards the north-northwest. If you’re looking in the nighttime, you want to look towards the north-northeast.”

Unlike a meteor, which makes a fast, bright streak across the sky, the comet will appear stationary and you don’t need any special equipment to see it. “Using binoculars, using a telescope is going to improve your view of the comet, but it can be seen with the naked eye,” she says. “It’s just going to be a faint, fuzzy point in the sky.” Binoculars or a telescope should help reveal the comet as a bright spot in the dark sky along with its trailing white tail. By next Monday or so, the comet will appear to rise higher in the nighttime sky, while it will become impossible to see in the early mornings. NEOWISE is a fairly large comet, about three miles across. Chicken Little can rest assured, the sky isn’t falling, and Roberts says this distant, icy ball will not threaten life on our planet.

“We know exactly where it’s going and we know what its path in the sky is going to be,” Roberts says. “While it is traveling between the sun and the Earth, there’s no risk of it encountering the Earth. It’s going to pass by us very, very far away.” NEOWISE is considered a long-period comet, which means it won’t be back around for about 7,000 years.

(Update 10:45-a.m., 7/15) – The Iowa Department of Public Safety today (Wednesday), said “The five-hour window for the Amber Alert notification system has expired for Breasia Terrell – as it does for all Amber Alert cases – however the search is still underway for her as a missing person. The public is asked to call the Davenport Police Department at 563-326-6125 with any information related to her disappearance.”

Breasia Terrell

Authorities in Iowa issued an AMBER ALERT at around 12:45-a.m. today (Wednesday), with regard to a child who has been abducted and whose life is in danger. The child, 10-year old Breasia Terrell, of Davenport, was taken 3:30-a.m. Friday, July 10th. The suspect, 47-year old Henry Dinkins of Davenport, is in custody on a separate charge for violating the state’s sex offender registry law. Reports say the missing girl’s mother had a son with Dinkins and both children were visiting him together over the weekend. Dinkins was convicted of sexual abuse in 1990 is considered a “person of interest” in the girl’s disappearance.

Henry Earl Dinkins

Breasia Terrell is an African American female, 4-feet 5-inches tall, with braided hair. She weighs about 75 pounds, has black hair and brown eyes. She was last known to be wearing an oversized white t-shirt, shorts and white or pink flip-flops.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal appeals court has temporarily halted a judge’s order that the Dakota Access Pipeline be shut down in three weeks. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Tuesday issued an “administrative stay” of the judge’s order. But The Bismarck Tribune reports that the appeals court said its order “should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits” of the case. The stay will remain in place until the appeals court rules on whether developer Energy Transfer can keep oil flowing while the court decides its appeal of the shutdown order.

UNDATED (AP) — Two Latino advocacy groups sued the state of Iowa Tuesday over a law that prohibits county election officials from using information readily available in the voter registration database to fill in any information missing from a voter’s absentee ballot request. The law approved by Republican lawmakers in the final hours of the legislative session last month requires county election officials to contact the voter directly by phone, email or mail to confirm any missing information. Supporters say it’s a voter fraud protection measure. The League of United Latin American Citizens and Majority Forward say in their lawsuit that it’s unconstitutional.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Investigators have identified a jailed sex offender as a “person of interest” in the disappearance of a 10-year-old Davenport girl who vanished last week. Henry Dinkins has not been charged in the disappearance of 10-year-old Breasia Terrell but Davenport Police Chief Paul Sikorski says he may have information about her whereabouts and merits further investigation. Dinkins is being jailed on a charge of violating sex offender registration requirements. Sikorski said that anyone who has information regarding Dinkins’ whereabouts between July 9 at 10 p.m. to noon on July 10 should contact police immediately.

CHICAGO (AP) — People traveling from Iowa and Oklahoma to Chicago will have to quarantine for two weeks upon arrival or face possible fines starting Friday. Chicago first issued a quarantine order early this month for 15 other states based on increasing numbers of confirmed cases of the coronavirus. The city updated the order Tuesday, bringing the total number of affected states to 17. States are included based on the rate of new confirmed cases per 100,000 residents. Illinois health officials announced 707 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease and 25 deaths.