(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Food System Coalition says the U-S-D-A has cancelled contracts worth more than 11-million dollars. The money was to help the state’s food banks, schools and child care centers purchase local food from more than 300 Iowa farmers over three years. Coalition executive director Chris Schwartz says the U-S-D-A has not explained why it’s cancelling the contracts.

“This program has been wildly successful,” Schwartz says, “and people have looked at the way that Iowa implemented it as truly a national model for success.” He says the money from previous contracts is set to run out at the end of this month. Schwartz says the timing couldn’t be worse, as farmers already have seedlings sprouting in greenhouses, they’ve booked processing times at meat lockers, and planned out the year ahead based on this funding.

“This is the kind of stuff that sends farms into foreclosure. This is the kind of stuff that people lose their homes over,” Schwartz says. “And so, here these are people that have been good faith partners with the effort to provide nutritious food to Iowa’s children, and we’re just going to be hanging them out to dry.”

Iowa has a state program called “Choose Iowa” that will allocate 70-thousand dollars across all schools in Iowa for one year, but it’s not enough to fill in the gaps left by the U-S-D-A’s cuts. Schwartz and the coalition are calling on Iowans to boost local food purchases to support farmers.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Deputy Auditor Sheri Wendt reports that as of today (March 11, 2025), two candidates have filed nomination papers to run for Mayor, in the City of Lewis. The candidates are:

• Nancy J Cerica-Joens
• Anthony L Sorbello

A Special Election for Mayor’s position in the City of Lewis will take place April 29, 2025. The election is to fill the position that was recently left vacant. If you live within the City Limits of Lewis, Iowa, you may circulate your nomination papers and turn them into the Cass County Auditor’s Office.

You have until April 4th at 5-p;m. to file nomination papers with the Auditor’s Office, in order to have your name on the ballot for the Special Election. Persons with questions may call the Cass County Auditor’s Office at (712)-243-4570.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – March 11, 2025 – The Iowa Department of Transportation reports, if you travel on the Pottawattamie County Road G-30 bridge over Interstate 80 near Underwood you need to be aware of upcoming lane closures that may slow down your trip.

Beginning at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, April 1, weather permitting, crews with Cramer and Associates, the contractor of the project, along with staff from the Council Bluffs construction office, will work on overlaying the pavement on the bridge deck.  

One lane of traffic will always be maintained on the bridge. There will be no full closures on the bridge. You will be assisted across the bridge with the use of temporary traffic signals.

The Iowa DOT reminds motorists to drive with caution, obey the posted speed limit and other signs in the work area, and be aware that traffic fines for moving violations are at least double in work zones. As in all work zones, drivers should stay alert, allow ample space between vehicles, and wear seat belts.

(Des Moines, Iowa) — KCCI reports after 36 years, the mystery of a woman’s disappearance from Woodbine, Iowa, may finally be resolved. Robert Allen Davis, 61, of Council Bluffs, was arrested on Monday and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the 1989 disappearance of Barbara Lenz. Davis, who was 25 at the time, is believed to be the last person to see Lenz alive. She was 31 years old when she went missing from her apartment in Woodbine.

Lenz’s body has never been found, but cold case investigators with the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation have spent months examining evidence in the case. The arrest is the first made by the state’s newly-formed cold case unit. Court records show that Davis had a history of assaulting Lenz during their two-year relationship. In 1989, he admitted to having a violent temper and assaulting Lenz. Witnesses have reported Davis made threatening comments in the years after Lenz’s disappearance, further linking him to the case. Davis has a criminal history, including convictions for kidnapping and sexual abuse in the 1990s. He was also convicted in 2008 for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

(Photo from KCCI.com)

Investigators are still working to locate Lenz’s remains, which her family and authorities hope will bring closure to the long-unsolved case.

(Corning, Iowa) – The Adams County Emergency Management Agency said on social media today (Tuesday), that at around 2:10-a.m. today (March 11), the Adams County Sheriff’s office alerted Corning Iowa Fire Department and EMS to a rollover accident involving a semi and livestock trailer. EMS tended to the driver’s medical needs, while Corning Fire and the Taylor County Sheriff’s office collaborated to secure the scene and rescue the livestock.

Adams County EMA Facebook page photo

Additional details were not immediately available.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa Senate approved legislation Monday allowing Iowa residents to seek district court action during a public sector union’s recertification process. According to the Iowa Capital Dispatch, Senate File 472, which passed in a 32-15 vote, would allow Iowans to petition a district court to order public employers to provide lists of their employees to the state as part of the union bargaining process.

Under the the state’s 2017 collective bargaining law, government employers are required to submit a list of their employees to the Employment Appeal Board (EAB) before recertification votes in which workers are asked if they want to continue being represented by their union before the next contract negotiation period. If a list is not submitted to the EAB, the recertification election will not occur, and contract negotiations occur with the existing union representation. The bill would make failure to submit a list of employees illegal. It would allow Iowa residents to petition a district court for a writ of mandamus compelling the public employer to provide a list to EAB within 10 days of receiving notice of intent to conduct an election from the EAB. The bill limits the timeframe for petitioning the court in these cases to 60 days.

Supporters of the legislation said in earlier meetings the measure was necessary as some public unions were purposefully not submitting lists of employees so existing union representation would retain control over contract negotiations. Sen. Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig, highlighted the subject as a “teacher union issue,” claiming that school administrators were choosing not to submit employee lists because of their loyalty to the teachers’ union. During floor debate, Sen. Adrian Dickey, R-Packwood, said statistics from the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing found that from 2020-2023, nearly half of the recertification elections that were called to take place did not occur because employers did not submit lists. He argued the measure would not create any issues for public employers that are abiding by current Iowa law, but would ensure public sector employees’ voices are heard through the recertification process.

The Iowa Capitol on Feb. 25, 2025. (Photo by Kathie Obradovich/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Sen. Molly Donahue, D-Cedar Rapids, said the bill “creates an unnecessary financial burden on our school districts, because sometimes they choose not to turn in that list — not because they sympathize with educators or with the union — but because they know that this is a redundant process and it’s costing money.” Donahue said that the EAB recertification process overall was “unnecessary” and a waste of resources and time for the state, noting that in more than 98%, of cases, public sector workers have voluntarily kept their union representation. She argued the bill was not supported by any educators, public sector workers or groups representing them, but was a measure pushed by conservative organizations that serves “no real public benefit other than to try to get school districts to lose their rights to be represented by a union.” Dickey said the measure was not a “union-busting bill” but a “pro-worker bill.”

The measure moves to the Iowa House for further consideration.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa D-O-T’s winter operations director says the blizzard last week ended up causing more damage to private vehicles than state plow trucks. Craig Bargfrede saw a single day record for snowplows hit by cars February 12th, but there were no records last week. “Well, thankfully, during this last blizzard event, we only saw a couple of incidents where we had trucks hit as a result of being out there doing our job,” he says. Bargfrede says they have been fortunate that most of the accident weren’t severe.

“Minor damage that we were able to basically repair and get the trucks back out on the road. The only one of those two incidents, one of the trucks was pulling a brine trailer, and that Brian trailer did end up upside down in the ditch. So we we do have some damage to that,” Bargfrede says. Bargfrede says there was more damage to private vehicles as multiple pile ups between, cars, trucks and semis forced the closing of several roadways during the blizzard. “This is another prime example where the traveling public really need to pay attention and heed the warnings of the State Patrol and the D-O-T. When we say travel not advised due to the conditions out there, people need to really heed those warnings,” he says. “It’s a dangerous situation, and it’s an ultimate safety issue for the public.” Barfrede says the amount of snow wasn’t the problem.

“The pavement itself, for the most part, was in fairly decent condition. It was just the visibility and the winds that we were dealing with that there was no visibility. I had numerous operators comment that they could, they could basically just see the front edge of the of the hood of the truck, the front plow and beyond. That wasn’t much, much more for visibility,” he says. Bargfrede says their stockpiles of salt and sand have been more than enough in a drier than normal winter. “When we talk about the actual material usage for this winter season, it’s down based on the winter season or lack of winter season that we’ve had this year. We’re in the process now that we this last event of putting in orders and basically coming out of the winter season, topping off all of our sheds,” Bargfrede says.

He says the warm up has some district offices already prepping for pothole maintenance. “This, this huge fluctuation in temperatures naturally going to cause a number of those situations to come up. So, I’m pretty positive that a lot of the garages that have those kind of situations are going to be out taking care of those potholes as quickly as possible,” Bargfrede says. Bargfrede says its all part of the cycle as they go from winter operations to spring.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Police in Glenwood report the arrest on Monday, of 21-year-old Aiden McQuire. The Glenwood man was taken into custody for Public Intoxication. While his bond was set at $300, McQuire was  released on his Own Recognizance.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has unanimously approved a bill that toughens penalties for assaulting anyone working in a hospital or nursing home. Under current law, someone could face enhanced charges — including a felony — for assaulting a health care employee who is licensed by the state. The bill would expand that to anyone working or volunteering in a nursing home, hospital or ambulance service, as well as medical, nursing and E-M-S students. Representative Timi Brown-Powers of Waterloo is an outpatient therapist at MercyOne in Waterloo who started her health care career as a certified nursing assistant.

“It’s unfortunate that we have to have this bill, but we do,” Brown-Powers said. “…Many of us in this room are in health care and know of instances where our bodies or our lives are endangered.”

According to the American College of Surgeons, healthcare workers are five times more likely to experience workplace violence than employees in other industries. Federal data indicates healthcare workers account for 73 percent of all non-fatal workplace injuries and illnesses in the U-S.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors today (Tuesday), accepted the results of the March 4^th Special Election, pertaining to the dissolution of the Orient-Macksburg Community School District. Auditor Mandy Berg…

The Board received a quarterly report from Kent Irwin, Deputy Director of the Adair/Guthrie County Environmental Health Department.

Adair County Engineer Nick Kauffman presented for the Board’s approval and Board Chair Nathan Baier’s signature, a contract and performance bond for FY25 (Farm-to-market gravel) Rock Contract. The Board approved the documents as presented.

And, Kauffman updated the Board on Secondary Roads Department maintenance and activities. The Adair County Engineer’s office said effective from now through about the next 3-to 4 weeks, York Ave. between 170th St. & 180th St., is closed to replace a culvert that’s 1390 feet north of 180th St.