(Breda, Iowa) – Officials with Western Iowa Networks (WIN) say they are continuing to bridge the digital divide in rural Iowa. Through funding acquisitions and strategic partnerships, WIN has expanded its fiber optic network, delivering high-speed internet to underserved communities. Since 2019 WIN has constructed nearly 2,200 miles of fiber and added 22 communities to the list it serves with fiber optics.

WIN CEO Jeff Roiland says “We recognize that reliable, high-speed internet is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity for rural communities to thrive. Thanks to critical funding programs like the USDA’s ReConnect Program, the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), and multiple rounds of the State of Iowa’s Empower Rural Iowa Broadband Grant Program, we’ve been able to accelerate our fiber expansion and bring world-class connectivity to unserved and underserved areas,” said WIN CEO Jeff Roiland.

A key contributor to WIN’s growth, according to Roiland, “has also been the USDA’s ReConnect Loan and Grant Program, which supports broadband deployment in areas with limited connectivity. With ReConnect funding, WIN constructed a fiber network in the Arcadia, IA exchange, benefiting households, farms, and businesses.

“WIN’s participation in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) has further advanced broadband expansion. RDOF funding was awarded for projects in Mills and Crawford Counties, reinforcing WIN’s mission to bring cutting-edge fiber technology to rural areas. Beyond federal and state funding, WIN has partnered with local governments to facilitate fiber
expansion. Collaborations with Mills County and the City of Glenwood have been instrumental in advancing broadband projects. By working closely with local officials, WIN has addressed community needs and ensured long-term sustainability.”

WIN CEO Jeff Roiland continued, “Through these strategic investments and local partnerships, we’re not just building infrastructure—we’re creating opportunities for education, business growth, and innovation. We are proud of the work everyone at WIN has done to bring this state- of-the-art technology to the communities we serve.”

WIN currently serves nine counties, including the communities of Arcadia, Auburn, Breda, Carroll, Council Bluffs, Dedham, Denison, Farragut, Glenwood, Glidden, Halbur, Hastings, Lidderdale, Macedonia, Malvern, Maple River, Mineola, Mount Carmel, Nemaha, Pacific Junction, Roselle, Silver City, Treynor, Vail, Westside, and Willey residing in nine counties.

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About Western Iowa Networks: Breda Telephone Corp. ~ d.b.a. Western Iowa Networks (WIN) ~ is a leading communications company based in Breda, IA. It is one of western Iowa’s largest independent telephone companies, and one of the area’s most diverse service providers. WIN was founded in 1905 as Breda Telephone Company and today provides telephone, Internet, cellular, cable, and many complementary services to customers across Western and Southwestern Iowa.

(Shelby, Iowa)  – A clean-up day is planned for Sunday, April 6th, 2025 at Carstens 1880 Farmstead near Shelby.  With upcoming events planned for the summer season, members of Carstens 1880 Farmstead, Inc. and interested community volunteers are invited to join in this effort to spruce up the farmstead grounds. Clean-up day will begin at 1:30 p.m.

Carsten’s 1880 Farmstead President Terry Torneten says “Winter is behind us so we can get to the farm now. We would appreciate everyone’s help to get the place cleaned up.” Jobs that can be done during clean-up day include raking leaves, picking up small limbs and sticks, trimming trees, minor repairs to the buildings, and dusting off displays that have been in storage since last year.

Carstens 1880 Farmstead is located at 32409 380th St, Shelby, just south of I-80 exit 34. For more information on clean-up day call,402-699-6941.

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Carstens 1880 Farmstead, Inc., a non-profit group of local volunteers, oversees a working farm museum exhibit located between Minden and Shelby, Iowa in Pottawattamie County.  The farmstead is the home of Carstens Farm Days, which is held the first weekend after Labor Day each September.  The farm is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  For more information visit the web site: www.carstensfarm.com

(Corning, Iowa) — A central Iowa man faces Burglary & other charges in southwest Iowa. The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports 48-year-old Jason James Burton, of Des Moines, was arrested this past Tuesday, for Burglary in the 4rd Degree, Theft in the 2nd Degree, and 2nd Degree Criminal Mischief. His arrest was the result of an investigation into an incident at Edge Ag Solutions in Corning.

Burton is being held in the Adams County Jail on $15,000 cash only bond. His preliminary hearing was set for March 14th.

DES MOINES, Iowa [WHO-TV]  — Lutheran Services in Iowa is cutting their resettlement program and 28 employees due to an unpaid $1.5 million in government funding. Following President Trump’s executive order ending refugee travel and cutting funding to resettlement programs, LSI continued the work. LSI welcomed more than 100 refugees in late December and was determined to complete their 90 days of resettlement assistance.

Lutheran Services in Iowa is a non-profit organization which receives government reimbursement for the work they do. LSI says they haven’t been reimbursed for the past several months of work. According to LSI CEO & President Renee Hardman, LSI hasn’t been reimbursed for services that were rendered late October, November, December and early January. Those services amount to about $1.5 million, but the work employees do contines, with the costs continuing as well.

Following the completion of the last 90-day resettlement period at the end of April, 28 employees and the resettlement program are being cut. Hardman says this was done to make sure the organization could continue with other projects. LSI will continue other refugee programs such educational services, childcare, Global Greens, and career pathway assistance.

Hardman says that helping refugees get through their first 90 days isn’t all it takes, she says if refugee programs continue to struggle and close, refugees will have a tough time acclimating. In response to this and other changes, LSI is hosting a virtual townhall to update the community. On Thursday, March 13 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., people can tune in for a discussion on organization changes, challenges LSI is facing, and a questions and answer session.

(Jones County, Iowa) – A collision Friday morning in northeastern Iowa resulted in three people being sent to the hospital. The Iowa State Patrol says a car driven by 31-year-old Esdras Perez-Velazquez, of Monticello, was traveling north on Highway 38 north of Monticello at around 7:15-a.m., Friday, when the vehicle went out of control due to weather/road conditions. The car slid into the southbound lanes, where it collided with a pickup truck driven by 65-year-old Cathy Lueck, of Dyersville.

Both drivers, and a passenger in the car, 38-year-old Miguel Ramos-Alberto, of Monticello, were injured and transported by ambulance to hospitals in Iowa City and Dyersville.

DES MOINES— Gov. Kim Reynolds today (Saturday), signed an extension of the proclamation relating to the weight limits and transportation of grain, fertilizer, and manure.

The proclamation is effective immediately and continues through April 7, 2025. The proclamation allows vehicles transporting corn, soybeans, hay, straw, silage, stover, fertilizer (dry, liquid, and gas), manure (dry and liquid), and distillers grains to be overweight (not exceeding 90,000 pounds gross weight) without a permit for the duration of this proclamation.

This proclamation applies to loads transported on all highways within Iowa (excluding the interstate system) and those which do not exceed a maximum of 90,000 pounds gross weight, do not exceed the maximum axle weight limit determined under the non-primary highway maximum gross weight table in Iowa Code § 321.463 (6) (b), by more than 12.5 percent, do not exceed the legal maximum axle weight limit of 20,000 pounds, and comply with posted limits on roads and bridges.

(Des Moines, Iowa; Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Bills that survived the first major deadline of Iowa’s 2025 legislative session show that Republicans have moved forward with a number of their priorities through bills focused on issues ranging from higher education to carbon capture pipelines to child care access.

The Legislature’s self-imposed  “funnel” deadline culls most legislation from further consideration if the measure has not received committee approval. In the first funnel, bills must receive committee approval in one chamber to remain eligible; there will be a second funnel deadline April 4, when bills must have passed one full chamber and a committee in the opposite chamber to remain eligible.

Bills that do not meet these set deadlines are considered “dead” for the session – but there are several caveats. Language from bills that do not meet the “funnel” deadline can still be added as amendments to other surviving bills, or can be brought forward as leadership-sponsored legislation. Additionally, bills that involve taxes, spending and government oversight components are exempt from the funnel.

The Iowa Capitol in the evening on Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

There’s one notable bill with a spending component that has not been passed this year – the state’s funding for the public school system. The House sent its public school funding proposal to the Senate in February, a package that included a 2.25% per-pupil funding increase, a one-time allocation of $22.6 million for per-pupil costs and an increase to transportation equity payments. The Senate had approved a 2% SSA rate that did not include the other funding components, matching Gov. Kim Reynolds’ initial proposal. The Senate has not taken up the House’s education spending package since.

House Speaker Pat Grassley said House Republicans are “still having conversations” with Senate Republicans and the governor on SSA, but did not say any agreement has been reached. Lawmakers have a self-imposed deadline of passing the State Supplemental Aid (SSA) rate for public K-12 schools within 30 days of the governor’s budget being released. This time limit passed by in February. While there is no penalty for not passing SSA within this timeframe, a delay in passing this measure can cause issues for schools that must submit their budgets in early March.

Grassley said during his discussions with local school districts, many are budgeting with the expectation that the Senate and governor’s SSA rate will be approved. “I think a lot of schools are making decisions at (2%),” Grassley said. “But we’re holding tight at this point because we feel strongly about some of those other items as well as the SSA, and the package that we have.”

The only piece of legislation that has made it to Reynolds’ desk: The repeal of “gender identity” from the Iowa Civil Right Act. The law was passed quickly through the legislative process, having its first subcommittee hearing Feb. 24 and being signed into law Feb. 28. Republicans control both chambers in the Iowa Legislature, in addition to holding all but one statewide elected office. House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst said Democrats are frustrated by what bills Republicans have chosen to move forward this session, which she said are “focused on anything but lowering costs for Iowa families.”

Grassley said moving past the first “funnel” of the session, Republicans plan to consider more legislation that address cost of living concerns for Iowans, like lowering the sales tax for some daily use items or providing tax credits for families with young children. The Republican chairs of the Senate and House Ways and Means Committees, Sen. Dan Dawson and Rep. Bobby Kaufman, introduced their proposal Thursday to limit property taxes in Iowa.

Read more about the bills that survived the Iowa Legislature’s Funnel Deadline HERE. You can also read about the bills that failed to make it through the deadline for consideration.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Montgomery County Auditor Jill Ozuna wishes to inform the public that, “To comply with Legislative changes last year with HF-718 county auditors are required to mail a statement to county taxpayers by March 20 with state-specified information related to proposed local government budgets and proposed property tax rates. (Iowa Code 24.2A)

“The information is about the taxes 2024 payable in September 2025 and March 2026. You should receive a statement if you expect to receive a property tax bill in September. The statement is not a property tax bill. It includes data for proposed city, school district and county budgets but does not include proposed budgets for smaller taxing authorities, such as the community college, assessor’s office, townships, and agricultural extension service.

“The budget statement will include information regarding school, county, and city proposed tax rates as well as information about scheduled public hearings regarding the proposed tax rates.”

Ozuna says the budget statement will include the following information:

• Date, time, and location of public hearings to consider proposed property tax rates for next fiscal year

• Phone number and website (if applicable) for each associated taxing authority

• Current, effective, and proposed tax rate information

• Comparison of current, effective, and proposed tax rates

• How current taxes levied by the school, county and city are distributed

• Comparison of how taxes would be distributed in the current and proposed budget years

You are asked to visit the Department of Management website for general property tax explanation, and calculation of individual impact-DOM web site on the back of the mailer.

(Ames, Iowa) – Iowa State University graduate school programs have started rescinding offers to prospective students as departments scramble to respond to funding uncertainties.  The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports someone who identified themselves as an international, prospective Ph.D. student posted a letter online they received from ISU on March 5 stating an offer the student had previously received from the university’s department of chemistry was being withdrawn “due to current uncertainties with federal research funding that supports most work done by graduate students at research universities.”

According to the letter, even if the student was able to accept the offer, the university couldn’t guarantee it would be able to provide a graduate assistantship to them. The name of the sender and recipient were removed from the letter by the recipient.  “This decision in no way reflects on the quality of your graduate school application,” the letter stated.

ISU spokesperson Angie Hunt provided a statement from the university in response to questions from the Iowa Capital Dispatch. She did not provide information on how many offers have been rescinded from what programs. She also did not say how graduate enrollment will be impacted and if a recent preliminary injunction from a federal judge halting proposed 15% indirect funding caps on National Institutes of Health grants has changed this practice. As of fall 2024, ISU has 4,170 enrolled graduate students and 634 professional students.

“Iowa State’s academic units are currently reviewing offers for graduate student admissions and apprenticeships,” Hunt, on behalf of ISU, said in an emailed statement. “Based on unprecedented acceptance rates and uncertainties with funding, some departments have made the prudent yet difficult decision to rescind offers to some graduate students who had not yet accepted their offer of admission.”

The university posts updates online on how grant projects and other federally funded programs should respond to federal actions.