(Adair, Iowa) – Firefighters from Adair and Anita are on the scene of a grass fire just north of Interstate 80 on the westbound side. An eastward looking Iowa DOT camera at I-80 WB, mile marker 74, shows the smoke from the grass fire and smoke drifting north, away from the Interstate.

IA DOT camera view at 10:20-a.m. 3/3/25

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa legislature is considering a bill to override federal nutritional requirements for school breakfast and lunch programs. If the bill becomes law, the Iowa Department of Education would seek federal approval to adopt state-specific nutritional guidelines that make servings of meat and dairy products top priorities. The bill says regional food sources – like corn, pork and milk – are not adequately addressed by federal guidelines. Ben Nuelle is a lobbyist with the Iowa Pork Producers Association.

“We support this bill because it emphasizes the importance of sourcing local food as well as again helping students understand the benefits of animal-based protein such as pork at any early age and including that in their balanced diets,” he said. Democratic Representative Sami Scheetz of Cedar Rapids disagrees with the guidelines emphasizing meat and dairy foods in the menus for school lunches and breakfasts. “The way that this bill is written now is that we’re going to prioritize this over other food sources for our kids, and that’s just not what any nutritionist or doctor will tell you.”

Federal guidelines for school meals include sodium and calories limits and emphasize whole grains, fruits, vegetable and low-fat dairy products.The bill would have state officials seek a federal waiver and the state would develop its own set of nutritional guidelines for meals served in schools.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Two residents of Glenwood have reported incidents of Theft and Criminal Mischief. A resident reported an incident Theft in the 3rd Degree, on Feb. 28th. Another resident of Glenwood reported an incident of Criminal Mischief in the 4th Degree, on March 3rd. Additional details were not provided.

(Denison, Iowa) – The Denison Police Department says a young adult male was injured Saturday morning, when the pickup he was driving went out of control and crashed into two houses. Authorities say 19-year-old Julio Fernando Jeronimo-Perez, of Denison, was driving a 2009 Dodge RAM 1500 pickup truck, when the vehicle went out of control at exited S. 24th Street in Denison. The vehicle went airborne and struck a support beam to a residence at 30 S. 24th Street before hitting a home at 34 S. 24th Street. The pickup came to rest in the front yard of the second residence, between a tree and the porch of the home. The crash occurred at around 1:40-a.m. Authorities say the wall to the house where the kitchen was, was damaged, and a portion of the wall was missing.

KDSN photo

Jeronimo-Perez was in the vehicle, conscious and talking with attempting to exit the pickup. Fire and EMS arrived on the scene and removed Perez from the vehicle. He was transported by EMS to the Crawford County Hospital for treatment of possible/unknown injuries. No other injuries were reported. Damage to the two residences was estimated at $25,000 each. The pickup was totaled in the crash, with the damage estimated at $10,000.

No citations have been issued (as of the latest report).

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County (IA) Board of Supervisors, Tuesday morning, will set the date and time for a joint Public Hearing with the Adair County Board of Supervisors, with regard to the vacating and closing of a portion of 780th Lane (AKA Union Ave.; AKA Adair-Cass Ave.), as March 18th, at 9:05-a.m. The Board will also act on setting the same date, at 9:30-a.m., as the time for Public Hearing on vacating a portion of Quebec Lane, Massena Township. (see details here: Agenda – 2025.03.04 – for Publication).

In other business, the Board will act on approving an Iowa Dept. of Transportation Federal-aid agreement for a Surface Transportation Block Grant Program Project for a cold-in-place HMA (Hot Melt Asphalt) project, on South N-28 (690th Street), in Cass County, from Highway 92 south, to the Adams County Line.

The Board will then consider and possibly approve the purchase of a parcel of real estate for the purpose of a Secondary Roads Maintenance facility, and, act to approve a third amendment to the Ambulance Services Agreement between the County, Cass Health, the City of Atlantic, and Midwest Medical Transport Company, with an annual subsidy fee of $656,302.50, beginning July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2027, with a potential shortfall collection amount up to a maximum of $75,000/year.

Their final order of business is to act on the appointment of Krista Yount to the SIRHA Board. The Cass County Supervisor’s meeting begins at 9-a.m., Tuesday (March 4th).

(Radio Iowa) – A growing number of Iowa nonprofits say frozen federal funds threaten their ability to focus on air and water quality, or to help support farmers and rural communities. The nine-thousand member Practical Farmers of Iowa targets farmer-to-farmer learning, on-farm research and technical assistance. Executive director Sally Worley says nearly a quarter of P-F-I’s budget this year comes from federal grants, which are facing deep cuts.

“Twenty-two percent of our budget is a big deal to us,” Worley says, “and I completely agree that we need to reduce waste in the government, but right now what they’re doing is freezing contracts that are legally bound, and that we have signed and planned for in our budget.” Worley says one of the biggest impacts is the freeze on the U-S-D-A’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, which supported more than 800-thousand acres planted with cover crops through P-F-I’s cost share program.

Another nonprofit feeling the pinch is the Iowa Environmental Council, where executive director Sarah Green says they budgeted for half a million dollars from federal grants and one grant was suspended. It was part of an E-P-A program to help under-served communities navigate federal resources, develop strong grant proposals and manage funding to address environmental pollution. Green says the grant suspension puts the council in limbo.

“It puts the communities that we’re supporting in jeopardy, too,” Green says. “The state does not have a comprehensive effort to identify environmental pollution challenges and to connect communities with resources to overcome those challenges.” Green says council is developing contingency plans to continue the work it started last year. She emphasizes that local foundations and other funding sources cannot fill in all the gaps left by the federal government.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – (UPDATED] Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers today (Monday) said the weather forecast for Tuesday night through Wednesday afternoon indicates a probability of accumulating snowfall with blizzard conditions. The Clarinda Police Department would like to remind the citizens of Clarinda about the snow ordinance. The ordinance states no person shall park any motor vehicle or other apparatus upon any street of the city that will obstruct the removal of snow when there has been an accumulation of two inches or more of snow or ice. Any vehicle left parked on any street in violation of this ordinance may be impounded, and the registered owner of the vehicle will be subject to a $30.00 parking fine, and payment of all applicable towing and storage fees before the vehicle is released. The parking ban remains in effect until the snow ceases to fall and the snowplow operators have plowed the streets from curb to curb.

(Radio Iowa) – University of Northern Iowa administrators are asking legislators for the seed money for a Center for Civic Education. It’s not a building. U-N-I president Mark Nook says the university’s College of Education and departments of history, philosophy and political science have spent the past five years laying the academic groundwork. “It really is focused on promoting civic learning not only on our campus, but at other universities and colleges across the state; increasing civic education knowledge especially amongst K-12 teachers — both those learning on our campus, but also those that are already active teachers across the state,” Nook said, “and then providing public programming as well.” U-N-I is asking the legislature to provide a million dollars to launch that programming and hire a director for the center.

University of Northern Iowa president Mark Nook (UNI photo)

“In the end what we are planning to do is we are going to ask the director to be very aggressive in fundraising, especially with grants and things, and to operate this center in the future fully off of outside money,” Nook says. Nook reviewed the plans with a group of legislators last week and he mentioned that U-N-I is the repository for U-S Senator Chuck Grassley’s papers. “His papers when he was in the state House here but then all his House papers when he was in the (U.S.) House and we will be receiving all of his Senate papers once he retires from the senate. It’s four semi loads of papers coming our way in the future, ” Nook said. “…Those will be a great asset to this university as we talk about engaged citizens and educating citizens for a civic life.”

Grassley earned an undergraduate degree from U-N-I in 1955 and a masters degree in political science in 1956. He won a seat in the Iowa House in 1958 and has held elected office ever since. Grassley designated U-N-I as the home for his papers in 1988. Senator Tom Harkin donated his papers to Drake University in Des Moines and that’s where the Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Civic Engagement is located.

(Radio Iowa) – Marshalltown High School will be the first in central Iowa to launch what’s being called Three Dimensional Education or 3-D-E this fall, becoming the fourth school in the state to incorporate the innovative program. It’s being implemented through Junior Achievement of Central Iowa, where Ryan Osborn is president. He says 3-D-E authentically connects high school education to the complexities of the real-world, while working with corporate partners. “First and foremost, it was an instructional model developed to answer high school engagement. There are a lot of studies out there that find less than half high schoolers are engaged in their learning,” Osborn says. “The second reason is really out of this need to align high school graduates with the type of skills they’re going to need once they get out to the workforce.”

Osborn says the competency-based approach helps students unlock and develop skills like creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving. The platform includes case studies for ninth through eleventh graders that culminates in a capstone experience senior year where students work as business consultants to real clients.  “They’re working on a case that might be a real-world problem at an existing business, kind of like what you’d see at business school in college, bringing it down to the high school level,” Osborn says. “For a five-week period, those math teachers, English, social studies — all the core subjects — are all talking about that same case.” The program is taught throughout the day, not as an after-school elective, and of the 375 students who will start 9th grade in Marshalltown next year, as many as 150 are now being recruited for the program.

“We definitely have plans to continue to grow the model here in central Iowa,” he says. “We’re talking with Des Moines and Waukee. They’re actually in the due diligence process now and hopefully, they would be able to launch in the fall of ’26. That’s really kind of our plan. We’re looking to grow it about one or two schools per year.” Osborn says the 3-D-E model is proven to decrease chronic absenteeism and increase a variety of student success metrics, including graduation rates, proficiency rates, and self-efficacy.

The program was founded by Junior Achievement in 2015 and has been implemented across 60 high schools nationally. Three other high schools in Iowa are already using the 3-D-E program: Alburnett High, and Prairie and Washington in Cedar Rapids.

(Iowa News Service) – It’s been about a month since a federal judge upheld a court ruling that blocks an Iowa immigration bill from taking effect. It’s the latest action in an ongoing effort by the state of Iowa to tighten its immigration laws. The Iowa Legislature passed Senate File 2340 last year – which would have created new crimes for people who were deported and re-enter the country illegally, including children, even if they have been authorized to be in the U.S.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa’s Communications Director Veronica Lorsen Fowler said the bill was unconstitutional, and would have set a dangerous precedent had the law gone into effect. “It hands over enforcement from the federal government to local law enforcement,” said Lorsen Fowler, “which might on the face of it sound likes it makes sense – except that immigration law is extremely complicated.”

Lorsen Fowler says if the bill had become law, it would have conflicted with federal rules regarding enforcement of immigration laws. Iowa is among a handful of states trying to strengthen immigration policies. Border enforcement was among President Donald Trump’s campaign pledges. Lorsen Fowler said the judge putting the law on hold means Iowa’s immigrant families don’t have to live in fear. She said in the bigger picture, that’s good for the communities where they live.

Iowa state of United States flag textile cloth fabric waving on the top sunrise mist fog

“Various law enforcement officials have said if the goal is to keep our communities safer, this law does not do that,” said Lorsen Fowler. “And in fact, it does the opposite – because when you create fear in an immigrant community, when there are crimes, nobody will talk.”

She explained that immigrants are afraid of being deported if they reach out to law enforcement. With Senate File 2340 on hold, she added, that fear is lifted.