IOWA  – The Iowa Beverage Association (IBA), the trade association representing Iowa’s non-alcoholic beverage producers, bottlers and distributors, announced the launch of Empties.org to help Iowans find local redemption centers for their beverage bottles and cans. The new initiative will help make redemption centers more accessible by raising visibility of their locations around the state.

With more than 300 redemption locations around the state, Iowans are able to leverage the new website to find locations near them to help recycle their empty containers and redeem their deposit. Iowa’s bottle bill deposit law covers all carbonated and alcoholic beverages. Consumers pay a five-cent deposit when purchasing a beverage container and receive a five-cent refund when returning it to a store or redemption center.

In addition to the environmental and economic benefits of taking empties back to a redemption center, recycling old containers is also the fastest way to give them new life. The beverage industry has been committed to making bottles that are 100% recyclable, even the caps, so they can be reused and made into new bottles, cans and other products. Recycled bottle materials can go into now bottles, and also clothing, carpeting, and even dog beds.

“Recycling your cans and bottles isn’t just about redeeming your nickel, it’s helping to divert waste from landfills, conserve natural resources, and support a more sustainable future,” said Jon Murphy, Executive Director of the Iowa Beverage Association. “Our association, along with our colleagues in the industry, are committed to helping Iowans bring their bottles back to a redemption center near them. Empties.org provides an opportunity to help with recycling, and put some change back in the pockets of Iowans.”

Iowa’s non-alcoholic beverage industry employs more than 3,060 people, and supports more than 11,828 workers in restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores and movie theatres who depend on beverage sales for their livelihoods.

(Radio Iowa) – A five-year moratorium on new casinos in the state has stalled in the Iowa Senate. Senator Ken Rozenboom, chairman of the Senate State Government Committee, made the announcement late Tuesday afternoon. “The bill does not have enough support from Senate Republicans to advance all the way through the process,” Rozenboom said. The bill easily cleared the House last week — on a 68 to 31 vote. Rozenboom says a casino moratorium will not be considered in the Senate this year.

“We’re not going to keep getting bogged down on this issue,” Rozenboom says. “It’s obviously taken a lot of the oxygen out of the room. We’ve got other things to work on. Let’s work on those.” Rozenboom, a Republican from Oskaloosa, says he is no fan of gambling and his decision not to advance the legislation should not be interpreted as support for casino expansion.

“At the end of the day we do have a regulatory process and commission that deals with this and that’s not an unusual position for Senate Republicans to simply say: ‘Well, we have a process in place. Let’s just follow the process rather than micromanage them,'” Rozenboom says. On Thursday, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission is scheduled to decide whether to issue a state license for a 275 MILLION dollar casino project in Cedar Rapids.

House backers of the casino moratorium were hoping it would quickly pass the Senate and the governor would sign it into law BEFORE the commission’s meeting. The bill does include a retroactive clause, so if it were passed later in the year — it would overrule the commission, if the panel approves the Cedar Rapids casino project. Rozenboom says it’s time to move on to other issues of critical importance to Iowans.

“Anybody that’s been here the last few weeks understands this has been a very difficult issue,” Rozenboom said. “I won’t say contentious because it’s not contentious in the normal ways. It’s not partisan.” In the past nine days, there have been three public hearings at the Iowa Capitol that drew supporters and opponents of the casino moratorium. Patty Koller is executive director of the Washington County Riverboat Foundation, the non-profit that holds the Riverside casino license. She spoke to lawmakers Tuesday.

“The second biggest city in Iowa is a big bully,” she said. “Riverside, my rural community, is being threatened. Every few years our livelihood is threatened. It needs to stop and only you, senators, can do it.” Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell asked legislators to ignore the casino industry’s pressure and let the Racing and Gaming Commission decide if her city gets a casino license. “It really does depend on the lens through which you view this,” O’Donnell said. “Bully is a word I’ve used, interestingly enough, but not to talk about my city, but others.” O’Donnell describes the casino as part of the city’s revival from the devastating floods that affected so many Cedar Rapids residents in 2008.

“It’s a $275 million economic development project that, yes, has a casino and so much more,” O’Donnell says. “…This is one of the most exciting opportunities that we’ve been able to bring to them for for relief.” Molly Grover of the Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce asked legislators to protect the cities that already have casinos from losing revenue to a Cedar Rapids casino. “Iowa’s oversaturated with casinos,” Grover said. “There’s communities all throughout the state that took the risk on the front, made those investments, and now that they’ve proven the model successful, other communities want to buy in.”

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission rejected casino proposals for Cedar Rapids in 2014 and again 2017. Linn County voters approved another gambling referendum in 2021, setting the stage for this latest casino application.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – Page County Attorney Carl M. Sonksen’s office Tuesday (today), issued a report on activities in the Iowa District Court for Page County for the week of January 27, 2025.

Devin Lee Carnes, age 19, of Clarinda, pled guilty to Driving While License Suspended, Denied or Revoked. He was sentenced to 2 days in jail and ordered to pay a fine of $1,000, suspended, surcharges, court costs and court-appointed attorney fees.

Andrew Paul Lauber, age 35, of Clarinda, pled guilty to Operating While Under the Influence-2^nd Offense. He Defendant was sentenced to 60 days in jail, with all but 7 days suspended. Lauber was also placed on probation for 9 months and was ordered to obtain a Substance Abuse Evaluation and complete any treatment recommendations and complete the Drinking Drivers School. He was ordered to pay a fine of $1,870, surcharges, court costs and court-appointed attorney fees.

Lauber also appeared by counsel and admitted to violating the terms of his deferred judgment. His deferred judgment was revoked and he was found guilty of Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence-1^st Offense. .

Yvette Renee Payment, age 56, of Clarinda, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Operating While Under the Influence-1^st Offense. She was granted a deferred judgment for 9 months and placed on probation for 9 months. Payment was ordered to obtain a Substance Abuse Evaluation and complete any treatment recommendations and complete the Drinking Drivers School. She was ordered to pay a civil penalty of $1,250, surcharges, court costs and court-appointed attorney fees.

David Neal Robinson, age 64, of Clarinda,  appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Possession of Controlled Substance – Methamphetamine, Possession of Controlled Substance – Marijuana, 1^st Offense and Possession of Controlled Substance – THC Wax. On the Possession of Controlled Substance-Methamphetamine, Robinson was sentenced to 1 year in jail, suspended and a fine of $430. On the Possession of Controlled Substance-Marijuana-1^st Offense, Robinsont was sentenced to 6 months in jail, suspended and a fine of $430. On the Possession of Controlled Substance-THC Wax, he was sentenced to 6 months in jail, suspended and a fine of $430. Robinson was ordered to obtain a Substance Abuse Evaluation and follow through with any recommendations. And, he was ordered to pay surcharges, court costs and court-appointed attorney fees.

All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports two recent arrests: Early this (Tuesday) afternoon, 23-year-old Tyler James Addison, of Emerson, was arrested on a valid warrant for Harassment in the 1st Degree. His cash-only bond was set at $2,000.

And, early Monday afternoon, 31-year-old Amber Elaine Lievsay, of Ames, was arrested on a warrant charging her with four-counts of Child Endangerment. Lievsay was also being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a$2,000 cash-only bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Another Iowa school is canceling classes Wednesday due to a rising illness rate. St. Thomas Aquinas Elementary in Webster City announced that classes for tomorrow will be called off. The percentage of students out sick has climbed from 22 percent Monday to 24 percent affecting all grade levels including preschool. A thorough disinfection of the school building will be underway Wednesday to allow students to return to classes on Thursday.

This week a similar situation occurred in the Laurens Marathon Elementary School in Pocahontas County. Blessed Sacrament School in Sioux City is also to close Wednesday due to illness.

Last week, a Johnston elementary school closed for several days when 20% of its students were out with illnesses.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – A federal grand jury in Council Bluffs returned a two-count indictment on January 29, 2025 charging two individuals with offenses related to distribution and receipt of child pornography.

The following individuals are charged in the Indictment:

• Jason J. Traina, 52, Rockland County, New York is charged with distribution of child pornography. On January 31, 2025, Traina made his initial appearance in the Southern District of New York. The government argued Traina should remain detained pending trial. The United States Magistrate Judge released Traina on conditions of home detention and location monitoring.
• Carrie Marie Campbell, 40, of Council Bluffs, is charged with receipt of child pornography. On February 3, 2025, Campbell made her initial appearance in the Southern District of Iowa. Campbell was temporarily ordered detained until a detention hearing.

Traina and Campbell each face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of twenty years in prison.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Council Bluffs Police Department are investigating this case, with assistance from the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office, FBI Safe Streets NY, and the Stony Point Police Department.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Senate Education Committee has approved a bill that would change Iowa’s limitation on when public and private schools can start in the fall. Current law says August 23rd is the earliest schools may start. It was set a decade ago at the urging of then-Governor Terry Branstad. to ensure the Iowa State Fair was over before schools started up. The bill would let schools start no earlier than the second to last Monday in August. Senator Tom Shipley, a Republican from Nodaway, says that means schools could start as early as August 18th in some years.

“I get a lot of comments that having a set start date for everybody, ‘Why did you do that?’ Well, it sounded good idea at the time,” Shipley says, “but we wanted to avoid around the State Fair.” Shipley says the bill would give schools a little more flexibility. “As a former school board member, this is what I like: it’s our call when we’re going to start — within reason,” Shipley said. “I think we’ve accomplished that within this bill.” Under Iowa’s current school start limitation, nearly all Iowa schools started this past year on Friday, August 23rd.

Senator Tom Shipley

Senator Sarah Trone-Garriott, a Democrat, is from Waukee, where the first day of this school year was on that Friday. “Any time we can fix an issue that the legislature created by giving flexibility to these local decision makers to make their own decisions that suit their communities, I’m in favor,” she said. The bill to let schools start as early as August 18th in some years is opposed by the Adventureland Amusement Park and Iowa Travel Industry Partners, an organization that represents restaurants, hotels and tourism spots around the state.

The Iowa State Fair’s lobbyist is monitoring the bill’s progress, but hasn’t registered in opposition to moving up the school start date. Before the mandatory school start date was set in 2015, 96 percent of Iowa school districts started BEFORE August 23rd.

(Radio Iowa) – After a record 125 tornadoes touched down in Iowa last year, the National Weather Service is making an urgent pitch to recruit more of the state’s residents to become trained severe weather spotters. N-W-S meteorologist Brad Small says the first regional spotter training course of the year is being held tonight (Tuesday) and they’re planning 18 more around the state over the coming weeks.

“We’re not covering every county in the state, but we will discuss spotter training, including how to spot cloud features, how to report severe weather, wall clouds, shelf clouds, things of that nature,” Small says, “and also some look-alikes, things that look like tornadoes, but may not be tornadoes.” Small says the free training courses used to start in March but they’ve decided to move them forward several weeks.

“We started a little earlier this season to try to get it out of the actual severe weather season,” Small says. “We’ve run into talks being canceled due to actual severe weather days, so, we’re trying to get a little bit of a head start this year.” Tonight’s training session will be held at the Greene City Hall in Butler County.

Others are planned through early April in: Algona, Leon, Corydon, Garwin, Des Moines, Winterset, Newton, Mason City, Denison, Carroll, Ottumwa, Atlantic, Lenox, Marshalltown, Sac City, Bremer County, and Estherville.

See the full schedule at weather.gov/dmx

(Des Moines, Iowa) —A lawmaker from west-central Iowa has introduced a bill into the Iowa legislature that calls for a  permanent monument of Hawkeye legends Caitlin Clark and former coach Lisa Bluder. House File 203 was introduced Monday by State Rep. Carter Nordman of Panora. In a post on “X,” Rep. Nordman said “In honor of @CaitlinClark22’s jersey retirement and the historic success of @IowaWBB, I have filed a bill to commission a statue of Caitlin and @LisaBluder here on the Iowa Capitol complex.”

Nordman said also, “These two women have brought great pride and attention to our state and women’s sports. They deserve a place at their Capitol for Iowans to honor their incredible accomplishments!”

The monument would be located on the grounds of the Capitol, but a location would be determined later. It would be paid for by tax credits.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass and Audubon County Boards of Supervisors held a joint meeting this (Tuesday) morning in Atlantic, with regard to vacating a section of road that crosses the County line, and was established over 125-years ago. That portion of 350^th Street/Akron Road is about 40-feet wide and is just under 5,000-feet long. Cass County Board Chair Steve Baier read the legal description.

The Board held a Public Hearing on the matter, during which they heard from some affected, nearby property owners with regard to access to their properties, with regard to easement compensation and maintenance of the road bed, especially in the area of the popular “Tree in the Middle of the Road” tourist site. Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken said the reason for vacating the road is due to the condition of a bridge in the area over Troublesome Creek. The Audubon County Supervisors said they were ready to move forward with the process on their end.

Joint Cass-Audubon County Supervisors meeting, 2-4-25 via Zoom

After more than 65-minutesof discussion, the Public Hearing was closed. Another 30-minutes was spent discussing motions, and were modified before a resolution was proposed. Steve Baier on the proposed modifications…

A modified resolution (2025-10) to vacate the road will take place at the Board’s next meeting on Feb. 18th. In other business, the Cass County Supervisors passed a resolution authorizing Sheriff’s Office employees to conduct banking transactions, and approved hiring Mandy Parks as a Sheriff’s Office Assistant at $22/hour, effective Feb. 10^th, 2025.

The Board approved 28-E (cost sharing) Agreements between Cass County and the Cities of Anita and Griswold, with regard to law enforcement services for FY2025 which begins July 1st. The agreements have been in-place for several years, with the only changes being made to the pay rate.

The Supervisors passed resolutions for various Cass County bridge and farm-to-market road projects, and received a regular report from Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken. Other reports were received from County Veteran’s Affairs Executive Director Mitch Holmes, and County Community Services Director/Mental Health Advocate Debbie Schuler.

One of the final business items on their agenda, was discussion with regard to a petition for the County to gravel on a portion of 670^th Street north of Lansing Road and east of Atlantic, between Keystone and Lansing Roads. The property owner agrees to pay half of the cost associated with the road rock, which amounts to a little more than Seven-thousand dollars. The Board approved the request as proposed.