(Radio Iowa) – Tomorrow, February 1st is National Unclaimed Property Day and State Treasurer Roby Smith says his office has plenty of it. “We have $587 million that we have to return to Iowans,” Smith says. Banks and businesses that lose contact with the owner of financial assets turn that unclaimed property to the state treasurer’s office. It includes money in inactive bank accounts, uncashed checks, misplaced stocks and bonds — even insurance payouts that didn’t make it to the right person. There’s a website where you can check to see if you might have unclaimed property in Smith’s office.

“We tell people it’s fast, it’s free, it’s easy. You just go to GreatIowaTreasureHunt.com. We encourage them to do it once a year…They can do it around tax season,” Smith says. “We’re always receiving more money in. We just want to get it back to the rightful owners.” Unclaimed safety deposit boxes are also turned over to Smith’s office.

State Treasurer Roby Smith (RI file photo)

According to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, one in every seven Americans has unclaimed property sitting in a state treasurer’s office. That’s better odds than winning the lottery. During the last fiscal year — which ended June 30th of 2024 — state treasurers around the country returned nearly four-and-a-half BILLION dollars in unclaimed property to its rightful owner.

(Creston, Iowa) – A Creston man was arrested recently for allegedly Harboring a Runaway Child (against the wishes of parent) – an Aggravated Misdemeanor. A Criminal Complaint in the case was filed Thursday. According to Creston Police, 18-year-old Talon Dee Bolinger was arrested at his residence and transported to the Union County Jail. Bolinger posted a $2,000 bond, and was released.

(Washington, D-C; Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Iowa Senator Joni Ernst and Iowa Representative Randy Feenstra, both Republicans, have introduced matching bills aimed at reducing over-payments made to recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, but Iowa advocates say the bills won’t be effective at reducing payment errors.  The bills, titled Snap Back Inaccurate SNAP Payments Act, state they would “improve the calculation and reduce the taxpayer cost of payment errors” for SNAP. A press release from Ernst said the act could reduce spending by nearly $91 billion over the next decade by requiring all payment errors be reported and holding states and recipients accountable for over-payments.

According to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, or GAO, improper SNAP payments totaled approximately $10.5 billion nationwide in 2023.  Across all government agencies, the report estimates $238 billion of improper payments were made in 2023. SNAP was singled out in a report because its rate of improper payments, at 11.7% in 2023, exceeded 10%.  Ernst said errors like this are contributing to the nation’s $36 trillion debt.  “SNAP plays an essential role in helping feed families, that’s why we need to strengthen its integrity by holding states accountable for growing error rates, implementing a zero-tolerance policy, and snapping back over-payments,” she said in a statement.

The act would require states to pay back what they owe from payment errors and it would require all errors to be reported, as opposed to the current rule which only requires reports on payment errors in excess of $54. The figure was increased in 2022 when officials undertook a serious update to the Thrifty Food Plan, which sets the purchasing power of SNAP, and increased overall SNAP benefits by 21%. Feenstra said there was “no time to waste” to save taxpayer dollars and “hold bureaucrats accountable.”  Feenstra and Ernst both serve on their respective Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, caucuses. Feenstra said in a statement on the bill that President Donald Trump and Republican majorities were “elected to cut waste from the government.”

(Photo by Lance Cheung/USDA)

“One sector that needs serious reform is the SNAP program,” Feenstra said. “That’s why Senator Ernst and I introduced legislation to strengthen the integrity of the SNAP program by establishing a zero-tolerance policy on benefit over-payments.”  Both members of Congress introduced bills of the same title in 2023.  Luke Elzinga, policy and advocacy director for Des Moines Area Religious Council and chair of Iowa Hunger Coalition, said the bills from Ernst and Feenstra, if passed, would increase Iowa’s error rate and slow down application processing timelines. “Reducing the error rate is a good thing that everything wants, but I think the bills introduced by Senator Ernst and Representative Feenstra are the wrong way to go about it,” Elzinga said.

Elzinga said the states have a balancing act between getting SNAP applications processed quickly, and processing them accurately.  Recipients must be able to participate in the program within 30 days of submitting a typical application in order to meet the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s timeliness requirements. Currently, Iowa’s timeliness rate is 77%. Elzinga stressed that SNAP payment errors can occur for a number of reasons and are inadvertent errors from either the person applying or the agency processing the application. The error rate is affected by both underpayments and over-payments. “The payment error rate is not fraud,” Elzinga said.

According to the GAO report, most of these errors in 2023 occurred because agencies failed to verify certain criteria, like income, household size, education, or employment. Benefit recipients are also required to reimburse the state for any over-payments they receive, and likewise the state reimburses recipients for underpayments.  In 2023, Iowa’s error rate was 5%, putting it at less than half the national average.  That’s an improvement for the state, which was issued a $1.8 million USDA fine in 2019 for its high payment error rate of 10% in 2018. Following the fine, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services focused on increasing efficiency and accuracy in the application process through a business process redesign.

An Iowa Hunger Coalition report from July 2024 applauded the department’s work in significantly lowering the rate. Elzinga said Iowa’s improvements over the past several years show the effectiveness of the current quality control programs. Elzinga, and the Iowa Hunger Coalition report, noted that updated technology and expanded workforce would help to improve both accuracy and timeliness of processing SNAP applications.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Iowa Republican Representative Thomas Moore, from Griswold, was one of the State Legislators who voted in favor of a bill calling for a five-year moratorium on new casinos in Iowa. Moore represents District 21 in the Iowa Legislature. The bill cleared the Iowa House Thursday afternoon. The same proposal was also approved by a committee in the Senate. If the bill becomes law by next Thursday morning, it will block state regulators from taking a vote on the application for a new casino in Cedar Rapids. The bill prohibits the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission from issuing new licenses between January 1, 2025, and June 30, 2030. Additionally, the commission cannot issue any licenses after July 1, 2030, until the required report on the socioeconomic study has been issued by the commission for calendar year 2029.

Moore says he twice voted Yes, previously, on supporting a moratorium, because he believes the state has reached a saturation point for casinos in the state, and he cannot support cannibalizing other casinos for the profit of a new casino.” And, with regard to an increase in School Supplemental Aid (SSA), Moore says…

He says the House is waiting for the Senate to send them a bill with a 2% SSA increase. Moore suggests Iowans contact their Senator and ask “why they are intent on reducing funding to our schools?”

Rep. Thomas Jay Moore (R-Griswold) (official photo)

Moore says on Monday, Health and Human Services Appropriations had a presentation about Medicaid given by Iowa’s HHS Director, Kelly Garcia. The focal point of the presentation, he says, surrounded the Medicaid Redesign Project. The project, he says, “Aims to strengthen and redevelop the waiver system. This restructuring,” according to Moore, “would allow for the use of need based waivers.” The presentation also highlighted the Home and Reach Program,which Thomas Moore says “will have multiple benefits including individualized services and budget certainty.” The program will fully launch in 2027.

Moore said Tuesday was a busy day filled with meeting for Health and Human Services, Labor and Workforce, and Education. His morning began with an HHS meeting.

Eyanson and Todd, he said, proposed a unified statewide approach to behavioral health. The new approach, according to Moore, would create faster and easier access to health services. Constituents wanting to reach Representative Thomas Moore, can e-mail him at tom.moore@legis.iowa.gov , and/or (712) 789-9954.

(Fontanelle, Iowa) – A Special, Joint Meeting of the CAM and Nodaway Valley School District Boards of Education will be held Monday, Feb. 3rd (2025) in Fontanelle. The meeting takes place at the Nodaway Valley Middle School Media Center, beginning at 6-p.m., and is with regard to the superintendent hiring process. The Nodaway Valley Board, which holds the contract of current Superintendent Paul Croghan, voted in November, 2024, not to renew his contract.

Both Boards met January 22nd in Massena, to began the process of finding a replacement for Superintendent Paul Croghan, by agreeing to select a search firm. The Boards chose to go with the search firm of McPherson & Jacobson, from Omaha. The two districts will split the cost of hiring the firm.

The Special Meeting agenda calls for discussion and/or action on:

• An overview of the Leadership Profile Process
• An overview of the Interview Process, and
• Salary Parameters.

The Boards hope to have a replacement for Superintendent Croghan in place, by July 1^st.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Officials in Pottawattamie County report earlier this month, the Pottawattamie County Conservation Board (PCCB) held its 2025 organizational meeting at the Pottawattamie County courthouse where they swore in a new member, Heidi Hough of Underwood, and elected officers. Hough was appointed by the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors and sworn in by Supervisor Brian Shea.

Heidi Hough of Underwood is welcomed as the newest member of the Pottawattamie County Conservation Board (Facebook photo)

Following the swearing-in ceremony, the five-member PCCB elected its officers: Jerry Mathiasen of Council Bluffs as President; Chris Ruhaak of Council Bluffs as Vice President; and Brittany McGee of Council Bluffs as Secretary. In addition to Hough and the officers, the board includes Mary Kramer of Neola.

In a press release, Pott. County Conservation Executive Director Jeff Franco said “This is a hardworking volunteer board whose guidance and leadership helps preserve the county’s natural resources, including the globally significant Loess Hills, and provide meaningful opportunities for the public to connect with our beautiful county parks.”  Jerry Mathiasen added that the PCCB, “is looking forward to working with Heidi and tapping into her variety of expertise as we meet our mission and follow our vision on behalf of our county citizens and visitors.”

Hough has over 20 years of marketing and digital technology experience and is currently the Vice President of Global Ag Dealer Enablement at Valmont Industries. She and her family have enjoyed the county parks for many years, and she has also volunteered for the conservation department. The retired President & CEO of the local community foundation, Mathiasen has been a board member since 2021 and has previously served as its vice president and secretary.

The board would like to thank outgoing board president Eric Hough for his ten years of service on the conservation board where he helped lead the organization through exciting change including park expansions at Hitchcock Nature Center and campground renovations at Arrowhead Park and Botna Bend Park.

The Pottawattamie County Conservation Board’s mission is to provide resources and opportunities that encourage county residents and visitors to appreciate Pottawattamie County’s unique natural resources, develop a connection to the natural environment, and foster responsible stewardship for future generations.

(Radio Iowa) – No one was hurt in a house fire Thursday afternoon near Stanhope, a fire authorities say was intentionally set.  The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department reported that the fire was allegedly started by the homeowner who was later arrested and transported to the Hamilton County Jail in Webster City. The name of the individual has not been released.

The home was declared a total loss with the chimney still standing. There was also a concern of ammunition inside the home. Firefighters on the scene escaped unharmed.

(Radio Iowa) – The U-S Department of Education’s national report card released this week showed an increase in Iowa’s reading scores, but a drop in math. Iowa Department of Education director McKenzie Snow says the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP or nape) covers fourth and eighth graders. “Our math ranking fell significantly to 30th in the nation in fourth grade math and 23rd in the nation in eighth grade math,” she says. Snow says it wasn’t just a drop in Iowa’s math performance the lowered their ranking, other states made progress. “It’s a mix of both. There’s both progress of other states in recovering learning loss experienced during the pandemic, and a drop in achievement on the NAEP (nape) assessment among Iowa’s fourth and eighth graders in math,” Snow says. Snow says the numbers show the need for the statewide evidence-based mathematics instruction the governor has proposed.

Iowa Education Department Director McKenzie Snow. (Ed Dept photo)

“It includes strong intervention structures and personalized math plans for those students in need of support. It supports our educators, both in service and pre-service, with evidence-based professional development in those schools most in need of support, as well as strong teacher preparation and evidence-based math instruction,” she says. Snow says the program also extends beyond the classroom. “It supports family-centered resources that help advance a child’s math development at home,” she says. Snow says the evidenced-based math teaching would be similar to what’s been done with reading.
Iowa’s reading ranking went from 22nd to tenth. “We are also in the top five of all states for improvement since 2022 again in eighth grade reading for all students and for students from low-income backgrounds,” Snow says.

The Governor proposed the evidence-based math program in her Condition of the State Address, but Snow says it has not yet been introduced in the Legislature. You can see more on the report card at: www.nationsreportcard.gov.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa native Peggy Whitson will be inducted into the U-S Astronaut Hall of Fame this spring, recognizing her near-four decades of work at NASA and her continued career at Axiom Space. Six-time shuttle astronaut Curt Brown is executive director of the Hall of Fame, based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Brown says Whitson is America’s most experienced astronaut and deserves this honor. “She did three long-duration missions. She commanded two of the International Space Station expeditions. She did a gob of spacewalks, I think 10 spacewalks or so, and then she was actually chief of the astronaut office. We call it the chief astronaut,” Brown says. “And even now, after she left NASA, she’s working with Axiom. She’s flown with them once, and she’s going to fly with them again as an astronaut.”

Whitson, who grew up on a farm near Beaconsfield, is scheduled to command another two-week Axiom mission to the International Space Station this year, though a launch date hasn’t been released. She’ll command an international crew of four, with the other three astronauts hailing from India, Poland and Hungary. So far, Brown says Whitson’s spent 675 days in orbit — and counting. “She’s wide open. She has more time in space than any other woman astronaut, and she has the most time in space of any American astronaut,” Brown says. “So she’s one of the most deserving folks I know to be inducted in the Hall of Fame.” Astronauts are typically lauded as American heroes with parades and all sorts of accolades, like having schools or bridges named after them, so Brown was asked how big of a deal it is to be reach the Astronaut Hall of Fame. Brown was inducted in 2013.

Dr. Peggy Whitson

“I think it’s one of the greatest things that happened in my career,” Brown says. “You know, these are all your peers that vote you into this. So it’s quite an honor to receive that kind of praise or that kind of recognition from your peers, your leaders, your subordinates, the whole group that was part of the shuttle program or the astronaut program.” Whitson decided to become an astronaut after watching the first moon landing on television as a child in 1969. She will turn 65 on February 9th. There will be a gala Hall of Fame event to induct Whitson, and fellow astronaut Bernard Harris, at the Kennedy Visitor Complex on May 31st, beneath the retired Space Shuttle Atlantis. The space center draws one-and-a-half million visitors a year, and Brown says Whitson will become a part of the Hall’s permanent display.

“In the Heroes and Legends Hall, you’ll see a big plaque of Peggy with her likeness, and then all her mission patches and a short recap of her career at NASA,” Brown says. Whitson’s first mission was aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 2002, heard here on NASA-TV:

Since 1990, the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, which oversees the Hall of Fame, has provided more than nine-million dollars in college scholarships to hundreds of promising STEM students.

www.AstronautScholarship.org.