The Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO), in conjunction with the Cities of Walnut and Griswold, is holding housing assessment meetings in the coming weeks.  In Walnut, the housing assessment meeting will be held 6-p.m. Thursday, January 31st, at the Walnut Community Building. In Griswold, the meeting takes place 6-p.m. Thursday, February 7th, at the Griswold Community Building.

The purpose of each meeting is to gather public input on the current condition of the housing stock in each city; to address the rehabilitation of current housing, development of new housing, and affordability of housing. This will also include setting goals to improve/maintain the housing conditions within the city and what avenues the city may explore to reach these goals. The information obtained will be added to other data to formulate a formal written housing assessment for the city and as part of the public participation requirement of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application the city is applying for in April 2019. The meeting will conclude with asking all participants, if they have not done so already, to fill out a housing survey and CDBG Pre-Application.

SWIPCO Lead Planner Alexsis Fleener says “Public participation is a critical component of the housing assessment and application process. In addition, the meeting gives residents an opportunity to be involved in the future of their city. Housing has been identified to be a major contributing factor to the growth or decline of our towns. A housing assessment is a pro-active approach to address those factors that could be detrimental and set clear goals for how to continue to thrive and grow.”

The CDBG owner-occupied housing repair program the city is applying for seeks to bring homes up to Iowa Minimum Housing Rehabilitation Standards. Items repaired may include furnaces, water heaters, windows, doors, roofing, siding, foundation, etc. up to $24,999. If anyone would like more information on the Housing Assessment meeting, plan, or CDBG application please contact Alexsis Fleener at 866-279-4720.

BOONE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say firefighters discovered the body of a man inside the charred remains of a Boone County house. Firefighters were sent early Thursday morning to the home just northwest of Boone. Fire officials say the body was so severely burned that identification could take several weeks. Firefighters say some dogs also died in the fire, while others survived. Investigators suspect a wood-burning stove may have been involved in starting the fire.

(Radio Iowa) — A Senate committee is scheduled to consider a bill next week that will ensure that fireworks may be set off anywhere in the state on Independence Day. Senator Jake Chapman, a Republican from Adel, says “There is nothing more patriotic in America than fireworks on the 4th of July.”  Chapman is backing the move to undo city and county ordinances that have restricted or banned fireworks displays on July 4th. The legislation would also forbid local rules restricting where retailers may sell fireworks. Companies that sell fireworks say that kind of statewide uniformity is essential. Jim Henter of the Iowa Retail Federation suggests there’s a hodge-podge of regulations now. “We’ve had folks that had to go through full-blown DCI background checks just to sell them for a couple of weeks, fingerprinting, permits, etc. and that’s just one community,” Henter says. “And we have had other communities that have said: ‘Hey, we’d love to have you in here, love to have you selling.”

Henter also points to some ordinances restricting WHERE fireworks may be sold within city limits.  “It is crazy for us to sit here and look at a product that we can legally sell and you have to move it to an industrial zone,” Henter said. “We cannot sell it in our stores.” Cities and counties as well as fire fighters and law enforcement groups oppose the bill, citing safety concerns. Robert Palmer of the Iowa League of Cities says local ordinances on fireworks should be maintained. “We’re the best ones at the local level to know where they should be safely used,” he said. “That logic applies on July 4th as well as it does on July 3rd.”

Des Moines Police Chief Dana Wingert says there were 12-hundred 9-1-1 calls in the capital city on Independence Day this past year. “Most of these calls come into us as ‘shots fired’ trips, which calls for a two-person response, an emergency response,” Wingert said, “and you get there and then you have to make the determination: Was it ‘shots fired’ or was it fireworks? It’s very resource intensive.”  Jonathan Lund, the fire marshal for the City of Des Moines, says first responders see an increase in fires and injuries when fireworks are for sale in the state. “The injuries and the destruction that’s associated with those, obviously we’re concerned about that,” Lund said.  A senate subcommittee advanced the bill late Thursday afternoon, making it eligible for debate in the Senate Commerce Committee next week.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:50 a.m. CST

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A second Republican has announced he’ll challenge embattled Iowa Rep. Steve King in the 2020 primary. The Sioux City Journal reports that 40-year-old Jeremy Taylor, a Woodbury County supervisor and former state legislator, announced his candidacy for Iowa’s 4th Congressional District in a news release Thursday. Earlier this month, GOP state Sen. Randy Feenstra announced he’ll challenge the longtime congressman in the primary.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — An arctic wave has wrapped the Upper Midwest in numbing cold. But the worst may be yet to come. The deep freeze caused organizers of the Winter Carnival in Minnesota to cancel several events, including Thursday night’s parade through downtown St. Paul. Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has closed its six outdoor skating rinks because of the cold weather. Forecasters say the frigid weather is expected to linger into next week, with even colder temperatures midweek.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa county agreed to pay $50,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit against its top prosecutor last month, days before he applied for a seat on the Iowa Supreme Court. The payment settles a lawsuit filed against Muscatine County Attorney Alan Ostergren over his two-year prosecution of West Liberty City Manager Chris Ward that an appeals court eventually found unjustified.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa court judge has struck down a portion of a 2017 voting reform law that requires county election officials to call, write or email voters who do not completely fill out an application for an absentee ballot. The law was written to say county officials must use the best means available to find missing information.

Police in Council Bluffs were called to 35 N. 1st Street in Council Bluffs at around 1:23-p.m., Thursday, to check on the welfare of a person who has not been heard from for several days. Officers entered the residence and located a deceased person. The death is being investigated as a suspicious. The deceased person had not been identified as of the latest report. The cause of death was unknown, and pending autopsy.

The investigation is ongoing by the Council Bluffs Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division. Anyone with any information that was in the area at the time of this incident is encouraged to contact this Division at 712-328-4728 or they may call Crime Stoppers at 712-328-7867.