(Oakland, IA) — An Iowa conservation organization based in Pottawattamie County is asking for landowners’ help in improving water quality and reducing soil erosion. Golden Hills RC&D received funding from the Regional Conservation Partnership Program for the West Nishnabotna Water Quality and Infrastructure Partnership. The project aims to improve water quality, increase flood resiliency, and protect local infrastructure across a 681,000-acre project area in southwestern Iowa.

The project will complement similar activity on private lands in service of making the landscape more resilient in the face of increasing catastrophic flooding events. The partnership will report project outcomes through monitoring and modeling of soil and nutrient loss reductions.

Golden Hills RC&D has released a survey for rural property owners in Southwest Iowa. The brief questionnaire asks about conservation practices and related initiatives.

The organization says the goal is to better understand how familiar landowners are with these practices. The survey is also issued as part of the Regional Conservation Partnership Program and the Underserved Farmer to Farmer program. Golden Hills also says it will improve outreach efforts about cost-sharing programs.

For more information, or to fill-out the survey, go to:

https://www.goldenhillsrcd.org/rcpp.html

(Radio Iowa) – State officials have changed the billing for some speech and physical therapy sessions covered by Medicaid that happen OUTSIDE of a hospital setting. The state’s Medicaid program has reimbursed some Iowa clinics, rehab agencies and individual providers for the duration of patient sessions, in 15 minute increments. Under a change implemented this month, bills are based on a daily rate instead. Iowa Medicaid Director Lee Grossman says it brings Iowa in line with the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

“Anytime we have a federal compliance issue, I think it’s best that we fix that expeditiously,” Grossman said. “…Trying to minimize the potential for any federal clawback, things like that is a big point of emphasis in terms of how we move forward on this.” Critics say for the past 15 years federal officials have never challenged the way Iowa Medicaid has paid for these services. Kelly Heysinger (HIGH-sing-er) of Unified Therapy Services in Dubuque says businesses like hers were just notified in mid-November that the billing change was taking effect December 1st.

“Reimbursement cuts like this will directly reduce access to children with developmental disabilities, infants born prematurely,” Heysinger said, “and adults with disabilities due to illness or injury.” Heysinger is considering stopping in-home visits or reducing the time of each patient’s appointment. “This new reimbursement that we will be receiving will be less than our cost per visit,” she said.

State officials estimate the billing change will save the state nearly half a million dollars a year. Legislators on the committee that reviews state agency regulations say they’ll examine the issue when the Department of Health and Human Services presents the rule outlining the billing change to the panel for review and approval next year.

(Council Bluffs, IA) –  Officials with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, Wednesday, released some information about the discovery of a body found in the middle of a road in rural Elliott, Monday afternoon. A Sheriff’s Deputy and rescue crews were called to the scene near 10084 520th Street.

According to Pott. County Sheriff’s Dept. investigator, Sgt. Jim Doty, a deceased female that was found at the scene. She was identified as 65-year-old Nickie Carlson, from Red Oak. Her body was found a little after 3:30-p.m. Her vehicle was found nearby the body on the road. Sgt. Doty said it didn’t appear to have any damage.

An initial investigation determined Carlson died from exposure to snow and cold, but the autopsy results were not yet available to confirm that conclusion. The incident remains under investigation. 

(Atlantic, IA) – Members of the Atlantic School District’s Board of Education met Wednesday evening (Dec. 10) in a regular session. During their meeting, the Board approved the resignations of:

• Gratt Reed, HS Girls Track Coach
• Alex Wilson, Special Education Para, and
• Regina Honke, HS Counselor’s Office Secretary.

The Board approved also, Recommendations To Hire:

• Mark Andersen, Play Director for the Spring of 2026, and Speech & Debate Co-Head Advisor
• Dan Beaman – Substitute Bus Driver
• and, the hiring of Rebecca Bryan as a Special Education Teacher for the Schuler Elementary and Atlantic Middle, schools. Bryan has a Master’s Degree and 21 years of experience.

Atlantic School Board President Josh McLaren & Superintendent Dr. Beth Johnsen (YouTube image from the 12-10-25 School Board meeting)

The Board discussed facility projects updates and timelines as mentioned during a Work Session that preceded the regular meeting.

They also discussed forming a partnership with the City of Atlantic for an expansion & enhancement of the Bull Creek detention basin, to control erosion and the flow of the creek in the downtown area, during periods of heavy rain.

The School Board heard from Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett, who said a study by students with Iowa State University determined the first step in that remediation process, is the creation of a detention pond.

A Committee exploring the option is expected to start their meetings after the first of the New Year. If the Board does not agree to having the basin located on school property, Mayor Garrett said there is only one other site where it could be constructed, but even that is not a certainty at this stage.

The Board agreed to form the exploratory partnership with the City. The Atlantic School Board also discussed an Early Retirement Policy.  No formal action was taken at this time.

Action items that were approved by the Atlantic School Board, include:

• Out of State Travel for the Baseball Team, on Sunday June 28th, 2026, for the St. Louis Cardinal’s game vs. the Miami Marlins and an Atlantic vs. Clarinda High School game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Athletic Director Andy Mitchell said the team was selected by the Cardinals organization to watch the game and participate in the local varsity match-up afterward.

The local teams will have full access to the field, the use of both dugouts and can view pictures and see themselves on the Jumbotron. The Cardinal’s announcer will step-in for the high school game. The Atlantic and Clarinda School Districts will be responsible for selling 700 tickets each, at $27 apiece. That price includes a ticket to the Major League Game, a hot dog and drink, as well as a ticket to the high school game. The districts would be responsible for making-up the difference for any tickets that don’t sell.

Andy Mitchell said KJAN General Manager Jim Field will reach out to the Cardinals in  January,  to help coordinate the details. KJAN carries St. Louis Cardinal’s games. He said the kids are excited at the prospect of playing at the storied venue.

• Mentor Changes
• A proposed Student Handbook change to the Tardy Policy, which states on the 11th incident of tardiness: Students must check their phone into the office for the rest of the day; on the 15th occurrence –  The students’ phone must be checked-in again. An administrative review will take place, a required parent conference will be scheduled, along with an individualized plan to address continued lateness.
• And, they approved an SBRC (School Budget Review Committee) application for Modified Supplemental Amount (MSA) for: At-Risk/Drop Out Prevention; Open Enrollment-Out, and EL (English Language) Instruction Beyond 5-years. The application is for Fiscal Year 2027.

The Board’s next regular meeting is in the High School Media Center on January 14^th, beginning at 6-p.m.

(Radio Iowa) – The first Iowa unemployment data since the government shutdown is now out. Iowa Workforce Development spokesman Jesse Dougherty says the September unemployment rate fell to three-point-seven percent, down one-tenth of a percent. “We had at least what we would say a solid month is. In terms of some growth and some positive numbers,” he says. Dougherty says there was an increase in the labor force pool and an increase of 37-hundred jobs in September. He says the September data should be viewed with caution as it was delayed by the shutdown.

“Knowing that this data was delayed and knowing that….there’s going to be more data coming in the weeks ahead that will give us some greater insight into the economy. So it’s hard to, I would say it’s hard to draw a lot of conclusions just during September alone. But you know the good news is we’re getting back into the data and we’re, we’re we’re seeing some good indicators for September,” he says.

There have been several announcements of layoffs in manufacturing recently, but he says there has been some good news. “You know, in September specifically, we did have an increase in manufacturing. It was a more modest increase of about 600 jobs…that was particularly in durable goods. But I think the fact that we did have a slight increase was a positive,” Dougherty says. He says we will know more about the layoffs in manufacturing when more data comes out next month as he says there’s a lot of ripple effects in terms of the supply chain and other aspects of business.

Dougherty says the unemployment claims are another economic indicator. “When compared to last year, we have about 25 percent fewer unemployment claims…then we had compared to last year, last September I should say that is a positive,” Dougherty says. “You know we always see an increase due to the winter months, a lot of temporary layoffs. There always is going to be an increase in unemployment claims every single winter. That’s just what happens.”

Dougherty says federal officials expect to release more workforce data on October and November next month.

(Radio Iowa) – The Sesquicentennial Bell is now permanently installed on Campanile Plaza at the University of Northern Iowa, and leaders of UNI’s 150th birthday bash are hoping students will visit the bell and give it a ring as the fall semester ends.

Randy Pilkington, co-chair of UNI’s Sesquicentennial Celebration, says the bell ordinarily won’t have the clapper inside, but that clapper will be reinstalled on Monday morning and it’ll be there throughout Finals Week.

“This will be a new tradition for us,” Pilkington says. “We’re hoping the students will go out there and ring it once for their celebration, but we know, just with students, they’ll probably want to have a lot of fun with that, and we’ll probably be hearing the bell clanging for most of the week.”

The plan is for students to ring the silver and purple bell to celebrate wrapping up exams, or for graduating seniors to mark the end of their UNI journey and transition into life as alumni.

“With the experience we have with the bells that are in the carillon now as part of the Campanile, you can hear it across campus. There’s concerts every Friday,” Pilkington says. “With this bell, it will resonate throughout all of central campus. It’ll be quite noticeable that this will be going off and students will be having a good time.”

While the bell can’t be rung for most of the year, students are encouraged to rub it for good luck. Pilkington says it’s important to start these new traditions as the Cedar Falls institution marks its century-and-a-half.

“It’s a real milestone for UNI to get to the point of being 150 years old, but then we say what’s next? What is this bold future that you talk about?” Pilkington says. “Well, part of that has to come from the traditions, so that when a student leaves here or a faculty member or staff, they have something they recall as a tradition that brought them back to our university.”

To kick off the year-long celebration in September, the bell was rung three times, marking the past, present and future. Learn more about upcoming events HERE.

(Radio Iowa)- A report released today (Wednesday) by the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa suggests the use of automatic license plate readers is expanding in Iowa. Rita Bettis Austen, the A-C-L-U of Iowa’s legal director, says Iowa taxpayers have collectively been spending huge amounts of money over the past couple of years to buy these high-tech surveillance systems.

“Over the last couple of years they have just exploded in our state and nationally,” Bettis Austen said. “…This has all taken our already significant privacy, civil rights, liberty concerns…and just put them on steroids.” A team of student researchers led by University of Iowa Law professor Megan Graham filed open records requests asking 48 Iowa law enforcement agencies for information about automated license plate readers.

“Of the agencies that we surveyed and we have heard from, Cedar Rapids has the most cameras. They have 76. They have a two year contract with Flock Safety for those cameras at a cost of just under $500,000,” Graham said. “West Des Moines has 64 cameras. Clinton County has 58.” Graham says the Des Moines Police Department has identified its records on automated license plate readers, but hasn’t shared the data yet with Graham and her research team. Graham says the records her team has been able to review indicate law enforcement agencies have a wide variety of policies about the use of license plate reader images, which include location and time stamps.

“There’s a real patchwork in place in Iowa,” Graham said. “…The policy shift and change as Iowans drive from place to place around the state.” The legal director for the A-C-L-U of Iowa says unlike red light or speed cameras, the images generated by automatic license plate readers are often fed into a national database. “One technical thing that I want to flag that’s so important for people to understand: it’s not the case with a red light camera and you can look up and you can see there’s a camera right there on the traffic light,” Bettis Austen said.

“ALPR cameras are actually small enough that you don’t know that you’re passing one.” Iowa law requires signs along roads being monitored by speed or red light cameras, but Bettis Austen says there’s no public disclosure requirement for automated license plate readers.

DES MOINES, Iowa, Dec. 10, 2025 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development’s Iowa State Director Michael Sexton today (Wednesday) announced that the agency is awarding a total of $4,720,000 for three projects to safeguard drinking water and two projects to improve hospital facilities and obstetrical services.

The investments are:

-City of Clearfield received a $29,000 grant through the Special Evaluation Assistance for Rural Communities and Households (SEARCH) program to help complete a preliminary engineering report. This project will evaluate the wastewater system and provide alternatives and recommendations for improvements. This project is a necessary first step in determining costs and compliance with water quality standards. The project will help ensure sanitary conditions and promote the health of the 278 residents of this rural Taylor County community.

These two awards were funded through the Community Facilities grant program:

-Wayne County Hospital in Corydon received a $2,011,000 grant to construct a 4,820 square foot addition. This project will build a modern dialysis center adjacent to the hospital’s existing dialysis treatment area and will include a vestibule, staff lounge, treatment bay, nurses’ station, isolation room, restroom, supply closet, room for linens, biomedical technology area, water treatment room, and conference room. Once completed, this project will promote the health and safety of residents of this rural community and surrounding areas.

-Palmer Lutheran Health Center Inc. received a $1,100,000 grant to help renovate the Gunderson Heath System obstetrics services facilities at its clinic in West Union. This project will improve delivery and postpartum resources for the residents of this rural Fayette County community and surrounding areas.

Municipal public works building in Denison, Iowa. USDA photo credit Cecilia Lynch

Both of the following grants were funded through the Emergency Community Water Assistance Grants program:

–Denison Municipal Utilities received a $1,000,000 grant to improve the water supply for the city of Denison. This project will construct a rock riffle dam in the East Boyer River to help recharge the well field and provide a more consistent water supply, especially during drought conditions. Once completed, this project will promote the health and safety of the 9,419 residents of this rural Crawford County community.

–City of Macedonia received a $580,000 grant to improve its water system. This project will construct a new well in the existing well field. Currently, during dry weather conditions, the city must reduce the pumping rate of the wells, and the water supply can become insufficient. The project will help the city meet peak demands. Once completed, this project will provide safe, reliable drinking water for the 267 residents of this rural Pottawattamie County community.

(Radio Iowa) – Officials say it appears an electric space heater sparked an overnight fire that has displaced the six residents of an apartment building in a small northwest Iowa town. Armstrong Assistant Fire Chief Wes Leach says the fire was reported at about 12:30 this (Wednesday) morning. “When we arrived on scene we saw heavy smoke coming from the one apartment complex,” Leach says. “We had determined that all residents had been evacuated prior to us getting there.” While there was a lot of smoke, Leach says the fire itself was confined to one apartment and was quickly put out.

“There was obviously some smoke damage to the rest of the apartments in the surrounding hallway,” Leach says. “…It looks like there was an electric space heater plugged in that started a blanket on fire.” Leach says fire fighters were able to use a fire extinguisher to put out the fire, but stayed on the scene for about two hours. One of the building’s residents was taken to a hospital for treatment.

The U-S Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates about 12-hundred fires in the U-S will be caused by space heaters this year.

(Atlantic, IA) – Atlantic FFA Advisor Eric Miller says three Atlantic FFA members traveled to Ankeny last weekend, to attend the State Officer Selection Process workshop and Amplify FFA Leadership Conferences. Making the journey to Ankeny on Dec. 6th, was Lauren Comes, Tenley Cappel and Tiegan Daniel.  FFA members from all over Iowa attended the conference, which taught them about leadership and student development.

Lauren Comes attended the State Officer Selection Process workshop (SOSP) in preparation for her potential run for an Iowa FFA State Officer position later this spring. The SOSP workshop focuses on the areas that all State Officer Candidates must prepare for. To start the process, each candidate must first complete an application. The first interview is a one-on-twelve interview where the candidates should capitalize on this time by making their first impression a lasting impression. Next is the Multiple Choice Test of key issues related to agriculture. Then the Round Robin 1 interview where State officer candidates will engage in a conversation with a knowledge area expert. The One-on-One interview is focused on two objectives. First, this is an opportunity for individual nominating committee members to develop rapport and get to know the candidates in a one-on-one setting.

On day two the candidates will start with a Writing Exercise 1 by completing an in-depth written essay. The written essay will be on a topic relevant to the theme of agriculture, FFA or the American agricultural education system. The next interview is called Stand and Deliver. State officers must consistently be knowledgeable and be able to verbally convey a message in front of a group or crowd. Candidates will have 20 minutes in a private room to prepare for delivering a 3-minute speech. The final interview is another Personal interview. The purpose of this interview is to ask a final set of questions developed by the committee to address competencies such as character, passion for success and influence.

Left to right
Tiegan Daniel, Tenley Cappel and Lauren Comes (Photo submitted with this story)

The AMPLIFY Conference focuses on student development. This year the conference focused on Purpose: Connect. Care. Create. Establishing a purpose as a daily practice and draft a leader purpose statement. Discovering how people are connected to purpose and identify their talents. Members also learned to discover what it means to live to serve as a leader and examine methods for serving others while pursuing purpose. All of this while Identifying the value in practicing practical self-care as a leader and discovering the difference between living with purpose and completing action items. To wrap up the conference, each member drafted a personal purpose team and identified how to live out a purpose plan at home.

FFA Advisor Eric Miller said, “These conferences are important to help develop the kind of leaders that we need in our school and community. I am glad the Iowa FFA provides us with the opportunity and the students are so willing to give their time to become better leaders.”