(Radio Iowa) – Some of the temporary trailers FEMA set up in Spencer to house people who were flooded out of their homes in mid-2024 were occupied for nearly a year and a half. Spencer City Manager Kevin Robinson says this fall, there were about a dozen individuals who living in the trailers — but the last occupant was able to move into other housing Monday of this week.

“Sixty-five percent of our rental market was impacted by the disaster,” Robinson says. “Most of those rental units, whether they were single-family homes or apartments that were repaired, if they were renting for $650 before the flood they were somewhere closer to $900, $950 after the flood.” The FEMA trailers arrived in Spencer on September 24th of 2024 and a FEMA spokesperson says they will be removed by the end of this month. Two temporary housing sites were set up in Spencer following the flooding in June of 2024.

The FEMA trailers have been in a commercial area on the north side of Spencer. The State of Iowa set up a separate site, near the Clay County Fairgrounds and Robinson estimates at one point as many as 100 people who couldn’t find or afford housing were staying there.

“If they had not found permanent housing when the winter of 2024 hit, they were transitioned into hotels and motels and through last winter they were transitioned out into permanent housing,” Robinson says. At one point, 44 households were living in the FEMA trailers in Spencer. A FEMA spokesperson says the trailers will be put up for auction rather than moved to house storm victims in other parts of the country.

(Radio Iowa) – In a split ruling, the Iowa Supreme Court is granting a West Des Moines doctor found guilty of sexually abusing a child a new trial — because the seven-year-old testified via a live video feed shown in the courtroom.

The Iowa Supreme Court ruled last year that defendants have a constitutional right to confront their accusers in the courtroom. The justice who wrote yesterday’s (Tuesday’s) majority opinion says the 1857 Iowa constitution was written because Iowa’s founding fathers were concerned there might be false testimony if defendants didn’t get to confront their accuser face-to-face during a trial.

Iowa’s attorney general and state legislators have proposed a constitutional amendment that would overturn the Iowa Supreme Court’s opinions on face-to-face testimony, but it will be several years before it would be on the ballot for Iowa voters to decide the issue. Iowa is currently the only state that does not allow children or witnesses with disabilities to testify remotely.

(Cerro Gordo County, IA) [updated 6-a.m., 12/24] –  A firefighter from Cerro Gordo County was struck by an SUV Tuesday evening on the northern side of Ventura. The Iowa State Patrol says the unidentified firefighter from Ventura, was standing on Highway 18 directing traffic around the scene of a previous collision, when they were struck by a 2015 Ford Escape driven by 66-year-old Kevin R. Berry, of Britt (IA).

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Iowa National Guard announces the funeral arrangements for the two fallen Soldiers who were killed in action on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Syria. Staff Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard of Marshalltown, Iowa, will be honored with visitation and funeral services on Saturday, December 27th in Marshalltown. All information on service details
and arrangements are available at Mitchell Family Funeral Home website. Mitchell Family Funeral Home will be recording the service. The link to view the service will be available on their website after the ceremony concludes.

Staff Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar of Des Moines, Iowa, will be honored with a visitation on Sunday, December 28 in Des Moines, followed by funeral services and burial on Monday, December 29. Specific information on service details and arrangements are available at the Hamilton’s Southtown Funeral Home website. There will be no recording or livestreaming of these ceremonies.

These services are open to the public; however, the families have respectfully requested no media coverage. Members of the media are asked to honor and respect the families’ wishes during this time of mourning.

The Iowa National Guard extends its deepest condolences to the families, friends, and fellow Soldiers of Staff Sgt. Howard and Staff Sgt. Torres-Tovar. We are grateful for their selfless service and sacrifice in defense of our nation.

(Glenwood, IA)  – Officials with the Glenwood Police Department report the arrest on Monday afternoon, of a man on a drug charge. 40-year-old Lucas Paul Jay, of Glenwood, was arrested at around 3:15-p.m., for Possession of Marijuana/1st offense. His bond was set at $1,000.

(Radio IOwa) – A nonprofit dedicated to literacy and health education is placing 30-thousand books in pediatric clinics statewide for free distribution to Iowa children. Laura Holms, the Midwest regional director for Reach Out and Read, says each book helps spark language development, encourages positive behaviors, and strengthens the bond between kids and their caregivers through shared reading. Holms says the books are going to dozens of Iowa doctor’s offices.

“The main focus we’re working on are the federally-qualified health care centers and free clinics, and especially clinics across the state that serve children that are underinsured or uninsured,” Holms says. “Lots and lots of children just simply don’t have access to books, and so by using this model, embedding literacy in the Well Child visit, we’re able to reach 90% of children because 90% of kids go to their Well Child visit.” Some 20-thousand books were distributed in the past month, while another ten-thousand were mailed out in the past week or so.

Holms says books like “Susie’s Big Day” and “Doc the Dog’s Healthy Habits” will promote early literacy and healthy routines, plus, there are several other titles. “So for example, if we’ve got a lot of rural kids out there, they really might love books about farming. We’ve got great titles that talk about tractors and things like that, that our Iowa kids really can relate to,” Holms says. “And then we also have other books that are in our catalog that will relate to those kids that are in the urban setting that maybe want to learn more about zoo animals or spacecraft or things like that.”

Reach Out and Read Midwest partnered with Iowa Total Care to distribute the 30-thousand books, which will be able to reach many thousands of Iowa children to inspire curiosity, confidence, and good health habits. “During the Well Child visit, when a family comes in, the provider will actually select a book for that particular child,” Holms says. “Oftentimes, they have a great relationship with the family, so they know a little bit about them and they might even know if they’ve been given a book in past visits, so they want to make sure that they don’t duplicate that book.”

Holms says pediatricians and other healthcare professionals will encourage parents to crack open the books on the spot and start reading to their children. “The provider actually uses that as an assessment tool,” Holms says. “During the visit they can help with motor skills, that can help them determine if that child might need some other referrals. We’ve even had one provider explain a story where the child took the book and put it so close up to their eyes, they thought, ‘Maybe we really need to start looking at their vision,’ and they did in fact refer that child to a specialist for their vision.”

Holms says Reach Out and Read Midwest strives to ensure every child, regardless of ZIP code, has access to books and early literacy support in the places they already receive trusted guidance, pediatric clinics. She adds, donors who visit ReachOutandRead.org/Midwest can designate their gifts to help children in a specific county.

(Radio Iowa) – The military has announced the remains of the two Iowa National Guard soldiers who were killed in Syria on December 13 will be flown to Iowa tomorrow.

A solemn, private ceremony will be held at the Iowa Air National Guard base at the Des Moines airport for the families of 29-year-old Nate Howard of Marshalltown and 25-year-old Edgar Torres-Tovar of Des Moines.

President Trump, Gov. Reynolds, Iowa National Guard leadership and other officials observe the dignified transfer of Sergeants Nate Howard and Edgar Torres-Tovar at Dover Air Force Base on Dec. 17, 2025. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Zach Sheely)

Both soldiers have been posthumously promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant.

Obituaries have been posted online for Howard and Torres-Tovar. Both obituaries indicate the date of funeral services for the two soldiers will be announced later.

(Iowa DNR Outdoor News) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will release rainbow trout in nine locations across Iowa this winter in areas that would not support them during warmer months. Winter trout stockings are a great place to take kids to catch their first fish. A family-friendly event is paired with some stockings to help anglers have success and fun while fishing. The popular program is supported by the sales of the trout fee. Anglers need a valid fishing license and pay the trout fee to fish for or possess trout. The daily limit is five trout per licensed angler with a possession limit of 10.

Children age 15 or younger can fish for trout with a properly licensed adult, but together, they can only keep one daily limit. Children can pay the trout fee, allowing them to keep their own daily limit.

2026 Winter Community Trout Stocking Schedule

• Jan. 10, Blue Pit, Mason City, at 11 a.m.
• Jan. 22, Bacon Creek Lake, Sioux City, at 1 p.m.
• Jan. 23, Big Lake, Council Bluffs, at 3 p.m.
• Jan. 23, Moorland Pond, Fort Dodge, at Noon
• Feb. 7, Scharnberg Pond, Spencer, at Noon

Ada Hayden Heritage Park Lake (Ames),  Lake Petocka (Bondurant), and Triumph Park West and Triumph Park East (Waukee) will also be stocked this winter. These stocking dates will not be announced until ice conditions are suitable.

Winter trout stocking events are dependent on favorable weather and ice conditions. Check the DNR Trout Fishing website at www.iowadnr.gov/troutstocking for possible changes to the schedule. Trout will be stocked in several other locations later this spring. Dates and locations will be announced in February.

(Iowa DNR Outdoor News) – Iowa’s stretch of unseasonably warm temperatures has deteriorated the quality of ice across much of the state south of Iowa Hwy. 3, to the point where any remaining ice is considered unsafe and ice fishing is discouraged.

“Ice fishing in central and southern Iowa, is not advised,” said Colonel Craig Cutts, chief of law enforcement for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). “We will return to more seasonable weather next week and that should put down a fresh layer of ice, but we have to give it some time to freeze.

“It’s better for the quality of ice to restart from open water, than to grow ice thickness over bad ice conditions.”

North of Iowa Hwy. 3, anglers are encouraged to check the ice as they go and to avoid any dark or discolored ice as these are signs of deteriorating conditions. The Iowa DNR recommends a minimum of four inches of quality ice for ice fishing. The weekly Iowa Fishing Report will have the latest information on ice conditions across the state.

(Atlantic, IA) – Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO) and Regional Planning Affiliation 13 (RPA 13) is now accepting applications for its Regional Transportation Alternatives Program fund for projects in Cass, Fremont, Montgomery, and Page Counties. Applications are being accepted until February 13, 2026.

Local governments, regional transportation authorities, transit agencies, school districts and local education agencies, natural resource or public land agencies, tribal governments, and non-profit entities are among those eligible to apply. Funds are limited to meeting certain project types. Those include but are not limited to construction, planning, and design of on-road and off-road trail facilities for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other non-motorized forms of transportation; conversion and use of abandoned rail corridors for trails; construction of turnouts, overlooks, and viewing areas; vegetation management; and historic preservation and rehabilitation of transportation facilities.

Projects and sponsors must provide a non-federal match of at least 20 percent of the eligible costs, comply with federal regulations, and maintain the project for 20 years among other requirements. Projects must be completed withing two fiscal years of the award. Approximately $400,000 is available for FY2027.

Completed applications must be in to SWIPCO by 4:30 p.m. on February 13, 2026. Applications will be submitted to the Iowa DOT for review. The RPA 13 Technical Committee and Policy Board will meet to score applications and to award recommendations. Award letters will be sent to applicants and the Iowa DOT by August 1, 2026. Funds will be released by the Iowa DOT after October 1, 2026.

Application and criteria can be found online at https://www.swipco.org/rpa-13/funding-opportunities/ For more information or to obtain a hard copy of the application contact SWIPCO Grant Specialist III, Tammy DeBord at 866-279-4720 ext. 234 or 712-249-4300. You can also email tammy.debord@swipco.org

SWIPCO is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.