Triple-A Expects Increase In Holiday Travel
(Undated) — A spokesperson for Triple-A Iowa says the Memorial Day weekend ahead is projected to be one of the busiest for Iowa’s highways in many months. Meredith Mitts says they’re predicting more than 37-million people nationwide will be traveling over the three-day weekend. Mitts says that is
still 14-percent below pre-pandemic levels, and there’s growing confidence with more people getting vaccinated against COVID-19. That projected 34-million travelers compares to the 23-million who were traveling last Memorial Day weekend.
Instruments Designed By U-I Scientists To Blast Off
(Iowa City, IA) — A small group of space scientists from the University of Iowa will watch the launch of a rocket in Virginia that has instruments on board that they designed and built. Earlville native Andrew Carton graduated works with the U-I Space Physics program and helped develop elements inside
VIPER, which is scheduled for launch late tonight. He says the Navy is testing a broadcast signal for submarines and they want to see if they can pick up their signal on their instruments. The sounding rocket will be launched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and Carton says he’s thrilled to have been picked to see it blast off up close.
AARP Encourages Use Of Broadband Emergency Program
(Undated) — A-A-R-P Iowa is encouraging anyone who is without access to high-speed internet or struggling to afford it, to look into the recently launched Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program. A-A-R-P State Director Brad Anderson says the program is available to anyone, regardless of age.
Under this short-term program, Iowa residents may be eligible for a discount on their high-speed internet service from 50 to 75 dollars and a one-time discount of up to 100 dollars for a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet purchased through a participating provider.
Groups Oppose Beef Operation In Northeast Iowa
(Monona, IA) — Environmental groups and fishing enthusiasts are calling on the director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to overrule the expansion of a northeast Iowa cattle feeding operation. Sierra Club spokesperson Jessica Mazour (muh-ZOOR) says the Supreme Beef barns near Monona
that can hold up to 11-thousand-six hundred cattle are near a trout stream and an underground aquifer. Supreme Beef got initial approval last fall to have about 27-hundred animals at the site. The Department of Natural Resources staff gave the go-ahead in April to adding nearly nine-thousand more cattle to
the operation. If the current D-N-R director declines this request on the Supreme Beef application, the next step for the groups would be a lawsuit.
Supreme Beef’s operators have said critics are stuck on potential pitfalls and aren’t recognizing the economic boost the business will provide in the area.
