FV HEALTHCARE TOP 20 RURAL CRITICAL ACCESS HOSPITAL
Floyd Valley Healthcare was recently identified as a Top 20 Critical Access Hospital in America by the Chartis Center for Rural Health. CEO Dustin Wright was thrilled with the announcement.
Floyd Valley Healthcare works at self-improvement year-round, and the designation as a top 20 hospital affirms the work they do.
Wright says at the foundation of this designation is a good relationship with Floyd Valley employees.
Employee support and patient care also shows in planing for hospital expansion.
IOWA MANUFACTURER DOUBLING PRODUCTION SPACE, ADDING JOBS
A northwest Iowa company has launched an expansion that will more than double its manufacturing capacity and bring 60 more employees into the company once the project’s done. Maintainer Corporation has a small plant in Rock Rapids and two facilities in Sheldon. Company president Shelley Morris says they’re adding nearly 31-thousand square feet of production space at one of those Sheldon plants, as well as an 11-thousand square foot showroom and training center.
Morris says they hope to begin hiring people this summer and start production in the new space this fall.
After the expansion, Morris projects the company will have about 300 people on its payroll.
IOWA GOP CHAIR SAYS 2024 STAKES TRANSCEND RIFT BETWEEN TRUMP AND REYNOLDS
Iowa Republican Party chairman Jeff Kaufmann says the friction between former President Donald Trump and Governor Kim Reynolds over her November endorsement of Ron DeSantis will evaporate as the General Election campaign gets underway. Trump complained about the governor’s lack of loyalty throughout 2023. In the weeks leading up to the Iowa Caucuses, crowds at Trump rallies in Iowa often booed when Trump mentioned Reynolds by name. The Iowa G-O-P’s chairman says while there may be some fence mending to do between Trump and Reynolds, the stakes in the 2024 election will transcend any family fights among Republicans. Kaufmann made his comments this (Friday) morning during the taping of an Iowa P-B-S program. In a written statement released this (Friday) afternoon, Reynolds said it’s important for Iowa Republicans to deliver Iowa for Trump, end Joe Biden’s political career and return Trump to the White House.
NEW PROGRAM IDENTIFIES 14 SPECIES OF IOWA BUMBLEBEES
Volunteers across Iowa with an interest in pollinator conservation are needed for a new program that will help researchers track and monitor the state’s at-risk bumble bees. Stephanie Shepherd, a wildlife diversity biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says the Iowa Bumble Bee Atlas will recruit and train community scientists to survey and identify the dozen-plus species of bumble bees that live in our state. Two free training sessions are scheduled this month for potential volunteers. There are between 300 and 400 types of bees living in Iowa, but Shepherd says this survey will only focus on the state’s 14 species of bumble bees.
UI STUDENT CREATES CAITLIN CLARK PORTRAIT WITH 720 RUBIK’S CUBES
A fourth-year dental student at the University of Iowa has carefully crafted a work of mosaic art immortalizing Hawkeye basketball star Caitlin Clark — out of more than 700 Rubik’s Cubes. Like millions of other fans, Sioux City native Brian Dang closely follows the Iowa women’s basketball team. He wanted a new project to sink his teeth into while also spotlighting the accomplished Clark, and anyone who’s seen his finished work agrees, it’s a three-point swoosh. Dang says he likes 3-D puzzles and figuring out difficult things, so he created a spreadsheet and an enlarged photo of Clark and went to work. He found a bulk supplier who sold him the necessary 720 “mini” Rubik’s Cubes for around 300-dollars. The portrait features Clark in a white Iowa jersey, with her right hand to her ear, and it’s remarkably realistic.
