CRITTENTON CENTER GRANT
A major grant has been awarded from a federal agency to the Crittenton Center of Sioux City.
2.5 million dollars will be awarded to Crittenton in increments of 500-thousand dollars in each of the next five years. The grant, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, will be used to launch and operate a program dedicated to helping runaway, homeless and street youth up to the age of 26.
Under this program, Crittenton will help youth transition into safe and stable housing. It will also address the underlying issues contributing to youth homelessness, such as mental health challenges, substance abuse, and lack of access to educational and employment opportunities. The Crittenton Center has been in service since 1895. They manage and provide programming to the Le Mars Community Daycare Center.
SCOREBOARD PROJECT
The Le Mars Community School Board has agreed to join a project with Daktronics Sports Marketing. The school district’s activity account has been in decline due to covid, and due to increased costs. The school district will join Daktronics Sports Marketing in a program to install a new video board in the high school gym. Daktronics will help the school district sell advertising on the video board to cover costs, and bring in new revenue. Under the agreement approved by the board this week, the cost of the video board is some 143-thousand dollars, paid back over a 3-year period. According to the company, this program could generate revenues of some 80-thousand dollars per year to the school district. One goal of the project is to, in time provide free admission to students to school activities.
STATE ANNOUNCES HOUSING PROGRAMS FOR FLOOD, TORNADO VICTIMS
Residents in two-thirds of Iowa counties have experienced destruction from late spring and early summer tornadoes, flooding or both. Some five-thousand homes are damaged or destroyed. State officials are launching new grant programs to address the housing shortage and appealing to FEMA for temporary housing. Governor Kim Reynolds hosted a more than hour-long news conference at the statehouse Thursday to discuss details.
Reynolds is using 10 million dollars in federal pandemic relief to provide grants for developers to build homes for sale or for rent in counties that have been declared federal disaster areas.
Another six-and-a-half MILLION dollars in state grants will be awarded to cover home repairs.
To be eligible, Iowans need to have qualified for FEMA’s individual assistance program. That confirms a household is dealing with storm-related damage.
Reynolds is asking FEMA to authorize a temporary housing program that’s been used after hurricanes hit other states.
Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management director John Benson says hotels, R-Vs and manufactured housing could be used under the program.
To be eligible, Iowans need to have qualified for FEMA’s individual assistance program. That confirms a household is dealing with storm-related damage.
Benson is encouraging Iowans to apply for assistance.
Reynolds says government officials are able to help storm victims wade through the minutia of the state and federal programs that are now available.
Next week, farmers who’ve applied for U-S-D-A disaster loans can apply for a state grant of up to 50-thousand dollars. Reynolds says that will make the higher interest rates on those loans more manageable.
RECORD RAINFALL IN NORTHWEST IOWA IN JUNE
Some areas of northwest Iowa received more than half a year’s worth of rain during the final week of June, leading to significant flooding conditions, according to the latest Water Summary Update.
June’s preliminary statewide rainfall average was 5.22 inches. However, precipitation totals varied significantly across different regions of the state.
In northwest Iowa, Lake Park received 18.46 inches of rainfall during June, while the Rathbun Dam area only saw 1.96 inches. Some areas of southern and southeastern Iowa received below normal precipitation for the month, despite the historic rainfall.
The trend of wetter than normal months ended in June, with monthly average rainfall just below the statewide average. The U.S. Drought Monitor shows less than one percent of Iowa as abnormally dry, the lowest for the state in 218 weeks. June also showed an average statewide temperature of 50.7 degrees, or 2.1 degrees above normal.
MAN FOUND GUILTY OF MURDERING ALGONA POLICE OFFICER
A Dickinson County Jury found Kyle Lou Ricke guilty of first–degree murder Thursday in the shooting death of Algona Police Officer Kevin Cram in September of 2023. The jury received the case around 10:30 A-M and deliberated for roughly an hour before returning the verdict. The defense did not dispute that Ricke shot Officer Cram, but claimed the act was not premeditated, and did not call any witnesses. The prosecution said Ricke executed Cram, who came to arrest Ricke for a misdemeanor charge of harassment from Palo Alto County. Ricke faces a mandatory life sentence.
ALMOST ONE-FOURTH OF IOWA WORKERS DON’T MAKE ‘LIVING WAGE’
A new report finds nearly a quarter of Iowa workers make less than 17-dollars an hour, what’s considered a living wage. The non-profit Oxfam America says 24-point-2 percent of Iowa workers make less than that wage, which is slightly higher than the national average of 23 percent. Oxfam senior researcher Kaitlin Henderson says the report also found Iowans of color are significantly more likely to earn low wages as compared to national numbers. Henderson says 47-percent of black women in Iowa earn low wages, while the national average is 35-percent, with similar numbers for Latino women. She says people who earn less than 17-dollars an hour have trouble affording the basics, things like childcare, food, transportation, and housing. Henderson says Iowa hasn’t raised its minimum wage in 15 years. It’s currently seven-25 an hour.
TWO IOWA DEMOCRATS RUNNING FOR U.S. HOUSE CALL ON BIDEN TO QUIT CAMPAIGN
Two of the Iowa Democrats running for congress are calling on President Biden to end his bid for reelection. Christina Bohannan of Iowa City is the Democrat running against Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks. Bohannan says it’s time for Biden to pass the torch to a new generation of leadership. Sarah Corkery of Cedar Falls is the Democrat running against Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson. Corkery says now is the time for Biden to pass the torch to Vice President Harris. Ryan Melton of Nevada, the Democrat running against Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra, issued a statement on social media last wek. Melton said it’s fair to question whether Biden or Trump are fit to serve a second term.
IOWA GOP CHAIR, ATTORNEY GENERAL GET KEY SPEAKING SLOTS AT RNC
The chairman of the Iowa Republican Party is scheduled to deliver the speech that officially nominates Donald Trump for president. Jeff Kaufmann (COUGH-man) says it will be an honor to speak Monday afternoon at the G-O-P’s national convention in Milwaukee. Party officials believe this is the first time an Iowan has nominated the G-O-P’s presidential candidate. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is scheduled to speak at the convention Tuesday night, when the theme is “Make America Safe Again.” Bird is the only statewide elected official who endorsed Trump before the Iowa Caucuses.
THERE’S PROGRESS IN UNLOCKING MYSTERIES OF BIRD FLU
Iowa State University researchers say a sugar molecule they’ve found in the mammary glands of cattle is the so-called receptor that transmits highly pathogenic avian influenza. Professor Todd Bell, in I-S-U’s veterinary pathology lab, says their study could lead to measures that prevent the spread of bird flu, which has infected more than a dozen large herds of dairy cattle in northwest Iowa in recent weeks. Ames researchers are working under the hypothesis milking machines may be spreading the virus from cow to cow. If they confirm it, Bell says halting the transmission may be as simple as thoroughly disinfecting machines prior to use. Milk sold in grocery stores and by other retailers is pasteurized, and the F-D-A and dairy industry are stressing there’s no threat to the milk supply because the pasteurization process neutralizes viruses.
