It’s another day with an Excessive Heat Warning for Iowans, and there are some who don’t have a place to escape the heat.
The warming shelter in Sioux City is helping homeless people get through the week more safely. The Shelter serves the homeless in Sioux City, including former resident Tammy Bursell, who uses the facility to do laundry and stay cool.
“It's hard. I mean, I’m thankful that I got an apartment, but I have no air conditioning. I live on the top floor. And you know, heat rises. So, it’s very hot.”
To help during the heatwave, the day shelter stayed open seven days a week instead of a few. Brittney Wilson is the assistant director. She worries about others who don’t utilize the shelter.
“But a lot of shade has been cut down, their trees, so a lot of their refuge or methods of reprieve have been dwindling.”
Wilson says the shelter has had a lot of donors contribute packs of water so everyone can remain hydrated.
The Woodbury County Board of Supervisors is holding a public discussion on the progress of the construction of the new law enforcement center at next Tuesday’s meeting. The discussion will take place shortly after the 4:30 p.m.meeting convenes on august 29th.
Former Governor and now Nebraska senator Pete rickets is kicking off his 2024 us senate campaign. Ricketts made stops today in North Platte, Kearney, Norfolk and Omaha. Ricketts was appointed to the senate seat after former Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse resigned to become the president of the University of Florida.
The 2023 Iowa legislature approved a $13 million increase in Iowa’s Medicaid program for both substance abuse and mental health services.
The Des Moines Register reports that three million dollars of that money is being used to nearly double Medicaid’s reimbursement rate for substance abuse counseling. Seven million dollars is being used to provide a more than 18% increase in what Medicaid will cover for a counseling session with a mental health professional.
The other $3 million will be used to raise the daily Medicaid reimbursement for in-patient psychiatric care for children.
South Dakota is making millions more in funding for high speed broadband available to rural communities.
In a press release Tuesday, Gov. Kristi Noem and the Governor's Office of Economic Development announced the final round of funding of up to $27 million in grants to help smaller communities remain connected online. This is the state's eighth round of broadband expansion grants since 2019. Noem made the announcement at the South Dakota Telecommunications Association Conference this week.
The University of Iowa now has an insect collection from Iowa Wesleyan, according to Radio Iowa..
What could be the largest collection of Iowa insects ever assembled was at risk of being thrown away, but it’s being rescued and preserved by the University of Iowa.
Cindy Opitz is the director of research collections at the UI Pentacrest Museums. She says the Iowa City institution has acquired an extensive natural history collection from the former Iowa Wesleyan University in Mount Pleasant, which closed earlier this year. Ortiz sasy the collection is a priceless collection and it provides a valuable assortment of specimens that offer insights into Iowa’s rich ecological legacy.
