August has arrived, which will be a busy period for people who want to become candidates for school boards and municipal city positions in Northwest Iowa.
The November 4 election will include contests for those school board, city council, and mayoral positions.
The filing period for people to file for those positions runs from August 25 through September 18. People have to get a certain number of signatures on petitions to get on the ballot.
The Sioux City School Board has three positions that will go before voters, for those now held by Bobby Michaelson, Jan George and Dan Greenwell.
Only in Sioux City, the three city council contests may have a special extra primary election on October 7, if more than six candidates file papers by August date. Those Sioux City Council candidates can start filing on August 11, Woodbury County Auditor Michelle Skaff explained.
*Additionally, the leader of the University of Iowa’s new Center for Intellectual Freedom says it will focus on academics, not ideology.
The Iowa Board of Regents this week confirmed economics professor Luciano de Castro as the center’s temporary director.
De Castro advocated for the center when the plan was working through the legislature. He says the Center is necessary to counter other university courses he claims only show capitalism in a bad light.
The new college center was created by majority party Republicans in the Iowa Legislature who were concerned about bias in the university system.
Democrats criticized the proposal for the school as redundant and ideologically-motivated.
De Castro says classes will most likely not be offered this year, as it takes time to hire faculty.
*In other college news, a long-running art rental program at Iowa State University is coming to a close this year.
The annual program launched in the mid-1970s. It has allowed hundreds of students, faculty, staff and even local residents to rent artwork from the university’s Memorial Union for a fraction of their original cost.
Letitia Kenemer, the Memorial Union Arts Coordinator, says demand has fallen since the program started 50 years ago.
“It was no longer actually making any income, and the rentals had gone down, and so we tried some different things, but it just hasn't been as robust as it used to be,” Kennemer said.
More than 200 framed prints and posters from the collection will be available for purchase at ISU Surplus during the first week of August, with prices starting at just $10.
*Additionally, wildfire smoke continues to impact air quality across Iowa.
According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, smoke from wildfires in Northwestern Canada has converged over Iowa and will have a strong impact on air quality on Friday.
The smoke is expected to impact Iowa until about midnight Saturday night, with possible residual effects extending into early Sunday.
People who should be on watch concerning smoky air are those with heart or lung disease, older adults, children, and outdoor workers.
*Two Siouxland organizations will each get $100,000 in funding from the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.
That money comes from a pool of $5 million to expand 19 child care and preschool program partnerships.
Local agencies receiving $100,000 each are the Crittenton Center in Sioux City and the Crittenton Center in Le Mars. The program aims to ensure full days of care for 4-year-olds and strengthens school-aged readiness.
