Thursday, June 27, 2024
Vol. 5, No. 45
PCMExplorer Local People. Local Stories.
New activities passes approved for PCM
Family activity pass option back for the district By Jamee A. Pierson PCM Explorer
Jamee A. Pierson/PCM Explorer Downed trees took out powerlines across the county during storms that hit Jasper County at the end of May. Several communities in Jasper County were affected also by the floods at that time after a full night of heavy rainfall and even more sporadic downpours the next day.
Emergency management pushes for Jasper County to be on federal declaration
Several options for activity passes were approved by the PCM School Board for the upcoming year. Family passes have made their return to include all of those living under the same roof. “After our last board meeting we sat down and came up with some options just to see what we could come up with for families that have multiple kids and different things,” activities
director Jeremy Swink said. The first option includes a yearly individual pass. For students school aged kindergarten through 12th grade, it is $45, while adults pay $100. Swink said there was a slight increase in price attached to the individual passes from last year. The second option is a family pass. It is $250 and includes all members of an immediate family living in the same PCM | 2
Addendum may be added to president’s disaster order to allow further assistance By Christopher Braunschweig PCM Explorer Jasper County has sustained an estimated $10 million in damages following the floods and severe storms back in May, and yet it was excluded from President Joe Biden’s disaster declaration for the state. Emergency management officials on June 21 turned to U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley to push through the red tape. Jamey Robinson, director of Jas-
per County Emergency Management Agency, said there are citizens still trying to recover from the damages to their homes and the loss of essential utilities, like heating and cooling systems and hot water. Others have lost everything. He still gets phone calls from citizens needing help. “I have a gentleman still living in his home that’s cracked in half,” Robinson said. “He has nothing. Everything has been sent to FEMA (Federal Emergency Management
Agency). It was my understanding it was done a week-and-a-half ago; the governor was here and John Benson of Iowa Homeland Security.” Robinson referred to a June 12 meeting in which elected officials, city leaders and first responders met with the governor, state EMA and FEMA representatives to discuss the issues Jasper County has faced. Robinson, too, emphasized DISASTER | 3
Troy Hyde/PCM Explorer Three options for activities passes will be available for the upcoming school year at PCM. They include an individual pass, a family pass and a punch card.
Jasper County bridges damaged by May floods added to engineer’s 5-year plan Floodwaters compromised the structural integrity, fast-tracking replacement By Christopher Braunschweig PCM Explorer Submitted by Jasper County Bridge M03 over Cherry Creek along South 24th Avenue East caved in as a result of floodwaters in May. The bridge has been added to the county engineer’s five-year plan.
Four bridges damaged beyond repair by the May floods in Jasper County have been added to the engineer’s five-year plan
for 2025. Since the plan was already approved at a past meeting, the board of supervisors on June 18 voted 3-0 to amend the plan to include all four structures, which will need to be replaced. Newton News previously reported about the damages to Bridge M03 in late May. The bridge, which goes over Cherry Creek along South 24th Avenue East, had entirely collapsed in on itself after floodwaters pulled the walls in. Jasper County Engineer Michael Fri-
etsch said it has now been included on the five-year plan. Also included in the five-year plan are Bridge H08, located northwest of Newton on North 35th Avenue West; Bridge L01, located east of Newton on South 12th Avenue East; and Bridge A08, located north of F-17 on North 99th Avenue East. Fortunately, Frietsch said, all four of the bridges are on gravel roads. “We didn’t have any
bridge on one of our paved routes that was damaged beyond repair, so that was a fortunate thing in this whole deal,” he said. “So we moved (Bridge) L01 up into ’25 (after previously being scheduled in ’27), we’ve added (Bridge) H08, Bridge M03 and Bridge A08 now.” From what Friestch can estimate, Bridge M03 will likely be the most expensive structure to replace. He anticipates it BRIDGES | 2
Commissioner uses call logs as ammunition against VA administrator Wilson berated for not returning enough calls to veterans, blamed if they die by suicide as result By Christopher Braunschweig PCM Explorer The administrator of Jasper County Veterans Affairs was driven to tears and had to excuse herself from a meeting last week after a commissioner accosted her for not returning the calls of an undetermined number of veterans, even though she and several local veterans have said she is overworked and needs
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assistance. Ed Spangenburg, a member of the Jasper County Veterans Affairs Commission, looked at the unspecific phone data included in the department’s monthly activity report for May 2024 and determined that administrator Alyssa Wilson and shared benefits coordinator Josh Price had not returned the calls of 86 veterans. “You guys work for the Jas-
per County veterans,” Spangenburg said. “…I don’t care what it takes, you call your 86 people back. It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to hear an excuse. Not a one. If you can’t call back 86 people in 30 days, we night need to look at something else. I’m upset about that.” From the data shared, it is impossible to know if it is 86 VA | 3
Christopher Braunschweig/PCM Explorer Ed Spangenburg, right, of Jasper County Veterans Affairs Commission, accosted the department administrator for not answering enough veteran phone calls, telling her to remember the veteran suicide rate the next time she doesn’t answer or give a call back.
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