Gazette Daily News Briefing, October 21
Linn County supervisors allocate $13M in ARPA funds to services, infrastructure
Thirty-three community projects received a boost Wednesday with a Linn County Board of Supervisors vote to allocate $13 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds toward area social service and infrastructure projects.
Among the projects helped Wednesday is the Cedar Rapids Public Library, which had the biggest ask of $6 million for a new west-side library and opportunity center — offering a wide variety of social services and a food pantry — to replace the Ladd Library, currently at 3750 Williams Blvd. SW. The supervisors allocated about $4 million toward that project, with the city planning to contribute more.
Bird flu detected in backyard flock in Iowa
https://www.thegazette.com/news/bird-flu-detected-in-backyard-flock-in-iowa/
State and federal agriculture officials on Thursday confirmed a new case of the highly transmissible bird flu in a backyard flock in Dallas County.
No confirmed cases of bird flu had been reported on Iowa farms or in an Iowa backyard since early May. But in early September, two dead, wild geese in Eastern Iowa had the virus, and three ducks shot by hunters in western Iowa in mid-September also had it, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported.
Bird flu has re-emerged as wild birds begin their fall migration south, and has put Iowa chicken and turkey farmers on alert for a second round of the deadly, highly transmissible bird flu, which destroyed 13 million Iowa birds last spring.
Mapleton man 5th Iowa Lottery winner of at least $1 million this year
https://www.thegazette.com/state-government/mapleton-man-5th-iowa-lottery-winner-of-at-least-1-million-this-year/
Daryl Ingram, of Mapleton, claimed his $1 million prize in the Iowa Lottery on Thursday, becoming the fifth million-dollar lottery winner in Iowa this year.
Ingram, 62, who is retired from trucking and still farms, purchased his winning Powerball ticket at KCK’s Food and Fuel in Danbury in Woodbury County, according to the Iowa Lottery. His ticket came within one number of winning at least a share of the $485 million jackpot.
Ingram said he plans to use his winnings to pay off his home, invest for the future, and take a trip with his girlfriend, according to the Iowa Lottery.
Two more million-dollar prizes remain unclaimed: a $2 million winner sold at a Casey’s in Forest City, and a $1 million winner sold at a Gateway Express in Ames, according to the Iowa Lottery.
