Capitol Notebook: Funding available to rural communities for clean energy projects

Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand is urging leaders in Iowa's rural communities to apply for funding to advance clean energy.

The 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law established funding through the Department of Energy Office of Clean Energy Solutions to provide financial investment, technical assistance and other resources to advance clean energy in communities with fewer than 10,000 residents.

The program provides up to $10 million to communities. Examples of qualifying projects include community-scale solar and wind structures, grid modernization and systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Communities also can apply for up to $100 million for large-scale projects that benefit multiple communities or require multiple installations, such as utility-scale solar and wind farms, grid modernizations with multiple substations, and bioreactors using locally available biomass to replace fossil fuel use.

Project concept papers are due by 4 p.m. Friday, April 14. The deadline for the full application is 4 p.m. June 28.

The application process begins at www.energy.gov.

New veterans portal launched

Iowa Workforce Development has launched a new online portal intended to make it easier for veterans and their families to find a new career in Iowa.

The portal, IowaWorksForVeterans.gov, connects veterans with one-on-one job search assistance and also helps employers find and hire veterans.

“Home Base Iowa for several years has been Iowa’s flagship program for recruiting veterans and transitioning active-duty service members to our state,” Beth Townsend, director of Iowa Workforce Development, said in a statement.

“Combining the new portal with the Home Base Iowa career planners, as well as the veterans services available in all our IowaWORKS offices, provides … an easier route for veterans and their spouses to build a better life in Iowa after service.”

Veterans and their spouses can use the new portal to create an account, search for open jobs, attend online workshops and register for one-on-one services.

Iowa businesses also can register as a “veteran friendly” employer and receive access to resumes from a pool of veteran applicants.

A video walk-through of the site is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3UHr3M7waU

Schools invited to apply for STEM scholarship

The National Lieutenant Governors Association has opened the application period for the annual Lieutenant Governors’ STEM Scholarship Program, sponsored by ACT.

The scholarship program will award up to $1,000 to 12 schools nationally to support STEM-related activities for youth.

Applications are open through May 1, with recipients announced this summer.

The association will award 12 scholarships to 12 schools in 12 states and territories worth $10,000 total.

More information on the program and how to apply is available at https://nlga.us/

Anamosa prison investigating inmate death

The Iowa Department of Corrections said Friday it’s investigating the death of an inmate at the Anamosa State Penitentiary.

According to a news release, Owens Arnez Thompson, 49, was taken to Jones Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead Wednesday morning due to an apparent suicide. Thompson had been serving a life sentence since July 1996 for a Polk County murder.

The department investigates all suspected suicides within its correctional facilities, according to the release.