Week in Iowa, Dec. 8, 2024: Recap of news from across the state

Longtime congressman dies: Jim Leach, who represented Eastern Iowa in Congress for 30 years, died Wednesday at 82.

Leach served in the U.S. House from 1977 to 2007 as a Republican, a tenure rivaled only by two other U.S. representatives in Iowa history. Only Iowans Neal Smith at 36 years and Gilbert Haugen at 34 years served longer than Leach.

Leach first ran for office in 1974 to challenge Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Ed Mezvinsky in Eastern Iowa. Leach, who had no experience running for elected office, was defeated.

"I've always said it was the best race I ever ran," he said in a 2007 interview.

After serving in Congress, Leach joined the faculty at the University of Iowa College of Law and was named interim director of the UI Art Museum in 2017 as plans for a new venue were being formed.

Ahead of the 2020 general election, Leach endorsed Joe Biden. He later rebuked then-President Donald Trump for the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.

  Buy Photo

AEA reform: A task force met for five hours Monday to consider recommendations to Iowa's system of Area Education Agencies.

Task force members decided to wait until February to give members time to gather more information and receive more feedback on the impact of a new state law that overhauled funding and operations for the agencies.

Iowa’s nine AEAs provide special education services, support and training to K-12 school districts. Earlier this year, Republicans shifted some funding from the AEAs to school districts and moved oversight of special education to the Iowa Department of Education.

Council Bluffs affordable housing: The Annex Group is building a 192-unit housing complex in Council Bluffs, one of a number of projects expanding affordable housing in the western Iowa city.

The $58.2 million community plans to open in fall 2026. A groundbreaking ceremony was held Wednesday.

The developer opened a housing development in southwest Cedar Rapids last year and is building projects in Waterloo and Des Moines.

"This additional supply of rental housing inventory should help to ease the rising prices pressure associated with low market supply," Council Bluffs Mayor Matt Walsh said.

Flood recovery: More than four months after record flooding inundated Correctionville, Gov. Kim Reynolds stopped Monday in the small western Iowa town to view the extensive damage to homes and public infrastructure.

The governor heard local officials ask for additional state assistance to help pay for the repairs and rejuvenate the largely rural community. Reynolds said the Federal Emergency Management Agency had denied the state's request for 100 percent funding.

Welcome home: Members of a Waterloo-based National Guard helicopter company received an official “welcome home” from top brass after spending almost a year overseas in Kosovo.

“When I look at his organization, and I see what you’ve accomplished over the last year, it’s been nothing short of impressive,” Brig. Gen. William McClintock, assistant adjutant general for the Iowa Army National Guard, told soldiers with the 2nd Battalion, 211th General Support Aviation Battalion at the ceremony.

Odds and ends

No more delays: Council members in Iowa City denied a request from the city's Truth and Reconciliation Commission for another extension for its final report and recommendations. The commission asked for a delay until June 30. It has until Dec. 31 to finish its work. Its deadline has already been extended twice. The council OK'd hiring an outside consultant to work into the new year. The panel was formed in 2020 by the City Council after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

More inclusivity: The city of Sioux City has hired a diversity and inclusion coordinator. The role replaces a community inclusion liaison position, which oversaw the Inclusive Sioux City Advisory Committee. The committee provides guidance on diversity, equity and inclusion.

They said ...

"When we are welcome in an area and the local government acts as more of a partner than an adversary, we are much more successful." — Developer Tom Tomaszewski, president of the Annex Group, at a groundbreaking for affordable housing Wednesday in Council Bluffs

“The most important thing is you give it another couple months to see how this all plays out. … We’ve (already) made some significant changes, but we want to make sure they work out best for all the students.” — State Rep. Brent Siegrist, R-Council Bluffs, speaking about Area Education Agency reform as co-chair of a task force Monday in Des Moines

Water cooler

Supreme Court lawyer: A graduate of Iowa's Grinnell College recently became the first openly transgender person to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Des Moines Register reported that Chase Strangio argued in a case challenging a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors. Strangio is co-director of the American Civil Liberties Union's LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project.

Logo removed: Des Moines Area Community College has removed nearly all its digital and physical assets featuring its new “D” logo after a federal judge granted Drake University’s request to place a temporary injunction on its usage, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported.