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Council Bluffs Habitat volunteers help build a home in Honduras

A team that included three leaders from Habitat for Humanity of Council Bluffs spent a week this fall in the mountains of western Honduras, mixing concrete by hand and laying block for a family’s new home. David Klitz, director of the Council Bluffs Habitat ReStore, led the group of 14 volunteers. It included Blake Johnson, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Council Bluffs, board member Diana Garcia, and volunteers from Habitat for Humanity of Omaha. “I cannot wait

2 days ago

Local News

Council Bluffs wrestling club founded by Olympian now spans five countries

Nov 1

Activities

Veterans Day parade set for Saturday in downtown Council Bluffs

Nov 2

Sports

Celebrating Local Sports, Teams and Athletes

Jul 1

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Council Bluffs Habitat volunteers help build a home in Honduras

2 days ago

SPLECC to showcase free ‘Art for All’ program on Giving Tuesday

St. Paul’s Lutheran Early Childhood Center in Council Bluffs will hold an art show and open house on Giving Tuesday, Dec. 1, to raise money for a new program that offers free art classes to people of all ages. The center, known as SPLECC, hopes to raise $50,000 to fund the “Art for All” program in 2027. The open house will run from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the center, 1500 N. 16th St. Visitors can tour the art room, see work by students and bid on selected pieces in a silent auction

3 days ago

NAMI Southwest Iowa gala raises more than $40,000

NAMI Southwest Iowa raised more than $40,000 for free mental health programs at its Hope Illuminated Gala on Nov. 7 at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs. The evening featured a talk by Kody Green, a national mental health advocate who speaks about his own life with schizophrenia and his recovery. It was also the last gala for Executive Director Anna Killpack, who will retire at the end of the year. Amy Sherer will succeed her. “Raising more than $40,000 is an incredibl

3 days ago

Lincoln aronia berry company wins $2,000 at REV Pitch

A Lincoln, Neb., food company that makes products from aronia berries, a fruit grown largely in Iowa and Nebraska, won $2,000 at REV Pitch 2026 on Nov. 5 at PACE’s Hoff Family Arts & Culture Center. Xiaoqing Xie, co-founder of A+ Berry, said the money will help the company grow demand for a crop most people in the Midwest have never heard of. “We have a local, homegrown super fruit,” Xie said. “People should know that.” Cindy Estrada of Típico Helado, the ice cream shop at 15

3 days ago

A year after bond vote, Iowa Western’s new technical building on track for fall 2027

A year after voters approved Iowa Western Community College’s $55 million bond issue, the college’s new Transportation & Logistics Building is rising on the Council Bluffs campus, and President Dan Kinney says it should be substantially complete by October 2027. Crews began moving dirt the day after the November 2025 vote. Kinney said a rainy September put the project a few weeks behind, but he does not expect it to miss its target. “To really build the workforce that we need

7 days ago

Pottawattamie County wins $19.9 million federal grant to rebuild Old Lincoln Highway

Pottawattamie County will rebuild 11.6 miles of Old Lincoln Highway between Council Bluffs and Honey Creek with the help of a $19.9 million federal safety grant announced Oct. 30. The grant, from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All program, is the largest awarded in Iowa this year and the fifth largest of nearly 300 nationwide. “The fact that we were able to punch above our weight is really exciting,” said County Engineer Andy Wicks. The cou

7 days ago

Típico Helado’s Cindy Estrada takes her family’s lessons to the REV stage

Cindy Estrada says she applied for REV Pitch 2026 because it scared her. Estrada, who runs the Típico Helado ice cream shop at 157 W. Broadway, is one of five finalists who will present their businesses Thursday, Nov. 5, at PACE’s Hoff Family Arts & Culture Center. More than $21,000 in prize money is at stake. Tickets are $15 and are available at tsbank.com/rev. Típico Helado was founded in South Omaha by Jesus “Chuy” Mata and his wife, Crystal, and is known for Mexican-style

Nov 4

Treynor’s Mascot Merch to pitch equipment plan at REV

Adam Magill of Treynor will ask the judges at REV Pitch 2026 for equipment that would let his custom apparel business do its own printing. Magill, who runs Mascot Merch, is one of five finalists who will present Thursday, Nov. 5, at PACE’s Hoff Family Arts & Culture Center. More than $21,000 in prize money is at stake. Tickets are $15 and are available at tsbank.com/rev. Magill’s wife started the business in 2018 after a Treynor coach complained that team orders from outside

Nov 4

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Council Bluffs

Veterans Day parade set for Saturday in downtown Council Bluffs

The annual Council Bluffs Veterans Day Parade will step off at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, in downtown Council Bluffs, and organizers are inviting residents to line the streets in honor of the area’s more than 7,000 veterans. “We want to see those streets packed,” said Brad Powell, who has organized the parade since 2010. Organizers expect cool but dry weather, though Powell said conditions have ranged from sunshine to rain and cold over the years, and he encouraged spectators

Activities

Council Bluffs wrestling club founded by Olympian now spans five countries

Georgi Ivanov’s The Best Wrestler adds its 21st location in Montréal and aims for 200 locations in two years The Best Wrestler, the youth wrestling club that Olympian Georgi Ivanov and his father, Ivan, started in McClelland in 2020, has grown to 21 locations in 12 states and five countries. Its headquarters remains in Council Bluffs at the Iowa West Field House. The club’s newest location, Kartal Wrestling Club in Montréal, is its first in Canada. Ivanov said the club serves

News

New Mercy president says hospital’s mission unchanged as health care shifts

Anthony Ashby, named Mercy’s president in August, points to partnerships with Jennie Edmundson and others in the community Anthony Ashby took over as president of CHI Health Mercy Council Bluffs in August, and he wants the community to know that the hospital’s commitment to Council Bluffs has not changed, even as health care does. “The mission hasn’t changed. The commitment to Mercy hasn’t changed,” Ashby said. “Leadership may have changed, different services may have changed

News

Oakland

Absentee voting in Pottawattamie County passes 2022 total ahead of Tuesday’s election

Absentee voting in Pottawattamie County has already passed the total for the entire 2022 midterm election, and voters have until 4:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, to cast an absentee ballot in person at the courthouse before Tuesday’s general election. County Auditor Mary Ann Hanusa, who also serves as the county’s commissioner of elections, said absentee ballots passed the 2022 total by the morning of Oct. 23, with more than a week of voting still remaining. In-person absentee votin

Shoemaker draws on decades in county conservation in bid for supervisor seat

Mark Shoemaker spent more than 30 years with Pottawattamie County Conservation, about 26 of them as its executive director, and worked with every Board of Supervisors since 1997. Now he hopes to join one. Shoemaker is one of five candidates seeking three seats on the board in the Nov. 3 general election, along with Susan Miller, Jeff Jorgensen, Shawna Anderson and Dennis Gunderson. One seat is open because Supervisor Keith Jones, who was appointed to the board in December, is

Anderson draws on years in the board’s gallery in bid for supervisor seat

For more than five years, Shawna Anderson has watched the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors from the public seating. Now she is asking voters to move her to the other side of the room. Anderson is one of five candidates seeking three seats on the board in the Nov. 3 general election, along with Susan Miller, Jeff Jorgensen, Mark Shoemaker and Dennis Gunderson. She said her interest began during community town halls on how the county should spend its federal American R

Neola

Amber Lodge history traces back to vanished Pottawattamie County community of Quick

A Masonic lodge that once stood along Highway 6 east of Council Bluffs can trace its history to the vanished community of Quick, Iowa, and a group of rural Masons who wanted a meeting place closer to home more than 120 years ago. Fred Gach, a member of Cobia Lodge No. 631 in Council Bluffs since 1980 and a former dual member of Cobia and Amber lodges, began researching Amber Lodge after being asked about its history. Much of what he found came from materials preserved in a ti

NAMI Southwest Iowa announces leadership transition as Killpack plans retirement

NAMI Southwest Iowa will have a new executive director at the end of 2026, when longtime leader Anna Killpack retires and current program coordinator Amy Sherer takes over the organization serving nine counties across southwest Iowa. Killpack announced that she will step down at the end of December after more than six years leading the organization. Sherer, who originally joined NAMI Southwest Iowa as a peer support specialist, will take over following Killpack’s retirement.

Walnut

Walnut, Iowa: Small-Town Charm with a Rich History

Sharing local news, community events, businesses, and stories from Iowa’s Antique City.

Mills County

Glenwood photographer brings growing business to REV Pitch stage

Janna Selander has a simple explanation for how her photography business grew from two people to 10 in about a year and a half. “I’m a people pleaser,” Selander said. “If someone calls me and says, ‘Will you take my photos?’ and I can’t take their photos, it was stressing me out.” Selander, owner of J Selander Media, is one of five finalists who will present their businesses at REV Pitch 2026 on Thursday, Nov. 5, at PACE, where more than $21,000 in prize money is at stake. Ti

NAMI Southwest Iowa announces leadership transition as Killpack plans retirement

Celebrating Local Sports, Teams and Athletes

From youth leagues to high school and college athletics, CB Journal highlights the people, teams and moments that make our local sports community special. Sports are an important part of life in Council Bluffs and the surrounding communities. From young athletes learning the game to high school rivalries and college competitions, there's no shortage of stories worth sharing. CB Journal will spotlight local sports through season recaps, team accomplishments, athlete features,

Treynor

Treynor administrator says county’s towns rise or fall together

Treynor City Administrator Mike Holton does not believe any town in Pottawattamie County can make it on its own, including his own. “If Treynor was by itself, it would die on the vine,” Holton said. “I know that’s a harsh thing to say.” He said Treynor depends on neighboring towns such as Avoca, Oakland, Carson, Macedonia and Neola, and all of them depend on Council Bluffs. Council Bluffs, in turn, depends on the strength of the rural county. “It really is a symbiotic relatio