Construction of a relocated $68 million DART operations and maintenance facility could begin as early as next year.

Why it matters: It’s a major development that will change the face of multiple areas of DSM.

The old: The current 11-acre campus will be sold, making room to possibly expand the adjacent Gray’s Station, a fast-growing downtown neighborhood connected to Gray’s Lake.

• The main facilities building at 1100 Dart Way was built in the 1970s and needs an estimated $35 million in updates.
• Space restrictions limit the ability to add more electric buses because they don't fit in the main garage. Vehicles must sometimes be disassembled to service them because the facility is too tight.
• It was damaged during floods in 1993 and 2008 — plus, it’s landlocked, making updates more challenging.

The new facility will be built at 2501 Maury St. and requires the demolition of the former Chesterfield School building, the site of the Southeast Community Center.

• DSM plans to vacate the community center site and rebuild and relocate its adjacent greenhouse operation.
• Construction will take about two years.

What happened: Federal Transit Administration officials encouraged DART’s commission to consider relocation due to the current facility limitations, DART CEO Elizabeth Presutti told Jason.

• Federal grants will cover an estimated 60% of the new facility.
• The local government costs for relocation are cheaper than updating the current facility. (Federal discretionary grants are not available if DART decided to retrofit the current facility.)

What’s next: DART will learn about the outcome of a federal grant application in coming months, though it has already been awarded more than $17 million.

• Construction could start in early 2022.

Federal and state recommendations to pause using the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine have complicated Iowa’s pandemic recovery.

Why it matters: The single-dose vaccine was critical in helping inoculate communities that are sometimes difficult to reach or schedule for two shots, including college students and homeless populations.

• The suspension comes after six recipients (out of nearly seven million) experienced blood clotting within two weeks of vaccination.
• A CDC advisory committee will convene today to review the cases and their potential significance.
• What to watch: J&J vaccine recipients who develop severe headaches, abdominal pain, leg pain or shortness of breath within three weeks of receiving the shot should contact their doctor.

It’s too early to fully assess the local ramifications since the majority of vaccines provided in the DSM area have been Moderna or Pfizer, Polk County Health Department spokesperson Nola Aigner Davis told Jason.

• DMACC and UNI postponed or canceled clinics that were supposed to be held yesterday using J&J. Students may have an option in coming days to get one of the two-dose vaccines. (KCCI-TV)
• Hy-Vee and CVS cancelled J&J appointments yesterday. (Des Moines Register)
• Dallas County Health Department swapped J&J for Moderna for a clinic yesterday. (Des Moines Register)

Some good news: Finding an appointment in the metro for Moderna and Pfizer has been getting easier in recent days, Aigner Davis told Jason.

• Iowa Facebook users will this week start to see an alert in their feeds that connects them with vaccine appointment information, Erica Woods, a state policy manager told Jason yesterday.

💭 Our thought bubble: Even with the J&J pause — we know that vaccines save lives and will help move us forward through the pandemic.

• Tell us your thoughts. We will share a few in an upcoming newsletter.

58% of police-involved killings in the U.S. last year began when officers responded to non-violent incidents, per the Mapping Police Violence database, Axios' Orion Rummler reports.

• Why it matters: This week’s lethal shooting of Daunte Wright near Minneapolis took place just hours before the third week of the Derek Chauvin trial began, sparking new protests and nationwide demonstrations against police violence.

Zoom in: Gov. Kim Reynolds proposed an anti-racial profiling ban this year that would have required law enforcement agencies to report race and ethnicity data on the people they stop, but it died in the Legislature.

• Local activists say more needs to be done to track stops by law enforcement agencies, especially against Black men. Des Moines has faced multiple lawsuits related to traffic stops.

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💼 In-person public meetings will return to DSM City Hall beginning June 14.

• It means the public's virtual participation in City Council meetings will end, but you can still watch the meetings live on YouTube or DMTV Channel 7 on Mediacom.
• No decisions have been made about possible the extra security measures we told you about last week.

🚯 The Raccoon River, which supplies much of the metro's water, is one of the "most endangered" in the nation because of pollution, according to a report released yesterday by American Rivers.

• Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig called the report propaganda. (Des Moines Register)

👩‍💻 DMPS's virtual high school campus will expand to middle school grades next school year, the district announced.

👨‍🔬 UnityPoint Health-Des Moines is trying to block the creation of two new cardiac catheterization labs it says are unnecessary. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Ankeny Police are asking for help to investigate an alleged assault of an Asian man. (KCCI-TV)

Iowa ranked near the bottom (#46) in a survey by YouGov that asked respondents to compare each state in head-to-head match-ups.

At the top were Hawaii (#1) and Colorado (#2).

• We get it. Hawaii is untouchable. And Colorado has skiing and legal weed — forget about it.
• But how the heck did Nebraska (#34), North Dakota (#37) and South Dakota (#44) beat us? Ugh.

Our take: Some people out there must really dislike pickle wraps.