Iowa State Patrol Trooper Marc Griggs was recognized today (Thursday) for hitting a major milestone in the fight against drugged driving in Iowa. Griggs, one of 125 certified Drug Recognition Experts (DRE) in Iowa, recently completed his 500th Drug Recognition Expert evaluation—the first ever to accomplish this in Iowa. Griggs has been a certified DRE since 2001 and is a 22 year veteran of the Iowa State Patrol.

GTSB Bureau Chief Patrick Hoye said “His commitment and dedication to keeping motorists safe is certainly worthy of special recognition and we are pleased to be able to recognize his efforts.” The DRE program is sponsored by the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau (GTSB). The GTSB works closely with many law enforcement agencies (police departments, sheriff’s offices and the Iowa State Patrol) across Iowa with the ultimate goal of reducing fatality serious injury crashes.

The latest trends show that impaired driving is not just drunk driving in the U.S. Impaired drivers are under the influence of illegal and sometimes even legal drugs that pose just as much of a threat to motorists as drunk drivers.  In Iowa, approximately 30% of fatalities are impaired driving related. One of the issues for law enforcement is determining impairment for a driver that is under the influence of drugs. The indicators for impairment are different for alcohol and certain drugs. That is where the DRE’s and the DRE program has had a positive impact. Officers receive specialized training that allows them to asses a driver’s condition and then take appropriate action.

A Creston man arrested Tuesday for Driving While Barred and OWI/3rd offense, now faces an additional charge. The Union County Sheriff’s Office says 48-year old Joel Alan Weeks was arrested Wednesday afternoon at the Union County Jail, on a Department of Corrections warrant for Parole Violation. Weeks remains in the Union County Jail, where he was being held without bond.

For the first time in state history, overall state tax collections for a fiscal year have topped eight BILLION dollars. State officials have to subtract tax refunds and local option sales tax payments to schools from that eight BILLION dollar figure. It represents GROSS state tax receipts. That means NET state tax collections were over six-point-six BILLION for the state fiscal year that ended Tuesday.

A report from the Legislative Services Agency indicates state tax collections grew by six percent over the 12 month period. That growth rate beat the official expectation of five and a half percent growth in state tax revenue during the fiscal year.

The six percent increase amounts to nearly 377-MILLION dollars in additional tax payments to the state this fiscal year compared to the last one. The increase was spurred by a nearly six percent increase in personal income tax payments to the state, plus corporate income tax payment to the state were up by about five percent. Sales and use tax payments to the state were up by more than four percent. That’s just under the prediction from a three-member panel that sets an official estimate of state tax collections. Lawmakers use that prediction as the basis for their state budget plan.

(Radio Iowa)

WALL LAKE, Iowa (AP) – A northwest Iowa woman is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 5 after pleading guilty to selling marijuana from the home she shares with her four children. The Sioux City Journal reports that 37-year-old Laura Lawler was convicted Wednesday in Sac County District Court. Prosecutors dropped other charges in exchange for her plea.

The father of the children, 38-year-old Jason Ransom, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor drug charge after several other charges were dropped in exchange for his plea. He was given a deferred judgment and a year of probation. Under a deferred judgment, the conviction will be removed from Ransom’s record if he successfully completes probation.

Officers say they found bags of marijuana locked in rooms and two measuring scales during a search of Lawler’s home on March 22.