(Radio Iowa) – A House committee has combined several education-related measures into one 38-page bill and it includes some of Governor Kim Reynolds’ proposals. The bill would prohibit instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through sixth grade classrooms. It says books with graphic descriptions of sex acts must be removed from public school libraries.

It also specifies that a school administrator would have to notify a parent if a student asks to be known by a different name or pronoun at school. New, quicker routes for getting a teaching license are included and the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners would be changed if the bill becomes law, so parents make up half of the board’s members.

Some of these proposals were separate bills already cleared the House. They are now added onto a Senate-passed bill and the package is eligible for debate in the full House this week.

ATLANTIC, IA (April 2, 2023) – Produce in the Park’s Spring Celebration Market is this Thursday, April 6 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM at the Cass County Community Center (805 W. 10th St. Atlantic, IA 50022). 12 of the 26 vendors participating in the pre-Easter farmers market are accepting preorders through 11:55 PM on Tuesday, April 4. For additional information on preordering, and to preorder online, visit www.ProduceInTheParkAtlanticIowa.com.

Miss NiNi’s Fine Desserts will offer a limited selection of products for purchase on-site at Spring Celebration Market. However, Miss NiNi cautions that only limited flavors and desserts will be available for in-person shoppers, and pies will only be available by preorder. Shoppers looking to enjoy one of Miss NiNi’s gourmet desserts on Easter weekend are encouraged to preorder must-have items, such as a particular cheesecake or pie. Miss NiNi’s desserts can be preordered at www.ProduceInTheParkAtlanticIowa.com. Customers with questions about Miss NiNi’s products should call Janine at 712-249-0145.

Miss NiNi smiles with her pies.

Spring Celebration Market vendors confirmed as of April 2 include: Johnna Joy Designs, Sweet Sisters Vegan, Brun Ko Farm, Holaday Baking, Sue’s Country Garden, Ter-Bear Honey, Noble Provisions, Smudge, Kringleman Pastries, Spirits of the Faire, Miss NiNi’s Fine Desserts, Donna’s Jewelry, Studio Samantha, Bridgewater Farm, Midwest Candles by Brit, Frosting, Inc., Creekside Crystals and Crafts, Blessings Bakery and Gifts, Knuckle Down Crochet, Crafts, and Pet Treats, Silver Valley Craft Corner, Unicorn Clouds, Imagine Garden Gift Store, Sugar Mama Cookie Co., Precursor Printing, and The Rocking Horse.

Pim’s Thai Food Truck will be in the parking lot of the Cass County Community Center selling their popular Thai food throughout the duration of the Thursday farmers market (4:00-7:00 PM).

Spring Celebration Market is sponsored by the Atlantic Community Promotion Commission, Cass County Tourism, First Whitney Bank and Trust, Cass Health, Gregg Young Automotive of Atlantic, and the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce. For the latest information, follow Produce in the Park on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ProduceInThePark) or Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/produceintheparkatlanticia/) or sign up for the Produce in the Park newsletter at
www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com.

(Cumberland, Iowa) – Firefighters from Cumberland were paged-out to a fully engulfed barn fire at around 3:32=p.m., at 72686 700th Street. Massena fire was requested to assist. The structure was said to be near a propane tank, and close to a residence. Griswold Fire was requested a little after 4-p.m., to send their grass trucks to the scene, because the fire from the barn spread to a nearby field.

Additional information is currently not available.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The National Weather Service in Des Moines, in it’s latest report on an intense storm system that tracked across the state of Iowa on Friday, March 31st, says the system pulled unseasonably warm and moist conditions into the Midwest, which coupled with a very favorable wind profile, and created quite the volatile environment for severe thunderstorms. This produced several long lived supercells which developed across central Iowa during the afternoon. The storms were prolific hail producers along with a few reports of wind damage as they moved rapidly northeast. Eventually, the storms produced a few tornadoes before exiting into eastern Iowa.

One of the documented tornadoes began in Wapello County northeast  of Ottumwa then tracked northeast into Keokuk County.  The primary damage in Wapello County consisted of three  homes and one hog confinement facility. The first home lost the entire roof and one external wall. The first failure  point was likely the wind entering and lifting the garage which then led to failure of the roof. The home only had  straight nailed connections to the external walls spaced
every 18 inches and less to the roof.

Tornado in northeast Wapello County.
Photo credit: Wapello Sheriff / EM

An unoccupied mobile home on the property was not well anchored and rolled to total destruction. This location was rated 110 mph and EF-1. Two well anchored hog confinement buildings  were totally destroyed and were rated EF-2. The tornado then impacted a location with a well built 2 story brick house. The house suffered some roof and window damage
and a loss of a garage door but sustained little other damage. Other damage indicators at the site suggested
EF-1 winds.

Total destruction of a house occurred just prior to the tornado exiting the county. This older house sat unanchored to the concrete block basement. The house was pushed off the foundation and crumbled. Some trees near the house and a propane tank were mostly left with little damage. A larger tree directly next to the house on the wind side had several large limbs removed. Due to all of these reasons, the wind at this location has been  rated at 135 mph, or high end EF-2.

The Tornado Path extends into Keokuk County. The National Weather Service in the Quad Cities reports “After collaboration with a team of survey experts, we have determined a prelim. rating of low end EF4 for the tornado that tracked from Wapello into Johnson County IA. Max estimated winds around 170 mph. Max width around 600 yards. There were at least three tornadoes reported by the QC NWS office.

(April 1, 2023/DES MOINES, Iowa) – Today, Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation for 12 counties in response to the March 31 severe weather. The governor’s proclamation allows state resources to be utilized to respond to and recover from the effects of this severe weather in Cedar, Clinton, Delaware, Des Moines, Dubuque, Grundy, Johnson, Keokuk, Linn, Mahaska, Wapello, and Washington counties. 
 
In addition, the proclamation activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program for qualifying residents, along with the Disaster Case Management Program, for those counties. The Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program provides grants of up to $5,000 for households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Grants are available for home or car repairs, replacement of clothing or food, and temporary housing expenses. Original receipts are required for those seeking reimbursement for actual expenses related to storm recovery. The grant application and instructions are available on the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services website at https://dhs.iowa.gov/disaster-assistance-programs. Potential applicants have 45 days from the date of the proclamation to submit a claim.   
  
The Disaster Case Management Program addresses serious needs related to disaster-related hardship, injury, or adverse conditions. Disaster case managers work with clients to create a disaster recovery plan and provide guidance, advice, and referral to obtain a service or resource. There are no income eligibility requirements for this program; it closes 180 days from the date of the governor’s proclamation. For information on the Disaster Case Management Program, contact your local community action association or visit www.iowacommunityaction.org. 

A copy of the proclamation can be found here. 

(Radio Iowa) – A bill to ban any Iowan under the age of 18 from having accounts on TikTok, Instagram or any other social media site has cleared its first hurdle in the Iowa House, but bill backers are planning changes in the legislation. House Speaker Pat Grassley says Republicans want to start a conversation about how social media companies are collecting data about children — but, more importantly, about how smart phone apps and online platforms are impacting the mental health of Iowa kids.) “This is a broader conversation than just dollars and cents,” Grassley says.

House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst says lawmakers should let parents control their children’s social media use.  “We can all be better about social media use. Social media can be a toxic environment and so we have to be careful, of course. Kids have to be careful with social media,” Konfrst says. “Let’s not also forget that social media can be a place of community where kids find each other in a way that can be valuable and meaningful to them.”

Utah has just adopted a law that requires minors to have parental consent for social media accounts. A key G-O-P lawmaker in the Iowa House says the plan is to adjust their bill so Iowa parents would have to sign off on social media accounts for teenagers, but Iowa children under the age of 13 would not be allowed to have one.

A recent study found 40 percent of kids under the age of 13 were using apps like TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook.

(Radio Iowa) – Tornadoes and hail struck portions of Iowa Friday. Tornado watches or warnings were issued for 40 different counties Friday as severe weather struck the Midwest. Governor Reynolds has approved state assistance to six counties — Cedar, Clinton, Delaware, Johnson, Mahaska and Washington.

Emergency shelters were opened in Coralville and Manchester. Damage was reported near Ottumwa and in Keokuk County as well. About half of the residents in Charlotte, a small town in Clinton County, were evacuated because a propane tank was damaged and began leaking.

The storm system knocked out electricity to thousands of customers in Iowa on Friday afternoon and, by midnight, snow had begun falling in northwest Iowa.

(Iowa City, Iowa) – A storm system that formed tornadoes in north-central Missouri early Friday afternoon spread quickly into southern and eastern Iowa, where the twisters caused extensive damage in Wapello County and further north. The National Weather Service reports one tornado veered just west of Iowa City, home to the University of Iowa.

KCRG-TV says at least two tornadoes struck Johnson County Friday afternoon, according to preliminary reports from emergency management. A shelter was opened in Coralville for residents affected by the storm in the community where damage was reported along the Coralville Strip mall area and in nearby neighborhoods. Video showed downed power lines and roofs torn-off of an apartment building in Coralville.

Damage was also reported in Frytown, Hills and Solon. The damage in Hills was said to be significant. The National Weather Service said crews plan to work into the weekend assessing damage and assisting residents impacted by the storms in eastern Iowa.

At least two people were injured, no fatalities have been reported.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Police in Des Moines say the suspect in the killing of a woman in Fort Dodge Thursday night, shot and killed himself at a gas station in Des Moines, Friday, as police were closing-in.

Officers located 27-year-old Adarius Clayton at a Casey’s store Friday in Des Moines. When they approached him, he pulled out a gun and shot himself, according to Des Moines Police Dept, spokesman, Sgt. Paul Parizek.

No other injuries were reported.

Clayton was believed to have killed 26-year-old Nicole Reza, Thursday night.

(Radio Iowa) – A former southeast Iowa teacher was arrested based on accusations that she assaulted a preschool student.

The Appanoose County Sheriff’s Office says 46-year-old Erin Aalfs was a preschool teacher at the Moravia Community School District when on March 10 she kicked and threw rocks at a student and later picked up the child and threw the victim towards a chain link fence causing the child to hit the ground and fence. The incident occurred at the elementary school’s playground during school hours. The child was not injured.

Erin Aalfs

Aalfs later resigned from her position and was arrested on March 29. She’s been charged with two counts of simple assault and interference with official acts after the sheriff’s office says Aalfs resisted arrest and a deputy suffered minor injuries.