(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Assessor’s Office will be closed Friday, March 31. Assessor Mary Anstey reports the office will be closed from 8-a.m. until 7-p.m., so her staff may attend training.

(Radio Iowa) – Some speculate Friday night’s Final Four match-up between Iowa and South Carolina will be the most-watched college women’s basketball game in U-S history. Iowans who’d like to see the game in Texas in person will need to shell out at least a thousand dollars, probably more, according to Dubuque travel agent Angie Harter. She tells K-C-R-G-T-V that price includes the cost of a round-trip flight, a Dallas hotel room, and a ticket to the game — and the costs are rising.

The University of Iowa plans to open Carver-Hawkeye Arena for a free watch party on Friday night. If you’d just like to show some black-and-gold spirit, there are plenty of t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats and other apparel for sale. Jonathan Sevilla, co-manager of the Iowa Hawk Shop in Iowa City, says they’ve already sold around 100 shirts to customers — which was nearly their entire initial supply, though more are on the way.

It’s the first Final Four appearance for the Iowa women since 1993.

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa State University study shows inflation is hitting rural residents harder that those in urban areas. Professor David Peters, a rural sociologist for I-S-U Extension and Outreach, says inflation took a bigger bite of rural household budgets throughout much of last year, but its effects were similar in rural and urban areas by year’s end. “Over the past 10 years, inflation costs that we’re all familiar with, gas and food and everything else, has cut rural discretionary incomes by over a third,” Peters says. “What’s the discretionary income? Well, the discretionary income is essentially the money you have leftover at the end of the year after you pay your taxes and pay all your expenses.”

That discretionary income is critical, he says, for handling unexpected or emergency expenses. In the past two years, Peters says inflation has cost the average rural household a total of more than eight-thousand dollars.  “And that just means rural households have less money for unexpected health care costs,” Peters says. “A lot of rural people have their own health insurance, less money for unexpected home repairs, the furnace goes out, you need a new roof, unexpected car repairs, or even just for rural people to save for their own retirement or their kids’ future education.”

Peters says he doesn’t foresee inflation letting up anytime soon. “I would say likely not in the next two to three years,” Peters says. “I would say that the price increases we’ve seen are going to stay. They might not be increasing as much as they have been in the last two years, but all indications would be those inflation rates are here to stay.” The Federal Reserve recently raised interest rates in an effort to stave off further inflation, which Peters says raises the risk of the economy falling into a recession. “People grumble about inflation and people grumble about paying more for the groceries and their gas,” Peters says, “but that’s a far less major problem than a recession where people would lose their jobs and lose their businesses.”

Peters says rural households paid an extra 300-dollars per month because of inflation in 2021, but the urban-rural gap in additional expenses was modest, around 15-dollars a month. When transportation costs shot up in early 2022, largely due to higher gas prices, he says rural households felt it more. For the first two-thirds of the year, inflation cost rural households at least an extra 450-dollars per month, which is 60-to-90 dollars more than urban households.

See the full report online:
https://smalltowns.soc.iastate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/163/2023/02/SOC-3106.pdf

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has signed a bill into law that’s designed to establish data privacy rights for Iowans. The bill first passed the Iowa House last year and it cleared both the House and Senate unanimously this year. Representative Ray Sorensen of Greenfield is chairman of the Economic Growth and Technology Committee in the House.

“While everyone involved acknowledges that a federal law would be preferable, it is generally understood that it is unlikely congress will act anytime soon,” Sorenson says, “and so we are taking the first step ourselves.” Senator Chris Cournoyer of Le Claire says it’s a strong starting point.

“A data privacy bill that is designed to increase protections for consumers’ personal data, provide consumers with certain rights and regulate businesses’ use of consumers’ personal data,” Cournoyer says. Five other states have similar laws, but Cournoyer says Iowa is the first state in the Midwest to make this move. “This bill becomes effective January 1, 2025,” Cournoyer says, “giving time for implementation, compliance and enhancements as new innovations in consumer data protection become known.”

Governor Reynolds says it’s never been more important to clearly and unmistakably say that consumers deserve a reasonable level of transparency and control over their personal data and she says this bill does that. California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and Virginia have passed similar laws. The laws generally require most websites to let consumers click a box saying they do not want their personal information captured on the website sold elsewhere. California requires so called data brokers to register with the state.

(Radio Iowa)- A Michigan based health care provider has purchased the Keokuk hospital that closed on October 1st and may reopen the facility as a Rural Emergency Hospital. Governor Reynolds signed a bill into law yesterday (Tuesday) that sets up the state licensing process for Rural Emergency Hospitals. These hospitals will be eligible for higher reimbursement rates for treatment of Medicare patients along with a monthly payment from the federal government.

Rural Emergency Hospitals must keep an emergency room open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and may provide outpatient services, but they must discontinue in-patient care. Insight is the name of the Flint, Michigan, company that bought Keokuk’s closed down hospital. Insight’s chief strategy officer says with the necessary regulatory and financial support, the company aims to begin providing medical services in Keokuk later this year.

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, a sponsor of the bill that created the Rural Emergency Hospital framework, says it’s a reform that will be a lifeline for rural communities. Governor Reynolds says the concept will help ensure Iowans, no matter where they live, can access emergency care. State Senator Jeff Reichman, a Republican from Montour, says the new Rural Emergency Hospital designation will help rural communities and struggling hospitals. Reichman was in the governor’s office yesterday when she signed the bill into law.

(Radio Iowa) – The board of Iowa Wesleyan University in Mount Pleasant has voted to close the school at the end of the academic year on May 3st. Board president, Bill Miller, spoke on a conference call and says “this is a profound decision that will be deeply felt by everyone in our community and throughout southeast Iowa.

Miller says they have been considering their options for the past several months, following an intensive analysis of Iowa Wesleyan financial operations and considerable exploration of all feasible strategic alternatives. The school still owes 26 million dollars to the U-S-D-A for a loan.

The school’s 878 students will be able to complete their studies at other schools and the school will hold graduation ceremonies for seniors. The school has about 110 full time employees, 35 of those are full time faculty, 75 full time staff members and about 74 adjunct faculty.

DES MOINES – Gov. Reynolds released the following statement in response to the announced closure of Iowa Wesleyan University:  

“Today, my thoughts are with the students, faculty, and staff who are stunned by this announcement, and the people of Mount Pleasant who have long revered the university as a pillar of their community. The state is committed to supporting them during this time of transition. I have directed the Iowa Economic Development Authority and Iowa Workforce Development to reach out to community and business leaders, and work together to keep the local economy strong. 

“It wasn’t until February 3, 2023, that my office received a request from the university for $12 million for ongoing operating costs. As I’ve said many times, we endeavor not to spend one-time federal dollars on ongoing expenses. To better understand their request and the financial health of the university, my office engaged an independent, third-party accounting firm to conduct due diligence. The firm reported that Iowa Wesleyan had a $26.1 million loan from the USDA, using their campus as collateral, that could be recalled in full as early as November 2023. Additionally, Iowa Wesleyan’s auditor cited ongoing concerns about the university’s fiscal health, stating “significant operating losses and reduced liquidity raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.” The firm also highlighted that that while enrollment at Iowa Wesleyan has grown over the past three years, their financial health has continued to deteriorate over the same period. 

“Based on this and other factors, the independent accounting firm determined that providing one-time, federal funds would not solve the systemic financial issues plaguing the university. If the state would have provided the federal funding as requested and it was used to finance debt or other impermissible uses according to US Treasury guidelines, the state and taxpayers could have been liable for potential repayment to the federal government. Moreover, the state has separately received $122 million in requests from other universities and community colleges across the state. 

“With this information, I made the difficult decision to not pursue the university’s funding request.” 

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest Tuesday of 27-year-old Wyatt Lee Sargent of Council Bluffs for Driving While Suspended 14 times by the State of Iowa. Sargent was arrested at 2:27 p.m. at Highway 34 and O Avenue in Montgomery County. He was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $491.25 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has appointed former State Auditor Mary Mosiman to lead the Iowa Department of Revenue. Mosiman has been the Iowa Department of Revenue’s deputy director and head of its tax division since 2019.

Mosiman is a certified public accountant and served as Story County Auditor for a decade. She was working as a deputy in the Iowa Secretary of State’s office in 2013 when Governor Terry Branstad appointed Mosiman to serve as state auditor. She won a full term as state auditor in 2014, but lost her 2018 race for reelection.

Mosiman takes over as head of the Iowa Department of Revenue tomorrow (Wednesday).

Reynolds appointed former House Speaker Kraig Paulsen to lead the tax agency in 2019, but for the past 16 months he’s also been director of the Iowa Department of Management. Paulsen will stay in that role as the governor’s top budget advisor. A news release from the governor’s office says as director of the Department of Management, Paulsen will be able to manage a state government realignment plan. The bill outlining that plan has passed the legislature, but Reynolds has not yet signed it into law.

(Radio Iowa) – A compromise between Iowa’s trucking industry and trial lawyers would create new liability protection from lawsuits filed over accidents involving commercial vehicles. The Iowa House, on a 58-42 vote, has approved a bill that would set a five million dollar cap on so-called pain and suffering damages in most lawsuits filed over wrecks involving commercial vehicles like semis and tow trucks. “It’s a fair resolution by two parties that I thought wouldn’t come together on this,” said Representative Bill Gustoff, a Republican from Des Moines.

The liability protection would limit rising insurance rates for trucking companies, according to Gustoff. “These costs get passed along and so it’s hard. It costs trucking companies. It costs farmers. It costs employees. It costs consumers,” Gustoff says, “because everything we eat, wear, use — if you have it, it came on a truck.”

Representative Jon Dunwell, a Republican from Newton, was seriously injured 22 years ago when he was hit by a commercial truck while riding a bicycle. Dunwell said increasingly high verdicts in tort liability cases, though, are a drag on the U.S. economy and he backs the bill. “I recognize the importance and value of the tort system, but I want to also make sure it has some boundaries on it because of the expense for American families,” Dunwell said.

All 58 “yes” votes came from Republicans. Democrats and a few Republicans opposed it. Republican Representative Megan Jones of Sioux Rapids cried as she talked about a great aunt who was killed decades ago when the car she was in struck a truck parked, without its lights on, in the middle of a highway at night. Her family didn’t sue, but Jones said she won’t vote to limit what other families in similar circumstances can do. “I don’t see this bill as being generous to victims. Iowans aren’t looking to get run down by semi trucks,” Jones said. “Lawyers aren’t taking risky, frivolous cases. Iowa juries aren’t awarding more than a person deserves.”

Representative Sami Sheetz, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, said the bill is fundamentally wrong. “This bill is being sold as a way to make Iowa competitive with other states,” Sheets said, “but it is critically important to note that not a single other state specifically exempts the trucking industry from liability.”

Earlier this year, most Republicans in the Iowa Senate voted for a $2 million cap on non-economic damages in lawsuits filed over trucking accidents. Governor Reynolds has previously proposed a $1 million limit, so it’s unclear if the Senate will accept the $5 million cap.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Mills County report three recent, separate arrests. On Sunday, 33-year-old Tyler Eldon Buckner, of Emerson, was arrested on a warrant for Violation of Probation, with bond set at $10,000.

Last Saturday, 23-year-old Selena Lynn Brown, of Council Bluffs, was arrested in Mills County for Driving While Barred ($2,000 bond). And, on Friday, 45-year-old Tomas Enrique Nieves was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Poss. of Drug Paraphernalia (Bond $2,000).