DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — At odds over education funding, Iowa lawmakers have established a negotiating committee to attempt to reach compromise. A joint conference committee with lawmakers from both chambers met Thursday. The Republican-majority House and Democratic-controlled Senate must determine a funding level for K-12 education for the upcoming academic year.

House Republicans have advanced a plan that would provide about $100 million in additional funding, while Senate Democrats want to give schools over $200 million in additional funding. Both proposals include money dedicated to teacher leadership training. Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, a Council Bluffs Democrat, calls education a priority because it’s a “ticket to a better life.”

But Rep. Chuck Soderberg, a Republican from Le Mars who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, says the House proposal is what the state can afford.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to grant nearly $1.5 million in disaster funding to Iowa to aid with flood recovery projects. The USDA on Thursday announced that it will give $1,495,000 million to Iowa to help recuperation efforts after rainstorms in 2013 caused severe flood damage in five counties. The funding is part of the USDA’s distribution of $84 million to help 13 states.

According to the USDA, the investment in the Emergency Watershed Protection Program is slated to aid with 150 projects across the country. Restoration projects in Iowa include reshaping and stabilizing stream banks, improving water quality and reducing the potential impact of future floods.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the program aims to address damage to the nation’s watersheds from natural disasters.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A House panel has approved a bill that would legalize the sale of more fireworks in Iowa, a move that echoes action in the Senate. Members of a ways and means subcommittee approved the bill Thursday. It now heads to a full committee for consideration. The bill would require retailers to obtain a license to legally sell firecrackers, roman candles and other fireworks. Currently, state law allows only sales of sparklers or certain “novelty fireworks.”

Several groups spoke in opposition to the bill and argued it would lead to more injuries. Rep. Matt Windschitl, a Republican from Missouri Valley and chairman of the subcommittee, says it’s important to give consumers the right to buy fireworks. A similar bill is advancing in the Senate.

Legislation to address a shortage of psychiatric treatment beds across the state has cleared a three-member panel in the Iowa House. The bill would direct the Department of Human Services to devise a tracking system to locate an available bed when a patient is having a psychiatric emergency. Representative David Heaton, a Republican from Mount Pleasant, says a county sheriff from his community recently made 40 calls trying to find room for a patient.  “Forty calls and he ended up having to take two of his deputies off staff and place the client in a police car and travel 312 miles across the state to Sioux City,” Heaton said.

According to Heaton, officers sometimes make the trip only to find that the available bed was already filled.  “And think about the patient in the back of the car, handcuffed with his hands behind the back, spending 6 or 7 hours in the car,” Heaton said. “It’s horrible. It’s inhumane.” Heaton says the closing of the mental health facilities in Mount Pleasant and Clarinda will make the situation worse. He says it will take time for the state’s new regional mental health systems to come up with more community placements for the mentally ill.

The DHS is already working on a monitoring system with the help of a federal grant.

(Radio Iowa)

An icy road was to blame for an accident Wednesday afternoon, in Union County. Sheriff’s officials say 42-year old Laura Ditzler, of Shannon City, was traveling south on Pole Road near the intersection with 185th Street, when her 2004 Chevy SUV went out of control and slid through the intersection. The vehicle entered a ditch and hit a fence before coming to rest in a field. Damage to the SUV amounted to $2,000, while the farm fence sustained about $250 damage. No injuries were reported.

No injuries were reported following two separate accidents Wednesday afternoon, in Atlantic. Police say one collision happened just before 3-p.m. at 10th and Maple Streets, when a vehicle driven by Paul Zacharias, of Anita, stopped at the intersection as he was headed south on Maple, and then proceeded into the intersection. The impact occurred as a vehicle driven by Derrick Fulton, of Atlantic, was traveling west on 10th Street, which does not have a stop sign. The vehicles sustained a total of $2,200 damage during the resulting collision. Officers cited both men. Zacharias was cited for Failure to Obey a Stop Sign, while Fulton was cited for having No Proof of Insurance.

The second accident happened at around 4:20-p.m. at the intersection of Highway 71 (Whitney Street) and 22nd Street. The A-PD says Blake Sander, of Anita, was cited for Failure to Maintain Control, when his vehicle, which was traveling south on Highway 71, slid out of control on the snow upon turning right onto 22nd Street, and struck a vehicle driven by Cecilia Schuler, of Cumberland, that was stopped at the intersection. Officials say Sander was driving too fast for conditions. Damage from the collision amounted to $4,000.