(Radio Iowa) – The Sioux City Police Department has received approval from the city council to apply for grant funding from the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department to purchase an armored rescue vehicle for their swat unit. Police chief Rex Mueller says the vehicle would provide protection for officers in dangerous situations. The chief says this would replace a larger military surplus vehicle that was donated to the department and is not built for the way they use it.

Councilman Alex Watters shared his concerns as well as from a citizen that the vehicle was militaristic. Chief Mueller responded that’s why he wants to replace the current vehicle, because it is a military design and not as practical for many police needs.

Winter Weather Advisory for Counties in purple; Winter Storm Watch for counties in slate blue.

(Radio Iowa) – Forecasters say the winter weather isn’t over as another storm is moving in today (Wednesday). National Weather Service meteorologist, Cory Martin, says it will be a more robust system we move into Thursday. He says there’s the potential for heavy snow — with the main area of concern in the northern half of the state. Martin says snowfall totals could surpass six inches or more, and the potential for snow and blowing snow. He says the amount and type of precipitation for the other half of the state is less certain as in the southern half of the state it depends on what happens with the temperatures.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak, today (Wednesday), arrested a man wanted on a Pottawattamie County warrant for Failure to Appear on charges of Obedience to a Peace Officer, and Eluding a Police Officer. Authorities say 18-year-old Logan Patrick Hastings, of Red Oak, was arrested at around12:45-a.m. in the 1100 block of N. 3rd Street. He was transported to the Montgomery/Pottawattamie County line and held in the Pott. County Jail on a $500 cash bond.

(Radio Iowa)- Republicans in the Iowa Senate have approved the governor’s nearly 16-hundred page bill to revamp state government, shrinking the number of agencies from 37 to 16. Senator Jason Schultz of Schleswig asked his fellow Republicans to approve the governor’s original plan without adjustments. “This is an alignment, consistency, efficiency bill,” Schultz said. “We’re going to do it.”

Democrats argue the bill will destroy the independence of key officials who review civil rights complaints, oversee fire safety complaints and manage programs for blind Iowans. Senator Liz Bennett, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, says the advocate for consumers when utilities seek rate hikes will be stifled, too. “This bill consolidates power in the hands of the governor and big donors and silences the voice of everyday Iowans,” Bennett said.

Senator Sarah Trone-Garriott, a Democrat from Waukee, says there was no effort by Republican Senators to shape the legislation. “It’s not our job so the govenror can impress out of state bullies, enrich out of state venture capitalists and consolidate her power,” Trone-Garriott said. Schultz says the bill’s needed because Iowa currently spends more, per capita, on state government than five of our six neighboring states.

“It is a positive and this isn’t a gotcha for one party or another,” Schultz said. “This is good going on here.” The governor’s plan now goes to the Republican-led House. A Legislative Services Agency analysis indicates the bill, as written, would save about 12-point-four MILLION dollars next year, mostly due to the elimination of more than 200 full-time positions in state government that are not currently filled.

In January, the governor’s staff indicated the plan would reduce more than 500 full-time positions and save more than 200 million dollars over the next four years. That includes the sale of farmland the state owns.

(Radio Iowa)- Republicans in the Iowa Senate have approved a bill to ban Iowa medical professionals from providing gender transition prescriptions or procedures to minors. Republican Senator Jeff Edler of Sioux Center is the bill’s sponsor. “These experimental procedures push vulnerable children down a one-way street that leads to permanent sterility and a lifetime of medical intervention,” Edler said. Edler says Republicans were surprised to learn these interventions were available in Iowa for minors.

“Every child deserves a natural childhood, one that allows them to experience puberty and other natural changes that shape who they become,” Edler said. Senate Democrats voted against the bill. Senate Democratic Leader Zach Wahls of Coralville says it would outlaw care that prevents suicides. “I’ve been inundated with emails from parents of transgender kids who are really scared about what this law will do to their kid,” Wahls says. Senator Pam Jochum, a Democrat from Dubuque, says this and other bills Republicans are advancing are motivated by fear of the unknown.

“Nostalgia for a time that never existed and a willingness to trade away other’s freedoms to preserve their own power,” Jochum said. Also last (Tuesday) night, Republicans in the Senate voted to require that K-through-12 students use the bathroom that matches the gender on their birth certificate. Senator Cherielynn Westrich, a Republican from Ottumwa, says the bill applies to locker rooms as well.  “All kids deserve privacy rights and this bill ensures that,” Westrich said.
Senator Liz Bennett, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, says this bill will make school scarier for a small group of kids.

“It gives license to a new corps of potty police,” Bennett said. “Instead of minding their own business and just going to the bathroom, kids will use this to bully other kids.” A similar bill is eligible for debate in the Iowa House.

(Area News) – Special Elections and/or Bond Referendums were held in Iowa, Tuesday. In our area, voters in the Nodaway Valley Community School District were asked to renew, for a period of 10-years, a Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) not to exceed $1.34 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, beginning June 30, 2024. Adair County Auditor Mandy Berg reports the unofficial results show the Measure passed by a vote of 167 yes to 91 No. Berg says a majority, 64.7%, or 132 votes were needed for passage of Public Measure AA.

Voters in the Exira-EHK Community School District passed both Measures A (Revenue Purpose Statement), and B (PPEL), by votes of 143-18 and 140-22 respectively. A majority of voters in  the IKM-Manning District approved a $7.9 million bond referendum, with a total of 1,146 YES Votes and 463 NO Votes. The funds will be used for the renovation projects at the Manning campus.

A $19.2-million bond referendum (Public Measure AH) in the Corning CSD to renovate the Corning elementary school and make other improvements, was approved by a vote of 378-to 134. Public Measure AI to pay the principal and interest on the bonds passed by a vote of 363-149.  In addition, Adam Boswell received 464 votes to fill a vacancy on the Corning School Board. He ran unopposed.

And, in Audubon County, a $2.8-million bond referendum for a new Fire Station in Audubon failed by a vote of 372-to 197 (65.38% to 34.62%). The special election also included a run-off between two candidates to fill a City Council seat. The winner was determined to be James Richardson, whose votes tallied 317-to 162 over Chris Hemmingsen.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Senate has begun debating the governor’s bill to reduce the number of state agencies from 37 to 16 and give Governor Kim Reynolds authority to set the pay for her top administrators. Among the 16 state departments, Reynolds notes the bill creates one new agency — the Iowa Department of Insurance and Financial Services. “That will bring together the Divisions of Insurance, Banking, Credit Unions,” Reynolds said, “and we believe this change really reflects Iowa’s position of national leadership in these important industries and it promises to continue to elevate the profile, all the while improving the delivery of state services.”

According to the Iowa Economic Development Authority, there are more than seven-thousand finance and insurance companies in Iowa — and more than 95-thousand Iowans work in the industry. Reynolds touted her government realignment plan this (Tuesday) morning during a speech to members of the Iowa Bankers Association. “You know as a business, I know that you know it’s second nature, right, to reassess your operations,” Reynolds says. “Unfortunately, government isn’t always so diligent.”

There are no layoffs outlined in the bill, but Reynolds says her plan will reduce the number of full time employees by more than 500 as long unfilled positions are eliminated. Critics have been saying the plan shifts too much authority from the legislature to the governor.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley applauds news the U-S Trade Representative plans to formally dispute Mexico’s proposed ban on genetically-modified corn from the U-S. If those imports to Mexico are cut off, Grassley says it’ll mean millions of tons of Iowa corn won’t have a key buyer. Mexico’s proposed ban on G-M-O corn would begin in January of 2024.

Grassley says such a ban would have “a devastating impact” on farmers across America and in Iowa. Grassley calls Mexico’s proposed ban “ridiculous,” and one report says it would effectively phase out the import of 90-percent of U-S corn by January.

Grassley’s office says Iowa corn growers export 16-million tons of corn to Mexico each year, and over the last decade, one-quarter of all U-S corn exports went to Mexico, totaling nearly three-billion dollars of revenue per year.

(Radio Iowa) – Researchers at Iowa State University are studying the water content and temperature of crops using two sets of far-away sensors, one that’s on a satellite in orbit, while the other is mounted on the International Space Station. Brian Hornbuckle, an I-S-U agronomy professor, says they ultimately want to develop an early warning system for crop stress. Thriving plants respond to sunlight by opening thousands of microscopic holes on their leaves, which also releases water vapor, a process called transpiration.

Hornbuckle says plants that are stressed heat up as they’re no longer, essentially, sweating. While corn growers who use center pivot irrigation systems might be able to take action based on this information, most Iowa farmers would have to use the data to make economic decisions about whether or not to sell the grain they have in storage. The three-year ISU project is being funded by a NASA grant of about 536-thousand dollars.

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans in the Iowa Senate have voted to repeal the requirement that Iowa K-12 schools employ a teacher librarian. Schools could instead hire someone who has worked in a public library. The bill would also let schools offer two rather than four units of a world language and offer two rather than three fine arts options, like music and art, but not theater.

Senator Tim Kraayenbrink, a Republican from Fort Dodge, said rural schools, in particular, are unable to hire teachers for some courses. “This bill gives more local control to school districts and school boards in their requirements by allowing them more flexibility within courses and offerings,” he said.

Democrats in the Senate voted against the bill. “Flexibility — what it really translates to is permission to cut,” Senator Herman Quirmbach of Ames said. “…We’re going to reduce programs, we’re going to limit opportunities, we’re going to shortchange our kids.”

The bill would remove a requirement that sex ed classes include information about AIDS, but that section of the bill was not debated by the Senate. The bill also says schools would no longer be required to teach technology literacy to all students.