The passage rate for Iowans taking the Bar Exam fell 11-percent when compared to the previous year. The country’s average score dropped four points. The National Conference of Bar Examiners sent a memo asking law schools to better prepare their students for the test. Drake University Law School associate dean, Andrea Charlow, says she doesn’t agree that the schools are to blame for a decline in scores.

“I do not believe that the claim of the National Bar Examiners that the problem was that the students were not as good or not as prepared. I don’t believe that claim, it doesn’t make any sense, “ according to Charlow. Charlow says the students who took the exam this year are of similar quality based on their law school admissions test scores or G-P-A from last year’s students. She also says the curriculum hasn’t changed.

“I do believe what happened this year was an anomaly. It’s too big of a drop, not a big enough change in the quality of students or any difference or any substantial difference in what we teach or how we teach. So that says to me that something else was very wrong,” Charlow says. Charlow says since the N-C-B-E is a private organization, Drake’s law school will not know what went wrong until an objective third party reviews the committee. The Iowa Supreme Court heard testimony earlier this year on a proposal to allow graduates of the Drake and University of Iowa laws schools to practice law in the state without passing the Bar Exam, but eventually decided to keep the requirement in place.

(Radio Iowa)

The union that represents nearly 600 state law enforcement employees is asking for a four percent pay increase in each of the next two state fiscal years. This month state government managers have begun negotiations with a variety of unions that represent state workers. The State Police Officers Council is the union for Iowa State Troopers, special agents in the Division of Criminal Investigation and the Division of Narcotics Enforcement as well as state fire inspectors, Iowa conservation officers and state park rangers.

Representatives of the union for those workers call their pay hike proposal “very reasonable” because for many years state law enforcement officers did not take pay increases. This union was the only bargaining unit in state government that began paying 20 percent of their health insurance premiums after Governor Branstad took office in 2011 and state law enforcement officials are hoping that is taken into account by Branstad’s negotiators when considering the pay hike request.

On Monday, the union that represents tha largest share of state workers filed its initial contract offer. AFSCME is asking for an eight percent across-the-board pay raise for 18-thousand state workers over the next two years. Negotiations between the unions and Branstad’s top managers will resume in two weeks.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

ALTOONA, Iowa (AP) — A trade group has been given the greenlight to move ahead with plans to keep dog racing alive in Iowa. The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission approved a racetrack license for pari-mutuel wagering yesterday to the Iowa Greyhound Association. It gives the group authority to operate the Dubuque Greyhound Park at Mystique Casino.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Hospital Association says the number of patients without health insurance has plunged, largely because the state has expanded its Medicaid program. Hospital leaders tell the Des Moines Register in the first six months of this year, the number of uninsured people treated in Iowa hospitals has dropped by nearly half compared to same period last year. The association says about 4,500 patients lacking health insurance were hospitalized from January through June of this year. That’s a 46 percent decline from the almost 8,200 uninsured patients treated last year.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A court is upholding a minimum 35-year prison sentence for one of two Iowa men convicted of robbing a bank and shooting two officers during an attempted getaway. The Iowa Court of Appeals rejected 21-year-old William Clayton’s argument yesterday that the punishment was too severe.

JAMESTOWN, N.D. (AP) — Waldorf College in Iowa is joining the Dakotas-based North Star Athletic Association. The Warriors football team was an associate member of the NAIA conference this fall. The other 13 Waldorf sports programs will begin conference play next fall.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors met earlier this week at the courthouse, in Atlantic. According to Auditor Dale Sunderman, the Cass County Library Association, represented by the librarians from all six city libraries in the county, met with the board to present a report on services provided in FY2014 for each and all libraries. The association requested that the current county funding ($60,600) be
increased by 10.7 percent (cumulated rate of inflation from 2008-2014) plus $500 for each library for FY2016. The request was taken under advisement.

The Board approved a motion to award the contract for bridge replacement project on Jackson Road one-eight of a mile east of 648th St. to Cunningham-Reis Co., in the amount of $565,461.68.  They also approved a motion to approve Federal-aid Agreement for the replacement of a bridge on Akron Road three-tenths of a mile west of 770th St., at an estimated cost $360,000.

In other business, the Board discussed waterproofing the County’s building at 707 Poplar Street, but tabled action on the matter until additional quote(s) were received. They also discussed the VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephone system proposals. Cass County E-911 Director Rob Koppert reported that only one proposal was received. Part of the Request For Proposal (RFP) was that system would provide redundancy telephone system to one brand. At training session it was learned that a VoIP system could not provide same. Therefore, the recommendation was to reject all bids and reissue an RFP and open it to other brands.

A motion was made and approved to reject all bids and reissue an RFP for replacement of a telephone system for the courthouse.

There will be no trial for an Atlantic mom accused of lying about her 5-year-old daughter’s cancer. Cass County Attorney Daniel Feistner told KETV in Omaha that both sides have agreed to keep the details of the agreement private until a court hearing Monday. A similar announcement was received at KJAN from Feistner.

All Feistner would say is that the deal will settle the case and there will be no trial. The 30-year old Slauson, was scheduled to go to trial Tuesday in Mills County on 20 charges, ranging from felony child endangerment to first-degree theft.