(Radio Iowa) – The Independence Day holiday is going to be a long one with the 4th falling on Thursday, and that could mean a lot more celebrating across the state. State Patrol Trooper Paul Gardner says they don’t want the celebration to spill over to the highways. “July 4th, there’s gonna be a lot of celebrations and we want to make sure that everyone is partying responsibly,” he says, “and if those parties do involve alcoholic beverages that need to just make sure that they’re going to be having designated drivers to get everyone home safe.” He says a special holiday enforcement effort will start on Wednesday.

“And that’s really going to focus on O-W-I enforcement so we’ll have extra troopers on the roads we’ll be working with our local law enforcement agencies as well,” Gardner says. Gardner says alcohol and driving can be fatal for you and others.  “Last year in 2023, statewide we had 377 traffic fatalities and we were at a five year high and we’ve seen a reduction in that so far this year, but last year’s total also included 38 percent of those that were killed in traffic crashes were involving drunk drivers,” Gardner says.

The special holiday traffic enforcement will run through Sunday July 7th.

(Radio Iowa) -A top administrator in one of Iowa’s leading health care systems says the safety of staff is becoming a concern. Scott Curtis is vice president of network development for MercyOne. “We aren’t that much unlike what we hear about in the airline industry, for example, certainly law enforcement,” Curtis says, “but our health care workers are continually put in situations that are not safe and that’s a challenge.” An Iowa Hospital Association survey found hospitals in the state reported nearly 37-hundred incidents of what it classified as workplace violence last year. That includes verbal threats as well as being kicked, punched and scratched.

Curtis recently discussed the issue with U-S Senator Joni Ernst during her visit to a MercyOne clinic in Forest City. “We continue to talk with the senator and other representatives about the type of laws that we could put in place that would heighten the ramifications to folks that bring harm to our workers,” he says. Nearly 40 states have laws with enhanced penalties for assaults on health care workers. A recent report from a company that surveys patients and employees throughout the country found nearly 17-thousand assaults on nursing staff in U-S hospitals were reported last year. That’s a record.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater, today (Monday), reports two arrests took place last week. Thursday night, 71-year-old Dennis Devee Buckner, of Fontanelle, was arrested for Harassment in the 3rd Degree, after the Adair County Communications Center received a report that a minor child working at the Casey’s Store in Fontanelle, was being harassed at the store. The incident was authenticated through video surveillance and by a witness statement.

Buckner claimed he had known the girl since she was little, and that anything he said was a joke. He was transported to the Adair County Jail and released that same evening on a $3,000 cash or surety bond.

And, at around 10-p.m. Friday, Adair County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 22-year-old Igor Stovan, of Lincoln, NE, for OWI/1st offense. His arrest took place following an investigation into a reported road rage incident on Interstate 80. In addition to his OWI arrest, Stovan was cited for Open Container – Driver 21 years and older. He released Saturday night on a $1,000 bond.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Fire Department was dispatched to 7th and Birch Streets at around 9:32-a.m. today (Monday), following a reported gas line that was struck while a company was digging in the area. Authorities were beginning an evacuation of some houses south of 7th Street. Alliant Energy responded to the scene as well. Authorities reported the line was “hissing” pretty good, at around 9:42-a.m.

The gas leak was stopped by 10:30-a.m. Alliant Crews requested the area be blocked-off for about an hour once the leak was stopped, so that repairs could be made to the line.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – In an update to our previous reports, the Atlantic Police Department reports a teenager from Louisiana was injured during a motorcycle accident Saturday evening, on Atlantic’s north side. 13-year-old Hazel Clark, of Calhoun, LA, was riding a pit bike in the grass along the sidewalk of the Schilberg Recreation Area Campgrounds, when she attempted to cross the sidewalk. The rear tire of the bike caught the concrete, causing Clark to be ejected from the machine. The accident happened at around 6:36-p.m.

Clark suffered a head injury and was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital (CCHS). Her parents tell KJAN News the teen is recovering from her injuries.

(Des Moines, Iowa) [Iowa Capital Dispatch] – Dozens of the laws passed during the 2024 legislative session are now in effect 9As of July 1^st), including measures cutting state boards and commissions, limiting the potency of consumable hemp products and setting new education policies for public K-12 schools. During the 2024 legislative session, the Republican-controlled Legislature passed more than 180 bills on subjects from tax cuts to K-12 education policy to health care. July 1, the beginning of the fiscal year, is the date most laws signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds this year are set to take effect – though other start dates can be specified in legislation.

One law passed during the 2024 session to make “illegal reentry” a state crime in Iowa was set to take effect Monday, but will not begin enforcement. U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher issued to a preliminary injunction on the law in a case brought forward by the U.S. Department of Justice and a coalition of civil rights groups. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has appealed the decision, aiming to allow enforcement of the law. If it takes effect, it would allow state law enforcement officials the ability to charge undocumented immigrants with an aggravated misdemeanor if they have been previously deported, denied admission or removed from the U.S., and allowing judges to order the deportation of parties found guilty.

Here’s a rundown of some of the laws passed during the 2024 legislative session also begin July 1^st:

Area Education Agencies, teacher pay

House File 2612 makes changes to Iowa Area Education Agencies and raise teacher pay. One of the highest profile measures passed during the 2024 session, the bill was signed into law by Reynolds in March. In the upcoming 2024-2025 school year, Iowa AEAs – the regional agencies providing special education and other support services to Iowa schools – will retain the total of school districts’ special education funding. However, only 40% of funding for general education and media services will go to AEAs for the upcoming year, with 60% kept by school districts for their discretionary use. The money can be spent with AEAs, other providers, or used for other general fund purposes .

In its second year of implementation, 90% of special education funding will go to AEAs, while 10% will stay at school districts, and all general education and media services will go directly to school districts. The teacher salary increase will also be implemented over the course of two years. This year, teacher starting salaries are increasing to $47,500, and teachers who have been working for 12 years will have a minimum salary of $60,000. In the 2025-2026 school year, the minimum starting salary for teachers will increase to $50,000, and the minimum for experience teachers will rise to $62,000.

Boards and commissions

Dozens of state boards and commissions have been cut or consolidated in a new Iowa law. Senate File 2385 eliminates 68 of the currently existing 256 boards and commissions, in addition to merging nine boards into three new bodies. The measure also makes changes to the powers and composition of multiple state boards and commissions, including turning the Iowa Civil Rights Commission into an advisory panel. The law also sets new standards for boards and commissions, like requiring panels to offer virtual, remote and hybrid options for public participation.

Consumable hemp products

Iowa now has new limits on hemp-derived consumable products that contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). House File 2605 creates a limit of 4 milligrams of THC per serving for consumable hemp products like drinks or gummies, and a 10 mg THC limit per container. The bill also requires manufacturers include warning labels on such products, sets an age limit of 21 for purchases, in addition to adding new rules and penalties related to the sale, manufacturing and possession of hemp-derived consumables. While the law went into effective on July 1st, eight companies suing the state over the law say they are being put in a “regulatory limbo” as rules on the law are not expected to be finalized until July 17 at the earliest. The plaintiffs, sellers of hemp products, are asking for an immediate stay of enforcement on the law, in addition to asking the court to issue a restraining order and injunction barring enforcement.

Another lawsuit, filed by Climbing Kites and Field Day Brewing Co., Iowa producers of drinks that contain CBD, is also seeking to prevent the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services from enforcing the new THC limits. A judge denied a preliminary injunction Friday.

Traffic cameras

Local governments are now required to gain permission from the Iowa Department of Transportation before implementing automatic traffic enforcement (ATE) systems, like traffic cameras. Under House File 2681, Iowa counties and cities must submit explanations to the DOT about why a traffic camera is needed at a specific location, including information about the number and severity of accidents, driving speeds and other potential public safety issues at the site. The law also sets new guidelines around communities’ use of ATE systems. Speeding tickets can only be issued for violations caught using traffic cameras if the drivers are more than 10 miles per hour above the speed limit, and warning signs are required to be posted 500 and 1,000 feet before a camera. Additionally, the law prohibits localities with fewer than 20,000 residents using mobile traffic camera technologies to issue tickets. Local governments are required to use funds collected from traffic cameras on transportation infrastructure improvements, as well as local  police and fire departments’ operational costs.

Fake meat and egg product labeling

Lab-grown or plant-based meat alternatives must include words like fake, imitation or vegetarian if they are being sold as traditional meat products. Mislabeling products can result in fines of up to $10,000 for food processors through Senate File 2391. The law makes similar requirements for “fabricated egg products.”

Foreign agricultural land ownership

Foreign landowners in Iowa now have new reporting requirements and face higher penalties for violations of reporting requirements under Senate File 2204. The law requires foreign landowners provide details to the state about land owned in other states greater than 250 acres. It also raises fines for foreign landowners up to $10,000 for failing to report holdings every two years, and up to 25% of a property’s value per violation for failure to disclose leases or purchases of farmland by foreign entities. The Iowa Secretary of State is required to submit a report of foreign landholdings to state leaders each year.

Local storm water and topsoil regulations

Iowa local governments cannot impose stormwater and top soil regulations that are more restrictive than federal and state guidelines unless they pay for any increased costs of development caused by the policies. Senate File 455 requires that local regulations on topsoil preservation, compaction, placement or depth be the same or less restrictive than requirements set by the Department of Natural Resources and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. Stormwater runoff regulations must be at or below those based on flow rates calculated using return frequencies of five years. If localities choose to adopt higher standards, the local governments are required to pay property owners and developers for the difference in cost caused by implementing the regulation.

AI-generated pornography

House File 2240 and Senate File 2243 establish criminal charges for using artificial intelligence technologies to create images and videos depicting a person engaged in a sexual act, a simulacrum of a sexual act, and in full or partial nudity. The laws focus on media that shows the “visual depiction” of an individual, recognizable through their face, distinguishing features or likeness, engaged in sexual activities. Creation of AI-generated pornography or other obscene material depicting an adult can be charged as an aggravated misdemeanor, and depiction of a minor as a felony.