(Radio Iowa) – More than two years after being demolished by hurricane-force winds, the Marion Public Library has opened the doors to its new facility. When library director Bill Carroll was first hired, there were still walls missing, following the powerful derecho in August of 2020. Carroll says Thursday was a day to celebrate, as the new 18-million dollar facility debuted.) Carroll says, “Our primary library facility was damaged beyond repair during the derecho, so for us to be opening today, literally right across the street from our old location, is a momentous occasion for our community.”

While the facilities are fully accessible, the library is calling this week’s event a “soft opening,” promising a celebration at a later date. The library is part of the Metro Library Network, a consortium that includes the Cedar Rapids and Hiawatha public libraries.

(reporting by Zachary Oren Smith, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Health and Human Services officials are starting the process of significantly updating the state’s child welfare system. The state’s contracted with the Change and Innovation Agency to extensively review and update the state’s policy and procedures along with working to completely replace the I-T system. Janee Harvey, an administrator with Iowa H-H-S, says the current I-T system is so outdated, it’s causing workforce retention issues. “You have to use F7, F12, F1 buttons to navigate through the system,” Harvey says. “We literally have had staff see it, try and learn it and they’re like, ‘I can’t. I want to do this work. I can’t learn the technology you’re telling me to learn.’”

Harvey says they’re updating everything to best serve Iowa children and families. “Quite simply, the question that we need to be able to answer is, are families better off because HHS knocked on their door,” she says, “and unfortunately too often the answer is no.” The system overhaul comes as Iowa has seen several high-profile child abuse cases highlighting failures in its current system.

(reporting by Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

(Atlantic,Iowa) – One person was transported to Cass Health in Atlantic, following a three-vehicle accident at 7th and Walnut Streets. The collision occurred at around 7:34-a.m.  Atlantic Police Chief Devin Hogue….

Photos by KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

Chief Hogue says the male driver of the red HHR, which came to rest against a tree on the IWCC property, was taken to the hospital. The three individuals in the Chevy Malibu did not appear to be injured. They left the scene in a personal vehicle following the initial investigation. The driver of the vehicle who was waiting at the light, was not hurt and left the scene in their vehicle, following the initial investigation.

No names were released. Atlantic Police were assisted at the scene by the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Atlantic Fire an Rescue, and Cass EMS.

Cass EMS along with Atlantic Fire and Rescue were dispatched at around 7:34-a.m. to a three-vehicle injury accident in Atlantic. The collision occurred at 7th and Walnut Streets. Additional information is not available.

(Radio Iowa) – The director of the University of Iowa Public Safety Department says the introduction of alcohol sales in Kinnick Stadium has led to some positive changes. Director Mark Bullock told the Board of Regents he didn’t anticipate that happening. “I was personally, I think, like many others, not skeptical, but curious about how that was gonna turn out. And I saw a study that was done by our emergency department that actually showed what I believe is a 40 percent decrease in hospital admissions on game days since the sale of alcohol started,” Bullock says. Some 70-thousand people turn out on Saturdays, and he says there appears to be less drinking in the parking lots before the game.

“One of the things that you notice that I think is just an interesting indicator is the amount of trash at the entrances, at the gates, people aren’t taking alcohol with them to the gates because they can get it inside,” he says. Bullock says that cuts some of the excessive drinking before the game. “We’re seeing less people come through the gates heavily intoxicated than we did before — and it’s making for from our perspective a better game day experience,” Bullock says.

Mark Bullock (Board of Regents photo)

Alcohol sales at Kinnick Stadium were first allowed in the 2021 season. A report by the U-I evaluating that first season found while alcohol-related offenses were the leading cause of arrests, there was a significant decrease in the total number of alcohol-related arrests and alcohol-related medical emergencies during football games at Kinnick. A U-I report shows net sales at Kinnick Stadium were two-point-four million dollars in the first year.

(Afton, Iowa) – The Union County Sheriff’s Office says no one was injured and no citations were issued, following an accident Thursday morning, near Afton. Authorities say 35-year-old Jacob R. Ashby, of Lorimor, was driving a 1999 Chevy Blazer southbound on Grand River Drive, when he fell asleep at the wheel.

The SUV veered off the road onto the west shoulder and crashed into a guard rail. The accident happened at around 8:30-a.m. Ashby told authorities he was on his way to work, closed his eyes and the next thing he knew his vehicle was in the ditch. He was unable to call law enforcement, due to his cell phone being broken.

County crews replaced the guardrail, which cost and estimated $2,500. The Blazer sustained about $5,000 damage, and was towed from the scene.

(Radio Iowa) – For the first time in 66 years, every member of Iowa’s federal delegation in D.C. will be a Republican when congress convenes in January. Christina Bohannan is the Democrat in Iowa’s first congressional district who lost to Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks. “There’s going to have to be a lot of soul searching about where the Democrats invest,” Bohannan says. “My opinion is that we have for some time now in the national Democratic Party focused way too much on the coasts and the big cities and way too little on the Midwest, small towns and rural counties like we have in Iowa.”

In 2020, Bohannan, a University of Iowa law professor, was elected to a two-year term in the state legislature that will end in early January. Bohannan says running for federal office is far different and Democratic candidates for congress in Iowa were at a competitive disadvantage because they were massively out-spent by Republicans and their allies. “We did not have any significant investment from the national Democrats — not in the senate race, not in the congressional races except some for Cindy Axne and, in my opinion, not enough for her either,” Bohannan says, “and we saw the results.”

Congresswoman Axne, a Democrat from West Des Moines, lost to Republican Zach Nunn by seven-tenths of a percent. Bohannan lost to Miller-Meeks by seven points. Democrat Liz Mathis lost to Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson by 18 points. Bohannan says President Biden’s low approval rating in Iowa and concerns about inflation were a factor in those losses, but she says Democrats facing the same headwinds won in other states – because those candidates had party resources to be competitive.

“As a party, that is something that we’re really going to have to think about,” Bohannan says. The worst enemy for Iowa Democrats in the future will be a defeatist attitude, according to Bohannan. “We have to recognize we can win in Iowa,” Bohannan says. “We have to be more organized and assertive than we’ve been in the past.” Bohannan says she has no regrets about running for congress. She describes it as an incredible experience.

“I also gained a lot of insight about Iowans,” Bohannan says. “People are very tired of the fighting. They really don’t like all of the anger. They want to get back to being able to talk with one another regardless of political party, but there are people, groups, parties in this country who are trying to divide people because they think that serves their political interest to gain power.” Bohannan says Democrats need to — in her words “not take the bait” and “disagree without being disagreeable.”

(Radio Iowa) – The final batch of votes from two counties are in and Rob Sand appears to have narrowly won re-election as state auditor. About two-thousand votes from Warren County and around 800 votes from Des Moines County were added to the statewide tally on Thursday afternoon. Those unofficial results show Sand ahead of Republican challenger Todd Halbur by 26-hundred-14 votes. Halbur will ask for a recount.

“We have seen human error, technical errors and maybe even some blatant, egregious errors that have happened to our votes across the state, so therefore I will ask for a recount of the state auditor’s race,” Halbur says. Under state law, Halbur could ask for recounts in all 99 counties or ask for recounts in specific counties. He has until the end of next week to make the call.

“We will follow the process of the recount according to the rule of law outlines and after the recount, I believe myself and the voters of Iowa will feel confident in these results,” Halbur says. “I don’t feel confident in the results I’m seeing now in the unofficial results.” Because Halbur’s vote tally is currently less than one percent behind Sand’s, all recounts would be paid for by taxpayers.

If Sand is confirmed as the winner, he would be the only Democrat to win a statewide race in this year’s General Election. Sand is an attorney. He previously worked in the Iowa Attorney General’s office as the lead prosecutor in public corruption cases. He handled the prosecution of Tommy Tipton, the former Multistate Lottery I-T specialist found guilty of rigging Hot Lotto jackpots.

Halbur, Sand’s opponent, recently won a one million dollar jury verdict in his lawsuit against the State of Iowa. Halbur claims he was fired as comptroller of the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division after telling his bosses the agency was overcharging restaurants and retailers for liquor. Agency managers have said Halbur was fired for other reasons and lawyers for the state are reviewing whether to appeal the one million dollar verdict.

Halbur ran a low-budget campaign. He was not among the Republican candidates who appeared at the bus tour events Governor Kim Reynolds hosted during the final weeks of the campaign.

(Radio Iowa) – A ruling on an obstructed license plate will stand after a split vote in the Iowa Supreme Court on the issue. Prince Payne was stopped by an Altoona police officer who said the ball in the trailer hitch of his pickup was blocking the view of the third letter on the license plate. Payne was convicted of driving while barred, but appealed, saying the stop was illegal because the hitch ball did not violate the requirement that license plates be clearly visible.

The district court ruled against Payne, but the Court of Appeals ruled in his favor. Three Supreme Court justices favored the appeals court decision, and three favored the district court, with one justice not taking part. The high court split means the district court decision of a legal stop stands.