CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – A new poll from Emerson College in Boston, MA, revealed Iowans are split on a variety of political issues, including abortion, immigration, and health care. When it comes to national government or politics, Emerson’s poll reveals that Iowans think similarly to voters in Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. 69% of Iowa and Missouri respondents agreed that the United States is on the wrong track.

But when it comes to issues like health care, their responses were more split. 70% of Iowa respondents said health care in the state was either good or great… But only 25% of respondents said access to mental health care was somewhat easy or very easy to access.

And when it comes to reproductive health care, it was almost split down the middle, with 56% of respondents thinking Iowa’s six-week abortion ban was too strict. 12% said it wasn’t strict enough…And 32% said six weeks was about right.

Almost two thirds of respondents support eliminating Iowa’s state income tax, and more than half agreed with the decision to send members of the Iowa National guard to help with the US-Mexico border.

(Wayne County, Iowa) – A woman from Missouri was injured in a rollover accident early Friday morning in far southern Iowa, just north of the state line with Missouri. The Iowa State Patrol reports 22-year-old Leslie Jennings, of New Hampton, MO., was driving a 2009 Mercury eastbound on Birch Street, in northern Lineville, when she ran the stop sign with Highway 65. Her car continued eastbound and went out of control before running off the road and entering the north ditch.

The vehicle rolled-over, causing Jennings to be ejected. She was not wearing a seat belt. The car came to rest on its roof. The crash happened at around 6:55-a.m., Friday.

Jennings was flown to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines for treatment of her injuries.

(Rural Osklaloosa, Iowa) – A collision between a  mid-size SUV and a tractor northwest of Oskaloosa, Friday night, left two people dead and two others injured. All of the crash victims are from Oskaloosa. According to the Iowa State Patrol, a 2018 Subaru Outback driven by 43-year-old Sy Yang was traveling east on Highway 163 at around 8:50-p.m., at the same time 68-year-old Gary Edward Lisk, of Oskaloosa, was driving a John Deere tractor pulling a tiller implement. The tractor and implement were traveling eastbound on the right shoulder of the road.

When Lisk started to merge to the left, number one lane, the SUV struck the left rear side of the towed tiller, causing a front compartment (cabin) intrusion into the SUV as the vehicle was in the number two right lane. Sy Yang and 45-year-old Rachel Anne Yang died at the scene. Two others in the Subaru, 22-year-old Kaylah Ntsais Yang and 18-year-old Benjamin Ntuj Txheem Yang, were injured. They were transported by ambulance to the Mahaska Health hospital in Oskaloosa. Edward Lisk was not hurt in the collision.

The crash remains under investigation.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest early this (Saturday) morning, of a man from Polk County. 27-year-old Robert Arthur Crooks Jr., of Des Moines, was arrested following a traffic stop at Highways 34 and 48, on a charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance (Marijuana) – 1st offense.

Crooks was transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where he was being on $1,000 bond. Authorities say Red Oak Police assisted Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies at the scene.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic School Board, during their meeting Wednesday, heard a report from I-CAT (Iowa Construction Advocate Team) member Chad Alley, with regard to an assessment of the district’s facilities, which Alley said are in remarkably good condition, which he attributed to ACSD Maintenance Director Russell Peck and his staff.

Alley said the inspection normally takes two full days, but because the district’s buildings were in such good shape, it only took a day and a morning to complete the assessment, which showed in-part, he said, that the Atlantic Middle School is “absolutely beautiful.”

The school sustained heavy interior smoke and water damage during a fire that began on the roof of the building July, 27, 2021. One-year later, the damage had been repaired and renovations completed in-time for students who were relocated to other district buildings, could go back in their regular classrooms. Chad Alley said the next step for the school board is to talk with some architects for long-term (10-to 15-years) needs and establish a 10-year maintenance plan. That includes a replacement roof for the High School.

The plan would include “Urgent” repairs, replacement or upgrades (those that need to take place in one-to two-years maximum), “Required” (2-to 5-years), “Recommended” (5-to 10-years), and “Suggested” (10-to 15-years out). He said are some Urgent items, a few required, and more of those that are Recommended, in the Maintenance Plan.
The biggest costs would be associated with the High School.

He said Washington Elementary “Is a great old building. It has great bones.” The Early Childhood Center (building) is “Not bad” Alley said. The district’s buildings are currently being inspected and prepared for upgraded safety and security. Some of the suggested improvements in a few of the buildings include additional lighting and ventilation, fire suppression, tuck-pointing and so one.

Alley stressed safety and security should be the highest priority right now, to include parking bollards to prevent vehicle entry into buildings, accidentally or otherwise. He pointed to an incident that occurred in Creston as a reason for the barriers.

He said creating a master plan and talking with an architect are the next big steps. The Iowa Association of School Boards I-Cat program does not cost a penny until a construction project begins. An architect will cost about $30-to $40-thousand dollars, “But it’ll be the best use for a long-term 15-year plan that you can probably come up with.”

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court has unanimously ruled the Linn County Auditor can pursue his lawsuit that questions the security of Iowa’s voter registration system. In 2019, Linn County Auditor Joel Miller, a Democrat, alleged the state’s computerized database of registered voters is potentially vulnerable to cyber threats. Last year a district court dismissed Miller’s lawsuit on the matter, but the Iowa Supreme Court says Miller has the right to go to court and get answers about the security of Iowa voter registration lists.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, a Republican, says first and foremost, he wants to assure Iowa voters that Iowa’s election systems are secure. Pate says in the years since Miller’s complaint was filed in 2019, the state has installed robust cybersecurity measures in its election systems.

You may recall Linn County Auditor Joel Miller was the Democrat who ran against Secretary of State Paul Pate in 2022 and Miller questioned how Pate had spent eight million dollars to update Iowa’s computerized voter registration system. Pate, a Republican who also lives and voted in Linn County, won that race with about 60 percent of the vote.