(Radio Iowa) – Senator Chuck Grassley says he’ll urge the U-S Senate to respond if the U-S Supreme Court sides with pharmacy operators rather than two whistleblowers. In 1986, Grassley led Senate passage of an update of the False Claims Act. It lets whistleblowers who allege a person or company is defrauding the government sue for damages for themselves and the government.

“At the time I didn’t know it was going to be the big fight against the fraudulent taking of taxpayers’ money like it has turned out to be,” but every year it brings in about $3-4 billion dollars and the Justice Department announces that.” At issue now are two whistleblowers who sued, alleging Safeway and SuperValu pharmacies overcharged Medicaid and Medicare for prescription drugs. The U-S Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the companies’ appeal last month. The companies argue they did not knowingly overcharge the government programs.

“And so I filed a brief saying to the Supreme Court exactly what we intended in 1986,” Grassley says, “and, in fact, Justice Sotomayor referred specifically to ‘Senator Grassley’ and ‘Senator Grassley ought to know what he’s talking about because he wrote the legislation.'” Grassley says he hopes the court rules in favor of his view, but if it doesn’t, he’ll prepare legislation. “More or less just say to the judges and the justices: ‘How come you can’t figure out what we meant to do? But we’re going to prove to you what we meant to d by passing legislation that overturns your court cases,'” Grassley says.

Grassley is the top ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council will meet in a regularly scheduled session this Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023, in their Chambers at City Hall. On their agenda is action on passing a Resolution “Designating distribution of Sales Tax Revenue to various funds for specific purposes,” followed by a Resolution Adjusting the Budgeted amounts in the LOST Progress Fund for FY 2024. The City’s Personnel & Finance Committee met on April 24th and reviewed the funding options for the Community Promotion Commission (CPC), Chamber of Commerce and CADCO. A Deputy Auditor with the Iowa State Auditor’s Office confirmed that contracts cannot be executed by Commissions or Boards of a municipality, even if they were formally delegated with that authority. City Administrator John Lund says that would make the CPC an advisory body when it comes to dispensing funds.

The Personnel & Finance Committee, when given two alternative budget scenarios for Fiscal Year 2024, unanimously decided that Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) dollars be diverted from the CPC to the LOST Progress Fund, and that both the Chamber and CADCO receive increases to their funding. Both organizations, Lund said, have been budgeted $35,000 per year since FY 2009. Adjusted for inflation, the allocation would amount of $47,700 for each organization.

The Council will then act on approving a Resolution “Approving the Updated Cass County Public Safety Commission Articles of Agreement,” which originally was signed on Oct. 4, 1999, but for which no minutes were found indicating the Council’s approval at that time, and leaves unclear under what authority then Mayor Sid Winchell to sign the agreement. John Lund said in his agenda packet to the Council, that …”Further, that City Clerk Deb Wheatley Field did not attest to the agreement, but City Administrator Scott Flory, did, under the City Clerk signature line.” Regardless, Lund says, the agreement was filed with the Cass County Recorder’s Office and signed by all other parties. It was formally accepted by the City Council, on Nov. 16, 2017.

The original 28-E agreement between the City and Cass County has been updated periodically since then. The latest changes, according to Director of 911 Communications Mike Kennon, makes it clear that this is not a County Law Enforcement consolidation, and that “The 911 Services Coordinator” will prepare the budget, due to some minor restructuring within the Communications Center. In other business, the Atlantic City Council, on Wednesday, will hold the Second Reading of an Ordinance amending the provisions pertaining to the Sewer Service Charges. The first reading passed April 19, 2023. The current charges for the wastewater utility in Atlantic have not changed in nearly 10-years, according to John Lund, and “to  ensure the stability of the Wastewater Utility Fund, the City needs to adjust the rates, as population loss has reduced overall customers, and inflation has made sustaining the plant’s labor and equipment needs unsustainable in the 10-year horizon, without a rate adjustment.

If passed, the new, scheduled rate changes will be phased-in over a period of two-years, beginning with July 1, 2024 and again on July 1, 2025. Under the new rate schedule:

• The 1st 3,000 gallons or lesser amount per month will increase July 1, 2023 from $28.50 to $30.00, $31 on July 1, 2024, and $32 on July 1, 2025.
• All gallons over 3,000/month will be billed at $6.00 per 1,000 gallons (up 20 cents from the current rate), effective July 1, 2023, to $6.25 by July 1, 2025.

The Council, Wednesday, will hold the first reading of an amendment to downtown “Special Parking permits.” The changes, if approved after three readings, would change allowed parking hours reduced by two-hours, to 7-p.m., in order to reflect current business hours. It also deletes a subsection of the Ordinance referring to parking downtown being prohibited on the first Wednesday of the month from 5-p.m. until the next day at 8-a.m., for the purpose of street sweeping. Since the City does not have a street sweeping schedule, the Ordinance becomes a moot point. And, an amendment cleans-up the wording pertaining to parking on downtown streets, when the is an accumulation of more than 1-inch of snow.

The Council’s final order of business is to set the date for a Public Hearing on Amending the FY2023 Budget, as their next meeting on May 17, 2023.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Police in Des Moines say a woman reported missing from her home since April 27th, was found deceased Saturday afternoon. Authorities say at approximately 3:41 p.m., Saturday, first responders from Clive and West Des Moines responded to the 12400 block of Woodlands Parkway, Clive, to investigate a report of a deceased person found at a pond.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Red Oak Police, late Saturday night, arrested 33-year-old Mildred Helenora Douglas, of Red Oak. Douglas was taken into custody at around 11:10-p.m. on a valid Adams County warrant for Theft in the 2nd Degree. She was transported to the Adams County Jail to be booked-in on her charges, and was being held without bond.