(Radio Iowa) – Morningside university’s agricultural program continues to grow, with a new greenhouse on the Sioux City campus to give students some hands-on growing experience. Department head Tom Paulsen says the greenhouse has space for many different projects and modern technology to water the plants. “The flood benches — we’re hooked into a system where we can set how ofter they are watered based on the transpiration of the plant — it’s called vapor pressure deficit. All of our benches now are automatically watered. And they are watered from the bottom up,” he says.

Senior Gage Dewsbury says another project involves using fish to help grow a crop. He says they use the fish waste to get nitrates to fertilize the plants and then the water is recycled back to the beginning. Dewsbury says that system is used to grow lettuce and other leafy greens that are used on campus. “We will send a lot of the lettuce and stuff to the school cafeteria. And then the amaranth and the other stuff actually goes to an ethnic food market in town,” Dewsbury says.

The Rosen Ag Center and Lags Greenhouse are located on the former site of the old Longfellow elementary school building.

(Radio Iowa) – April is national “Donate Life” month — which is meant to inspire people to become organ donors. Unity Point St. Luke’s Hospital of Sioux City recently joined the Iowa Donor Network in a “Donate Life” flag raising ceremony to celebrate donor families and transplant recipients. John Jorgensen is the donation services coordinator of the Iowa Donor Network. “We often think about organ donation as being something for the recipient only. But it is also for the family to help families in their grief,” Jorgensen says, “help families to know that their legacy will live on in the lives of others through organ, tissue, and eye donation.” he says.

Jorgensen says organ donors helped save many lives in Iowa this past year, despite the pandemic. “There were 128 organ donors who generously gave 365 organs for transplant. Thousands more were healed by the gifts of 984 tissue donors in Iowa But yet still there are more than 107-thousand people on a transplant list in the United States. And in Iowa, that number is over 600,” according to Jorgensen.

Jorgenson says every donor makes an impact on many lives. “Through organ donation, up to eight lives might be saved through an organ donor’s gift of life. One tissue donor has the ability to enhance the lives of up to 300. It is a selfless act for this gift of life,” he says. You can sign up to be an organ donor when you renew or obtain your driver’s license. More than 70 percent of adults in Iowa are registered organ donors. You may also register online at iowadonornetwork.org.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s popular Bottle Bill appears to be headed for major changes — or it may wind up on the trash heap. Key negotiators for House and Senate Republicans say the bottle and can redemption system has nearly collapsed and without adjustments this year, reform will likely shift to repeal in 2023. Under a plan that could be debated in the House this week, grocery stores would be able to opt out of the redemption process and Susan Collin, president of the national Container Recycling Institute, says that would make it harder for consumers to find places to take their empty containers to get their nickel deposits back.

“In short, this bill would turn what was a deposit into a fee for consumers who would be increasingly inconvenienced and de-incentivized from returning their containers and receive their rightful deposit back,” Collins says. “Meanwhile, distributors would get to keep additional unclaimed deposits as a windfall.” The wholesale distributors that deliver cases of beer, pop and alcohol to Iowa stores will keep an estimated 44 million dollars in deposits that aren’t claimed this year. Collins says the state should make it as easy as possible for consumers to get back the deposit they pay on each container.

“Consumers are just the ones left in the lurch here,” Collins says. All but one Republican in the Iowa Senate passed a bill to increase the fees paid to redemption centers and let retailers out of participating in the bottle and can redemption system. Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver says it’s the first time in more than four decades a bill to make changes in the Bottle Bill has made it this far.

“We understand that there are some people that don’t like the Bottle Bill, but there are a lot of Iowans that do,” Whitver says, “and if it’s going to survive long term, we have to make some tweaks to it.” House Speaker Pat Grassley says there are ways to make the program work long term that are included in the plans being discussed by lawmakers.

“I think we’ve made as much progress in the legislature this year than we have in my time that I can remember in my time in the legislature and probably before that, so we want to make sure we do this right,” Grassley says. “We want to be able to negotiate with the Senate, find some common ground.” Democrats say the G-O-P plans under consideration this year will kill the Bottle Bill and reward grocery and convenience stores that have failed to follow current law and pay deposits on empty containers.

(Radio Iowa) – State tax collections are soaring — up nearly eight-and-a-half percent in the past nine months compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year. Jeff Robinson of the Legislative Services Agency says there have been increases in each of the main sources of revenue for the state.

“Individual income tax up 6.3%, sales and use tax up 9.7%,” he says, “and corporate income tax up 7.7%.” The state paid out 30 million dollars MORE in income tax refunds so far THIS year compared to the first three months of 2021.

“But it still very early in the tax filing season for any trend to be evident,” Robinson says. Iowa income taxes are due by April 30th. The tax cuts Governor Reynolds signed into law March 1st will start going into effect for the NEXT tax year. The immediate repeal of state taxes on retirement income and the first stage of reducing the income tax for individuals are projected to contribute to a nearly 15 million dollar in reduction in total tax payments to the state.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Republicans hosted a “Know Your Candidates” forum Monday evening, at the Cass County Community Center in Atlantic. The candidates answered questions with regard to Laws and Regulations, Energy and Labor, and of course, agriculture. Those candidates who spoke included; Senator Jim Carlin – Candidate for U-S Senate; State Senator Zach Nunn, Gary Leffler, and Nicole Hasso, Candidates for U-S House in the 3^rd District.

Nicole Hasso

Senator Jim Carlin

Gary Leffler

Senator Zach Nunn

There were also representatives from Senator Grassley’s office and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig.Each candidate gave an opening statement before they fielded questions, including one from Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kauffman, who asked, regardless of who wins the June Primary Election, will each of the candidates support the nominee in the House 3rd District race. The answer was yes. Jim Carlin and Troy Bishop also answered “yes,” if they would support the respective Senate Primary winner.

The next question dealt with packer concentration, anti-trust laws and what can be done to protect animal agriculture. Nicole Hasso said there must be options for meat processing. She mentioned the Cattleman’s Heritage Beef Company, which is constructing a $325 million, 1500-head-per-day, state-of-the-art beef-processing facility in Mills County,

Senator Carlin said the farmer’s voice in agriculture can only be heard when there is an aggressive pursuit of anti-trust legislation

Gary Leffler, from West Des Moines, said he’s the only candidate who owns and operates a farm. He warned the new plant being built in Mills County will be “regulated to death,” by the regulators and bureaucrats.

Senator Zach Nunn suggested, with regard to the rising cost of health insurance, farmers and small business owners should consider pooling their insurance to lower costs.

He says “Let’s get government out of the way and lets let Iowans start choosing for themselves” what their best options are to lower the costs. And, with regard to the topics of energy and labor, each of the candidates were in favor of being more energy independent, by pumping more oil, and opening-up the Keystone Pipeline. Gary Leffler said the Left won’t be happy until “You’re eating a veggie burger and driving electric cars.

As far as labor, Senator Nunn said we have to secure the southern boarder and at the same time expedite the process for bringing in those who want to be here legally.

The next Cass County Republican Forum takes place in May, and primarily focuses on social issues.

(Radio Iowa) – Two key Republican lawmakers say they may consider getting rid of Iowa’s Bottle Bill if the legislature can’t agree on how to fix it this year. Republican Senator Jason Schultz of Schleswig led debate last week of a bill that makes changes in the system for redeeming nickel deposits on empty bottles and cans.

“It’s to the point where I think a whole lot of people agree that if we can’t get something done this year, next year we need to be looking at repeal,” Schultz says, “and just waiting for people to demand that we put something back in place and see what that looks like.” A bill eligible for House debate would make some of the same changes as the Senate-passed legislation. Both would let grocery stores to stop accepting empty bottles and cans, continue to let beverage distributors keep the money from unredeemed containers and increase funding for redemption centers.

Republican Representative Brian Lohse of Bondurant has been leading House negotiations on the future of the Bottle Bill.  “I’ll be honest, I’ve wanted to repeal this thing for four year but you know I think at some point we have to do something,” Lohse says. “I would like to try to fix it, but if we can’t fix it, this thing is going to implode on itself and it’s just time to repeal it.”

Lohse and Schultz made their comments today (Monday) on Iowa Public Radio’s “River to River” program.

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Public Safety reports the graduation on Friday, April 1st, of the 46th Basic Academy. The event took place at the Stony Creek Hotel Northwoods Conference Center, in Johnston. The ceremony recognized a graduating class of 18 recruits who previously served as certified officers in law enforcement agencies across Iowa before entering the Academy on January 24, 2022. Lieutenant Matthew Struecker served as Camp Commander.

Conducted at Camp Dodge, the 10-week Academy training focused on completing law enforcement coursework on laws of arrest, search and seizure, defensive tactics, arrest techniques, precision driving, firearms, emergency management services, fair and impartial policing, criminal law, accident investigation, human relations, physical fitness, human trafficking, motor vehicle law, domestic violence, crisis intervention for mentally ill and several other courses in law enforcement.

The ceremony was streamed live on the Iowa State Patrol’s Facebook page. From southwest Iowa, 46th Basic Academy graduates are assigned the following badge numbers, and will serve Iowans in the following areas:

Dustin Gelner #105 – Iowa State Patrol District   3

Trooper Gelnar and Commissioner Bayens

Tyler Shiels #300 – Iowa State Patrol District   3

Trooper Sheils and Commissioner Bayens

Trooper Gelner formerly served with the Atlantic Police Department. Trooper Shiels previously served with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.

“We are extremely proud of these graduates and grateful to them for choosing to answer the call with the State of Iowa,” said Stephan K. Bayens, Commissioner of the Iowa Department of Public Safety. “At this point in history, I believe it is the most important time to be a law enforcement officer. There’s divisiveness, brokenness, and crime is on the rise. I cannot think of a more significant time for men and women to step up and bridge that gap, and I thank them for it,” Bayens added.

Graduates of the 46th DPS Academy, 4-1-22

The Page County Sheriff’s Department reports on April 1st, deputies arrested 25-year-old Dean Anthoney Brooms, of Shenandoah. Brooms was taken into custody at the Sheriff’s Office, on a Page County Warrant for Probation Violation -sentencing charge of Child Endangerment.

He was booked into the Page County Jail on $2,000 Cash-only bond.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports four arrests from over the past week. On Sunday, deputies arrested 38-year-old Trent Suhr, of Walnut, for Driving While Revoked.  Suhr was later released after posting bond. Last Saturday, 23-year-old Phoenix Shadden, of Atlantic, was arrested in Cass County, for OWI 1^st Offense.  Shadden was later released on his own recognizance.

On March 31^st, 2022, Cass County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 40-year-old Jesse Noah, of Atlantic, for Public Intoxication.  He too, was later released on his own recognizance. And, on March 30th, 31-year-old Eric Vannausdle, of Red Oak, was arrested for Theft 2^nd Degree and Driving While Revoked. Vannausdle was being held in the Cass County Jail.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is a “no” on President Biden’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. Grassley says he and Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson have fundamentally different views on the role judges should play in our system of government. He says Jackson’s approach to criminal law and sentencing is too lenient. Grassley says the Senate’s Democraitc Leader opposed Republican President George W. Bush’s nominees to the high court on ideology alone, so Grassley says that means he and other Republicans in the Senate no longer need to defer to a Democratic president’s choices for the Supreme Court and vote yes if that person is qualified.

Grassley and the rest of the Senate Judiciary Committee are voting on Judge Jackson today (Monday). The full Senate will vote on the nomination this week.