(Radio Iowa) – Republicans in the House and Senate have agreed on a final version of legislation originally proposed by Governor Kim Reynolds. It bans instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation in elementary schools and parents must be notified if their child asks to be known by a different name or pronoun at school. Republican Representative Skyler Wheeler of Hull led debate as House members considered the G-O-P compromise.

“Parents are going to be informed if something drastic is happening with their child at school,” Wheeler says. “The school does not have a right to keep secrets from them.” Representative Heather Matson, a Democrat from Ankeny, voted against the bill. “The idea of penalizing teachers for who affirm a student for who they are could not be more hurtful or dangerous,” Matson said.

The bill passed the House Thursday with the support of 57 Republicans. Four Republicans and 34 Democrats opposed it. The Senate passed the plan Wednesday on a party line vote. Senator Ken Rozenboom, a Republican from Oskaloosa, says the bill provides reasonable guardrails. “This bill just matches up with what most schools are doing right now and with what parents expect their school to be doing,” Rozenboom said.

Representative Skyler Wheeler

The bill calls for removing books that describe or depict sex acts, however the Bible, the Quran and the Torah could stay on the shelves. Senator Janice Weiner, a Democrat from Iowa City, says it means literary classics must be removed. “Dracula, Lady Chatterley’s Lover…they’re out,” Weiner said. “That’s not education. That’s censorship.”

The bill outlines sanctions for educators who do not follow the policies in the bill.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Senate has confirmed two new members to the state board that will decide whether proposed carbon pipelines get built in Iowa. Attorney Erik Helland, a former Republican member of the state legislature, was confirmed to serve as chairman of the Iowa Utilities Board on a 39-11 vote. After two terms in the Iowa House, Helland worked in Alaska’s state government.

During a Senate Commerce Committee meeting on Helland’s nomination, Republican Senator Jason Schultz of Schleswig said Helland was “working on process and was actually an efficiency driver (in Alaksa)…by looking at how state government worked and finding efficiencies and increasing productivity of case management.”

Some Democrats like Senator Herman Quirmbach of Ames said Helland doesn’t have the right qualifications to be on the utilities board. “The electric utility industry has some very complicated issues these days with regard to engineering and how to incorporate non-point sources of electric generation, wind generation, etc.,” Quirmbach said today on the Senate floor. “There are also some very complicated economic issues.”

Senator Adrian Dickey, a Republican from Packwood, called Helland “a great fit” for the Utilities Board. “I had maybe some concerns as well about not having a lot of background in the utilities industry,” Dickey said during Wednesday’s Commerce Committee meeting, “but I also think on this issue that may be a good thing because he comes in without expectations and may be more open to looking at the processes and the different things that face the Utilities Board whether it be with the pipeline or regulations or rates and whatever things that will come in front of him.”

In a separate vote today, all 50 Senators supported confirming Sarah Martz, the director of engineering for utilities on the Iowa State University campus, to the Iowa Utilities Board. Martz has degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering.

“Sarah has spent her career in the energy industry, spending time at Alliant Energy optimizing power plants, researching solar performance in the Midwest and piloting new technologies like energy storage in Iowa communities,” Senator Waylon Brown, a Republican from St. Ansgar, said late this morning.

Quirmbach said Martz has “superb” qualifications. “Her expertise and experience will catapult her into a leadership position in the Utilities Board,” Quirmbach said. “She should, in fact, be the chair.”

The other member of the board is former state Representative Joshua Byrnes, the former general manager of Osage Municipal Utilities.

[Council Bluffs, Iowa] – The open burn ban that has been in place for Pottawattamie County has been lifted effective today, Thursday, April 20th, 2023. Pott. County Emergency Management officials say recent rounds of precipitation combined with warm soil moisture will promote a quicker greening of dry fuels. Additionally, as planting season is underway many fields are being worked which also contributes to the elimination of fire fuels in our cropland areas.

Although the ban has been lifted, citizens are urged to continue minimizing their open burning activities and always use caution when conducting an open or controlled burn. Always have an emergency plan when burning; clear combustible materials from the area of the fire, ensure you have an accessible water source near the fire area, and always contact the Pottawattamie County 9-1-1 on their non-emergency number (712-328-5737) to report the location of your burn before ignition and after the fire is out.

Cass Health in Atlantic has been made aware of a series of scam phone calls that appear to be from the main hospital phone number 712-243-3250. According to CCHS Director of Communications, Ann McCurdy, “The caller states that they are with Nebraska Iowa Radiology Consultants and want to discuss their radiology results. Nebraska Iowa Radiology Consultants ceased operations several years ago. These are not legitimate phone calls and residents should disregard.”

McCurdy warns “If you have received or do receive one of these phone calls, please leave a detailed message with the Cass Health Information Systems team at 712-243-7578.”