(Radio Iowa) – Next year, Iowans will vote on a proposed amendment that will align the Iowa Constitution with an election-related change made nationally more than five decades ago.

In 1971, the 26th Amendment the U.S. Constitution was ratified, changing the legal voting age in America from 21 to 18. The proposed amendment to Iowa’s Constitution would specify that U.S. citizens who are at least 18 and residents of the state may vote in Iowa elections.

“It also says 17 year olds who will be 18 by the General Election to register to vote and vote in the Primary, so this is how we already run our elections,” Representative Cindy Golding, a Republican from Palo, said during House debate this week. “It puts in our constitution what is already in our code.”

This proposed amendments to the state constitution got final approval from the House and Senate this spring. It means Iowa voters will see the language for proposed amendment on their 2024 election ballots.

(Radio Iowa) – The police chief in Keota says he is concerned people are staying way too close to tornadoes to get videos and pictures.

Two tornadoes struck the Keota area on March 31st, including an EF-4 tornado packing winds of more than 170 miles an hour. Keota Police Chief Doug Conrad tells KCRG TV that too many people are ignoring warnings to shoot videos.

“You can go on Facebook or Tiktok — people where the storms were, were 300-400 yards from the tornado, and it was a big tornado,” Conrad says. Chief Conrad says it was a trend that was becoming all too common and all too dangerous. He says you may think you are a safe distance away from the storm, but you’re not, and flying debris could be fatal.

Keota storm damage. (KCRG TV photo)

“It wouldn’t be hard to believe that a 2 x 4 or glass could kill somebody,” Conrad says. He says you should think of safety first. “When we get these warnings, don’t ignore them,” Conrad says.

The National Weather Service says the Keota tornado traveled 50 miles. It destroyed 19 homes and one person was injured.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – (Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports four recent arrests. Two men from Anita were arrested March 30^th on warrants charging them with Theft 2nd Degree and Unauthorized Use of a Credit Card. 48-year-old Kevin St. John and 22-year-old Matthew St. John turned themselves in to the Cass County Jail. Both were booked-in and later released on bond.

On March 24th, 2023, Cass County Deputies arrested 45-year-old Jessica Craddock, of Benton, IA, on a warrant for Violation of Probation.  Craddock was transported to the Cass County Jail where she was booked and held.

And on March 23rd, 26-year-old Sotonas Aten, of Atlantic, was arrested for Driving While Revoked.  Aten was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on bond.

(Oakland, Iowa) – The Riverside Community School District has a new Superintendent. Dr. Stephanie Anderson was selected to lead the District, effective July 1, 2023. Dr. Anderson is the Director of Elementary Education and Student Services, Fort Dodge Community Community School. Current Riverside Superintendent, Dr. Timothy Mitchell, announced his retirement in January and will be leaving the District at the end of the 2022-2023 school year.

Dr. Anderson said she “Is excited about this new opportunity and shared “I am honored and excited to have been chosen to be the next leader of the Riverside Community School District. The community cohesiveness, academic and extracurricular celebrations, and amazing people were the highlights from my research and interview experience. I look forward to continuing the great work you are already engaging in as a community and school district.”

Dr. Stephanie Anderson

Her bio reads: “Dr. Stephanie Anderson brings a variety of educational experiences to the superintendent position. She grew up on a farm outside of Newell, Iowa, graduating from Newell-Fonda High School and earning her BA from Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa. She started her teaching career as an elementary classroom teacher in Vermillion, South Dakota and then in Storm Lake, Iowa while earning her MA from the University of South Dakota. She attended the Iowa Principal Leadership Academy to earn her administrative endorsement, which led to her serving as the assistant elementary principal and early childhood principal in Spencer, Iowa. She then served as the head elementary principal in Fort Dodge, Iowa while earning her PhD from the University of Kentucky. Most recently she has held the position of director of elementary education and student services in Fort Dodge, Iowa while earning her superintendent certification from the University of Northern Iowa. These educational experiences have grounded her in her educational beliefs of being strengths-based, making decisions that keep students at the center, and the importance of building collaborative relationships within the school community and beyond, while leading with integrity every step of the way. She is excited about what the Riverside School District and communities have to offer, and she looks forward to the opportunity to serve the district and communities. Her husband, Chris, is a computer science teacher at the Fort Dodge Middle School; their daughter, McKaelyn, is a junior at Iowa State University majoring in special education; and their son, Carter, is a junior at Fort Dodge Senior High attending the ICCC Triton Academy simultaneously.”

The Riverside Board of Education will meet and offer a contract at their meeting 6:30-p.m. Monday April 17, 2023.

(Radio Iowa) – More than 100 members of the legislature have voted to get rid of the requirement that tattoo artists show they’ve completed high school in order to get a state tattoo permit. Republican Representative Hans Wilz of Ottumwa says if the bill becomes law, you’d still have to complete first aid training, pass health screenings and have reached the age of 18. “Let us remind ourselves that the average age of a graduate in high school is 18 years of age. Do we require farmers to have a high school degree?” Wilz asks. “…This skill is learned through apprenticeship, which is one to three years if not more, yet another of the many ways to be educated in your chosen field. It gives another path to choose a career.”

Representative Josh Turek, a Democrat from Council Bluffs, is among the 43 lawmakers who opposed the bill. “It erodes a basic standard of education. We’re just talking about a high school diploma here. We’re not talking about an associates degree or a bachelor’s degree,” Turek says. “I think that this is incentivizing a few individuals, however just a few individuals, to not get their high school diploma.”

The bill cleared the Senate in March. House Republicans made a minor adjustment this week, to account for changes included in the state government reorganization plan the governor signed into law Tuesday.