The Democrats in Iowa’s congressional delegation say they’re ready to get to work on the jobs package President Obama outlined last night, while Republicans like Chuck Grassley and Steve King raise doubts about the president’s approach.

 Republican Congressman Steve King of Kiron said the “best thing (Obama) could have done would be call for a balanced budget amendment” rather than introduce new spending ideas. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said Obama’s proposal was just “more of the same” and it was “time for something new” like an effort to reduce government regulations. Republican Congressman Tom Latham of Ames didn’t criticize Obama’s plan at all in his statement after the speech, however. Latham said the “simple truth is that we must do better as a Congress and as a government to work together to find real solutions” to the nation’s economic ills.

Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat, praised Obama’s plan as going “to the heart” of the problem by focusing on job creation. Congressman Bruce Braley, a Democrat from Waterloo, said he hopes the president’s speech “refocuses the debate” in Washington. Congressman Dave Loebsack, a Democrat from Iowa City, said he hopes congress starts the “real work” that’s necessary to find “commonsense solutions.” Congressman Leonard Boswell, a Democrat from Des Moines, suggested Obama had said what most American’s believe, “that Warren Buffett and Bill Gates can afford to pay the same percentage of payroll taxes that their own secretaries pay.”

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)

One person has been questioned, but no arrests have been made in connection to investigation into an alleged sexual assault in Taylor County. Sheriff’s officials say their on-going investigation into an alleged sexual assault in the vicinity of Nitro’s Bar in Gravity, resulted in the execution of a search warrant at 1257 Highland Avenue, in rural Taylor County.

During the investigation, 33-year-old Tommy Spears, a resident of the home, was detained for questioning, and arrested on a separate charge of Harassment of a Public Official, for giving a false name and date of birth when law enforcement attempted to identify him.

Spears posted bond on the charges and has been released from custody. Further charges are pending as a result of evidence found during execution of the search warrant.

AMES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa transportation officials say barriers that protected Interstate 29 near Blencoe from flooding along the Missouri River will be coming down. Officials say a contractor will begin removing them on Monday because the river continues to fall and they’re no longer needed. The barriers, called TrapBags, are filled with rock. The Iowa Department of Transportation says the work involves cutting open the bags to release the rock, and then loading and hauling the rock and bags away.

The project, which will cost over $160,000, is expected to last until Sept. 30. Northbound traffic will be rerouted for about 10 miles from the Blencoe interchange to a Monona County highway to Iowa Highway 175 and then back to I-29 at Onawa.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad will bring an assortment of top state officials to Council Bluffs to learn more about this summer’s record Missouri River flooding and hear from those affected by it. Branstad’s flood meeting is scheduled for Friday afternoon. Representatives of farming groups, utilities and Iowa cities hit hard by the flooding are all scheduled to attend. Flooding has been a problem all along the Missouri River since June because heavy spring rains and significant mountain snowpack generated massive amounts of water. The floodwaters have started to recede, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers predicts the river won’t return to normal flows until sometime in October. Corps officials will also give a presentation at the meeting about the way they managed the river’s dams.

The 2011 state report card for the federal “No Child Let Behind” guidelines identifies 415 schools and 30 districts that are in need of assistance for failing to meet benchmarks set by local administrators. That’s several dozen more than last year, and Iowa Department of Education Director, Jason Glass, says while he’s concerned about the designation it’s not unexpected.  “If the goal is just to rank, blame and shame schools we have that model down under No Child Left Behind. If our goal is really want to find schools that are legitimately in need of improvement and help them get better than we need to come up with a different system,” Glass says.

Glass says not only does the program shame schools, it makes it hard for them to change.  He says the program is fundamentally flawed because it ratchets up student achievement goals every year. Glass says while the number of failed schools increased, that doesn’t tell the whole story. “We embrace accountability. But the accountability should be fair, should be intelligent and the sanctions and the supports applied should drive us toward better outcomes for kids. Not toward blaming and shaming schools and educators,” Glass said.

A districts that continually fail to meet benchmarks can be forced to replace it’s principal or even close down. Glass says closing or privatizing the only school in a small town would be difficult. He says he plans to ask the federal government for a waiver from “No Child Left Behind” if congress does not repeal or amend the law. You can read the State Report Card for “No Child Left Behind” by clicking on this link, and then opening or downloading the PDF file:

http://www.educateiowa.gov/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=670&Itemid=4434