(Radio Iowa) The Iowa Supreme Court heard arguments in a request by the state to dismiss a lawsuit against the governor over the release of public records during the COVID pandemic. The records were released 18 months after the request when the lawsuit was filed by the Iowa A-C-L-U on behalf of journalists seeking the records. The attorney for the governor, Eric Wessan, says the administration followed the law because it never denied the request.

Chief Justice Susan Christensen says this approach could require anyone who requested open records to eventually hire a lawyer to get an agency to comply. She says that could be expensive and some people could not afford to do that.

The attorney for the A-C-L-U, Thomas Story, says the state should not be allowed to stall and force a lawsuit.

Wessan says it’s an important part of democracy. Wessan says the governor’s office gave very little response to the records request other than to acknowledged they received the request. He says there should be some reason given for not producing the records.

He says the strategy was to delay and force a lawsuit.

The Supreme Court will issue its ruling at a later date.

(Radio Iowa) Most Republicans in the Iowa Senate have voted for a bill to provide new liability protection for the trucking industry as well as companies with commercial vehicles, like delivery trucks, cranes or utility vehicles. Non-economic pain and suffering damages in lawsuits over accidents would be limited to two MILLION dollars, while payments to cover medical expenses, economic losses and punitive damages remain UN-limited. Republican Senator Adrian Dickey of Packwood owns a trucking company and is chairman of the Iowa Motor Truck Association’s board of directors.

“This is not about avoiding responsibility,” Dickey said. “It’s simply an attempt to rein in these ambulance chasing attorneys and false claims that…are plugging up our legal system.” Four Republican senators joined all the Democrats in voting against the bill. Senator Mark Lofgren (LAHF-grehn), a Republican from Muscatine, voted earlier this month against similar liability changes for medical malpractice claims. He cited the details of his grandson’s death after surgery to remove the two-year-old’s adenoids.

“Families that lose their family members from a truck, an injury that happens or whatever, they love their families just like those that lose their family with medical malpractice,” Lofgren said. Senator Mike Bousselot (BOO-suh-loh), a Republican from Ankeny, says the bill is needed to protect the trucking industry from trial attorneys seeking out-of-whack pain and suffering awards that drive up trucking company costs.

“We can see the nuclear verdicts here in Iowa. We can see the nuclear verdicts coming our way from as close as Illinois or Arkansas, but we can also see it on the very shelves that we shop. We see it when we try and buy a dozen eggs, when the goods that we want aren’t on that shelf.” Senator Pam Jochum (YOH-kum), a Democrat from Dubuque, says families who lose a loved one in an accident need more support than the bill would allow.

“This bill robs everyday Iowans of justice, senators,” Jochum says. “Are you going to protect the bottom line of gross negligent trucking companies?” The bill’s liability structure for commercial vehicle accidents is similar to the language in the medical malpractice bill the governor signed into law last week. The bill that cleared the Senate last (Wednesday) night now goes to the House for consideration.

A report from the Iowa Association of Realtors shows the number of homes listed for sale dropped by more than 11 percent in January compared to one year ago. But association president, Krista Clark, says listings were up compared to December.

Rising interest rates help slow things down in the housing market — but they appear to have leveled out.

Clark says you have to understand that rates had been at historic lows.

Clark says the slowdown in the market was a good thing.

Clark says she is optimistic about spring after weathering the slowdown.

The days on the market increased to 48 days in January, compared to 38 days last month and 40 days in January last year. Median sales prices increased four-point-seven percent compared to last January and were 190-thousand-500 dollars. Clark is a realtor in Newton.

The Atlantic Community School Board’s meeting and public hearing that was scheduled for Monday night has been cancelled due to inclement weather.  The meeting will be rescheduled for a a later date.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – Diamond Cook, age 31, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced on February 16, 2023, to 48 months in prison following his plea of guilty to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. After he is released from prison, Cook will serve three years of supervised release.

On February 24, 2022, a Fremont County Deputy stopped a car on Interstate 29 for not displaying registration and a nonworking brake light. The deputy could smell marijuana coming from the car. Cook was a passenger and lied about his name. During a search of the car, law enforcement located a loaded handgun. Cook is prohibited from having any firearms because he is a convicted felon.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Fremont Cunty Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. In May 2021, the Department of Justice launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.