(Johnston, Iowa/KCCI-TV) –  The Johnston Middle School was briefly placed on lockdown status on Thursday afternoon after a weapon was reported in a restroom in the building. According to the district, a student reported seeing a weapon in an upstairs restroom around 2:48 p.m., and the school was placed in lockdown. All students and staff were required to stay in their current locations until given the all-clear, which came 20 minutes later when students were dismissed at 3:08 p.m.

The District cancelled all evening activities while an investigation into the incident was being conducted. The Johnston Police Department says that after a “thorough search” of the school building, no weapon was found. A student was taken into custody.

DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate is reminding every Iowa voter to have a plan in place to be successful in casting their ballot this election. Whether you plan to vote absentee by mail, early absentee in-person, or in person at the polls on Election Day, it’s never too early to make a plan. Those who plan to vote absentee by mail should be prepared to request their absentee ballot by October 21, 2024. Part of that plan should also include tracking your absentee ballot. Iowans can visit VoterReady.Iowa.Gov to track their ballot. This process allows Iowa voters to see if and when their local county auditor has received the absentee ballot request, the specific date that the ballot was mailed out, and the date the county auditor received the ballot back from the voter. Iowa law requires absentee ballots to be returned to the county auditor’s office by the time polls close at 8pm on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5.

In efforts to remind Iowans to head to the polls, political parties and candidates may send voters “absentee ballot request” mailings. In some instances, this may result in one voter receiving multiple mailings regarding absentee ballot requests. County auditors have a number of procedures in place to ensure that if multiple absentee ballot requests do come in from one voter, only one absentee ballot will be mailed out. Iowans are encouraged to call their county auditor if they have any specific questions regarding this process.

It is important that political parties and candidates that coordinate absentee ballot mailings to Iowa voters first and foremost ensure their processes follow Iowa law (Iowa Code Ch. 53) and secondly, verify with the post office that their mail pieces are in compliance with postal regulations. This due diligence should also include confirming the cost of return postage and who will bear this cost, and making sure an accurate return address is included in the event the mailing is undeliverable.

Iowa voters who plan to vote early absentee in-person can do so at their county auditor’s office or a special satellite location. Voters who plan to vote in-person at their polling site on Election Day can find their polling site at VoterReady.Iowa.Gov. Every voter who votes in person must present their voter ID (Iowa driver’s license, voter identification card, non-operator ID, military or veteran ID, passport, or tribal ID card/document).

Iowa’s election integrity approach requires multiple layers and following Iowa law and election procedures are critical to maintaining safe and secure elections. If Iowans are looking for additional information on this process and other voting processes, please visit VotingProcess.Iowa.Gov for a video series about different voting procedures and laws in Iowa.

DATES TO KNOW:

October 16: First day absentee ballots can be mailed; first day of in-person absentee voting
October 21: Voter pre-registration deadline; deadline to request an absentee ballot to be mailed; both by 5pm
November 4: Last day of in-person absentee voting
November 5: Election Day, polls open from 7am-8pm; absentee ballots must be received by county auditors by 8pm

(Des Moines, Iowa) — Gov. Kim Reynolds, Thursday, announced the appointment of Christine Hensley to the Iowa Board of Regents.  Early in her career, Hensley worked closely with developers on affordable housing projects across the state of Iowa as a business development manager for Midwest Housing Equity Group. Hensley also previously served as Vice President of Community and Government Affairs for Bank of the West after acting as a Des Moines City Council member for 24 years.

Hensley has served as president of the Iowa Student Loan Corporation, Iowa League of Cities, and the Metro Advisory Council among other boards. She currently serves as chairperson on the Horizon Science Academy governing board. Standing out from her list of honors, Hensley was inducted into the Iowa Women Hall of Fame in 2017.

“Chris is a remarkable person who has shown time and time again what it means to be a true leader in her community. Across her long and accomplished career in education, business, and elected office, Chris has proven she has the skills and innovative spirit necessary to work alongside our regent universities in the pursuit of academic excellence for our students,” Governor Reynolds said. “I’m confident she will work collaboratively with her fellow board members to ensure graduates are prepared for success in Iowa’s diverse economy.”

“I am honored to be appointed to the Iowa Board of Regents. I appreciate the confidence Governor Reynolds has in me with this appointment,” Hensley said. “I look forward to learning from my fellow board members and working with them to ensure our universities are able to provide outstanding education to the citizens of Iowa.”

Hensley attended Drake University and St. Joseph Academy. She was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Grandview University in 2017.  Her appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.

(Radio Iowa) – The University of Iowa’s undergraduate insurance degree program has only been around a year, and it’s already being named among the top ten such programs in the country. Martin Grace, who heads the U-I’s Risk Management and Insurance program in the Tippie College of Business, says it’s a thrill to see national recognition for such a new effort. “The program has actually been around for a number of years,” Grace says. “You could get a minor in it, or they called it a certificate, which sounds better than a minor, but it’s like four or five classes, and then last year, they made it an official major.” More than 200 students have signed on for the new major at the Iowa City institution.

“It seems like it’s relatively small, but that’s a strong signal of commitment by the Tippie College as well as the university to support this academic field,” Grace says. “It’s actually a professional field, and it makes our program very strong.” This week, U.S. News and World Report named the U-I’s insurance degree program number-eight in the nation, its first appearance in the rankings. While the state is widely known for its hogs, corn and soybeans, more than 200 insurance companies are headquartered in Iowa. “It’s as important as agriculture in the state, and you think of this state as being an agricultural state, but to have another sector that important?” Grace says. “I think it’s like 12-and-a-half percent of the state’s GDP. In the typical state, it’s one-sixth of that.” He says the risk management and insurance industry is the state’s largest non-agricultural economic sector, while the finance and insurance industries account for some 95-thousand Iowa jobs.

“It’s not just insurance sales, right? So a lot of what insurance companies do are pay claims and invest. So there’s just a lot of jobs, finance jobs, there’s some sales jobs, but the insurance companies in Iowa don’t just sell in Iowa. They sell all over the country.” He predicts the demand for risk management and insurance graduates will continue to grow, especially as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce refers to Des Moines as a “global hub of the insurance industry.”