(Radio Iowa) – Iowa is poised to adopt a program already operating in 18 states that’s designed to help deaf and hard of hearing children gain language skills, so they’re prepared to enter kindergarten. Joni Boone of Ankeny and her husband found out their daughter, Lena, was profoundly hard of hearing at birth and the child lost her hearing by the time she was six months old.

“When you’re a hearing parent and you find out your child is deaf, it can be really overwhelming,” Boone says. “You’re essentially told, first of all, that there’s a language barrier that you’re going to have to overcome.” Lena Boone struggled to communicate in preschool, but she’s now five and her mother says Lena is thriving. Studies show many deaf or hard of hearing children do not learn communications skills like American Sign Language early enough and they enter kindergarten at a distinct disadvantage.

The legislature has passed a bill to set up a mentoring program, so parents like Boone can help the parents of newborns and toddlers who’re diagnosed with hearing difficulties. “As a hearing parent, what we don’t always get is a lot of options and a lot of education right off the bat,” Boone says, “We get solutions. We get medical help, but we don’t necessarily get another family that’s going to come alongside us and say: ‘I know what you’re thinking. I know what you’re feeling and I want to answer any questions you may have.'”

Boone’s father — and Lena’s grandfather — is Danny Carroll, a statehouse lobbyist who’s a former legislator and he was a leading advocate for passage of the bill. In addition to the parent mentoring program, it outlines the benchmarks toddlers and young children who are deaf or hard of hearing need to reach to be able to communicate.  “What so many families find out if they don’t do what is necessary to get their child ready for school, they show up at kindergarten behind and it’s very, very hard then to catch up,” Carroll says. “You just keep falling further behind because of an inability to communicate, so this will help parents know where they stand as they prepare their child for those early school years.”

Senator Ken Rozenboom, of Oskaloosa, worked on the bill and he says state records indicate testing shows about 100 deaf or hard of hearing babies are born in Iowa each year. “The Department of Public Health, the Department of Education, the AEAs will provide support to help them learn to communicate hopefully before they get to the classroom, so they can learn, they can stay current with their peers, so they have a chance,” Rozenboom says, “that’s what it’s all about.” Representative Sandy Salmon of Janesville says the bill is the product of years worth of work.

“This bill is needed because too many deaf children come to school lacking language or having very limited language,” Salmon says, “thus critical time learning to read, do math or gain other content is lost, putting them behind grade level right from the start.” Representative Art Staed of Cedar Rapids notes the bill passed the House and Senate unanimously. “Deaf children, by the time they reach school — kindergarten, are often 4-5 years behind their peers and never have the opportunity to catch up,” Staed says. “This is a way to address that issue.”

Governor Reynolds is expected to sign the bill into law.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Reynolds is using 100 million dollars in federal pandemic relief money to finance new tourist attractions in Iowa and enhance existing sites. Cities and counties and other organizations will be able to apply for what the governor is calling “Destination Iowa” grants.

According to a news release from the governor’s office, the money will support “transformational, shovel-ready attractions” that give visitors a “reason to explore” and Iowa residents are a “reason to stay.” The grants will be divided among projects for tourism attractions and outdoor recreation and for developments that are economically significant or transform existing public spaces.

In a written statement, Reynolds said the Destination Iowa grants will raise the positive profile of Iowa and enhance the qualify of life for Iowans. State officials will start accepting Destination Iowa grant applications May 9th.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City of Atlantic officially has a new Police Chief, and for the first-time ever, an Assistant Police Chief. Mayor Grace Garrett, Wednesday evening administered the Oath of Office to Chief Devin Hogue, and Assistant Chief Paul Wood. Both men were appointed to their new positions during Council action on March 16th.

Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett congratulates new Police Chief Devin Hogue

The Mayor began with Devin Hogue, who began his first day as Chief on April 1st, following in the footsteps of his predecessor David Erickson, who retired at the end of March.

After she swore-in the Chief, Mayor Garrett said it was also her honor to swear-in Paul Wood as Assistant Chief.

The Mayor congratulates Asst. Chief Paul Wood

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa State University Extension Concern Line has had no shortage of issues to address with its free service. Coordinator Tammy Jacobs says things have stayed busy since the spring of 2019 flooding in western Iowa. “We’ve seen a lot of calls from people who have been impacted by the different disasters, either the pandemic or the natural disasters with the storms,” she says.

The number of callers each month varies from 500 to 1,000. Jacobs says they can help callers with a variety of resources. “Got them connected with the outreach counselors, hooked them up with ongoing longer-term mental health resources. But then we’ve also had those ones who, you know, might have been out of work. So we got them connected, made sure that they were all set up with unemployment, if they needed assistance with food, connected them with food pantries, as well as helped to give them education on getting signed up for the SNAP program and food stamps,” she says.

The latest issue in Iowa is avian influenza outbreaks. Jacobs says they haven’t received any calls from people who are stressed by that yet. “But within Extension, I know that there’s a lot of farm management specialists who are out in the field working with individuals who have been impacted,” Jacobs says. “So one of the things that they’re doing is providing that Iowa Concern number to let people know that we’re here to help out with them. If they’re experiencing any stress, they can call and talk to us. ”

(Iowa Concern Line photo)

She says they are ready to help in those cases if they decide to call. Jacobs says you don’t have to be in the midst of a major disaster to use the service, as a lot of people just need someone to talk to about ongoing stresses. “They’re struggling, and just talking about what’s going on instead of holding it in can make a big difference in how they handle their stress that they’re experiencing,” she says.

There are several ways to talk to someone. You can use the traditional phone call to 1-800-447-1985.
“We also have live chat and they can get onto that by just Googling the Iowa concern hotline. And then going to the Iowa concern website,” Jacobson says, and through that you can do a live chat with us as well for those who would rather not talk to us in person. So that would be another option. They can also email us. And we can respond back to them through email as well.”

Jacobs says one way anyone can help deal with the issues of the day is to stay informed about what is going on. “That’s one of the best ways to handle some of this stuff, make sure that the information that they’re receiving is coming from credible sources, making sure that they’re taking care of themselves getting that good sleep, that exercise, eating healthy,” according to Jacobs. “All those things can really help to decrease and help individuals manage their stress levels.”

Jacobs says they encourage everyone to do that and if you feel you need some extra help, give them a call.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa legislature has approved a tax break for the aircraft industry. The bill creates a sales tax exemption for aircraft parts and labor to repair planes. Representative Lee Hein of Monticello says many states, including all those that surround Iowa, do not assess a sales tax on airplane parts and labor.  “We have seen a lot of business go out of the state and this will help our local aircraft maintenance shops,” Hein says, “but more importantly we have three community colleges that have aircraft maintenance programs and this will help keep those graduates here in the state of Iowa.”

Representative Charlie McConkey is a pilot from Council Bluffs. “It’s very expensive to certify aircraft for air worthiness,” McConkey says. “In order to do that, there’s a lot of downtime and a lot of maintenance that has to be done.” Community colleges in Council Bluffs, Ottumwa and Waterloo offer programs for students seeking F-A-A-approved certification as an aircraft maintenance mechanic.

Representative Chris Hall of Sioux City says Western Iowa Tech in Sioux City hopes to start one soon, as a way to boost use of the Sioux City airport. “The more take-offs and touch-downs that you have from your runway, the better support long-term in federal support you will have for your airport,” Hall says, “and for so many of those community airports, it’s also a lifeline for families to see one another and for commerce.”

Senator Liz Mathis of Hiawatha says Kirkwood Community College plans to launch a similar program in the fall of 2023. “Combined with the right sales tax environment, I think it’s really going to help our region grow,” Mathis says. Senator Dan Dawson of Council Bluffs says the state spends a lot of money supporting community colleges — and airplane maintenance training — and it makes no sense for Iowa to have a tax environment that ultimately sends graduates out of state.

The bill passed with the support of 140 of the legislature’s 150 members and is headed to the governor for her signature. According to an estimate from the Legislative Services Agency, the owners of the 33-hundred aircraft registered in Iowa may save up to 10 million dollars from this sales tax exemption. Some Iowans fly their planes to other states for maintenance to avoid the Iowa sales tax on parts and labor.