Ottumwa, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Corrections reports Paul Lewis Wagner, who was convicted of Domestic Abuse Assault – 3rd or Subsequent Offense in Scott County, failed to report back to the Ottumwa Residential Facility as required, Saturday.

Wagner is a 60-year-old white male, height 5’10”, and weighs 245 pounds. He was admitted to the residential facility on September 22, 2021. Persons with information on Wagner’s whereabouts should contact local police.

Paul Lewis Wagner

(Radio Iowa) – The Board of Regents has approved millions of dollars for the replacement of windows in the bridge between the Stead Family Children’s Hospital and the John Pappajohn Pavilion on the University of Iowa campus.

U-I senior vice president for finance and operations, Rod Lehnertz, says the windows have cracked, delaminated and developed blemishes. “The windows in that portion of the building need to be replaced at this cost $3.6 million. The cost for this project will be funded through the University Hospitals building usage funds as the university seeks reimbursement from the responsible parties,” Lehnertz says.

He says they are still trying to determine who is to blame for the faulty windows that were installed in 2017. “It’s not a simple matter. They are complex window systems and the components, the installation, the manufacture, and the design are all parties to the interests of that investigation,” he says. The work would start in September.

A drawing of the Hygienic Lab addition. (U-I drawing)

The Regents also gave the approval to hire a construction manager to deal with the windows in the Children’s Hospital. While all the windows are being replaced in the bridge, Lehnertz says they don’t know if that is the remedy yet for the hospital windows. He says they may not have to replace all the windows there and that is why they also requested to hire a construction manager at risk.

Lehnertz says that the construction manager will see them through the process and determine how to handle the windows, and that will ultimately determine how much is spent on the project. The windows of the Children’s Hospital are where patients view the waves of football fans at Kinnick Stadium after the first quarter of games — a tradition that has gotten nationwide attention.

The Regents also gave the go-ahead for the building of a two-level 7,300 square foot addition to the southeast corner of the State Hygienic Laboratory. “The budget that we are asking for approval for is ten million. all of those funds supported by and provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC,” he says.

Lehnerts says the new building is needed to handle the larger volume of testing brought on by the pandemic. “It also includes a new drop-off area for the public for dropping off samples. This would be a project that would start construction by May of 2022, this spring, and would complete construction by requirements of the grant by June of 2023,” Lehnertz says.

The Board of Regents gave approval for the projects at its meeting last week.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill to prohibit the state-run pension fund from owning stock in the parent company of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream has cleared the Iowa House and is scheduled for debate in the Senate today (Monday). In July, the founders of Ben and Jerry’s announced their ice cream would no longer be sold in disputed territories in Israel. Representative Carter Nordman, a Republican from Adel, was the bill’s floor manager in the House.

“The sole purpose of the ‘Boycott Israel’ movement is to economically destroy and cripple the State of Israel,” Nordman said. Nordman says 38 other states have taken similar steps to ban state pension funds from owning stock in Unilever. The company bought Ben and Jerry’s two decades ago, but agreed to continue the ice company’s social missions.

“This bill will ensure that our public investments are not funding companies that are participate in the boycott, divestment and sanction of Israel movement,” Nordman says. Representative Mary Wolfe, a Democrat from Clinton, says Ben and Jerry’s founders are respectfully disagreeing with Israeli policy. “This bill is…to bully a company, a small American company that’s owned by a British company for making a choice to refuse to participate in what they feel and what the UN has declared is an illegal occupation of Palestinian territory,” Wolfe says.

In September, New Jersey and Arizona pension funds dumped 325 million dollars worth of Unilever stock. Unilever. Unilever is based in London and owns 400 different brands, including Hellman’s Mayonnaise, Axe body spray and Q-Tips.