(Des Moines, Iowa -via the Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has filed a brief in federal court on behalf of 14 states defending an Arkansas law that prevents “indoctrination in K-12 schools.” A federal district court ruled the state could not prevent two teachers from discussing the ideas of critical race theory – a primarily collegiate academic theory that asserts racism was embedded in the nation’s institutions upon its founding – in class. The ruling did not outright block the state from enforcing the law.

The teachers, as well as two students who sued alongside the teachers, asserted that the law’s vague definition of critical race theory forced teachers to self-censor over fears of violating state law. The state appealed the district court decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit which is where Bird filed her brief, which is co-signed by the attorneys general for Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and West Virginia. “If allowed to stand, the district court’s decision threatens to wreak havoc on States’ ability to determine what is taught in their schools,” the brief reads.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird speaking to reporters during a news conference in her Des Moines office. (RI file photo)

At the heart of the attorneys general disagreement with the previous ruling is the court’s interpretation of Pratt v. Independent School District where a student successfully challenged a school board banning a film that it religiously and ideologically opposed. Bird and others argue the First Amendment is designed to prevent the government from censoring others and not itself, but that rulings like the one in the Pratt case force the government to self-censor. “If the government is speaking, the public does not have a First Amendment right to control the message. If a private citizen is speaking, the First Amendment prevents the government from controlling the message,” the brief reads. The Pratt decision was also the justification used by a Des Moines judge to block an Iowa book ban as being “staggeringly broad.”

Bird said the Arkansas law prevents schools from indoctrinating students. “As a mom, I know how important it is that we create a healthy culture for our kids to learn and grow,” Bird said in a press release. “And most schools and teachers do an amazing job at that. But when education turns into indoctrination, parents have a right to push back.”

The entire brief can be read here.

NEWTON, Iowa [KCCI-TV] — A former office coordinator for a Jasper County Community Development Department is facing felony theft and forgery charges for allegedly writing checks worth thousands of dollars to herself over the last year. KCCI says, according to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, 31-year-old Shelby Hobbs was arrested Wednesday, after the conclusion of an investigation into misused county funds.

Court documents allege that, since August 2023, Hobbs wrote a total of 42 checks to herself from county accounts, totaling $17,458,41. All of the checks were either cashed or deposited into Hobbs’ personal bank account. Hobbs allegedly admitted the thefts to investigators.

She’s been charged with one count of first-degree theft, a Class C felony; and 11 counts of forgery, a Class D felony. An initial appearance was held Wednesday morning and Hobbs was released from jail on her own recognizance. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 22.

ANKENY, Iowa [KCCI-TV] — The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has identified a child who died in a head-on crash, Sunday. Authorities previously said a two-vehicle crash was reported at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday on Northwest Fisher Lane, just north of the entrance to Cottonwood Recreation Area near Saylorville Lake. Each vehicle was occupied by two people.

The occupants of the northbound vehicle — the driver and a juvenile passenger — were both transported to an area hospital where the child, identified Wednesday as 10-year-old Maxwell Harry Amenson of Polk City, died. Amenson was going to be a fourth grader this fall at Big Creek Elementary School.

The driver and passenger of the southbound vehicle were treated for minor injuries at the scene and released.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — [KETV, Omaha] – A Council Bluffs neighborhood is dealing with a sinkhole. KETV reports the city and church are working together to figure out how it gave way, bringing down a brick wall and shifting foundation by several feet in some spots. A city spokesperson says high groundwater associated with flooding from the Missouri River could be to blame, forcing the church to reorganize.

Pastor Joseph Hall said a drain collapsed last month, forcing a water main to burst, shifting the foundation and compromising half of the building. Prolonged gushing from the water main rupture cost the church one of its five buildings, now believed to be a total loss, and pushing more groups into the four other buildings on campus that was used as a youth building and other purposes.

A city spokesperson said high groundwater associated with flooding from the Missouri River may be to blame, but that there’s still more to figure out as the city and church work together.

(Radio Iowa) – After 14 years of legal wrangling, plans for a 30 MILLION dollar regional airport between Pella and Oskaloosa are officially paused. In 2012, elected officials in Pella, Oskaloosa and Mahaska County signed an agreement creating the South Central Regional Airport Agency to build and operate an airport in rural Mahaska County. Landowners at the site objected and filed a lawsuit. Mahaska County Supervisors who took office in 2017 tried to get the county out of the deal and there was a lawsuit over that.

In June of 2022, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled the agreement was unconstitutional. Last week, the Regional Airport Agency’s board notified the cities they cannot acquire the remaining property necessary for the airport, but will continue to own and lease the land purchased for the project.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Reynolds is scheduled to hold a news conference at the Iowa Capitol late this (Thursday) morning. According to a media advisory, she will be announcing new state programs available to Iowans. On Wednesday afternoon, Reynolds touring three northwest Iowa cities hit by severe flooding last month. After a stop in Rock Valley, Reynolds told reporters she’s making lists of unmet needs, like housing. Reynolds said public infrastructure is still a major concern. Reynolds also visited Spencer and Sioux Rapids.

(Radio Iowa) – It’s been almost four years since a powerful derecho blasted across Iowa, causing some 11-billion dollars damage, and the rebuilding of our landscapes is still far from complete. The storm’s winds of up to 140-miles an hour wiped out millions of trees and a grant program is offering funds to help communities recover and replant. Ellie Jones is the Iowa D-N-R’s community disaster recovery coordinator, and she’s partnering with Trees Forever. “We lost a lot more trees than we can replace within a couple of years,” Jones says. “Between urban and non-urban areas, we lost over seven-million trees. We’ve had this grant program going on pretty much since the year after the derecho happened, but unfortunately, with the amount of funds that we have available and the sheer amount of recovery that needs to be done, it’s probably going to – hopefully – continue for the next 10 years as well.”

The Community Forestry Grant Program offers grants of between 500 and 10-thousand dollars to purchase and plant trees suitable to Iowa. “This is a grant that’s for public landowners,” Jones says. “Unfortunately, we’re not able to work with private landowners, especially with this grant, but if you are a public entity or work on behalf of a city, you can apply and you have to be in one of the 27 counties that were in the governor’s proclamation of disaster.” Unlike with previous grants, she says matching funds are -not- required from communities with this effort. Cedar Rapids was one of the worst-hit communities, losing more than half of its tree canopy to the derecho’s winds on August 10th of 2020. Jones says trees help to purify our waterways, and they filter out carbon and other harmful pollutants from the air. Trees also help to offset what’s known as the urban heat island effect.

“In cities, because there’s so little green space, they tend to be a lot hotter. Since we have these really high temperatures in our cities,” Jones says, “people are more prone to heat-borne illnesses and things of that nature. When we lost a lot of these trees in our urban areas, you’re making that problem worse and we’re not getting the benefits that those trees provided.” The deadline to apply is August 26th.

To apply, visit www.iowadnr.gov/urbanforestry

(Radio Iowa) – The State Transportation Commission discussed then approved a settlement with the city of North Liberty over a road grant that didn’t produce the jobs it promised. The D-O-T’s Deb Arp says the RISE grant was for three million dollars to construct a roadway and roundabout. “And this was contingent on the creation of 307 new jobs at an expanded GEICO national auto insurance claims processing processing facility within three years of project completion,” she says. The roadway opened, but the company did not add any new jobs. “Based on the RISE project settlement policy the city has agreed to a repayment of one-million-77-thousand-368 dollars,” Arp says.

This RISE grant was based on an immediate opportunity to help a business, but the grants can also be based on the potential of the roadway to open up an area for more development. Arp says the potential to help businesses in the future was considered in the North Liberty repayment. “There is still a lot of area that could develop ,so that roadway regardless of whether those jobs were created or not is still there and may assist development in the future,” Arp says. “So that’s why we kind of give them a credit.” Commission chair Sally Stutsman questioned why there weren’t any new jobs created. She says she doesn’t want to see that become something that happens with these grants. “It comes across to me as a way to get a road built to a business with no guarantees that that business is going to produce jobs. It just doesn’t sit well with me, I’m sorry,” Stutsman says.

Arp says each request undergoes a scoring process, but they sometimes do not end up producing the jobs they were expected to produce. “We’re assisting the city and the county who are doing you know I believe their their very best to to work with these local companies. You know sometimes things just don’t materialize. Did the city proceed in good faith? I think in most cases we think they do,” she says. She says the area where the roadway section was built has a lot of future potential to help with business expansion.

The settlement was approved at the Commission meeting Tuesday.

(Iowa News Service) – Health care experts are reminding Iowans to be careful in the summertime sun. From sunburns and bike safety to water accidents and sports injuries, they remind people sometimes virtual care is available and reduces the time to see a provider.

Dr. Donna O’Shea, chief medical Officer of population health for UnitedHealthcare, said the company provides various tips to staying safe in the sun but reminds Iowans it is important to pay close attention to danger signs when outside for an extended period of time in Iowa’s sometimes sweltering summertime heat and high humidity.

“There is such a condition as overheating and heatstroke,” O’Shea pointed out. “It’s important to recognize those signs early. The signs of overheating do include headaches, nausea or dizziness. And it can be especially important to watch children because their internal cooling systems aren’t fully developed yet.”

Iowa has escaped the deadly heat which had more than 36 million Americans under a warning in recent days, but temperatures are expected to reach into the mid-90s next week with higher humidity. O’Shea reminded people medical assessment for a variety of injuries is also available virtually, 24/7.

She noted virtual care can be crucial in the state’s rural areas where people often can’t make it quickly to an urgent care facility or for helping decide if they need care for less serious conditions. And it’s available 24/7. “If it’s related to hydration or heat stroke, if you’re able to keep fluids down, virtual care can help you determine how much, how long to wait before you go to the emergency room,” O’Shea explained. “Same thing even for sunburns or bike safety. Do I need to go in? Do you think I need stitches? We don’t think about that.”

O’Shea also reminded people to watch kids around water since drowning is the number one cause of death for children between the ages of one and four. The state health department said it is the leading cause of death by unintentional injury of young children in Iowa.