(Greenfield, Iowa) – A public hearing is set to take place 9:15-a.m. Wednesday in Greenfield, on a proposed FY 2022 Budget Amendment. The hearing, followed by action on approving a Resolution and appropriations for the amendment, will occur during a regular weekly meeting of the Adair County Board of Supervisors, at the courthouse in Greenfield. The regular meeting begins at 9-a.m., and includes: A report from officials with the Southern Iowa Trolley, and COVID-19 updates & discussion – which includes ARPA proposal requests.

Auditor Mandy Berg will present/discuss the FY23 Proposed Maximum Tax Levy in Adair County, and set the date for a Public Hearing on the Proposal. And, County Engineer Nick Kaufmann will bring before the Board a 2022 Bridge Ratings Revised Resolution before he makes his regular report on department maintenance and activities.

The Adair County Supervisors will conclude with a FY ’23 Budget Work Session.

(Radio Iowa) – Democrats in the Iowa House and Senate are calling for a five percent increase in general state spending on Iowa’s K-through-12 public schools for the next academic year. House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst says the extra money is needed to reduce class sizes and raise salaries to keep teachers from leaving the profession.

“If Governor Reynolds has $300 million to put toward another corporate tax cut,” Konfrst says, “then there is room in our budget to invest $300 million for Iowa’s kids.” Republican Governor Kim Reynolds has proposed a corporate tax cut that would reduce corporate income taxes by 300-million dollars over the next five years. Republicans in the Iowa Senate have introduced a bill today (Tuesday), calling for a two-and-a-quarter percent increase in general state spending on public schools. Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls says Democrats also oppose the governor’s proposal to give state tax dollars to parents who move their child from a public to a private school.

“We believe that public education makes Iowa great, but Republicans want to give up on Iowa public schools and we believe that we cannot afford that,” Wahls says. Wahls and Konfrst made their comments during a virtual news conference. Iowa currently ranks 39th among the states in per pupil funding for K-through-12 schools, according to Wahls.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department has released a report on arrests. It’s been more than a month since the department released its last report. In their report issued Tuesday (Today), authorities said a man from Omaha was arrested Monday afternoon, following a welfare check at a residence in rural Crescent. The reporting party advised authorities a man showed up at his residence and said he had been shot at. The subject was shaken up but not injured. Upon further investigation, Pott. County Deputies arrested 27-year-old Simon Tongyik Chuar on charges that include Conspiracy with intent to deliver marijuana, Conveyance of contraband in or on the grounds of a correctional facility, and possession of a firearm or offensive weapon by a felon. He remains in the Pott. County Jail on a total of $15,000 bond.

A traffic stop at around 12-a.m., Monday, resulted in the arrest of 41-year-old Matthew Robert Strunk. The traffic stop took place on I-80 eastbound at mile marker 34, after a trucker advised he was following a car that was speeding up and slowing down on multiple occasions. The driver was also unable to maintain their lane, and traveled onto the rumble strips. After a Pott. County Deputy caught up with Strunk and pulled him over and began an investigation, Strunk was taken into custody for OWI/3rd or subsequent offense.

And, at around 12:40-p.m., Monday, an inmate at the Pottawattamie County Jail in Council Bluffs, 31-year Reginald Akeem Jackson, of Council Bluffs, was charged with Criminal Mischief in the 4th degree, after he admitted to damaging a sprinkler head in a jail cell. Jackson claimed he did it because he was nervous about going to court and “That’s how he expressed himself.” Damage to the sprinkler head was estimated at approximately $493.

And, an inmate at the Douglas County, Nebraska Jail was transported to Pott. County, via authority of a State of Iowa felony warrant. 32-year-old Bret M. Thomas was booked into the Pott. County Jail.

Davenport, Iowa – Officials with the U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa report 36-year-old Tristan Davis, of Burlington, was sentenced on January 28, 2022, to over 23 years in prison for his involvement in a drug conspiracy dating back to 2001. Davis is the last of eight defendants to be sentenced after they were charged in November 2019. Davis, who is originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, was sentenced to 280 months in federal prison. There is no parole in the federal prison system.

He was previously found guilty, along with Kendrick Page and Breon Armstrong, of Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances, which included ice methamphetamine and cocaine base (crack cocaine), after a jury trial in July 2021. At sentencing, the United States District Court Judge John Jarvey found Davis possessed a firearm related to his drug trafficking activities and maintained a house in Burlington to store, manufacture and distribute controlled substances.

At Davis’ sentencing, Judge Jarvey described the conspiracy as “a scourge upon Burlington and eastern Iowa.” He went on to say the conspiracy was responsible for “huge quantities of methamphetamine and other controlled substances over a very long period of time.” Davis was one of eight individuals from Burlington who were charged federally in November 2019, after the execution of numerous federal search warrants in Burlington, and elsewhere. In November 2021, eight men were federally charged with participating ina methamphetamine conspiracy after several federal search warrants were executed at Burlington residences.

Since 2019, 22 individuals from Burlington have been sentenced to federal prison, for their roles in trafficking meth in southeast Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill to restrict what topics some teachers may discuss in the classroom has failed in a House subcommittee and is tabled for the year. In addition to forbidding discussion of systemic racism, Republican Representative Sandy Salmon’s bill would have limited how social studies, government and history teachers could talk with students about current events or controversial topics. Nathan Arnold of the Professional Educators of Iowa raised concerns.

“In this day and age, the most innocent things can be considered controversial,” he said, “so to say teachers can’t teach controversial things would probably rule out just about everything, unfortunately.”

Other sections of the bill sought to prohibit students from lobbying legislators and would have prevented schools from accepting private donations to support any class or activity connected to civics.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans have until week’s end to nominate an unsung hero they know for statewide recognition. The Iowa chapter of the American Red Cross is asking to hear stories about people in our bigger cities and rural areas who’ve helped save or change lives for the better. Agency spokeswoman Emily Holley says the Heroes of the Heartland program honors ordinary people for doing extraordinary things. “This could be anyone, really,” Holley says. “It could be someone who decided to start a small nonprofit to help those in the community who are struggling. This could be someone who has saved a life. This could be a service member, a member of the police force or a firefighter who’s gone above and beyond the call of duty.”

Now in its 21st year, Holley says Heroes of the Heartland honors Iowans who have made a difference in the lives of others. “Last year, we honored — there were three friends who were playing soccer and one of them collapsed and had a heart attack,” Holley says. “His two friends saved his life using CPR and an AED, which is remarkable.” Other past recipients include: a pastor who collects and delivers food to the homeless, a neighbor who woke up a family when he saw their house was on fire, and a military officer who runs a suicide prevention service for current servicemen and women.  “It’s one of our favorite events because it really does shed light on people who are unsung heroes,” Holley says, “and they haven’t gotten the recognition that they deserve.”

The deadline to make a nomination is Friday at the website below. A recognition event is scheduled for March 29th in Des Moines.

https://www.redcross.org/local/iowa/about-us/news-and-events/events/heroes.html