(Radio Iowa) – The president of the board that oversees the three state universities is stepping down from that post. Board of Regents President Mike Richards of West Des Moines announced Tuesday he will remain on the board until his term expires at the end of April, but is resigning as president. Richards issued a statement that said he is proud of the accomplishments of the Board in the seven years he has served, but did not give any reason for the timing of his resignation from leadership. Richards was appointed to the Board of Regents by then Governor Terry Branstad in 2016. President Pro Tem Sherry Bates will serve as interim President until a new leadership election is held at a future Board meeting.

(Radio Iowa) – You may be eligible for some help with your heating bill. The federally funded Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program or LIHEAP, partners with local agencies that will cut a check to utilities like MidAmerican Energy to lower the financial strain that comes with higher winter heating bills. Hawkeye Area Community Action Program spokesman, Chris Ackman, says applications have increased with the cold weather. The LIHEAP program doesn’t pay the entire heating bill, but it does free up some money in a household budget. Household income must be at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines for you to quality. For a household of three, their annual gross income must be 49-thousand dollars or less.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is being treated in a hospital for an infection. According to a statement from Grassley’s Senate office, Grassley is receiving antibiotic infusions at a hospital in the Washington, D.C. area. He is in good spirits, according to the statement, and will return to work as soon as possible following doctors’ orders. Grassley, who is 90, is the oldest currently serving member of the United States Senate. Grassley often posts on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, and several of his senate colleagues and Iowa elected officials have posted messages on the site, wishing him well.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A Page County man was arrested Tuesday evening in Red Oak, on a Red Oak Police Department warrant. Authorities say 33-year-old Nicholas Ryan Pruett, of Clarinda, was arrested in the 1100 block of N. 3rd Street, on the warrant for Violation of a No Contact/Protective Order – Contempt of Court. Ryan was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston report no one was injured after two vehicles collided at an icy intersection, Tuesday afternoon. Authorities say a pickup driven by 33-year-old Jessica Carter, of Creston, was traveling west on Devoe Street at around 4-p.m., and had attempted to stop at the intersection with Division Street, but her vehicle slid through the stop sign, due to the ice/snow covered road.

The pickup struck the right front side of a southbound 2016 pickup, driven by 28-year-old Erendira Ornelas, of Creston. Damage from the collision amounted to $2,500. No citations were issued. Both vehicles were able to be driven from the scene.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s top public health official says the governor’s plan to consolidate Iowa’s 13 mental health regions and 19 substance use treatment systems is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Iowa Department of Health and Human Services director Kelly Garcia spoke to legislators yesterday (Tuesday). “I really do believe today…that we’re at a bit of a call to action moment. That’s true nationally,” Garcia says. “The need for behavioral health services is outpacing what every state really is able to give at this point in time.”

Iowa Department of Health and Human Services director Kelly Garcia (official photo)

Under the governor’s proposal, seven behavioral health districts would be created. Marissa Eyanson is director of behavioral health at the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.  “Ultimately what we hear from many of our stakeholders is they are out there trying to do the very best work that they possible can, but find themselves tripping over each other because there’s a lack of clarity about, essentially, who’s on first?” she told lawmakers. “We can address that by building a comprehensive system that takes all of these pieces into account.”

State health officials say the new behavioral health system would get rid of redundancies, provide a clear way for Iowans to access services, and put unused funding toward unmet needs. The proposal is part of the state’s effort to reach a negotiated settlement to a class-action lawsuit that calls the state’s mental health care system for children inadequate, inaccessible and dysfunctional.

(Radio Iowa) – Forecasters say Iowa may not see temperatures above 32-degrees again for at least another week, and prolonged exposure to extreme cold can cause all sorts of havoc for our bodies — and for our cell phones.

Casey Brooks, manager of the US cellular store at Merle Hay Mall in Des Moines, says you may not know it, but there’s liquid inside our phones.

“What we’re really worried about with that is the lithium ion battery that’s contained inside any of those smartphones and they do contain liquid,” Brooks says. “When those batteries are put into extreme cold temperatures, the molecules shrink and that can cause potential issues for the battery life. The display, the buttons and everything can lag significantly.”

If you’ve been outside with your phone and the device is cold, Brooks says don’t try to use it until it warms up, or it may not be cooperative. “Once the phone gets back above that 32 degree mark, it’s going to start operating as normal, but that battery does have to warm back up to room temperature,” Brooks says, “and make sure you do that before you charge it.”

When it’s freezing outside, keep your phone close to your body. (Radio Iowa photo)

Many of us carry our phones virtually everywhere, but especially now, in case of emergency during this harsh winter. If you’re going to be exposed to the elements, Brooks says try not to use the phone while you’re out in the wind and cold.

“For carrying it, I would say keep it in a pocket close to your body,” Brooks says. “Your body is going to put off some body heat to keep that phone warm to prevent it from having that issue in the extreme cold. You can also put a case on that phone. That’s going to help give it one more layer of protection against the cold.”

Law enforcement encourages us to put the phone in the console or glove box while we’re driving to avoid being distracted by it, and Brooks says that’s a good idea, even in the chill.

“As long as the car is running, that should be fine,” Brooks says. “Those compartments would be heated as well, but once you turn the car off, or you’re leaving the vehicle, you’d want to take that device with you, if possible.”

She also recommends you keep your phone fully charged during the winter to avoid completely draining the battery. Taking along a portable charger may also be a good idea if you won’t be near a power source.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill that’s cleared a subcommittee in the Iowa House would make mug shots confidential in most cases, until a person is actually convicted or pleads guilty. Under the proposal, a mug shot could be released if the person is considered an imminent threat or if a judge decides to make it public.

Lisa Davis-Cook is a lobbyist for the Iowa Association of Justice, which represents trial lawyers. She says keeping most mug shot photos private would protect the reputations of people who are never found guilty. “There’s websites, there’s social media accounts that are littered with booking shots of people ‘the day after,’” Davis-Cook says. “Some of those people, the charges never go beyond that yet those pictures are out there in the public domain that can really harm them.”

Iowa House of Representatives (RI file photo)

Catherine Lucas of the Iowa Department of Public Safety says photos are important to distinguish between people with the same name. “All mug shots in Iowa have the disclaimer that the person is innocent until proven guilty,” Lucas says, “and we think the system, as is currently, works well.”

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures,  nearly a dozen states have passed laws either restricting the release of booking photos or prohibiting for-profit ‘mug shot’ websites from charging people to have their photos removed.

(Radio Iowa) – We are starting to slowly move out of the subzero temperature pattern the state has been in the last several days. National Weather Service Meteorologist Brooke Hagenhoff says temperatures across much of Iowa are already on the positive side.

“We’ll be in the low single digits this afternoon, here for Tuesday. So that will be warmer than we’ve seen the past few days,” she says. “Of course, at this point, everything’s relative based on how cold it has been.” She says they’ve we’ve transitioned the wind chill warning to a wind chill advisory that will last through Wednesday morning. Then we’ll have a small heat wave hit the state.

“We’ve got highs in the low 20s across a good portion of Iowa. So there’s our warm up. Unfortunately, that Wednesday warm up will be a little short lived. We’re going to be back into the freezer for Friday and Saturday highs in the single digits,” Hagenhoff says. The single digits will only last a couple of days.
“Sunday we’ve got highs in the 20s and by Monday and Tuesday we’ve got mid 30s across most of Iowa, so that’s whenever the real warm up starts to take place,” Hagenhoff says.

She says the warmer temperatures will help melt some of the snow that was part of the reason for the extremely cold temperatures. “It does a really good job of keeping us cold. Part of that is because it’s really reflective and so you get the sunshine on it and reflects that heat right back out. And so we don’t get as warm,” Hagenhoff says. “So we’ll have to overcome that a little bit here. Which is a reason that we tend to stay so cold once you get a snow pack like that. But the good news is it does still look like by early next week we should start to eat away at that snow pack.” She says we tend to get a these Arctic outbreaks a couple times each winter.