(Radio Iowa) – The president of the Iowa State Association of Counties says county officials are hoping the state legislature makes changes in the 2023 law that capped property tax assessments. Barry Anderson, a Republican from Greenville, is a member of the Clay County Board of Supervisors.

Under the law, county officials must abide by limits on the general property tax levy as well as the levy for rural services.

Officials in about a dozen counties say their county’s share of money from the state’s Road Use Tax Fund is being reduced because of the new property tax calculations. Anderson says he hopes discussions with state lawmakers can be less adversarial, so changes can be made in 2025.

Anderson made his comments during a recent episode of “Iowa Press” on Iowa P-B-S. The 2023 state law says if the total assessed value of property in a county grows by more than three percent, some of the excess revenue must be used to reduce that county’s main property tax levy. In 2024, lawmakers reduced the required property tax cut in counties where growth in property tax assessments was under six percent.

(Radio Iowa) – Dozens of military veterans on motorcycles are riding from west to east on Highway 20 in northern Iowa today in an effort to voice concerns about their brothers and sisters in uniform who are struggling with mental health. Veteran and rider Matt DeSario says 22 veterans die by suicide daily in this country and they’re staging these rides to raise awareness. “This specific trip is riding from Casper, Wyoming,” DeSario says, “with a group of veterans from Kansas who rode up from Kansas, spent a day in Casper, Wyoming, and then now is traveling to Milwaukee where the Harley Davidson Museum will be sort of the finish line for this caravan.”

DeSario says the goal is to encourage others to get involved nationwide by showing veteran appreciation by Americans for Americans. He notes the near-900 mile route was chosen very specifically and the motorcyclists are adding to their numbers as they go. “Any bikers who want to join, any members of the general public who want to ride with us, whether they’re on a motorcycle or not, everyone is welcome,” “or if they just want to set up shop along Highway 20, it’s the Medal of Honor Highway, of course.”

Today’s portion of the trek across Iowa is 333 miles. They should reach Milwaukee tomorrow. Learn more about the journey and the motivations HERE.

(Radio Iowa) – A northwest Iowa art gallery is one of just three national stops for a traveling exhibit of over 40 paintings by international artists. The American Watercolor Society debuted the works in New York City in April before they were shipped to the Le Mars Arts Center. Nancy Thoma, president of the Arts Council in Le Mars, says it’s an amazing array. “There’s something for everyone in this exhibit. You don’t have to be an art lover or even an art appreciator to come in there and know that there was some major talent that produced some of these pieces,” she says. “You just wonder: ‘How did they do that?'”

The artworks will be on display in Le Mars through July 14th before being shipped to a museum in California. The traveling exhibit’s final stop will be early next year in Florida. Draven Haegs is the recently hired director of the Le Mars Arts Center. “To be perfectly honest, it’s a little bit daunting coming in and my first exhibit is this massive, prestigious organization that I studied a bit in college, so it’s an interesting exhibit to be a part of,” he says, “but it’s also one that I’m also so ecstatic to be a part of.”

The American Watercolor Society was founded in 1866. Famed artists Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth were members of the group, which holds an annual exhibition. The traveling exhibit’s opening this week in Le Mars is happening during the community’s annual “Ice Cream Days” celebration.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – [UPDATED) Officials with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the circumstances surrounding an incident of homicide that occurred in Runnells, early this (Friday) morning. A little after 1-a.m., the Polk County Communications Center received a 911 call about a shooting at 4532 SE 116th Street, in Runnells. Deputies arrived on the scene and made entrance into the residence, where they located a man who was deceased.

The man has been identified as 50-year-old Richard David Selby, of Runnells. A suspect was identified during the investigation. 35-year-oldm Jacob Cole Harbold,of Des Moines, was booked into the Polk County Jail Friday morning on a first-degree murder charge.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – One in four Iowa students was chronically absent from school during the 2021-22 school year, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. According to the Iowa Capital Dispatch, officials hope a tiered approach to the problem will encourage school-wide attendance and remove any barriers to attendance. They also hope additional investments in Iowa schools will counter the growing trend.

Executive Director of Student Services at Dubuque Community School District Shirley Horstman, said her district uses a three-tiered approach to improve attendance school-wide:

• The first tier is aimed at all students and encourages schools to lay out a clear school schedule, recognize good attendance and establish the benefits of attendance.
• The second tier is for students absent for 5% to 10% of the school year. Schools will reach out to the parents of those students and look for ways to remove any obstacles to regular class attendance.  If it’s a transportation issue, the school may help the parents set up a local carpool, teach students how to use city buses or recommend having an older sibling walk them to school, according to Horstman.
• The third tier is for chronically absent students who miss more than 10% of school days. For those students, schools will set up a more formal conversation with parents and create an attendance agreement outlining joint efforts to improve attendance.

Missing that much school puts students at an educational disadvantage, said Anne Discher, executive director of Common Good Iowa, which helped with the report. “Once you get behind, it’s hard to get caught up,” she said. Discher said chronic absenteeism rates have grown across the nation since the pandemic. Iowa’s rate of chronic absenteeism of 26% is better than the national average of 30%, but both rates are still higher than the pre-pandemic national average of 16%.

Fourth-grade students who never missed a day of school scored proficient or above proficient in reading 40% of the time compared to 14% for students who missed ten or more days, according to the report. It’s not just grades that are impacted by constant absences, Discher said. A 2012 John Hopkins University study tracking Rhode Island students for seven years found that chronically absent students were more than twice as likely to get suspended or repeat a grade.

The increasing absenteeism rates negatively affect those who regularly attend class as well. Students in high-absence classrooms are more likely to have lower test scores, according to the report. Students who experience instabilities at home such as divorce, domestic violence or substance abuse are more likely to be chronically absent, according to the report. Students facing such issues are also more likely to repeat a grade and be indifferent to succeeding academically.