Iowa Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds says a tight state budget could keep efforts to expand the state’s school choice program from happening this year. “This has been a very, very difficult budget this year, I think it’s going to be very hard to do this year,” Reynolds says. She says the legislature as look at a variety of issues from providing flexibility in different areas that have impact districts across the state. The governor has already had to make a couple of cuts in the current budget and that means the establishment of an education savings fund to help families pay for private education may have to wait.

“We’re working with the Legislature, you know it’s been a tough budget year and we’re looking at a tough budget year in ’18, we start to pull out of it in ’19. So, they’re going to continue to look at those areas,” Reynolds says. ” It’s the art of what’s possible in a really tight budget.” Reynolds made those comments after a meeting Iowa Board of Education.

During that meeting, board member Mary Ellen Miller of Mason City told Reynolds that state legislators talked with them about an emphasis on private education and she asked what kind of commitment the state should be making to public education. “I think we are making it every single day by trying to provide educators with the tools that they need to be successful, I think we’ve done that with the T-L-C, by creating a system where teachers and educators can collaborate and work together,” Reynolds says. “By working on the early warning assessment that you talked about — which is again giving teachers the tools to identify where their students are at –so they can adjust the strategies and help them get to proficiency and beyond.” But Reynolds says she also supports parents having choice.

“You know, we need both. We need strong public schools, and we also shouldn’t be afraid of giving parents the opportunity to choose where they send their student,” Reynolds says. Reynolds says she’s the product of public education in Iowa, and her daughter is a teacher, so she wants public education to remain strong too.

(Radio Iowa)

Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Seivert says the recent rain the county has received is great, but a little wind and sunshine will rapidly dry out dead grasses in the area, therefore, the County remains in a “Moderate” Fire Danger throughout the upcoming weekend. Seivert advises businesses and local fire stations should keep their fire danger signs in the Moderate category through the weekend.

Property owners considering a controlled burn should notify their local fire chiefs. Seivert says “As things turn more green, the danger does lessen, but for now there remains a risk. Exercise caution when burning and don’t let the recent rain fool you!”

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reports the Clarinda Police Department is filing numerous complaints against two juveniles who absconded from the Clarinda Academy early Saturday morning, March 25th. The juveniles ages 17 and 15 are being charged with one count of felony second degree burglary for breaking and entering an occupied home at 722 S. 22nd St. and stealing a 2000 Buick Lesabre from the garage. The pair are also being charged with felony burglary and theft for entering a garage at 115 S. 19th St and stealing miscellaneous personal property and tools.

The two juveniles are also accused of breaking into a garage at 415 W. Main Street and stealing various items of personal property, and they charges of burglary and theft in connection with a motor vehicle that was parked in the 300 block of North 19th Street. The juveniles were apprehended later Saturday morning, March 25th in Otoe County, Nebraska by Otoe County Deputies.

The 2000 Buick was recovered along with numerous items of personal property stolen from the garages and vehicle. One of the juveniles is currently being held in the Polk County, Iowa Juvenile Detention Center and the other in the Sarpy County, Nebraska Juvenile Detention Center.

All complaints against the two-juvenile alleging commission of various crimes/delinquent acts will be forwarded to Page County Juvenile Court Services and the Page County Attorney’s Office for review and formal charging decisions.

A western Iowa man who made extra money years ago pumping and hauling liquid manure for area farmers now runs a multi-state ag business with 60 employees. Ben Puck, the C-E-O of Puck Custom Enterprises, is being named the Iowa Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Puck’s company is based in the Carroll County town of Manning. “We build and manufacture equipment for the livestock industry,” Puck says, “manure application and nutrient application for the state and for surrounding states.”

Puck launched the venture with his brother in 1979. As business grew, Puck designed ways to improve the manure application process and now holds five patents for his inventions. His company’s equipment is now being used on hundreds of farms across the region. “We’ve really only been formally building equipment for a little bit less than ten years for sale to the market,” Puck says. “We brought a lot of the things that we learned in the previous years to market so we could better help everyone else’s efficiency to get this job done every year.”

P-C-E’s primary focus now is designing, building and selling equipment for manure management. All four of Puck’s adult children work for the company in diverse roles ranging from engineering to graphic design to marketing. The 57-year-old says he’s had to diversify himself, too. Puck says, “My job has changed quite a bit from being the guy that pumps cesspools to the guy that now tries to understand what a CEO is all about.”

Puck will represent Iowa during National Small Business Week ceremonies held in Washington D.C. the week of April 30th. He’ll compete for the National Small Business Person of the Year Award.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A fast-moving Iowa bill would eliminate the public’s right to access 911 calls involving emergencies in which people are injured, sealing key information about public safety. The House has approved the measure and a Senate committee will discuss it Thursday.

The bill declares that 911 calls involving injured victims are medical records and exempt from Iowa’s open records law. That means authorities’ initial response to shootings, stabbings and many other incidents would face less scrutiny.

Calls involving juveniles would all be confidential. GOP Rep. Dean Fisher says the legislation comes in response to the release of 911 calls to The Associated Press last year that exposed a string of gun accidents in Tama County that killed two teens and injured a third. Fisher says medical privacy outweighs the public’s right-to-know.

Texting while driving would be treated like driving drunk in a case of vehicular homicide under a bill that’s advanced in the Iowa House. Representative Zach Nunn of Bondurant says “What this bill makes very clear to the courts is that drunk driving and distracted driving are on the same plane.”

Nunn cites a Fort Dodge case as inspiration for the bill. A 21-year old man was sentenced to probation and no prison time after his texting caused a crash that killed 56-year-old David Castenson and 85-year-old Velma Castenson. “David and his 85-year-old mother were going into Fort Dodge when they were struck by a man who, while on his phone, blew through the rumble strips, blew through the stop sign, showed no signs of braking and no signs of hesitation before colliding with that vehicle,” Nunn says.

By law, vehicular homicide applies if it’s clear the driver showed reckless disregard for safety. The sentencing judge in that Fort Dodge case said there was no evidence of malice and he chose probation for the accused man instead of a 20-year prison sentence. Nunn says this bill spells out that using a hand-held electronic device qualifies as reckless disregard in such cases and the accused texting driver would be charged with a Class C felony.

The bill is part of a package of recommendations from the Iowa Impaired Driving Coalition.

One person was injured during an ATV rollover accident Wednesday afternoon, in Shelby County. The Sheriff’s Office says 57-year old Galen Grabill was found by deputies beside an ATV that rolled over into a ditch, as Grabill was engaged in farming activities. A passing motorist noticed the accident scene northeast of Harlan near 1214 Redwood Road, and notified authorities. The accident was discovered just before 3-p.m.

Grabill was transported to Myrtue Medical Center for treatment of unknown injuries. Shelby County Sheriff’s Deputies were assisted at the scene by crews with Medivac Ambulance and the Harlan Fire Department.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office says a Creston man was arrested Wednesday night at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a warrant for Failure to Appear in court on an original charge of assault while displaying a dangerous weapon.  23-year old Michael Steven Cox was being held in the Union County Jail on $2000 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An 88-year-old convicted sex offender accused of grabbing an Iowa state mental hospital worker has been found unfit to stand trial. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that results from an evaluation of William Cubbage were turned over to a judge Tuesday. The case is expected to be put on hold while experts try to return him to competency.

He’s charged with assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. Authorities say Cubbage grabbed the worker between the legs in January 2016 while she was showering him at the hospital in Independence.

Cubbage was convicted of numerous sex crimes from 1987 through 2000. He gained notoriety after he was accused in 2011 of molesting a 95-year-old woman at a Pomeroy nursing home, where state officials placed him without notifying other residents.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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