(Radio Iowa) – Teaching a gender neutral version of Spanish, French or any other language would not be allowed in Iowa schools under a bill that’s passed a subcommittee in the Iowa House.

Republican Representative Bill Gustoff of Des Moines says it’s not about pronouns in the English language, but other languages have words in male and female versions. “If that’s part of the language, then teach the language,” Gustoff says, “but don’t rewrite an entire language to remove ‘el’ and ‘la’ and ‘o’ and ‘a’ as endings.”

Gustoff says he introduced the bill because a teacher told him they would be disciplined if they did not teach a gender neutral version of a language. Gustoff says the teacher asked not to be publicly identified and Gustoff is not revealing the district where the teacher works.

Tye Nyhus, a Spanish instructor in Des Moines, says teaching and using gender neutral pronouns in class is important for some students. “Kids that don’t use it will likely not remember it,” Nyhus says, “but those who do will remember the feeling of being seen for a lifetime.”

Europeans have been debating the use of nouns coded as masculine and feminine. The agency that oversees usage of the Italian language has come out against gender neutral terms. In November the French senate voted to ban the use of gender neutral terms in government documents.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Montgomery County District 5 Supervisor Donna Robinson announced at the end of the Supervisor’s regular meeting, today (Tuesday), that she will not be running for re-election this year. Robinson said four-terms is enough, and if anyone wishes to step-up and run for her seat, the filing deadline is March 22nd. March 4th is the first day for candidates to file nomination papers for the June 4th Iowa Primary, with March 22nd as the deadline. Each candidate must garner a certain number of signatures in order to be placed on the primary ballot. Anyone with questions should contact the Montgomery County Auditor’s Office at 712-623-5127. District 5 essentially includes the eastern one-third of Montgomery County.

Montgomery County Supervisor Donna Robinson (Official County photo)

In other business, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors received good news, with regard to the rate the County and its employees pay for health insurance premiums. Alera Group representative Tom Schuetz told the Board

Schuetz said that’s a roughly $40,000 increase.

He said unless there is a huge increase in claims across the board, the County should finish the fiscal year, and allow an additional cushion for the Reserve Fund.

Sagacity Benefits spokesman Steve Preader added the expects and $40-to 60,000 will be available to be added to the Reserve Fund.

The Board took no action on renewing the insurance plan at this time. They wanted more time to look over the information.

In other business, Montgomery County Engineer Karen Albert said with all the recent winter weather, she has not had time to contact applicants for the truck driver labor openings, but they hope to do so this week. And, the Supervisors approved a request for program support from West Central Community Action, in the amount of $3,500 for FY2025.

ESSEX, IA- Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO) recently implemented an Iowa West Foundation Home Repair Grant to help a rural Essex resident address some urgent needs, ultimately keeping her in the home.

Cynthia Samuel had some foundation issues that led to freezing pipes and in turn a deteriorating bathroom. She said she started searching for the possibility of funding to help her correct the issue and got connected with SWIPCO. After speaking with SWIPCO Inspector Mathew Lee, Samuel was quickly put on track to get some repairs. SWIPCO officials say they were able to help get Samuel approved for funding to repair the foundation cracks to prevent the temperature issues from continuing. Once that was corrected, updates were then made to the flooring structure and plumbing of her bathroom. That was followed by renovation and finishing of the entire room.Samuel said it was a blessing to find help, “I didn’t think I was going to be able to stay here with the continuing water issues. I started looking for other places to live. I’m so grateful for the work as I plan on staying here as long as I can.”

Photos of the completed bathroom project and of the resident; Cynthia Samuel in the updated room. (Photos & info. courtesy SWIPCO Communications Coordinator Chris Parks)

Samuel grew up in the area and moved away for an extended period. She came back to take care of her parents that both had cancer. She eventually purchased the home she’s in now.
Samuel had high praise for everyone she worked with during the repairs. “Mathew was so great to work with, we talked like we had been friends. The contractor was excellent and just came and took care of his business.” She liked the simplicity of the renovation. “They just sent me some pictures of a couple options on flooring and fixtures, and I picked what I liked out. They took care of the rest. I’m proud of it even though I didn’t do it.”

SWIPCO implements several different funding sources and programs to help residents in the region get needed repairs to their homes. If you have a need for your home and would like information about what assistance could be provided, please contact SWIPCO at 712-243-4196 or 1-866-279-4720.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education will hold a Work Session on Wednesday, Jan. 24th, beginning at 5:30-p.m. The meeting takes place in the High School Media Center (it will also be viewable through this LINK). The Board’s agenda is shown below.