(Radio Iowa) — The legal age for buying nicotine-infused merchandise — including cigarettes and “vaping” products — would jump from 18 to 21 under a bill that has cleared its first hurdle in the Iowa Senate. Senate President Charles Schneider of West Des Moines is the Republican who’s sponsoring the bill.

“I’ve got two of the largest, if not the largest public high schools in my district and probably the largest private high school in my senate district and I’ve been hearing more and more from parents and teachers about kids in high school who are using, particularly, vape products,” Schneider said, “and that it’s becoming an epidemic.”

Senator Tom Shipley, a Republican from Nodaway who also supports the move, has a daughter who teaches middle school in West Omaha. “When I told her what I was thinking about doing, she said: ‘Oh, dad, you can’t believe it,'” Shipley said. “‘It’s just pervasive through this place. It’s just everywhere and most of their parents don’t even know they’re doing it. Here at school even.'”

Illinois and 10 other states have already raised the legal age for buying tobacco products. The move has the backing of the company that makes the nicotine pods called JUUL as well as traditional tobacco companies. Jeff Boeyink is a lobbyist for the parent company of Phillip Morris.

“Youth access to tobacco products primarily comes from their social access and their friends who happen to be of age, but they are not,” Boeyink says. “Moving from 18 to 21 removes most of this access out of the high school area, which is what we are trying to target here.”

The owners of the shops that sell E-cigarettes and vaping products oppose raising the nicotine purchasing age to 21. Sarah Linden, the C-E-O of Generation V, with shops in Council Bluffs, Davenport and five others in Nebraska, says  “You have to be 21 to buy alcohol. Thirty percent of teens drink alcohol, so if raising the age to 21 to buy alcohol didn’t fix teens drinking alcohol, it’s probably not going to fix teens vaping.”

Health advocacy groups ALSO oppose the bill. They want lawmakers to make the penalties for selling nicotine-infused products to minors tougher. They want an increase in the state’s tobacco tax AND they want the state to spend more on programs that help smokers quit. Danielle Oswald-Thole is with the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network. “Our goal is to improve upon the current bill and we are asking to be part of the solution,” she told senators.

She pointed to what she called “scary” statistics, like a 2018 survey that found 23 percent of 11th graders in Iowa had used an E-cigarette in the past month.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A storm system known as a “bomb cyclone” churned through the U.S. interior for the second time in a month, unleashing a blizzard that struck the Upper Midwest and creating hazardous fire conditions farther south. The storm knocked out power Wednesday to thousands of homes and businesses in South Dakota, disrupted air and ground travel from Colorado to Minnesota and threatened to swell rivers in the Midwest that flooded after March’s drenching.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — White House hopeful Kamala Harris has nabbed her first Iowa endorsement from a major state Democratic activist. Jean Hessburg is a former Iowa Democratic Party executive director and the current chair of the party’s Women’s Caucus. She tells The Associated Press that she’s endorsing the senator from California because “she’s tough, she’s got heart. She’s quick on her feet, she’s sharp as they come and great on all the issues.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The state House plans to consider a spending bill that would give Iowa Medicaid an additional $150 million to ensure all obligations are met for this year. The measure is scheduled for debate on Thursday, but critics of privatized Medicaid say it makes no sense that insurance companies claim they’re losing money in Iowa while the state continues to pump more money the program. UnitedHealthcare has said it’s leaving the program because it was losing millions.

UNDATED (AP) — A storm system known as a “bomb cyclone” churned through the U.S. interior for the second time in a month, unleashing a blizzard that struck the Upper Midwest and creating hazardous fire conditions farther south. The storm knocked out power Wednesday to thousands of homes and businesses in South Dakota, disrupted air and ground travel from Colorado to Minnesota and threatened to swell rivers in the Midwest that flooded after March’s drenching.

Atlantic School District Board meeting 4-10-19

The Atlantic School Board, Wednesday evening, held a Public Hearing on the 2019-2020 Certified Budget, during which there were no comments from the public. During their regular session that followed, the Board approved previously mentioned resignations, with the addition of Julie Livingston, Schuler Elementary/Middle School Special Education Teacher, and added contract recommendations for Ethan Pruisman as High School Vocal Music Director, along with Beth Schwarte, Preschool Summer School Teacher.

In his report to the Board, Superintendent Steve Barber said the Board will need to make an amendment next month to this year’s Certified Budget, for the “Other” category. He said there were a few expenses that were not budgeted for this school year, including: Work on fixing a sewage problem at Washington Elementary, paying for lighting for the High School Commons, replacing two small sections of the Middle School Auditorium roof, and replacing a bus transmission, along with some unforeseen technology expenses.

The school board voted to approve contracts with Snyder and Associates Engineers and FRK Architects, for the final plans and specifications pertaining to the District Facilities project. The timeline calls for those plans and specs to be presented to the Board during their meeting May 8th, at which time they are expected to set the bidding letting date as May 9th, and a Public Hearing for the week of May 13th. Bid letting is expected to occur 2-p.m. May 22nd. It’s expected construction would begin in June.

Barber said there is a strong desire to have the Washington portion of the project prior to the start of the first day of school, which requires expediting the bidding process. By doing so, they will be getting architect and possibly construction expenses before the District is able to sell the bonds. A Resolution next month will allow the District to use SAVE dollars to pay those expenses, which will be reimbursed once the bonds are sold.

Superintendent Barber said also, that in the next school year, they will be identifying one teacher in Kindergarten and one in First grade, who will be piloting a concept called “Looping.” Basically “looping” is having the same group of kids working with the same teacher for two-years. The identified KG teacher will be teaching 1st grade during the 2020-21 school year with the same group of kids. This year’s 1st grade Teacher would move back to Kindergarten during the 2020-21 school year.

The Board approved the Certified Budget, which calls for a levy of $14.72/$1,000 property valuation, a decrease of 5-cents from the original published amount. The assessed value in the district increased 3.03%, for a total of 36-cents less than last year, according to Mr. Barber.