UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Iowa (AP) — A city surrounded by Iowa City has banned racial and other types of profiling by police officers. The University Heights City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to adopt the ordinance. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that the ordinance is the first of its kind in Iowa. It requires anti-bias training for officers, funds the purchase of data collection and creates a complaint review board.

City officials say there are no cases involving profiling being investigated by the city, but they want to be ahead of the curve by passing the ordinance. University Heights has about 1,100 residents and sits on the southwest side of the University of Iowa in Iowa City.

(Radio Iowa) — Proposals being considered in the Iowa House and Senate would clarify who gets to be governor AND lieutenant governor if there’s a vacancy. Senator Roby Smith of Bettendorf says the plan is good insurance for the state. “When you buy insurance, you hope you never have to use it,” Smith said. “This is something that’s insurance that we’re putting in the state constitution. I hope we never have to use it, but it’s there…if we need it or the next generation needs it.”

Questions arose when Terry Branstad resigned nearly 20 months ago and Kim Reynolds took over as governor. Iowa’s attorney general ruled Reynolds did not have authority to name a new lieutenant governor. Pete McRoberts worked for Governor Chet Culver a decade ago and he’s been working with legislators since last year to craft a constitutional response. “This is obviously not something that is limited to any one governor, but the good news is when questions like this gets in the news, constitutional defects and constitutional opportunities become very obvious,” McRoberts says.

A year ago legislators overwhelmingly endorsed a proposed constitutional amendment on the topic, but the secretary of state failed to publish the plan in newspapers last fall, which is required by law. Senator Smith is working to change that. “In general, if a secretary of state does not want a constitutional amendment to go on to the voters, he or she could just pocket it and not publish it in the newspaper,” Smith says. “I don’t think that’s what we wanted when we set this up years ago.”

Smith envisions having a non-partisan legislative agency submit proposed constitutional amendments to newspapers for publication AND have the proposals posted online. 2022 is the earliest THIS constitutional amendment about gubernatorial succession could be voted upon by Iowans.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former Attorney Gen. Eric Holder said Tuesday he is in the final stages of deciding whether to seek the 2020 Democratic nomination for president and plans to decide in about a month.
“I’m going to sit down with my family very soon and decide whether this is something we’re going to seek,” Holder told reporters after headlining a voting rights forum at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
Holder met privately with Democratic legislative leaders to discuss voting rights and legislative redistricting, key areas of Holder’s concern, before the 90-minute back-and-forth with former Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Marsha Ternus.

Asked by reporters whether there is a place for him in a Democratic field that already includes nine declared candidates and many others exploring the race, he said, “I’m going to decide whether I’m going to try to find that space in the next month or so.” Holder said he has met with former President Barack Obama, in whose administration he served from 2009 to 2015, to discuss a presidential candidacy.

Holder, the nation’s third longest-serving attorney general, has been active since leaving the Justice Department four years ago. As chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, Holder has sued states over voting rights issues and legislative redistricting.

Police in Council Bluffs were called at around 3:46-p.m., to assist paramedics at 43 Wenwood Drive. Upon arrival, officers learned there was a man inside the residence needing both medical and psychological care. He had barricaded himself in the house and was in possession of firearms. Emergency Services Team (EST) and Crisis Negotiators were called in to assist.

Negotiators spoke with the man on the phone for roughly two and a half hours before he peacefully surrendered. He was then taken to a local hospital for evaluation. Due to his needs being medical in nature, authorities are not releasing his identity at this time.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:35 a.m. CST

OSCEOLA, Iowa (AP) — South-central Iowa authorities are investigating after dozens of head of cattle were found starved to death on property near Osceola. The Des Moines Register reports that the farmer who was supposed to be caring for the cattle could face charges. The Clarke County Sheriff’s Office says about 40 to 50 dead cattle were found Friday on a property about 4 miles west of Osceola. Chief Deputy Lucas Darby says a local veterinarian told authorities the animals appeared to have starved to death.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa has repaid $1,900 to the Office of Tax and Revenue after a newspaper questioned her about a tax break she had been claiming on her condo in Washington for years. The Des Moines Register, which brought the issue to Ernst’s attention, reports that she wrote a check to the agency’s Washington, D.C. office last week. An Ernst spokesman says the homestead tax credit claim was made in error and immediately returned when it was brought to the senator’s attention.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says she favors current state law that requires gun holders to obtain a permit but is monitoring a legislative proposal to eliminate the requirement to obtain a permit to buy or carry a handgun. Reynolds, when asked Tuesday about the bill moving its way through the Senate committee process, said she was in the Senate when she voted for the 2010 bill that updated the state’s gun permit process, which includes background checks and requires weapons training.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa House has approved an education funding measure that provides a 2 percent increase in state per-pupil funding for the budget year beginning in July. The bill approved Monday night would boost per-pupil support from the state general fund to nearly $3.3 billion, but education advocates say at least a 3 percent increase is needed to keep up with inflation. The Senate hasn’t yet approved an education funding bill.