(Radio Iowa) — Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley learned this week he’ll become the Senate President Pro Tempore in January. It means he’ll be third in line to the presidency, behind the vice president and the speaker of the U.S. House. Grassley says it also means he’ll need to get used to having security detail around the clock. “It’s people I’d just as soon not have around me, but when you’ve got a constitutional responsibility and you’re in line to be a successor to the President of the United States, the law requires in some cases the security service, but more often the capitol police give you security,” Grassley said.

If elected to the position after the new Congress is sworn in, Grassley will become just the second Iowan to serve as President Pro Tem in the Senate. Albert Cummins was the 18th Governor of Iowa before serving in the U.S. Senate, where he was President Pro Tem between 1919 and 1925. The current President Pro Tempore of the Senate is Utah Republican Orrin Hatch. He plans to retire on January 3. “If you would look at the number of people in the last 100 years who have been President Pro Tem of the Senate, most of them have been the oldest member of the senate. In recent years, 80 or even 90-years-0ld when Strom Thurmond was President Pro Tem,” Grassley said. “I think that would apply to (Robert) Byrd when he was President Pro Tem and died here about 10 years ago. I think he was 92 at that time. So, I’m 85, I’m kind of a younger Pro Tem.”

This past week, Grassley also announced his intention to give up the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee to become chair of the Finance Committee.

(Thanks also to Michelle O’Neill, WVIK)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A former northeastern Iowa high school teacher arrested in April for being drunk at work has had his teaching license suspended. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported Friday that Daniel Reisner’s license was suspended for two years by the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners. He must complete at least 15 in-person class hours of an ethics course before his license is reinstated. He also received a written reprimand.

Reisner was arrested at West Central High School in Maynard by the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office after officials reported a teacher possibly under the influence of alcohol. Deputies determined he had a blood alcohol level above the legal limit to drive, and he was charged with first-offense public intoxication.

Numerous area law enforcement agencies are currently participating in a Special Traffic Enforcement Program, or STEP, from now through Nov. 25th.  Deputies and officers will be on the lookout for unsafe drivers, equipment and moving violations. The goal is to keep our roads as safe as possible over the Thanksgiving travel period. Authorities will be specifically on the lookout for seat belt violations, child restraint violations, speeders, reckless drivers and drivers under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety says “Whether you’re driving across the street or across the country to reach your Thanksgiving feast, it’s imperative to wear your seat belt as you travel.  Increased traffic brings an increased possibility of a traffic crash.”

SEAT BELTS WORK!

• Proper seat belt use reduces the risk of fatal injury to front seat passengers by 45 percent and the risk of moderate to serious injury by 50 percent.
• Males are more likely to be unbuckled than females in fatal crashes.
• Younger drivers are also at greater risk of being unbuckled.  The 13 – 15 age group had the highest percentage (62 percent) of occupants killed who were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash.
• If you are ejected from a vehicle in a crash, odds are that you will not survive.  In 2016, 8 out of 10 (81%) people who were totally ejected from vehicles were killed; only 1 percent of occupants wearing seat belts were ejected in fatal crashes.
• There were 4 Iowans killed in traffic crashes over the 2017 Thanksgiving weekend, a reduction of 2 from 2016.

Whether you’re a passenger or the driver, riding long distances or short, please buckle your seat belt.  Doing so ensures everyone arrives safely to their Thanksgiving destinations.  The Department of Public Safety and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau ask, “Won’t you wear yours?”  Your loved ones will be grateful.

(Radio Iowa) — The Wild Rose Casino in Jefferson will pay a 10-thousand dollar fine for an accounting error. The administrator of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, Brian Ohorilko, says the problem involved free plays given to casino customers. He says free gambling plays are taxed by the state up to a certain dollar amount. Ohorilko says Wild Rose made a mistake in figuring the amount of free plays that were subject to taxes. “The affect was that it cause the threshold for promotional play receipts and that tax credit to be reached prematurely by all of the casinos in the state of Iowa,” Ohorilko explains.

He says that led to issues for every state-licensed casino. “Even though the total dollar mount erroneously reported only ammounted to around 33-thousand dollars — it impacted the other 18 casino licensees and the state had to go back and collect gaming tax for each of those casinos,” Ohorilko says.

The Racing and Gaming Commission approved the fine at their meeting Thursday.

A pregnant woman and her 2-year old step son have died after the small SUV they were in was struck broadside by a full-size pickup northwest of Weldon, in southern Iowa’s Clarke County. The Iowa State Patrol says 22-year old Bethannie Rene Kennedy, of Osceloa, was driving 2004 Chevy Tracker, when the small SUV left its lane as it was traveling south on Highway 69 near the intersection with County Road H-50.

The vehicle was hit by a 2011 Chevy Silverado pickup that was traveling northbound on Highway 69. The accident happened a little after 6-p.m., Friday. Following the collision, the Tracker came to rest on its left side in the east ditch. Kennedy, and the child, Michael Dohrn, Jr., also of Osceola, died from their injuries the the hospital. The driver of the pickup, 71-year old Charles Le Roy Onyett, of Leon, was not injured. The accident happened a little after 6-p.m., Friday.