IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Back in 2007, Iowa lawmakers learned that their state had the nation’s highest disparity for sending blacks to prison. So they took a novel step. They passed a law requiring analysts to draft “racial impact statements” on any proposals to create new crimes or tougher penalties. The statements were intended to help project how the measures might affect minority communities before any votes were cast.

A review by The Associated Press shows that the first-in-the-nation law appears to be having a modest effect. The statements have helped defeat some legislation that could have exacerbated disparities and provided a smoother path to passage for measures deemed neutral or beneficial to minorities.

Similar proposals have been adopted in Connecticut and Oregon. And more are likely to surface this year in other states.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The acting commissioner of the Iowa Department of Public Safety is telling employees they must behave professionally while off-duty or face consequences. Roxann Ryan told troopers and agents in an email Tuesday that missteps in their private lives can reflect poorly on their credibility and undermine the public’s trust. The note comes after two high-profile incidents involving supervisors who showed poor judgment while off-duty.

Capt. Ken Clary was caught speeding in November outside of Des Moines while driving a vehicle for a nonprofit. A trooper let him go, but he was ticketed this month for driving 92 in a 70-mph zone after the incident became public.

Lt. Kelly Hindman is facing a review after writing on Facebook that he wished a sniper would shoot an ESPN announcer in the head.

Officials with the Cass County Health System (CCHS) say several scholarships are available to area students through CCHS and its affiliate organizations:
• Cass County Health System offers a $1,000 scholarship to southwest Iowa students pursuing a four-year degree in a health-related career. Deadline is April 1, 2015.
• Cass County Memorial Hospital Auxiliary provides two $1,000 Grant-in-Aid scholarships for students pursuing a health-related career. Deadline is March 31, 2015.
• Cass County Memorial Hospital Foundation offers two $5,000 Louie and Elsie Hansen Memorial scholarships for graduates of a Cass County high school who will be attending a medical or nursing school leading to an MD, RN, or LPN degree. Deadline is April 1, 2015.

Applications are available on the Cass County Health System website, www.casshealth.org, and can be turned in to the Human Resources Office or Cass County High School guidance offices by the respective deadlines listed above. For more information, contact Sara Nelson, Director of Public Relations, 712-243-7408.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is temporarily closing the River Valley Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Park in Pottawattamie County. The 360-acre park, located along the Missouri River, has a large number of cottonwood trees that are dying from repeated flood exposure over the last five years. The dying and falling trees have become a safety concern for the general public who visit the area for OHV recreation, the River Valley Trails Riders OHV Club, who maintains the park, and the DNR.

An evaluation of the trees in the park has been completed, and the resulting forestry plan will be implemented, beginning with a public hearing, followed by removal and sale of identified trees. David Downing, DNR Off-Highway Vehicles Program Manager, says “The goal of this process for both the DNR and the River Valley Trail Riders is to open the park as soon as it is safe to do so,and provide for the long-term sustainability of the park and its trail system.”

According to Downing, the DNR is doing everything possible to have the OHV park open at the earliest date and provide the safest recreational riding conditions.

The Atlantic Ambassadors paid a visit recently, to the Kiwanis Club of Atlantic, to celebrate 100 years of Kiwanis International. According to Steve Green, Kiwanis Lieutenant Governor, the club is dedicated to serving children and youth in the community through ongoing programs such as free bike helmets and safety classes to Atlantic 3rd graders, water safety for kindergarten classes, books for the Public Library and kindergartners, and teddy bears to the hospital and law enforcement. These are only a few of the programs, activities and events supported by the Kiwanis Club of Atlantic.

(Pictured: Janice Brown, Charlene Johnson, Jim Casson, Steve Green, Deb Schuler, Pete Tallman, Laura Bacon & Eric Gunderson. Christie Boysen, Jayme Farver, Sue Muri, Amy Coenen, Pat McCurdy, Diane Gipple, Arlene Drennan, Bill Saluk, Carol Seddon, Jolene Roecker, Tammy Waters, Dolly Bergmann, Betty Marcellus, Karla Akers, Lana Westphalen and Debbie Leistad. Ed Leistad, Jamey Parks, Ouida Wymer, Chip Hansen, Crystal Christensen, Keith Leonard, B.J. Hart, Melanie Petty, Russ Joyce, Don Johnson, Dave Schwab, Carol Schuler, Lucas Mosier, Jeff Nelson and Chelsea Amundson.)

The Audubon Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance with regard to a hit and run accident that occurred on the evening of Sunday the 18th on Broadway Street, near Ace Hardware in Audubon. Authorities say an unknown dark navy blue vehicle struck a parked car causing over $5000 damage.

The police department is asking for any assistance in identifying any vehicle with this color that would have been parked in the area on this evening between 4-pm and 10-pm, and ask that if anyone witnessed this incident to please contact the Audubon Police Department at 712-563-2500.

The Audubon Police Department today (Wednesday) released a report on recent arrests. On Tuesday, 28-year old Jared Dewayne Joyce of Audubon, was arrested for Attempted Burglary-Third Degree and Trespassing. Joyce was transported to the Audubon County Jail where he was held to see a magistrate.

And on Sunday, police in Audubon arrested 31-year old Donovan Eugene Harris of Boone, for Violation of a No Contact Order. Harris appeared before a magistrate and was released on promise to appear. That same day, 33-year old Joshua Lee Larsen, of Audubon, was arrested for Driving With A Suspended License. Larsen was then released on promise to appear.

Senator Joni Ernst says she’ll “have to give more consideration” to the president’s request that congress approve continued military action against Islamic State militants in the Middle East. “I want to make sure that he is using that authority appropriately in responding to those threats,” Ernst said. Obama made the request for a vote in congress to back the air campaign against the Islamic State last night (Tuesday), during his “State of the Union” address.

Ernst, the first female combat veteran in the U.S. Senate, delivered the Republican response to Obama’s “State of the Union” speech last night and talked in general about terrorist threats. This morning, during a conference call with Iowa reporters, Ernst was asked whether she would vote to authorize the use of U.S. military force against the Islamic State. “I would have to put more consideration into that,” Ernst told reporters. “…I think that if there is an imminent threat out there that certainly congress would rally around the president. I don’t doubt that.”

In early September there were calls back then for congress to vote on whether the U.S. should strike against Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria and Ernst, who was a candidate at the time, said Obama hadn’t presented congress and the American people with enough information about the operation. Ernst said four months ago that if she became a senator, she’d review the intelligence reports that members of congress receive and determine whether the U.S. has a “clear objective” in the region.

The president is also asking the new congress to resist passing legislation that would impose additional sanctions against Iran. Ernst says she wants Iran to understand that their nuclear ambitions “are not welcome” and she argues new sanctions would send that message. “I am of the school of thought we need to show Iran that we are serious about this,” Ernst says. “And I would like to see additional pressure coming from congress saying: ‘You know what, Iran? We have delayed, delayed, delayed and we need you to come to plate and we need you to follow up.'” Last week British Prime Minister David Cameron called on U.S. senators to put a halt their talk about additional sanctions against Iraq, but the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding a hearing today (Wednesday) on the issue.

Ernst says she understands negotiations have reached a critical stage, but she says Iran needs to understand there will be “very serious consequences” if they don’t reach a deal soon. “There are others that are of a different school of thought…They just really want to handle this with kid gloves, I understand that and I understand we need to negotiate in good faith,” Ernst says. “But at the same time, we need to let Iran know that their nuclear ambitions are not welcome.”

A bill drafted for Ernst and other senators to consider would reimpose sanctions that were suspended during negotiations if a deal isn’t reached by July 6th and, each month after that, more sanctions would be added.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad’s administration says he wants to hire a privately managed care company or set of companies to help run Iowa’s Medicaid program. Branstad spokesman Jimmy Centers says more coordinated care would better serve patients and lower costs. The Des Moines Register reports the system could be implemented by the start of 2016.

Branstad’s office projects the state would save more than $50 million in the first six months of the program. Additional information is not available about how those savings would be reached. Rep. Dave Heaton, a Republican from Mount Pleasant, is co-chairman of the main legislative committee overseeing health care programs. He says Branstad has the authority to make the change without a vote in the Legislature.

More than 560,000 Iowans are covered under Medicaid.

Small Iowa towns that would benefit from tearing down or sprucing up vacant buildings can get help from the state. Communities with a population of five-thousand or fewer residents can apply for a derelict building grant application through the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Scott Flagg is coordinating the project. “The program works with communities that are either looking to deconstruct, remove the building selectively or renovate the building,” Flagg says. “Just recently, we had a project in Glidden that renovated an old building and turned it into a health and wellness center for the local citizens there.”

Flagg says there’s usually at least a dozen Iowa communities that apply to split the funding every year. “We had 13 last year and usually we get around 40 applications submitted each round,” Flagg says. “The committee is able to fund between 13 and 20 projects depending on how much money we have available.”

The deadline to apply is February 27. A committee will select the projects for funding from the Iowa D-N-R, Iowa Society of Solid Waste Operations, Iowa Recycling Association, Iowa Economic Development Authority and Keep Iowa Beautiful. Learn more by visiting www.iowadnr.gov and putting “derelict” in the search window.

(Radio Iowa)