(Radio Iowa) – Inspectors from the Iowa Department of Agriculture partnered with a local shelter to hold an informational session on state standards for pet breeders in rural southeastern Iowa Wednesday. An analysis of U-S-D-A puppy mill citations showed Iowa led the nation in 2022 for the number of violations. One violation from this year that came up at the seminars was a Riverside breeder who had 131 dogs seized. State Representative Dave Jacoby of Coralville says he was surprised by the citations that breeder already had. “What shocked me even more was this puppy mill has gotten three other citations,” Jacoby says.

Jacoby is hoping to strengthen regulations governing commercial breeders during the new legislative session in January. Darlene Olshansky was on her couch when she first heard about a puppy mill bust and Iowa City Shelter needed help. She says the people who went to get them were bringing out crates full of dogs. Olshansky says dogs are still dealing with the impact of inhumane treatment. “It took a lot of work and is still taking a lot of work to get these dogs to trust,” she says.

Iowa accounted for 36 percent puppy mill violations in 2022.

(Radio Iowa) – Former President Donald Trump is urging his supporters to guard against complacency after a recent poll found his lead in Iowa is growing.  “Sometimes, you know, you’re leading by so much, they say: ‘Oh, I think let’s sit home and watch a movie or we’ll watch the results afterwards,'” Trump said. “You don’t want to do that. You’ve got to get out and vote.”

During an event in Coralville last (Wednesday) night, Trump cited the Des Moines Register/N-B-C News/Mediacom “Iowa Poll” which found him leading his closest rival by 32 points. “The more we win by, the more we have a voice. Think of it that way. You’ve got to get out and vote, even if you think we’re going to win. Who knows? You know, sometimes polls are wrong, but that would be record setting, quite frankly,” Trump said, with a laugh, “but you’ve got to get out and vote, vote and then we worry about November. You know, do one thing first.”

Trump calls his 2024 campaign a righteous crusade that will be advanced by a powerful margin of victory in the January 15th Iowa Caucuses. Trump’s speech lasted for nearly an hour and 15 minutes. He reviewed his record and campaign promises and repeated his criticism of Republicans who are backing his G-O-P rivals. “What’s with these politicians, right? What’s with these politicians?” Trump asked.

And Trump singled out New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu who endorsed Nikki Haley Tuesday. “It’s meant nothing,” Trump said. “People are wise to this stuff, you know?

Before the speech, Trump met with some of the Iowans who’ve volunteered to be Caucus captains in their precincts. Trump will return next week for a similar “commit to caucus” event in Waterloo, a signal his current Iowa Caucus campaign is dedicating more resources to identifying Iowa Caucus goers and ensuring they participate on January 15th.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – the Atlantic School District’s Board of Education, Wednesday, approved the hiring of an additional ELL (English Language Learner) Teacher. Board member Josh McLaren said the action item was “Pretty self explanatory…the evidence is right there (referring to a document showing the increase in ELL students the District is experiencing), and they’re still coming. I’m mean, we’ve got more already this year than all of last year.”

Superintendent Beth Johnsen said “If you talk to the Principals, I think they would be able to say five-to 10 new students, just in the last month.”  Washington Elementary School Principal Stacey Hornung said she just finished testing a student that came from Central America…we also had another one [that] just started First Grade,” that knows “no English at all.”  Hornung said “Either way, it’s challenge to try and make it work for all of our kids.”

Atlantic School Board mtg., 12-13-23 (Zoom image)

On a somewhat related note, the Atlantic School Board approved submitting a request to the School Budget Review Committee (SBRC), for a modified supplemental amount of $8,398.50, related to the English Language Learning (ELL) program, for students who have exceeded five-years of weighting, that are included on the Fall 2023 Certified Enrollment headcount. Separately, they approved authorizing the district’s administration to submit a request to the SBRC (School Budget Review Committee), for a modified supplemental amount of $93,910.50, due to an increase of certified enrollment from the prior year.

And, the Atlantic School Board approved a change to the school calendar, allowing for two-hour early dismissal on the last day before the Christmas Break (Dec. 22nd) instead of a full, regular day. The move is designed to give families some additional time to prepare for any trip or celebrations they may have planned.

The Board approved also, the resignations of: Cole Lowary – Grounds/Facilities; Allison Spieker, Schuler Elementary Paraeducator (effective 12/22/23), and Caroline Pellett, 7th Grade Softball Coach; and Contract Recommendations for: Emma Maassen-Thies, Communications Specialist; Charisma Burg, Washington Elem. Para, replacing Taylor Jones, and, Summer Sport Coaches.

DAVENPORT, Iowa – A Davenport man was sentenced yesterday to 180 months in federal prison for receiving child pornography. According to court documents, Jay Eugene Dietz, 35, received and possessed child sexual abuse material on his cell phone while he was housed at the Residential Reentry Center in Davenport. At the time of this offense, Dietz was serving a sentence of imprisonment for a prior federal conviction for receiving child sexual abuse material.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Dietz will be required to serve ten years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Scott County Sheriff’s Office investigated this case. This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which was started in 2006 as a nation-wide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children.

Any persons having knowledge of a child being sexually abused are encouraged to call the Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline at 1-800-284-7821.