Police in Creston report 31-year old David Smith, of Creston, was arrested Saturday afternoon, at the Union County Law Enforcement Center. Smith was charged with OWI/1st offense, and later released on a $1,000 bond.

(7-a.m. News)

The 2018 Iowa legislative session starts next Monday (Jan. 8th), and Republican legislators who control the debate agenda have placed tax cuts at the top of their to-do list. Republican Governor Kim Reynolds plans to outline her own “broad ideas” on tax policy next Tuesday. That’s when she delivers her “Condition of the State” speech to legislators.

“I don’t know if at that point it will be a ‘five-point’ tax plan because I think it’s really important that we make sure that it’s sustainable and it’s financially prudent and does what we want it to do and so I don’t know if my goal is to rush in and to do something, but to more importantly kind of set out a broad parameter,” Reynolds says.

By revealing guideposts rather than a detailed plan, Reynolds says that will give G-O-P lawmakers time to test and develop components of a comprehensive tax package. “It’s the same process kind of that they used at the federal level, I think, to: ‘Here’s the broad agreement and then let’s work through some of the details in what that looks like and take a look the different ideas that are being projected,” Reynolds says, “and see, really, where we can have the best bang for the buck.”

A 43-page memo prepared for Republicans in the Iowa Senate was obtained by the “Bleeding Heartland” blog. It outlined a wide-ranging tax plan that included reducing income tax rates for individual Iowans, cutting the state’s corporate tax rate and phasing out the STATE inheritance tax. Senate Republican Leader Bill Dix says his “main goal” in 2018 is to reduce income tax rates. “If you just think about it, from common sense, taxing income taxes hard work, taxes risk-taking, taxes people who would be making investments here in high-quality career opportunities in our state,” Dix says.

House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, the top Republican in the legislature, says Iowa’s corporate taxes and the top income tax rate for individuals are “among the highest in the country.” “We’d sure like to improve that. We’d like to make Iowa more competitive,” Upmeyer says. “We’d like to leave more dollars in Iowans’ pockets and invest that the way they’d like to.”

Republicans hold a majority of seats in both the Iowa House and the Iowa Senate, so the G-O-P gets to decide which bills get voted upon. Senator Janet Petersen was elected as the leader of the 19 Democrats in the Senate this fall.  “We have been having town hall meetings across the state and the things that we’re hearing from people in rural areas and small towns and communities all over is they want better paying job opportunities in their hometowns,” Petersen says, “so our focus is going to be on job growth and on improving the skills to help people job-up and skill-up for better-paying jobs.”

Petersen says Iowans are also raising concerns about Medicaid and the state’s mental health care system “in particular.” State Representative Mark Smith, the leader of Democrats in the Iowa House, says Iowa cannot reach the goal of being the healthiest state in the country without fixing the mental health system.

(Radio Iowa)

The opioid crisis is hitting farm families much harder than the rest of rural America, according to a survey commissioned by the American Farm Bureau and National Farmers Union. Will Rodger, director of policy communications for the Farm Bureau, says an overwhelming majority of farmers and farm workers surveyed said they have been impacted by opioid abuse. “Drug addiction is a disease and it’s something that’s taking an increasing toll on rural America,” Rodger says. “Rather than trying to hide the problem, we want to make sure people get treatment, because treatment is available. They just have to make the decision to get out there and get it.”

The survey shows rural adults recognize opioid abuse can begin accidentally with the use of what are deemed as “safe” painkillers. “Seventy-four percent of people polled in farm country are saying they’ve been directly impacted by opioid abuse, that’s farmers and farm workers,” Rodger says. “By direct impact, we’re talking about people who have abused drugs, are addicted to drugs, have family members or friends who are in a similar situation.” He says both Farm Bureau and Farmers Union members want those hurt by opioids to get the help they need. “Oftentimes, you’ll have a person who’s injured or in some sort of pain and they get a prescription for oxycodone or whatever it might be,” Rodger says. “Within a short period of time, they find themselves addicted to it. It’s not that they’re looking to get high, it’s that they’re looking to keep the pain at bay.”

Rodger says both organizations want an education campaign to help those who are being impacted by opioid abuse in rural America.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State statistics on traffic-related deaths suggest Iowa roads were safer last year than in 2016. Iowa Department of Transportation figures show that 329 people died in traffic-related incidents in 2017, as of Dec. 29. The 2016 figure: 398. The drop in traffic deaths follows a jump in 2016 from 315 fatalities in 2015.

Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Nathan Ludwig told The Des Moines Register that a new state law that cracked down on texting while driving may have helped avert deadly collisions in 2017. Ludwig also said the lack of snowfall last year — except for heavy snow and winds Thursday and Friday — may have helped lower the fatality figure.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An economist says a business conditions index for nine Midwest and Plains states rose over the past month, pointing to continuing improvement in regional economic conditions. A report released Tuesday says the Mid-America Business Conditions Index climbed to 59.0 from 57.2 in November. The October figure was 58.8. The Iowa overall index dipped to 54.3 in December from 55.2 in November. Index components were new orders at 63.4, production or sales at 56.9, delivery lead time at 49.0, employment at 53.0 and inventories at 49.3.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says profit growth, low interest rates and the recently passed tax package pushed business confidence last month to its highest level since January 2011. The survey results are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth in that factor. A score below that suggests decline.

The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.