(Radio Iowa) – The University of Iowa received approval Wednesday to make improvements to two key buildings. U-I Vice President Rod Lenhertz asked the Board of Regents to approve the design to build out the seventh floor of the Stead Family Children’s Hospital to expand the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. “It would add an additional 28 NICU patient rooms and all support spaces that are also present on the sixth floor,” he says. The seventh floor was left as a shell when the hospital was built in anticipation of future expansion. Lenhertz says the project is projected to cost 41 million dollars and will be funded by University Hospitals building usage funds. Lenhertz also requested permission to approve the design plans to restore the third floor ballroom to the Iowa Memorial Union. He says the ballroom space was needed for the art department after the 2008 flood.

“That ballroom was reconfigured and redesigned after 2008 as a temporary museum space. All with the understanding that upon our completing our Stanley Museum of Art, which is complete and has been active obviously, we would return that space for use for our student life and I-M-U folks,” he says. Lehnertz says the ballroom was a popular place for student events and to rent out for other events before the flood.

” It’s 51-hundred square feet serves as many as 300 visitors and we will return that space back to its pre-flood state. It’s a two-point-four million dollars project and we would start construction on that this spring,” Lehnertz says. The work on the ballroom restoration is expected to be completed in the fall. The University of Iowa also received approval to plan a new parking ramp west of the College of Dentistry. The ramp would hold between one-thousand and 12-hundred parking stalls with an estimated project budget of 55 to 60 million dollars.

(Red Oak, Iowa)  – Police in Red Oak report two men were arrested on separate charges, Wednesday. A little after 7-p.m., 24-year-old Brandon Lane Good (no address given) was arrested following a report of a possibly intoxicated driver in the 1600 block of W. Broadway, in Red Oak. Officers located the vehicle in the 200 block of E. Hammond Street. Good was taken into custody for OWI/2nd offense, Child Endangerment, and Driving While Revoked. His bond was set at $2,000.

And, at around Noon, Wednesday, Red Oak Police arrested 30-year-old Collin Scott McClung, of Carson, for Harassment in the 3rd Degree. McClung was taken into custody in the 100 block of W. Coolbaugh Street, and was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI] — Drake University is set to announce its initial recommendations for major budget cuts on Friday. In November the college projected it would need to make more than $10 million in cuts to balance its budget. Drake says that figure is now about $6 million after the college generated some savings ahead of the coming fiscal year. The school cites a decline in student enrollment as the primary factor driving the cuts.

Now, months later, the college will be sending emails to faculty, staff and students announcing where it will be looking to make the cuts. Faculty who could be let go will find out Friday morning. The rest of the students and faculty will learn what programs the college is recommending to be cut or changed on Friday afternoon.

There will be several months of meetings about the recommendations before final cuts are made in May.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has approved a bill designed to give liability protection to schools that choose to let teachers or other staff volunteer to undergo training and carry a weapon to respond to a shooting. Representative Phil Thompson, a Republican from Boone, says the bill requires not just active shooter drills and medical training and learning how to communicate with law enforcement during a shooting, but a yearly background check for the professional permit to carry a gun on school grounds.

“We recognize that this responsibility must be taken very seriously,” Thompson says. “The strict training regimen outlined in this bill ensures that the employees who acquire this permit are equipped with the skills and the proficiency to act appropriately in the event of an emergency.” Republican Representative John Wills is from Spirit Lake, where trained school staff briefly carried concealed weapons, but quit after the district’s insurance carrier threatened to drop coverage. Wills says Spirit Lake, Cherokee and other districts are hoping the bill becomes law soon.

“And it will save lives when cowards attack our kids,” Wills said. House Republican Leader Matt Windschitl, of Missouri Valley, says seconds count when there’s a shooting. “People with bad intentions are going to do bad things,” Windshitl said. “People with good intentions are there to stop them.” Windshitl says he’s heard from companies that insure schools in states that have similar laws that they’ll offer policies to Iowa districts that let staff be armed on school grounds and at school activities.

Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, a Democrat from Ames, says the bill will reduce the liability risk for insurers, but would allow a frightening number of guns in Iowa schools. “If a student is hurt or killed in crossfire, no one will be held accountable,” she said. Representative Sami Scheetz, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, says the bill isn’t the answer to gun violence. “Let’s enact extreme risk laws, responsible firearm storage laws, raise the age to purchase semi-automatic firearms to 21 and require background checks on all gun sales,” Scheetz said.

Representative Lindsay James, a Democrat from Dubuque, says Iowans want common sense gun safety laws. “And the Republican solution to combat gun violence is more guns,” James said.

A few other education-related bills passed the House last night solely with Republican support. One would create a new set of standards for social studies and civics classes, requiring instruction about specific people, events and documents. Another would require that all schools to teach about fetal development starting in seventh grade and include an animated video called “Meet Baby Olivia” that was developed by a group that opposes abortion.