(Radio Iowa) – A bill under consideration in the Iowa House would lower the state tax rate for Iowa’s state-licensed casinos to be at or near the tax rate for casinos in Nebraska and Missouri. Illinois casinos have variable tax rates, based on the size of the market and the games offered. Mark Joyce is a lobbyist for the company that operates the Diamond Jo casinos in Northwood and Dubuque. Joyce says lowering taxes would be a welcome move. Lobbyist Doug Struyk represents the Catfish Bend Casino in Burlington, which he says is facing competition from new casinos in Illinois. Struyk also represents Caesars Entertainment which owns the Horseshoe and Harrah’s casinos in Council Bluffs that soon will be competing with a new casino in Omaha.

Gaming revenue for all three Council Bluffs casinos began to dip when the WarHorse Casino in Lincoln opened in September of 2022 and Harrah’s opened in Columbus, Nebraska in June of last year. Struyk says that has slowed the flow of gamblers from Nebraska into Iowa. Another WarHorse Casino is expected to open in Omaha by August of this year. Representative Jane Bloomingdale is sponsoring the bill to gradually lower Iowa’s casino taxes over a three year period. She’s from Northwood. The state-licensed Diamond Jo casino is nearby.

Bloomingdale’s bill has cleared a House subcommittee, but one member of the panel said she’s concerned cutting casino taxes will lower the amount of money deposited in the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund. Money from the fund is used on a variety of projects, from lake dredging to constructing or repairing state-owned buildings.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak, Monday, arrested 23-year-old Brandon Lane Good, of Red Oak. Officials say Good was taken into custody at around 6:40-p.m. in the 200 block of E. Hammond Street, on an active Pottawattamie County warrant for Failure To Appear on a Driving while license denied or revoked, charge. Good was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond, or until extradition to Pott. County.

Monona, Iowa – One person was injured during a collision Monday morning in northeastern Iowa’s Allamakee County. According to the Iowa State Patrol, the crash happened just before 9-a.m. north of Monona, near the intersection of County Road X26 and Smithfield Drive.

Investigators say a 2007 Chevy Impala driven by 18-year-old Carter Mielke, of Monona, was traveling southbound when it crossed the centerline and struck a 2019 Chevy Silverado pickup driven by 42-year-old Jeremy Geisler, of Waucoma, that was traveling northbound.

Mielke – who was wearing his seat belt – was injured in the collision. He was flown by helicopter to Gunderson Hospital. There is no word on his condition at this time.

REDFIELD, Iowa [WHO-TV] – Multiple Dallas County fire crews battled a fire in downtown Redfield on Monday afternoon that severely damaged a bar and restaurant. Crews from Dallas, Guthrie and Madison Counties were called to the Dexfield Diner & Pub around Noon on Monday. Initial reports were that flames were shooting from the windows of the two-story building. Thick smoke was still pouring from the building more than an hour after first reports. The restaurant was closed as owner, Steve Roberts, spent the morning cleaning and preparing his business for the week ahead when the fire started.

There are no reports of injuries at this time. As the business burned, Dallas County Conservation officials worked with community members to remove relics and pieces from the neighboring museum from the Civil War up through the Gulf War. Firefighters were able to prevent the blaze from spreading. The center portion of the building is a total loss, and the cause is unknown at this time.  (Photos from the Stuart Fire Dept. Facebook page)

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has given final legislative approval a bill that gets rid of the gender balance requirement for Iowa boards and commissions. Republican Representative Jane Bloomingdale of Northwood says it’s an antiquated law. “Gender balance often causes us to eliminate some of the most qualified candidates and that’s the last thing we want to do,” Bloomingdale says. “We want the most qualified candidates on our boards, commissions and councils.” The bill passed on a 62 to 33 vote. The 33 nos came from Democrats, like Representative Elinor Levin of Iowa City.

“We have not achieved gender parity on our boards and commissions,” Levin says. “Perhaps when we have this conversation would be worth having.” The bill passed the Senate this week and is headed to Reynolds, who says it lets people with a passion for service fill slots on boards and commissions at the state and local level.

“I just feel like the best, most qualified and somebody who wants to do it is the person we should put in that position,” Reynolds said. The governor made that comment during an interview with Radio Iowa in 2023. Gender balance has been required on all boards and commissions in state government since 1987. In 2009, the legislature passed a law to require the policy in local government. This bill repeals both laws.

(Radio Iowa) – The wife of a prison guard who was murdered by an inmate at the Anamosa State Penitentiary is calling for changes in Iowa’s collective bargaining law. Sara McFarland joined an Iowa Federation Labor rally in the state capitol on Monday.

“My heart aches as I stand here today, not just as a grieving wife, but as a voice for justice and change,” she said.\ Her husband, Robert McFarland, and prison nurse Lorena Schulte were killed nearly two years ago as two inmates attempted to escape. Sara McFarland says prison staff like her late husband should be allowed to bargain over work conditions and safety issues. Under current law, prison staff not classified as public safety officers and are only allowed to discuss their wages during union contract talks.

“I promised Robert I would not stop fighting until his brother and sister officers were safe at work…To the lawmakers that say corrections work in a controlled environment so they should not be considered public safety…talk to the officers who do this job every day, then you will see just how wrong you are,” she said. “…My husband died stopping an escape attempt and keeping the public safe.”

Other union members at the event urged Iowans to rally around union priorities like raising the minimum wage and letting Iowans see a doctor of their choice if they’re injured at work. Iowa Federation of Labor president Charlie Wishman acknowledges it will require electing new people to the state legislature and congress who support union priorities.  “I know that everybody here, you’re going to do everything you can to get your members registered (to vote)” Wishman said, “…and we’re get out and we’re going to fight.”

There was no mention of a bill pending in the legislature that would change the rules for union recertification votes before collective bargaining talks begin in state and local government.