(Radio Iowa) – A Florida-based comedian, illusionist and motivational speaker will visit three Iowa schools this week to talk about bullying prevention. Tom Coverly has appearances scheduled in Colfax, Iowa Falls and Webster City. He’ll host assemblies during the day and then will invite everyone back at night for a full comedy-magic show. Coverly says social media makes things much more difficult for kids today as they can’t get away from bullies.

Tom Coverly. (photo provided)

Cyber-bullying, Coverly says, is pushing some kids to, in his words, “give up on the gift of life.” He says some will see suicide as the only way they can escape persistent bullies. Coverly says he’s been contacted to perform in schools where children as young as six have taken their own lives. He’ll appear in Colfax on Wednesday, Iowa Falls on Thursday and Webster City on Friday.

(Radio Iowa) – Farmers had dry planting weather most of last week before storms hit — and they made the most of it.The corn harvest shot to 70 percent planted compared to 29 percent in the previous week. Corn planting had been one day behind the five-year average, and is now one week ahead. The U-S-D-A also reports that six percent of the planted corn has emerged — one day ahead of average. Soybean planting moved to 49 percent complete — up from 16 percent the week before — and one week ahead of the five-year average.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Legislature has approved spending six million dollars on the Honey Creek Resort in southern Iowa. The state-owned resort, which opened in 2008, has a hotel and dozens of cabins, an indoor waterpark and a golf course. Republican Representative Jacob Bossman of Sioux City says state officials who signed an agreement with another company to manage the facility agreed to finance deferred maintenance projects.

“It was a situation we found ourselves in that wasn’t ideal, but it a state-owned facility,” Bossman says. “It’s fallen into disrepair.” The roof and parts of the foundation of the main lodge, where the hotel and indoor water park are located, need to be fixed. Some of the hotel rooms and cabins will be updated.

“Not super happy about that, but that is an obligation the State of Iowa has…to get Honey Creek back up to standards and make is an operational facility again,” Bossman says. ” Republican Representative Austin Harris is from Moulton, which is not far from the resort. He says the new management company has local ties.

“It’s a great asset to the people of Appanoose County and southern Iowa,” Harris says. “It’s had a rough go over the past decade or so, but I think with the new management that we’ve got in there. They’re from the area. They have the local support. Community leaders, business owners, the local community college is really stepping up to make this thing work this time…A lot of folks are really excited — as if it was a brand new resort — about what the opportunities will be in the future.”

Achieva Enterprises took over management of the facility last month. The company’s founders own land in Appanoose County and plan to keep Honey Creek open year round. The state-owned facility has struggled financially since it opened 15 years ago and the state has periodically tried to sell the property, which sits on the shore of Lake Rathbun.

(Grandview, Iowa)  – A collision Monday afternoon between an SUV and a pickup truck in southeastern Iowa, left three people dead, and two others injured. The Iowa State Patrol reports the crash happened at around 12:55-p.m., west of Grandview, in Louisa County.

Authorities say a 2006 Toyota RAV4 was traveling eastbound on Highway 92, when the driver attempted to pass a semi tractor-trailer. A 2011 Chevy Silverado pickup was traveling westbound, and struck the SUV. Both vehicles came to rest north of the road in a field near L Avenue.

Three of the victims died at the scene. Two were injured and transported to the University of Iowa Hospital by Wapello Ambulance and Iowa City AirCare. The names of those involved in the crash were not immediately released. The crash remains under investigation.

DES MOINES –  Gov. Kim Reynolds has issued a disaster proclamation for Benton, Iowa, Jasper, Muscatine, and Poweshiek counties in response to severe weather that occurred on May 7. The governor’s proclamation activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program and the Disaster Case Management Program for those counties.   

The Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program provides grants of up to $5,000 for households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Grants are available for home or car repairs, replacement of clothing or food, and temporary housing expenses. Original receipts are required for those seeking reimbursement for actual expenses related to storm recovery. The grant application and instructions are available on the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services website at hhs.iowa.gov/disaster-assistance-programs. Potential applicants have 45 days from the date of the proclamation to submit a claim.  

The Disaster Case Management Program addresses serious needs related to disaster-related hardship, injury, or adverse conditions. Disaster case managers work with clients to create a disaster recovery plan and provide guidance, advice, and referral to obtain a service or resource. There are no income eligibility requirements for this program; it closes 180 days from the date of the governor’s proclamation. For information on the Disaster Case Management Program, contact your local community action association or visit www.iowacommunityaction.org.    

(Washington, D-C) To mark Public Service Recognition Week, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) has announced it has approved nearly 616,000 borrowers nationwide for approximately $42 billion in Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) since October 2021.

PSLF covers public employees—such as teachers, firefighters, and members of law enforcement, as well as those who work for a non-profit organization—in a variety of fields by forgiving the remaining federal student loan balance for those who make the required 120 qualifying monthly payments.

In fact, PSLF is making an incredible difference for public servants in Iowa:

• Between October 2021 and May 2023, the Department has approved more than 6,300 borrowers in Iowa for approximately $335 million in loan forgiveness under temporary changes the Biden-Harris Administration made to the PSLF Program. That’s more than $52,000 per borrower!
• While hundreds of thousands of Iowa borrowers already have benefited from PSLF, more will benefit as the program continues.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said “Since Day One, the Biden-Harris Administration has worked relentlessly to fix a broken student loan system, including by making sure we fulfill the promise of Public Service Loan Forgiveness for those who have spent a decade or more serving our communities and our country.

To date, the Biden-Harris team has kept that promise for more than 615,000 teachers, nurses, social workers, servicemembers, and other public servants by approving a combined $42 billion in student loan debt forgiveness. The difference that Public Service Loan Forgiveness is making in the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans reminds us why we must continue doing everything we can to fight for borrowers and why families cannot afford to have progress derailed by partisan politicians. During Public Service Recognition Week—and every week—we thank all those who serve our communities.”

Public Service Recognition Week celebrates individuals who serve the United States and local communities as employees of federal, state, local, or tribal government.

Recent Improvements to the PSLF Application Process

• In addition to record approvals, the Department is also announcing that for the first time, borrowers can now sign and submit their PSLF forms digitally and closely track their status through the process.
• These significant changes to the PSLF application process create a faster, more straightforward, and more transparent process for borrowers.
• The changes also improve the experience for public service employers, who now can confirm a borrower’s employment digitally via DocuSign.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston say no injuries were reported following a collision this (Monday) afternoon. Authorities say a 2008 GMC SUV driven by 61-year-old Angela Sue Smith, of Creston, was sitting at a stop light at the intersection of Sumner Street and Highway 34, in Creston. As the light turned green she proceeded forward, westbound on Highway 34.

A vehicle in the opposing lane traveling eastbound, crossed the center line of the road and caused the SUV to slow down. A 2018 Dodge RAM pickup driven by 19-year-old Tate Robben Steinhoff, of Griswold, was behind the SUV, and rear-ended the vehicle. The accident happened a little after 2-p.m.

Minor damage was reported to have occurred to both vehicles, with the dollar amount at $1,800 altogether. No citations were issued, but the report did mention Steinhoff was following too close.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court has reversed a 2017 ruling that allowed lawsuits directly against state officials for monetary damages under the Bill of Rights of the Iowa Constitution.The unanimous decision came in a case where a garbage truck driver sued the state after being charged with interference with official acts for not helping a D-O-T officer conduct a safety inspection of his truck. The charge was later dropped.

The Supreme Court ruling says the ruling six years ago in the case of workers’ compensation commissioner Christopher Godfrey is not supported by constitutional text or history. The ruling also says Godfrey has been difficult to apply because our court has had to spin out new rules of law to accommodate these new types of claims. And Godfrey has undermined the established allocation of responsibility between the legislative and the judicial branches of government.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State University researchers are getting a National Science Foundation grant to study if people who get cybersick while using virtual reality headsets can adapt over time. I-S-U psychology professor Jonathan Kelly predicts virtual reality will have an increasingly bigger role to play in education, work and social life, and researchers want to make sure everyone can have equal access to it without feeling woozy.

“If we can address some of the usability problems now,” Kelly says, “then it’ll pave the way for VR to be a bigger tool and have a bigger impact on society.” The researchers already know women tend to experience motion sickness from V-R more often than men. Now they want to find out if people who get cybersick can adapt to virtual reality and eventually not feel sick. Kelly says there are tools that can help narrow peoples’ fields of vision while using virtual reality. They’re kind of like training wheels that gently expose someone to V-R.

Taylor Doty using VR headset. (ISU photo)

“And then we could kind of take off the training wheels, as it were, and say, ‘Okay, now you’re free to explore VR and you’re not going to get sick.’ So that’s kind of like the ultimate goal,” Kelly says. “I don’t know whether that’s really achievable.” He says researchers want to see virtual reality be as accessible as possible, especially as it becomes more widely used. The grant is for 600-thousand-dollars.

(by Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)