DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The GOP-controlled Iowa Senate has approved a bill that would make sweeping changes to the state’s gun laws, including adding a stand-your-ground provision. The chamber voted 33-17 Tuesday for the bill. The House, which passed it recently, must vote again because of some changes in the Senate.

The stand-your-ground provision would allow people to use deadly force anywhere if they believe such force is necessary to avoid injury or risk to one’s life or safety. Opponents warn it would increase gun violence and racial tensions. A similar provision in Florida gained national attention following the 2012 shooting death of an unarmed black teenager.

Advocates call the provision a needed strengthening of Second Amendment rights. The bill would also allow firearms at the Capitol and allow citizens to sue local governments for enacting gun-free zones.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa House has begun debate on a bill that would ban most abortions in the state at 20 weeks of pregnancy. The GOP-controlled chamber started debating Tuesday night. Republicans are expected to pass the legislation, which would be a victory for Iowa conservatives seeking to restrict abortion.

House Republicans expressed interest in changing the bill, which would require another vote from the GOP-led Senate. The Senate passed a version of the legislation last month. GOP Gov. Terry Branstad, who spoke recently at an anti-abortion rally at the Capitol, has indicated support for a 20-week ban. A spokesman says the governor reserves judgment on the legislation.

The ban on most abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy is based on the disputed premise that a fetus can feel pain at that stage. Nearly 20 states have passed similar legislation in recent years.

Officials with the Iowa Dept. of Public Safety said Tuesday evening, that a central Iowa man arrested Nov. 16th, 2016 on multiple charges in Monona County, now faces numerous other charges in two other counties.

57-year old Jeff Lee Altmayer,  of Ankeny, was arrested in November and charged with: three Class C felony counts of Enticing a Minor; one count of Impersonating a Public Official; one count of Possession of a Controlled Substance, and one count of Possession of Prescription Drug or Device without a Prescription. The charges stemmed from a November 16th incident in Monona County, during which he allegedly attempted to lure a child into his vehicle.

Jeff Altmayer

After further investigation into Altmayer by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and other Iowa law enforcement agencies, it was determined that he had also committed crimes of the same manner across Iowa. As a result, Altmayer has been charged in two other jurisdictions. The felony charges he faces in Jasper County are a result of an August, 17, 2016 incident in Colfax in which he is alleged to have committed one  count of Kidnapping in the First Degree; one count of Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree, and one count of Enticing a Child.

Altmayer also faces charges in Grundy County from an August 2, 2016 incident in which he was charged with three felony counts of Enticing a Child, and a felony charges of Enticing a Minor. The investigation into Altmayer is on-going and additional charges may be forthcoming. The Iowa Attorney General’s Office, Area Prosecutions Division is handling the prosecution.

The Atlantic Rotary club is asking parents, students, and community members, “Do you know a teacher who deserves recognition for going above and beyond the call of duty?” If so, submit their name for nomination as part of the 4th Annual Rotary Club of Atlantic Outstanding Teacher Award. The award, designed to recognize excellence in education in the Atlantic Community Schools, can be given to any certified, full-time teacher who spends at least 60% of his/her time instructing students.

The teacher selected will receive recognition at a school employee event, and will also receive a $3000 cash award.  The award may be used to enhance the educational resources of the teacher, further the teacher’s education, or for any other purpose which the selected teacher deems appropriate.

Jodie Hogue receives the 2016 “Teacher of the Year” Award from Atlantic Rotary President Ted Robinson

This is the fourth year for the award, which has been a “long-time goal” for the Atlantic Rotary Club, according to Ted Robinson, 2017 Rotary Teacher Award Project Chair. In a statement, Robinson said “The Atlantic Rotary Club has been a dedicated supporter of education in the community for many years through senior scholarships, and annual events such as senior recognition and new teacher welcome. In addition, they are frequent contributors through funding for many school needs such as updating technology in the classroom, supporting curriculum for local preschools, and a number of other school requests.”

Robinson said also, that “Members of our club have been continually insistent that we also recognize and support the talented educators that are the heart of our schools, and we are very happy we have been able to get this program off to such a successful start in the first few years.”

Margo Magill, an educator at Washington Elementary School was the first teacher to be recognized at the Rotary Outstanding Teacher of the Year in 2014. DeLana Harris, from Schuler Elementary School, was the 2015 award winner, and Jodie Hogue, from Washington Elementary School was last year’s recipient.

For teachers to be considered for the 2017 award, completed nomination forms, including letters of support, must be received by Friday April 21st. Nominated teachers will be evaluated based on their skill with students, classroom management, parent communication, peer interaction and community involvement.

Teachers must be nominated by three individuals- they can be current or former students, parents of students, co-workers, or any combination of these. Forms were sent via email to all current parents from the Atlantic Community School System in March. Hard copies of nomination forms may also be picked up from any school administration office.  Completed nominations may be dropped off, or mailed, to the First Whitney Bank, Attn: Ted Robinson, P.O. Box 271, 223 Chestnut Street in Atlantic.

It is the intention of the Atlantic Rotary Club, through this award, to recognize and reward outstanding educators in our public school system who exemplify the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self” through their continuous dedication to students, parents, peers and the larger community, as well as the art and practice of education. The award is funded by proceeds from the Atlantic Rotary Club’s annual auction, which is made possible by the generous donations of local businesses and community members.

The Harlan Police Department reports one arrest over the past weekend. 45-year old Wade McFarland, of Harlan, was arrested Saturday following a traffic stop. McFarland was taken to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with operating while intoxicated 1st. He was also cited for failure to obey a stop sign.  And, on March 28th, 34-year old Justin Henriksen, of Harlan, was cited for prohibited practices for improper burning at his residence.

Officials with the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency are asking residents with address markers, to make sure they are visible from the road. Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Seivert says as spring cleaning time nears, and you go about cleaning up the yard and sprucing up your buildings, pay close attention to your address marker. It should be bright and clearly visible from the road. Emergency Responders, especially at  night, depend on highly visible house numbers, street signs and rural address markers to properly locate you. 911 dispatchers will confirm your location based on your address and map location.

If you question where your house number should be posted, please check with local City authorities. For rural residents, the marker belongs alongside your lane in the fence row. If the fence line is far from the main road, place the marker out of the right of way close enough so that emergency responders can see it.

If your Shelby County rural 911 address marker has been damaged, lost, or otherwise is not readable, please call the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency  at 712-755-2124. There is no cost for replacement address markers.

Alliant Energy has filed a request with the Iowa Utilities Board to increase its electric rates by 11-point-six percent. The president of Alliant Energy’s Iowa subsidiary, Iowa Power and Light, Doug Kopp, says the company has not raised electric rates for six years. “Over that period of time we’ve made significant investments, including the grid and also our Marshalltown generating station…which has just come on line. It’s a natural gas combined-cycle plant with allows us to be very, very efficient,” Kopp says.

He says they’ve spent around two-and-a-half BILLION dollars in the improvements to the system, and the rate increase allows them to recover those costs. Kopp says the customers have benefited from the money invested in the electric system. “Our duration of outages is better than six years ago. Our frequency of outages is lower than six years ago,” he says.

Kopp says the new Marshalltown plant gives them more flexibility in producing power right away when needed, and he says it is more environmentally friendly. Alliant has around 500-thousand electric customers in Iowa. “The average customer bill is about 114 dollars a month and they would see an approximately 14-dollar-a-month increase,” Kopp says.

The first part of the rate request creates an interim rate increase on April 13th and then state regulators have to decide if they will grant the full increase. He says there will be some customer comment hearings in late May or early June hosted by the I-U-B to give customers a chance for input on the rate increase request. Then there would be a hearing in the fall where the I-U-B hears the arguments for and against the rate increase.

The rate increase would go into place in 2018, depending on the ruling from the I-U-B. Kopp says there are some tax credits and transmission refunds that will reduce the impact of the rate increase in 2017 and 2018. Alliant customers will be getting information on the proposed rate increase in their monthly bills.

(Radio Iowa)

The American Red Cross is holding blood drives today (Tuesday) in Council Bluffs and Omaha in honor of a southwest Iowa man. Fred Wilson is one of the people who was shot — and survived — after a gunman opened fire in December of 2007 in a department store at Westroads Mall in Omaha. Wilson says he underwent several surgeries and a blood transfusion. “I’m an example of someone who needed blood, who needed help,” Wilson says. “(The Red Cross) made it possible for me to live to tell the tale today.”

Wilson is a retired Council Bluffs teacher and he was working at the Von Maur customer service counter when he was critically wounded by the shots. The teenage gunman killed eight people, then took his own life. Wilson hopes today’s blood drive is successful as there’s always a demand.  “The need for blood is great and one never knows when one will need blood,” Wilson says. “It impacts all of us.”

Wilson recognizes he owes his life to the fast-thinking first responders, the doctors at the hospital and to the Red Cross.  “They’re there to help people who are in need,” Wilson says. “I, of course, was made more aware of this as a result of 2007.”

An Iowan was also among the eight people killed by the gunman: 65-year-old John McDonald of Council Bluffs. Today’s blood drive runs until 6:30 PM at the Loess Hills Blood Donation Center in Council Bluffs and at the Omaha Red Cross chapter on South 80th Avenue.

(Radio Iowa)

(Updated 11:12-a.m.) —

The state teacher’s union filed a lawsuit today (Tuesday), challenging the new state law that restricts contracts talks for most public sector workers to a single subject: their base salary. “Our goal is that this bad legislation is set aside and that the common sense law that was in place is back in place.”

That’s Iowa State Education Association president Tammy Wawro. She says the law is unconstitutional because there are now TWO classes of government workers in Iowa since “public safety employees” were allowed to continue negotiating over a wide range of issues, including their insurance benefits. “A dispatcher in some locals is able to bargain his or her health insurance, including family coverage, but members of our unit are no longer able to do that,” Wawro says. “Why are the dispatcher’s children more important than ours?”

The union’s lawsuit also challenges the new requirements for the voting that determines whether teachers and other public sector workers want to have union representation in the workplace.  “If a person is unable to vote, doesn’t wish to vote or is physically not available to vote, the law automatically counts their absence vote as a ‘no,'” Wawro says.

If these new rules were required for politicians, Wawro says 51 percent of the state’s entire population — not just the people who vote in the election — would have to vote for the same person to become governor. “No election in the United States is based on this formula,” Wawro says, “and if it were, no candidate would ever be elected to office.”

No other state has such requirements for union organizing among government workers, according to Wawro. “No social studies or government teacher in any public school in Iowa would tell you that this is what democracy looks like,” Wawro says.

The local union that represents teachers in the Davenport School District has joined the I-S-E-A’s lawsuit. More than 34-thousand Iowa teachers are members of the Iowa State Education Association. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s new collective bargaining law in February, right after Governor Branstad approved the changes.

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A rare case of leprosy has been reported in northwest Iowa’s Woodbury County. Doctors say leprosy, also called Hansen’s disease, causes red skin sores and, if not treated, can cause hand and foot paralysis and blindness.

Tyler Brock of the Siouxland District Health Department says only a couple cases have been recorded in Woodbury County during his 19 years with the department. The Iowa Department of Public Health says nine cases of leprosy were identified in the state from 1994 through 2015.

Brock would not provide details of the case, including whether it was related to immigration or travel. The disease is common in some countries. Mercy Medical Center disease specialist Daniel Lamptey says leprosy isn’t highly contagious and is curable if caught early enough.