(Carson, Iowa) – Riverside Community School District has announced that Casey Moran, Assistant Director of Special Education for the Council Bluffs Community School District and Dr. Stephanie Anderson, Director of Elementary Education and Student Services, Fort Dodge Community School District have been selected as the finalists for the Riverside Community School District Superintendent position. Stakeholder groups and the School Board will complete final interviews on Wednesday April 5, 2023.

The Board had sixteen applications and interviewed six semifinalists before selecting them for final interviews. Current Riverside Superintendent, Dr. Timothy Mitchell, announced his retirement in January and will be leaving the District at the end of the 2023-2024 school year.

Read more about the finalists HERE.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa D-N-R was recently called to a hotel parking lot in Sioux City to remove a porcupine. D-N-R wildlife biologist Vince Evelsizer, says it’s pretty rare in today’s world to see them, but they do get around one porcupine call every three to five years. He says porcupines are are native to our state and are a species that was nearly wiped out or pretty well wiped out the mid to late 1800s and early 1900s.

Evelsizer says the porcupines were probably killed off because people thought they posed a danger, or they ate them. He says it’s likely porcupine wandered in from a neighboring state. Evelsizer says it’s not true that they can shoot their quills at objects like animals or people.

DNR photo

The quills do pose a problem if a dog or a person comes in contact with a porcupine because they are one way barbs that once they’re lodged in a dog’s mouth are pretty hard to get out.

(Radio Iowa) – One of the state’s largest independent agricultural banks is releasing the results of its annual survey of thousands of farmers, gauging their opinions on a range of topics. Bank Iowa president and C-E-O Jim Plagge says 67-percent of farmers surveyed said they believed the ag economy would be the same or stronger in 2023, while more than 70-percent felt they were in the same shape or better off financially as the prior year. Finding labor was the top concern on last year’s survey, but Plagge says finding ‘qualified labor’ moved to number-one this year.

The survey finds technology is leading the way in terms of investment decisions. In the past two years, the percentage of farmers who say they’re considering investing in ag-tech jumped from 22- to 36-percent.

(Radio Iowa) – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst will be hosting her annual “Roast and Ride” fundraiser on June 3rd and it could be a showcase for some of the G-O-P’s 2024 presidential candidates.  In June of 2015, seven Republican presidential candidates appeared with Ernst at her first “Roast and Ride” fundraiser. A year later, Donald Trump was the event’s main speaker. Six years ago, Mike Pence — who was vice president at the time — rode a Harley down a path to the event’s main stage in Boone.

The Ernst campaign has announced tickets are now on sale for the event this June at the Iowa State Fairgrounds and “special guests” will be announced soon. When Ernst launched her annual “Roast and Ride” event soon after winning a seat in the U.S. Senate, she said her goal was to showcase the party’s top candidates, just as former Senator Tom Harkin had done with his annual “steak fry” for Democratic presidential hopefuls.

Ernst, though, serves up pork rather than beef and hosts a motorcycle ride in the morning before the rallies in the afternoon.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has issued a disaster proclamation for six more counties in response to last Friday’s storms. The governor’s latest proclamation allows state resources to be utilized to recover from the effects of this severe weather in Appanoose, Davis, Iowa, Jackson, Lucas, and Monroe counties. The proclamation activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program for qualifying residents, along with the Disaster Case Management Program for those counties.

The Governor already issued disaster proclamations for Cedar, Clinton, Delaware, Des Moines, Dubuque, Grundy, Johnson, Keokuk, Linn, Mahaska, Wapello, and Washington counties for the same storms.

Boone County, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Public Safety, Tuesday (April 4, 2023), said 50-year-old Dallas Wingate, a former Boone County Sheriff’s Deputy and K-9 handler, was charged with the death of K-9 deputy Bear. Wingate, who turned himself in at the Story County Jail, has been charged with one count of Injury or Interference of a Police Dog Service, a class D felony.

On September 2, 2022, the Boone County Sheriff’s Office requested DCI investigate after Bear was found dead inside Wingate’s K-9-equipped police vehicle. The investigation showed that Wingate placed Bear inside his enclosed vehicle on the evening of September 1. Nearly twenty-two hours later, Wingate opened the vehicle for the first time.

The Story County Attorney’s Office will prosecute this case.
Note: A criminal charge is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Photo courtesy of Story County Sheriff’s Office

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has signed a bill into law that will consolidate 37 state agencies into just 16 departments and eliminate dozens of unfilled positions in state government.  “Not only will Iowans receive better service with alignment, they’ll get it at a lower cost,” Reynolds said. The governor paid a consultant nearly a million dollars to draft the reorganization plan.

“Iowa had significantly more cabinet departments than neighboring states and best practices, services were spread unpredictably across state government, really causing just unnecessary friction for Iowans,” Reynolds says. “What we also saw was just fractured organizational structure that was preventing capable, hardworking public servants from really reaching their full potential.”

The non-partisan Legislative Services Agency projects the plan will eliminate about 200 full time positions in state government that aren’t filled today and save about 12-and-a-half million dollars a year. The governor’s staff estimates the state will save about 215 million dollars over four years. Reynolds says efficiency is the main goal, making state government agencies, programs and licensing easier to navigate.

“If we save anything and streamline services and have a single mom or single dad trying to get services not have to go through 14 different doors to try to get an answer, then that’s a win for me,” Reynolds told reporters. The governor expects most if not all the changes to be in place when the next state fiscal year begins July 1st.

“I’m not saying there won’t be bumps. I mean this is a huge undertaking, but we’re going to do it right,” Reynolds says. “…If we need to slow down any of the alignments…we’ll do that.” The 16 state agency directors and Republican lawmakers gathered in the governor’s office at the statehouse for the bill signing ceremony on Tuesday afternoon.

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate say the plan dilutes the legislature’s authority and is a “power grab” by the governor. And House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst says the bill was authored by out of state consultants without real input from Iowans.

(Radio Iowa) – A new report says northwest Iowa’s Sioux County is the healthiest county in the state, while Montgomery County, in the southwest, ranks last. The County Health Rankings and Roadmaps report rates counties’ health outcomes nationwide based on a range of factors. Michael Stevenson, with the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute — which produces the report, says Iowa’s top-ranked counties all have the same things in common.

Stevenson says, “They often have access to good civic infrastructure, so higher access to broadband, better access to parks and rec facilities, and they also tend to have higher rates of civic participation, so things like voter turnout.” Stevenson says Iowa’s overall voter turnout is higher than the national average, but there’s a lot of variation in rates at the county level.

“Iowa voter turnout varied from 60.8% to 90.2%, depending on where you live,” he says, “and our data showed that there’s a strong connection between that turnout data and the infrastructure that we have in place to facilitate participation.”

The report lists Iowa’s top five healthiest counties as: Sioux, Winneshiek, Dallas, Mitchell and Hancock, while the bottom-ranked five are: Pottawattamie, Lee, Clarke, Appanoose and last, Montgomery.

countyhealthrankings.org

(reporting by Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – Members of the public have debated a proposal to require more frequent income checks and a new asset test for Iowans receiving food stamps or health care coverage through Medicaid. Andres Reyes, the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church, spoke in favor of the bill during a public hearing at the Iowa Capitol.

“I believe that all people are made in the image of God and so all people have value, but that value is only realized by working for what they have,” Reyes said. “One of the greatest problems in America today is depression. The number one reason is because people do not work as hard as other generations. The only way to cure the problem is to hold others accountable for working for what they have. This bill does just that.”

Valerie Petersen, associate executive director of the Foodbank of Siouxland in Sioux City, said these changes will push vulnerable Iowans farther into poverty. “These are grandparents that are now choosing between medication and food. They’re hardworking laborers that are laid off during the winter. They’re single moms that work multiple jobs and then have to make the choice between feeding themselves and their children,” she said. “They’re kids that have no say in or ability to contribute to their family’s finances.”

Darla Chappell of St. Donatus — a small town near the Illinois border, said she used to work in a bank and saw people getting government assistance from more than one state. “Please vote yes on this bill to ensure our money goes where needed and not into the pockets of liars, cheaters and frauds,” she said.

Carlyn Crowe of the Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council said many Iowans with disabilities will lose Medicaid coverage because of the asset test for the entire household. “Should parents of a daughter who can’t walk have to sell their second car so their daughter can get a wheelchair or her sibling’s savings account be limited because she’s on Medicaid?” Crowe asked.

The bill passed the Senate two weeks ago with the support of all 34 Republicans and opposition from all 16 Democrats. It cleared a House Committee last week and is eligible for debate in the full House.

RED OAK, Iowa – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) today (Tuesday) announced she will host a Town Hall Meeting in Adair County. Senator Ernst looks forward to hearing from constituents in the area about the issues most important to them. The Town Hall Meeting is open to the public. Details:

Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Adair County Town Hall Meeting
7:45 AM
Warren Cultural Center
154 Public Square
Greenfield, IA 50849