Republicans in the Iowa Senate have selected a handful of priority areas for quick action once the 2017 legislature convenes on Monday.  “We have four bills that I believe define us and give Iowans a clear indication of where we plan to go with policies for our state.” That’s Bill Dix of Shell Rock, the leader of Senate Republicans.

Two of the measures are proposed amendments to the state constitution and would be voted upon by Iowans. The first would limit state spending to 99 percent of available tax revenue. That’s been the practice in the legislature for about two decades, but that spending limitation is not required under the state’s constitution. The second proposed amendment has been sought by gun rights advocates and would insert the right to “keep and bear arms” in Iowa’s constitution. “Effectively accomplishing what is in our federal constitution,” Dix says.

The third priority for Senate Republicans will be legislation to forbid spending state tax dollars at Planned Parenthood. Dix says there are plenty of other clinics in Iowa that offer breast cancer screening and reproductive health exams which are covered by tax dollars for Medicaid patients. “Better options for more women and their health care,” Dix says.

The fourth and final priority area for Senate Republicans will be an effort to curb lawsuit abuse. “A measure that ensures losers in those court cases pay for the cost associated with the case,” Dix says.

Lawyers say “loser pays” laws often deter legitimate victims from getting compensation for the fraud or harm they’ve suffered. Planned Parenthood of the Heartland has been planning its lobbying campaign against G-O-P cuts, too. Dix says spending restraint, gun rights, tort reform and “protecting the unborn” were among the main promises Republican candidates made to voters in 2016.

“That sets a tone,” Dix says of the GOP’s “first four” priorities. “Obviously, there’s a lot more work that needs to be done, but those are four key measures that we want to move forward as early in the process as we can.”

Republicans will hold 29 of the 50 seats in the Iowa Senate when the legislature convenes Monday and be in control of the debate agenda. Democrats have held the majority for a decade, but with just 19 seats in Democratic hands this year, Democrats be the minority party in the state senate. Rob Hogg, of Cedar Rapids, is the new leader of Senate Democrats. He says Republicans are proposing solutions to “manufactured problems.”

(Radio Iowa)

Authorities say no injuries were reported following a house fire near Walnut, Wednesday night. Firefighting crews from Walnut and Avoca were called at around 7-p.m. to a home located at 49914 Western Avenue. When they arrived, the home, which was unoccupied at the time the fire broke out, was fully engulfed in flames. The structure was a total loss.

Firefighters were on the scene for slightly more than three hours. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation. The fire was the second to have occurred in or near Walnut, in less than two-weeks. At around 5-a.m. on Dec. 22^nd,  flames destroyed at home 408 Pearl Street, in Walnut. An overloaded electrical cord was thought to have caused the fire.

Iowa is seeing a construction boom at the same time contractors are being challenged with a worker shortage. Chad Kleppe, president and C-E-O of the Master Builders of Iowa, says the situation will only worsen over the next five years as about one-third of the existing workforce retires. Kleppe says the worker shortage is changing the way Iowa builders go about their jobs.

“Contractors are, by nature, very creative in how they’re going to meet workforce needs,” Kleppe says. “Obviously, they’re trying to do more with less right now, but in some respects, they’re changing the way they may construct.”

Some contractors in central Iowa are putting pieces of buildings together on manufacturing floors before hauling them to construction sites as a way to save labor. Kleppe says his association is ramping up efforts to recruit students into considering construction industry careers.

“You can come out of high school and earn while you learn,” he says. “After five years in the industry, you’re making north of $50- to 55,000 with zero college debt.” Kleppe says they’re targeting Iowa kids as young as middle school.

(Radio Iowa, w/thanks to Rob Dillard, Iowa Public Radio)

PELLA, Iowa (AP) – A teacher has been accused of sending sexually explicit emails to a student while working for Pella Community Schools. Court records say 42-year-old Juan Munoz is charged with sexual exploitation by a school employee. He was arrested Tuesday after he turned himself in to police. Online jail records say Munoz remained in custody Thursday. The court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him.

Authorities say a parent told the school district Dec. 2 about emails sent by Munoz, who taught Spanish at the district’s middle and high schools. Pella police Lt. Paul Haase says his department then took over the student’s email and corresponded with Munoz, who Haase says sent sexually explicit emails and photos.

School district administrators say Munoz resigned Dec. 5.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A former Council Bluffs candidate for mayor has been charged with stealing vending machines in Nebraska. Online court records say 33-year-old Matthew Hartfield has pleaded not guilty to a dozen misdemeanor counts of theft. His trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 31 in Douglas County Court.

The thefts started occurring in November. Police say sometimes a well-dressed man would enter an Omaha store, measure a machine and take it, saying he’d bring back a larger machine. The vending machines’ owner estimated his loss at $10,000.

The Daily Nonpareil reports that Hartfield ran for mayor in 2009 and was beaten by incumbent Tom Hanafan.

The owner of a Ford dealership in south-central Iowa is facing charges of identity theft after investigators say he was caught trying to steal over $16,000 through false claims of warranty work. Sixty-one-year-old Wil Reisinger, owner of Anchor Motor Company in Osceola, was arrested last week. Mike Athey, Deputy Director of the Iowa DOT’s Bureau of Investigation and Identity Protection, says the investigation started in August after a former service technician at Anchor Motor made a call to the Iowa Attorney General’s office.

“He was alerted that an employee number that Ford had assigned to him was now being used under the auspice of Anchor Motor well over a year after he had actually left employment there,” Athey said. Investigators uncovered 21 cases of fraud.”Some of the repair orders…the signatures contained upon those documents were not the signatures of the owners of the vehicles and some of the repairs were not even associated with that particular vehicle,” Athey said.

Police and prosecutors decided to charge Reisinger in connection with the five highest dollar claims, which range from $1,752 to 7,034. If convicted of the charges, Reisinger could face up to 25 years in prison. The DOT could also impose a five-year suspension from the auto dealership business.

(Radio Iowa)