DES MOINES – The Iowa Arts Council is encouraging all Iowans involved in building creative communities, including artists, filmmakers, and cultural organizations, to attend its grant information sessions this month. Iowa Arts Council staff will make stops in Cedar Falls, Creston, Ottumwa and Storm Lake to visit with community members about current grant funding opportunities ahead of a May 1, 2023, application deadline for most programs.

During the one-hour workshops, staff will highlight important points and share tips on how to strengthen applications. Attendees are also encouraged to bring ideas to share and discuss with staff. There is no cost to attend, but advanced registration is highly encouraged.

The schedule for the grant workshops follows:

• March 21, Noon, Witter Art Gallery, 609 Cayuga St., Storm Lake
• March 22, 11 a.m., Bridge View Center, 102 Church St., Ottumwa
• March 23, 11 a.m., Creston Arts Center, 411 W Adams St., Creston
• March 28, 11 a.m., Hearst Center for the Arts, 304 W Seerley Blvd., Cedar Falls

As a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, the Iowa Arts Council invests in projects that positively impact the vitality of the arts, demonstrate public value and excellence, and help Iowans across the state create cultural vibrancy in their communities for residents and visitors. Funding for Iowa Arts Council grant programs is provided by appropriations from the Iowa Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, to the department.

In addition to the workshops, the Iowa Arts Council has shared informational grant webinars on the department’s YouTube channel and is offering applicants the opportunity to schedule a meeting with program managers before May 1. More information is available at iowaculture.gov.

(Atlantic, Iowa) –  The Atlantic Rotary Club reminds seniors graduating from the Atlantic High School, of the opportunity to apply for scholarships sponsored by the Rotary Club.  The Atlantic Rotary Club will award two (2) $1,000 Scholarships to graduating seniors from Atlantic High School who will be attending a Community College, Vocational or Technical Institution.  The Club will also be awarding two (2) $1,000 Scholarships to AHS graduating seniors who will be attending a 4-year University or College.

The applications are available to students on the Atlantic High School website.  Scholarship applications and all supporting material must be postmarked no later than March 30, 2023.

CRESTON, Iowa – March 10, 2023 – If you are driving on U.S. 6 in Cass County in the coming weeks you may notice some construction work taking place on the bridge over the East Nishnabotna River, 2.6 miles east of Iowa 48 near Lewis. Beginning at 8 a.m. on Monday, March 13, weather permitting, construction crews will begin bridge deck overlay work. This will require reducing traffic to one lane on the U.S. 6 bridge with temporary traffic signals until the project is completed on Thursday, July 27. A lane-width restriction of 11-feet-4.5-inches will be in place during this project.

Help keep everyone on the road safer. Drive with caution, obey the posted speed limit and other signs in the work area, and be aware that traffic fines for moving violations are at least double in work zones. As in all work zones, you should stay alert, allow ample space between vehicles, and wear seat belts.

The latest traveler information is available anytime through the 511 system. Visit 511ia.org; call 511 (within Iowa) or 800-288-1047 (nationwide).

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has unanimously voted to set new rules to prevent prescription drug switches that aren’t done for medical reasons. This would NOT apply to substituting a less expensive generic drug for a brand name medication with the same active ingredients. Representative Gary Mohr, of Bettendorf, says it’s about insurance plans denying coverage or requiring a higher co-payment in the middle of a health plan’s year.  “Increasing the cost of the drug on the covered person when the individual is stable on the drug and their health care provider continues to prescribe that same drug,” he says.

Mohr says insurers and patient advocates have been working on the legislation for the past six years, and came up with a compromise. Representative Megan Srinivas, of Des
Moines, says the bill would protect patients.  “As a physician I see the implications of having medical switches that are not necessary or even good for my patients every single day,” Srinivas says. “This bill fixes that.”

As other states have debated similar moves, insurance companies have argued the switches let them offer patients alternatives when pharmaceutical companies raise the price of a drug in the middle of an insurance plan’s year. Medicare, the government health plan for seniors, prohibits midyear changes unless the federal agency that oversees the program authorizes it.

(Creston, Iowa) –  A woman from Story County was arrested at around 3:10-a.m. today (Friday), in Creston. According to Creston Police, 20-year-old Addisyn Julie Vorm, of Nevada (Iowa), was arrested at a residence in the 300 block of N. Spruce Street.  She was charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Vorm was cited and released on a Promise to Appear.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A little less than a year after he took over the lead role as Atlantic Middle School Principal, Scot Aden is leaving for a district closer to where his roots are. He’s leaving the District for a position as Principal in the Carroll School District.

Aden grew up in the Lidderdale area, and accepted the position to be closer to family. Aden came to Atlantic after leaving his position with the Cherokee Community School District. He took over as AMS Principal on July 1, 2022, and succeeded former Middle School Principal Josh Rasmussen, who accepted the job of shared Superintendent for the Adair-Casey-Guthrie Center School Districts.

Mr. Scot Aden

The Atlantic School Board will act on accepting Aden’s resignation during their meeting March 29th.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa D-N-R has finalized its state drought plan. D-N-R hydrology coordinator, Tim Hall, says the plan is a resource for state, county and local use — and should give them a better opportunity to stay in front of drought conditions. Hall says the plan also draws from the longtime U-S Drought Monitor and provides a more localized version of that national program. He says it provides schedules and structure for having discussions and meetings and providing information to local decision makers during times of drought.

The plan divides the state into five regions, and will provide information on the drought status in each area. You can see the full Iowa Drought Plan at the D-N-R’s website: iowadnr.gov.

(Radio Iowa) – Saint Patrick’s Day is next Friday and next week is traditionally one of the deadliest weeks of the year for motorists and pedestrians in Iowa and nationwide. Sheri Krohn, program administrator of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, says they’re partnering with local law enforcement to launch a nine-day effort this weekend, spreading the message about the dangers of drinking and driving — and to take impaired drivers off the road. “There’s a lot of celebrations surrounding this holiday which means an increase in alcohol consumption and an increase in pedestrian traffic, and it can also be a nighttime event,” Krohn says. “This year, the holiday is on a Friday which will again increase the amount of activities and pedestrians in the area.”

The program starts this Saturday and runs through next Sunday, March 19th. Krohn says if you’re at a St. Pat’s party on foot, you’ll need to be especially cautious. “Pedestrians can limit their number of drinks, stay alert while they’re walking, stay off of their phones, use crosswalks,” Krohn says, “and most importantly, make sure that you make eye contact with the driver before crossing the street.” During the week of St. Patrick’s Day last year, 48 people were either seriously injured or killed in car crashes on Iowa’s roads. “Drivers should also stay alert, slow down, stay off their electronics,” she says. “Everyone needs to play a part to stay safe.”

If you’re going to drink, Krohn says to make the smart choice and plan for a sober ride. If you’re the designated driver, she says to make sure you keep that promise of safety to yourself and your passengers.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill to set up a new, quicker routes for getting a license to teach in Iowa cleared the Iowa House this week. Representative Henry Stone, a Republican from Forest City, says it would help ease the teacher shortage. “When a teacher shows up in the classroom, kids aren’t asking them what path it took to be there,” Stone said. “Their only concern is to be educated to the best extent possible.”

If the bill becomes law, people with a college degree could be hired as teaching interns while they complete their
training for a license. The bill would also let a college graduate take an online course to get a temporary teaching license rather than enroll in a teacher prep program at a college or university. Sixty-one Republicans voted for the bill. Two Republicans and all the Democrats in the House voted against it.

Representative Molly Buck, a Democrat from Ankeny who’s a teacher, says there should be a required period of student teaching under the direct supervision of an experienced educator before someone leads a class on their own.  “Would you want you house wired by an electrician who had never done an apprenticeship? Would you like to be operated on by a surgeon who’d never been through a residency program? How about flying on a plane with a pilot who’d never actually flown a plane?”

Representative Sue Cahill, a Democrat from Marshalltown who’s a retired teacher, says she’s seen people quit after a stint of student teaching — with another veteran teacher in the room. “It is a lot different than it looks on TV, then it looks when reading a book, or you may have experienced when you were a student,” Cahill says. Stone says these type of alternative licensing options are being used successfully by teachers in other states like Wisconsin and Missouri.  “It might not be comfortable trying something you’re not used to,” Stone said. “But…why not give them a try?”

Stone says the traditional route of licensure, with periods of supervised student teaching, is always an option, but this bill would let capable people more quickly get a job leading a classroom. “Somebody who wants to pursue a teaching degree as a second career path or later on in life isn’t just doing it on a whim. They are invested in this process. Also the district doesn’t have to hire them,” Stone says. “At the end of the day the school district decides whether or not to hire that individual.”

Also this week, Republicans in the House passed a bill to change the make-up of the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners so five would be parents, five would be educators and one would be a school board member. Currently, the Iowa Department of Education’s director, two parents and nine educators serve on the board.

(Radio Iowa) – A state official who signed off on the legal settlement with a dozen former Hawkeye football players says he applauds the decision to have Iowa’s Athletics Department cover the entire cost. State Treasurer Roby Smith, a member of the State Appeals Board, voted to approve the settlement Tuesday. State tax dollars were to cover nearly half of the more than four MILLION dollar payment to black players who alleged there was racial discrimination in the Hawkeye football program.

Smith is revealing the Iowa Attorney General’s staff told him before the vote that the University of Iowa and the Board of Regents were refusing the pay the full amount, but voting no would force the case to trial and that could cost taxpayers far more. Smith says requiring the Iowa Athletics Department to cover the entire settlement is the right course, but Smith is renewing his call for the university’s president to reexamine the University of Iowa’s relationship with Hawkeye athletics director Gary Barta.

State Auditor Rob Sand, another member of the State Appeals Board, voted against the settlement because it’s the fourth discrimination settlement during Barta’s tenure at Iowa. Sand says he’d like to see a copy of the two million dollar check the Iowa Athletics Department writes to the state so taxpayers aren’t on the hook for it. “I am delighted that President Wilson listened to the concerns that lead to my vote against the settlement,” Sand says. “I am delighted she listened to taxpayers who wanted real accountability.”

A bill pending in the Iowa House would forbid state tax dollars from being spent on any future legal settlement over Hawkeye athletics. The state treasurer says legislators should consider expanding the bill to prohibit tax dollars from covering all claims against the three state universities.