The 59 Republicans elected to serve in the Iowa House for the next two years have re-elected Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake as the top G-O-P leader in the House. The group met in private today (Wednesday) to start discussing what priorities to pursue in the 2017 legislative session, but Upmeyer, who will serve as House Speaker, isn’t revealing details of the G-O-P’s agenda.

“The information has not yet been all synthesized,” Upmeyer says. In the past six years, House Republicans have passed bills to cut Iowans’ personal income taxes, but those bills were never considered in the Democratically-led state senate. Now Republicans will control the debate agenda in the senate for the next two years, but Upmeyer isn’t ready to say what tax policy Republicans in the legislature may pursue.

“We’re certainly going to study that topic,” Upmeyer says. “I don’t know where we’ll end yet.” Upmeyer says beyond reducing “duplication” and looking for inefficiencies in the state budget, it would be a “stretch” to expect state agencies will be shuttered or programs ended. “People want solutions. They want to be heard and to make the state run a little better, but I think we’re still, maybe, deciphering some of the message,” Upmeyer says. “…We’ll have many conversations about many things and today I’m pretty confident that we’ll come up with a good budget that meets the needs of Iowans and is very responsible, so we’ll see. There are lots of ideas and we’ll see which ones actually gain traction.”

Upmeyer told reporters she is “not entirely sure” what the G-O-P agenda may be on state funding for schools. She’s suggesting there will “be discussions” about collective bargaining rights for unions that represent government workers, including teachers, but Upmeyer’s not revealing much. “We’ll see where that goes,” Upmeyer says. Bill Dix of Shell Rock will be the top G-O-P leader in the Iowa Senate next year. He told reporters last week that legislators “need to do a better job” of making government “smaller and more efficient.”

Upmeyer says the most of the “angst” among voters was over the gridlock and inaction in the FEDERAL government. “Certainly in Iowa we want to guard against having that same kind of environment, but things in Iowa actually had been working pretty well,” Upmeyer says. “So I think at the same time that we’re focusing on the things we’ve done well, I think we also have to focus on the things where there are opportunities for changes and improvements, so I think we listen…We do more listening and less declaring right now.”

House Republicans will meet again in December to discuss policy options. In the meantime, Upmeyer is suggesting legislators keep seeking suggestions and opinions from their constituents.

(Radio Iowa)

KJAN News has learned nine members of the Griswold Rescue Squad resigned during Tuesday night’s meeting of the Griswold City Council. City Manager Lora Hansen could not comment on the matter, and Cass County Attorney David Wiederstein, who also serves as the City Attorney for Griswold, was not immediately available for comment. Persons with knowledge of the situation say the issue or issues at hand had been brewing for months and finally came to a head during last night’s meeting.

Cass County E-9-1-1 Director Rob Koppert told KJAN News the Griswold area will not be without Emergency Medical Services. Medivac Ambulance has always been simultaneously dispatched to any emergencies as a backup to Griswold Rescue, and he says it’s his understanding there are still three- or four-members of the team still on-board to respond. Other nearby rescue squads (Elliott and/or Red Oak Rescue) could also provide mutual aid if requested. Otherwise, he said, the Communications Center will operate in a business as usual mode, and continue to dispatch Medivac as needed.

Koppert said he spoke with a City official, who said they will consult with their City Attorney, to determine what the next steps should be.

We will pass along more information, as it becomes available.

Marne and Atlantic Firefighters have been called to a bailer fire that has spread into a grass fire on Highway 173 near the intersection with Fairview Road, northwest of Atlantic. The call came in at around 2:20-p.m.  No injuries have been reported. The fire was extinguished by 2:40-p.m.

Photo courtesy Mike Kennon (Cass Co. EMA)

The Wellmark Foundation reports 30 Community Kickstarter grants totaling $277,654 were recently awarded for initiatives intended to make Iowa communities more active or improve access to healthy foods. Stephanie Perry, The Wellmark Foundation manager, said “All of these communities and organizations are committed to improving the health and well-being of their citizens. These grants fund projects that will have a community-wide impact now and for future generations.”

These final projects were chosen out of 79 submissions, because they focused on providing longer-term opportunities to make community members more active or improve access to healthy foods. Among the 30 grant recipients:

· $5,000 Afton Community Basketball Court Resurfacing, Afton

· $10,000 Taylor Park Playground, Creston

· $10,000 Dragoon Trace Nature Center, Mount Ayr

To learn more about these projects or The Wellmark Foundation, visit Wellmark.com/Foundation.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – One of the three men charged in a fatal Council Bluffs shooting and robbery has pleaded guilty as part of an agreement with prosecutors. The Daily Nonpareil reports 30-year-old Markis Davis pleaded guilty to robbery Tuesday in connection with the March 7 shooting death of Anthony Walker. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped all other charges.

Davis says he plotted with 22-year-old Wesley Correa-Carmenaty and 19-year-old Ben Lein to rob Walker of drugs and money. Davis invited Walker to his apartment. Police say Lein and Correa-Carmenty followed him with guns. One man carried a BB gun and the other held a .40-caliber handgun. Both Lein and Correa-Carmenty say they were the one holding the BB gun. They are awaiting trial.

An investigation into an assault last Friday in Council Bluffs has resulted in an arrest. Bluffs Police say 39-year old Cedric R. Whitmire, of Council Bluffs, faces charges that include 1st Degree kidnapping, Sexual Abuse in the 3rd Degree, Aggravated Domestic Assault, Pandering, and other, misdemeanor drug charges.Whitmire was being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail.

Cedric R. Whitmire

Authorities says on November 11th, officers with the Council Bluffs Police Department responded to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in reference to a female victim receiving treatment for both physical and sexual assaults. The victim told officers that her boyfriend, Cedric Whitmire, had taken her cell phone and refused to allow her to leave their apartment in the 800 block of North 36th Street, in Council Bluffs, for the past few days.

She also told officers that during that time, he continually assaulted her by striking her in the face with a closed fist and at one point sexually assaulted her. During the subsequent investigation, it was determined Whitmire had transported the victim into Omaha, against her will, for the purpose of engaging in prostitution.

The Audubon Police Department reports two Audubon men were arrested last week for Lascivious Acts with a child. 70-year old John Charles Donahue, and 19-year old Forrest James Debruin, were taken into custody Nov. 10th.

And, on Nov. 9th, 27-year old Cody Lee Sellman, of Coon Rapids, was arrested in Audubon for Driving While Barred, and Improper Registration.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson is on the verge of becoming the oldest woman in space. A native of Beaconsfield, in Ringgold County, Whitson will be 56 when she rockets off the planet Thursday. She’ll celebrate her 57th birthday on the International Space Station.

That’s a far cry from John Glenn’s space shuttle flight at age 77 and a few years shy of the male runners-up over the years. But it’s enough to beat Barbara Morgan’s record as the world’s oldest spacewoman. Morgan waited so long to fulfill her role as Christa McAuliffe’s teacher-in-space backup that she was 55 when she finally flew in 2007.

This will be the third space station mission for Whitson, and her second stint as commander. She’ll launch from Kazakhstan with two younger men, Russian and French.