(Radio Iowa) – The director of the Iowa D-O-T says the report by American Road and Transportation Builders Association ranking Iowa number one in poor bridges doesn’t tell the whole story. Director Scott Marler says there are four-thousand-558 structurally deficient bridges or poor bridges in the state — but that doesn’t mean they are unsafe.

Marler says Iowa ranks at the top in part because of the number of bridges here.

He says a majority of the poor bridges are on the rural road system.

Marler says counties are faced with significant and difficult decisions about which bridges to replace. He says only 26 bridges on the primary road system that the D-O-T oversees are in poor condition. Marler says they’ve reduced the number of poor bridges from 256 in 2006. And 21 of the 26 poor bridges on the primary system are slated for repair in the next five year road improvement program.

(Radio Iowa) – All four members of Iowa’s U-S House delegation are expressing support for an impeachment inquiry of President Biden. Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn, a Republican from Bondurant, represents Iowa’s third congressional district.

Earlier today (Tuesday), House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said allegations of corruption and abuse of power warrant further investigation and he’s directed House committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Nunn spoke with reporters in Iowa as McCarthy was making the announcement in Washington.

Nunn says House Republicans are handling the investigation into President Biden differently than Democrats did when they voted to impeach President Trump a week before his term ended.

Congressman Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull who represents Iowa’s fourth district, says President Biden is corrupt and must be held accountable after credible whistleblowers say the president secured preferential treatment for his son who’s facing tax evasion charges. Feenstra says a thorough investigation is warranted about Biden’s involvement with is son’s foreign business dealings as well.

First District Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks says the impeachment inquiry gives House Republicans additional subpoena powers to seek bank records that may connect the dots regarding improper payments to President Biden and the Biden family. Miller-Meeks says it’s important to note that an impeachment inquiry may or may not lead to impeachment proceedings.

Earlier this month, Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion said she supports moving forward with an impeachment inquiry. Hinson, who represents Iowa’s second congressional district, said it gives House committees the tools they need to get information and answers to questions about the Biden family’s business dealings. Hinson says the two impeachments against President Trump were baseless and the American people want congress to prove a high crime or misdemeanor exists if the House moves to vote on impeaching Biden.

A spokesperson for Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign says the Republican-led House of Representatives has become an arm of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and the allegations against Biden are debunked conspiracy theories.

The Panama One-Room School Museum announces that their annual summer social and fundraiser will take place on Sunday, September 17th from 4:00-7:00PM.

The summer social will begin with a flag raising at 4:00 at the schoolhouse museum in Panama. Following the fundraiser, the community can gather to share memories about their schoolhouse experiences. Supper will be held at the Parish Hall from 5:00-7:00PM at 2nd St. and Highway 191 in Panama.

“This year we are excited to include artifacts from former kindergarten teacher Doris Klein, who taught in the Panama and Portsmouth one room schools,” says Kathleen Cue, President of the Panama Historic One Room School Museum Board. “Her teacher’s book, along with teacher’s books dating back to 1899, will be featured.”

The Panama One-Room School Museum served as the Washington No. 7 schoolhouse from 1926 until 1959. The building was constructed in 1926 following the destruction of the original building and moved to its current location in Panama, Iowa in 1960. It continued to house kindergarten and elementary school classes until 2002. Today, the school building continues to educate Shelby County residents as a museum and is open by appointment May through October.

State Auditor Rob Sand Tuesday alerted Iowa school districts and government entities to be on the lookout for check scams and fraudulent emails instructing them to redirect payments.

“This kind of fraud is on the rise and can happen to anyone. A year ago, I was personally targeted by email scammers trying to redirect my paycheck. Fortunately, the Iowa Department of Administrative Services contacted me to confirm the email was fake,” said Sand. “That’s why it’s so important to be vigilant and develop internal controls and procedures to detect and prevent fraud.”

Two unidentified Iowa school districts recently informed the Auditor’s Office that they were the target of scams involving fake checks and emails.

In the first instance, the perpetrators sent a fake email to the school district directing them to send payments to a new address. The scam, known as Business Email Compromise (BEC), resulted in the district being defrauded of approximately $100,000.

In the second instance, the perpetrators created fake checks that included the district’s account and routing numbers. They successfully cashed two checks at area banks totaling $10,400.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a nationwide alert in February warning of a surge in check fraud. It cited a 23 percent increase in check fraud complaints from financial institutions in 2021, compared to the previous year. The increase is linked to an uptick in the theft of checks sent through the mail.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has made mitigating the BEC threat a priority, noting in a 2022 report that losses from BEC crimes jumped from $360 million in 2016, to $2.4 billion in 2021.

The Auditor’s Office advises school districts and government entities to monitor financial accounts for irregularities, including unauthorized withdrawals or missing deposits. Requests to redirect payments should be independently verified by calling the vendor directly. Contact information contained in the suspect email or other correspondence should not be used to verify the payment method. Additionally, public entities should institute policies and procedures to prevent fraud.

Book bans were the subject of a hearing before the U-S Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he sees it all as being about parental rights.  The Iowa legislature passed a bill this past session that became law which requires Iowa schools to remove most books that depict sex acts from classrooms and school libraries.  Grassley refused to offer an opinion on the state law.

Grassley, the ranking Republican on the committee, says the hearing is called: “Book Bans: Examining How Censorship Limits Liberty and Literature.”

The new state law has left some school administrators uncertain how to proceed on certain books.  Some school boards have started issuing lists of books they’re pulling from shelves, while others have requested instruction from state education leaders. Grassley says the law should be clear about what books are inappropriate for certain ages.

The new state law will take effect in January.  Some nationally-known authors have criticized Iowa’s legislature for the law as their books are among those being banned in some schools.