(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds is calling for an end to the legal limits in Iowa law on the pay for top state administrators. The salary ranges for state agency directors and other top administrators have not been changed since 2008. The governor’s plan to shrink the number of state agencies to 16 includes a provision that would let Reynolds set the salaries for those 16 agency directors. Jacob Nicholson, the chief operating officer on the governor’s staff, says it’s a recruitment and retention issue.

“It’s very difficult to go out on a national search for instance right now and say: ‘Hey, we need someone to run our Department of Health and Human Services that oversees 4000 people. It’s a significant enterprise effort,'” Nicholson says, “‘and by the way we can only advertise this position for $154,000 a year.'” Nicholson says in some larger state agencies, there are 20 to 30 employees whose salaries are higher than the director who is their boss. The governor has provided bonuses in some of those situations.

“She’s forced to do that in order to recruit top talent into the state, in order to retain top talent into the state, but that process is just not transparent enough for our current governor,” Nicholson says. “She would like to be able to set her agency (directors) salaries and have that transparent for all to see.” Some Democrats like Representative Amy Nielson of North Liberty say they’re concerned the proposal removes all limits on the salaries of top agency directors.

“The governor could just go out and offer somebody — let’s just throw out some numbers — $300,000 to be the director of the Department of Human Services,” Nielsen says. That would be nearly twice the salary being paid to Iowa’s current H-H-S director. Nielsen says the salary guidelines for all state employees should be evaluated.

“So we are recruiting the best and the brightest, the top of the crop in all areas of the government,” Nielsen says. Zach Goodrich is executive director and legal counsel for the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. He says the board has been asking lawmakers to raise the salary for the position for several years.

“I am the third director in just a little over three years,” he says. “…I often joke that when I was hired, the salary played into the fact that the board ended up with a 25 year old as director, although I hope that’s not the only reason they ended up hiring me.”

A group of House members have started hosting public hearings this week on the government realignment plan Governor Reynolds submitted to the legislature.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Utilities Board has issued a schedule for the permit application process for Summit Carbon Solutions proposed carbon dioxide pipeline. The I-U-B order says it will hold a technical conference on March 15th at 10 a-m to discuss logistics for the hearing and to help those who want to file opposition or support of the pipeline can proceed.

The conference will discuss the schedule and provide information about how the I-U-B envisions the hearing will be conducted. Specific dates for the hearing will be determined at the technical conference. Summit is proposing approximately 687 miles of pipeline in Iowa.

For more information on the technical conference, go to iub.iowa.gov.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A public hearing for patrons of the Atlantic Community School District will be held 5:30-p.m. Wednesday, in the Atlantic High School Media Center. School District officials say the Board is considering extending the current Instructional Support Levy (ISL) for another five (5) years as allowed by Iowa Code. The ISL may be used for any general fund purpose. Notice was published on Feb. 8, 2023 in the Atlantic News Telegraph, that a hearing for the public to appear and present objections to, or arguments in favor of, any part of the Instructional Support Levy.

Following the Hearing, Wednesday, the Atlantic School Board will convene a Special Meeting for the following discussion and action items:

Discuss Items:

• Food Service Update by Natalie Ritter
• Strategic Plan Update

Action items:

• Resolution – Continue participation in the (ISL)
• Contract Recommendations for: Naela Thornton, 7th Grade ESL Teacher, & Kenneth Christensen, Washington School Day Custodian.

The Board will conclude the meeting with a reminder about upcoming date, including their next regular Board Meeting 5:30-p.m on March 8th, and a March 22nd Board Work Session (which may be rescheduled due to Spring Break).

(Radio Iowa) – Traffic was down on the state roadways in the last month of 2022. The D-O-T’s Stuart Anderson tracks the numbers. “Overall our traffic in December was down seven percent compared to our pre-pandemic December and it was down across all systems,” Anderson says. Recent lower traffic volumes have been attributed to higher gas prices — but he says this time it looks like winter is to blame.

“We do attribute that to the severe weather we had the end of December and the impact on travel on our public roadways.” he says. “And that is reflected that we do have preliminary January numbers which are showing traffic is now four above the pre-pandemic January — so we do think that is just a blip due to winter weather.” Anderson made his comments during the recent Iowa Transportation Commission meeting.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Two people from Polk County were arrested on drug charges, Saturday night, following a traffic stop, in Adair. An Adair Police Officer stopped the vehicle for having expired license tags. Upon further investigation, the driver, 21-year-old Marissa Jean Bonds, of Des Moines, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance/1st offense – Marijuana. And, 22-year-old Trayvon Damontas Patrick Taylor, of Des Moines, was arrested for PCS/2nd offense – Marijuana. Inside the suitcase in the vehicle, the Officer found 226 grams of marijuana. Bonds and Taylor were transported to the Adair County Jail in Greenfield. Bonds was released with a citation. Taylor was released on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

Two men were arrested on separate assault charges last week, in Adair County: 67-year-old Dennis Gene Killion, of Orient, was arrested Thursday at a residence in Orient, and 55-year-old Charles Henry Elings, III, of Adair, was arrested Feb. 13th in Adair. Both were arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault with Bodily Injury. Elings was released the next day on his Own Recognizance. Killion was released the following day on a $1,000 c/s bond.

And, 39-year-old Brian Charles Shannon, of Greenfield, was arrested Feb. 14th on a Dallas County warrant. He was turned over to Dallas County Deputies.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports a man from Greenfield was arrested following an incident that took place Friday morning. The Sheriff says at 8:42 a.m., Friday, the Adair County Sheriff’s Office received a cellular 911 call from an individual who stated that his white 2011 Chevrolet pickup had just been stolen from the Casey’s General Store in Fontanelle. The Fontanelle Police Department and the Adair County Sheriff’s Office responded, gathered the available information and relayed that information to assisting agencies. Of particular concern, was that a loaded handgun was inside of the pickup at the time of the theft.

At 9:35 a.m., an Adair County deputy observed the vehicle traveling west on 310 th Street from the Orient curve. The deputy activated his emergency lights and a short pursuit ensued, before the suspect pulled over. The suspect immediately put his hands outside of the window and fully complied throughout the duration of his arrest. The suspect was identified as 19 year old Xachariah Hinson, of Greenfield. Hinson was charged with: Theft in the first Degree, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Criminal Mischief in the Third Degree, and Eluding. He was being held in the Adair County Jail on a $20,000 cash or surety bond.

The Adair County Sheriff would like to remind the public to be conscious of the fact that incidents like this can happen in a matter of just seconds and that they do happen in small towns and in the rural areas. Additionally, there have been many recent advancements in various methods to secure firearms in vehicles.

Multiple agencies assisted in searching for the stolen vehicle, including: the IowaState Patrol, Motor Vehicle Enforcement Division of the Iowa DOT, the Adair Police Department and the Adams, Cass and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Offices.

Disclaimer: “It should be noted a criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.”

(Radio Iowa) – As state lawmakers consider making it easier for more Iowans to buy a nasal spray that reverses an opioid overdose, federal officials are considering rules that would reclassify naloxone as an over-the-counter medication, so anyone could buy it. Current STATE law limits who may buy naloxone to first responders and school officials. While a pharmacist can sell it without a prescription, the person who buys it must sign a ledger. Talia Sopp, of Anchorage, Alaska is a University of Iowa medical student. She previously worked at an addiction treatment center for teenagers

“Over the past four years, I’ve worked with doctors, pharmacists and community organizations to try to get naloxone directly into the hands who use drugs, which is important,” Sopp says. “…Who’s most likely to be at the scene of an overdose? It’s most likely someone who uses drugs.” Alison Lynch is the director of the opioid addiction clinic at the University of
Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Lynch says being able to buy naloxone over the counter would make it more available in rural areas.”After hours they can go to Casey’s or Walmart or something,” she says. “Even if the pharmacy is not open at Walmart, you know, on a Sunday or something, they can still go and purchase it.”

Naloxone is sold under the brand name Narcan. Two federal advisory panels of addiction experts said last week the medication is safe to sell without a prescription. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to make its decision about the nationwide sale of naloxone by March 29th. A bill that would toughen STATE penalties for fentanyl-related crimes includes letting more public officials get naloxone from a pharmacist, but would not make it available to anyone.

(Denison, Iowa) – Three area juveniles will face charges in Crawford County, following incidents of street sign vandalism. That’s according to Crawford County Sheriff Jim Steinkuhler, who did not release the names of the suspects.

Crawford County Engineer Paul Assman told our sister station KDSN that they discovered almost a dozen road signs dumped in a ditch along 210th Street north of L Avenue.  “Some sort of a Sawzall or cutting wheel and just cut the steel posts off. Really pretty senseless. Not quite sure what the motive there was to do that. We would seek damages from them and press charges, of course,” Assman said.

Image via KDSN in Denison.

He says people do mess with signs in the spring and fall especially but he’s never seen anything quite like this in 23 years on the job. “I don’t ever recall anyone going through that much effort and just throwing them back in the ditch so it really doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense,” Assman said.

He says the incident is under investigation and they are asking anyone who might know something about the signs to notify law enforcement.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office reports a man complained of pain following an accident Friday evening, but he was not transported to the hospital. Authorities say a 2003 Mack semi tractor-trailer driven by 41-year-old Jeffrey Painter, of Leland, IL, was backing out of a private drive at 3511 White Pole Road, when the trailer was struck by a westbound 2008 Lexus SUV. The driver of the SUV, 48-year-old Timothy Wells, of Menlo, told authorities he didn’t see the semi until the last minute, because he was blinded by the sun. He swerved, but his vehicle struck the rear dual tires/axle of the trailer, causing a total of $13,500 damage.

The accident happened at around 5:40-p.m.  No citations were issued.