Governor Terry Branstad this (Friday) morning unveiled a $25 million plan to reform the state’s education system. Many of the proposals were first released in October. One of the more controversial pieces remaining in the package would require children to repeat third grade if they fail to pass a literacy test. “Promoting an illiterate child is far crueler than holding back a child to get them back on track,” Branstad said at a press conference held at a Des Moines elementary school. Teachers and some school administrators and parents have opposed the idea of holding back third grade students. State Representative Sharon Steckman, a Democrat from Mason City, is a retired educator.

“I think you’ve done irreparable damage to a child sometimes when you hold them back and haven’t given them the opportunity to improve,” Steckman said. Branstad’s other proposals would “make seniority a minor factor” in deciding which teachers should be laid off when a school district is forced to make cuts. Teachers would also be evaluated annually instead of every three years, which is the current requirement. Branstad said he will outline how the package would be financed next Tuesday when he delivers the annual Condition of the State Address to the legislature.

link to full legislative brief on education reform proposals:

https://governor.iowa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/World-Class-Schools-final1.pdf

(Pat Curtis/Radio Iowa)

The Walnut City Council, Thursday, held discussion on ways to entice businesses to locate to “Iowa’s Antique City.” City Clerk Terry Abell said the Council, during their first meeting of the new year, talked about offering “incentive packages” to bring new business to town, but no action was taken. Abell said also, the Council reappointed Larry Humann to the Zoning Commission. The Council, in it’s review of the State Audit Report, noted some policy changes that need to be addressed. Abell said that includes a Disaster Recovery Policy for City Hall records, a written internet/password protection policy, and a new investment policy. The audit report, she said was “Clean,” and showed no discrepancies.

The Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce says a partnership between the Young Professionals of Atlantic and Healthy Cass County has produced a lunch seminar scheduled for January 18th. The seminar, titled “Why New Years Resolutions Don’t Work,” is tailored for area 20 and 30-somethings and will focus on making plans that are achievable and ways to stay motivated. Cass County Wellness Coordinator Bethany Rogers will be speaking to attendees about making and keeping wellness goals for 2012. Rogers has gained recognition in the area as a community leader for the ongoing Blue Zones Project, studied Coaching at the University of Northern Iowa, and has been employed in several health and wellness positions. 

Lunch will feature a healthy and affordable recipe.  Registration is open until January 15 online at www.AtlanticIowa.com. Attendees will also have an opportunity to register for Live Healthy Iowa’s popular 100-Day Wellness Challenge which begins January 23. Organized under the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, the Young Professionals of Atlantic group has been actively working to expand the social and business networks of area professionals in the 21-40 set. 

More information can be found through the Chamber at 712-243-3017 or Rogers at 712-249-4529.

w/ Ric Hanson

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Officials with Mid American Energy Company today (Friday), announced the development of new wind projects in Iowa, totaling 407.1-megawatts. Among the projects, is a signed agreement with Clipper Windpower Development Company, for the acquisition of both the 200.1-megawatt Eclipse wind project, located in Adair County. The projects, which also include those in Marshall and Tama Counties, a combined 176 turbines, will be complete by the end of 2012. An additional 2.3-megawatt wind turbine will also be added to the Rollings Hills wind project this year.

In December 2010, MidAmerican announced it would add 593.4-megawatts of new wind-powered generation in Iowa. The projects included the 443.9-megawatt Rolling Hills wind project, located in Adair, Adams and Cass Counties. The final portion of the 593.4-megawatt expansion was placed in-service at the end of 2011.

The company’s other wind projects are located in several western Iowa counties, including Carroll, Crawford, and Pottawattamie. They total 1,284.3-megawatts of wind generation. When the 2012 wind projects are complete, MidAmerican will own 2,284.8-megawatts of wind generation, with about 29% of its total generation capacity powered by wind. By the time the 2012 projects are completed, the company will have invested about 4-billion dollars in those projects.

Authorities in Pottawattamie County are searching for a motorist involved in a one-vehicle crash early this (Friday) morning, in Council Bluffs. According to the Omaha World-Herald, the accident happened at around midnight, near 12th Street and Sixth Avenue. Council Bluffs police said the driver apparently struck a parked car before the motorist’s vehicle overturned. The driver then left the scene before authorities arrived.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Decisions by the Iowa Property Assessment Appeal Board will affect millions in property taxes paid by property owners or spent by some Iowa cities. The Des Moines Register reports Des Moines, Clive, Urbandale and West Des Moines could lose up to $3 million in property taxes if the property values are cut, and local school districts could lose millions more.

Most Iowans aren’t complaining about the lack of snow, but weather watchers say there’s rising concern about a drought in the coming months. Bryce Anderson, senior agriculture meteorologist at Data Transmission Network, says the La Nina weather pattern is bringing Iowa milder temperatures while keeping the arctic air far to the north. “The effect that we’re going to see from that is a fairly dry situation through much of the wintertime,” Anderson says. “We will have to watch for the possibility of severe weather becoming a little bit more of a feature as we go into the spring.”

Anderson says the longer our region is lacking in significant moisture this winter, the greater the possibility of drought conditions a few months down the road. “There is some stage of drought going on over about the eastern third of Nebraska through the northwestern part of Iowa,” he says. “If we don’t get any moisture in late winter, then into early spring, we set ourselves up to be concerned about a drought problem going into the crop-planting season.” That seems a bit unusual, considering we just came out of a year when we saw several months of severe flooding on the Missouri River. Anderson says the La Nina pattern can spark unstable weather conditions in the spring.

“La Nina can be a real storm producer and can contribute to severe weather occurrences being greater than average over the Midwest,” he says. “That’s going to be a feature we are going to be watching especially when we get into March and then into April as we start to change our seasons.” Anderson says a dry spring could bring a vexing challenge to producers. He says we should enjoy the mild winter now and be ready for a dry, likely stormy, spring.

(Matt Kelley/Radio Iowa)

Atlantic shattered a 78-year old weather record for a high temperature Thursday, when we topped out at 62 degrees. The old record high of 52 was set in 1933.  The National Weather Service says record highs are possible again today, across Iowa.

The record high for today’s date was 56-degrees, which was also set in 1933.