(Radio Iowa) The Board of Regents has given approval to the University of Iowa to begin planning for a new dorm and the possible sale of the current Mayflower dorm. U-I Vice president for finance and operations, Rod Lehnertz says the new dorm would cost between 40 and 60 million dollars and will be tailored to the needs of returning students.

He says they have a couple of potential sites for the new dorm that are near the current dorms on the east side of campus.

Lehnertz says the returning students are often those who transfer, or are coming back to college. He says they benefit from living on campus by meeting people and making connections.

He says the Mayflower dorms location one mile from campus makes it the least desired for the new students who end up there, and that is why they want to sell it. Lehnertz says Mayflower was a two tower building that was originally built as an apartment and would be desirable for those who want to make it back into apartments.

Lehnertz says they would look at the possibility of using the proceeds of the Mayflower sale to help pay for the new dorm. The new dorm plans and the sale of Mayflower are part of the overall housing master plan that includes renovations of the existing dormitories.

(Radio Iowa) A new study shows the three state universities add nearly 15 billion dollars to the state economy. The study from the labor market analytics firm Lightcast shows the contributions form the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa were equal to approximately seven-point-one percent of the total gross state product of the state. The study notes university activity supports nearly 200-thousand jobs in the state, which is one out of 10 jobs, and returns nearly three dollars for every taxpayer dollar spent. The study also outlines the impact of student education, alumni, and extension and outreach services. You can see more details of the report at RadioIowa.com

A prom dress pop-up is happening again in Atlantic this year. The event will offer a comfortable in-home style shopping experience on two different days at 804 Poplar Street in Atlantic, the white house just to the south of the Methodist Church. The event will be held on February 25th from 9:00 a.m. to Noon and March 3rd from Noon-3:00 p.m.

This comfortable free boutique style feel shopping event provides an opportunity for students to browse available dresses, try on as many as they want, and go home with a dress and shoes for free. A free will donation will be accepted but is not necessary. Light refreshments will be available and shoppers can enter to win a prom-day goodie bag as well.

The free will donation will go to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. A local LLS team named “Got Cure Age” run by three teen girls will be credited with the donations.

The event is hosted by Mallory Robinson with help of the United Methodist Church. If you would like to donate dresses you may drop them off at the Atlantic Chamber office or contact Mallory at 712-249-1985. She can also be reached for possible evening appointment arrangements between 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Progressive Rural Iowa Development Enterprise (P.R.I.D.E.) will host a final legislative coffee to share your views on Iowa and local issues with Senator Tom Shipley and Rep. Tom Moore. The event will be held on Saturday, March 4th from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Anita Public Library.  Light refreshments will be provided.

P.R.I.D.E. is an economic & community development organization.

(Radio Iowa) Officials with Prestage Foods of Iowa are announcing a joint venture that’s being called Prestage Wholestone. The collaboration is with Wholestone Farms of Nebraska which is a farmer-owned pork processing facility based in Fremont, Nebraska. Prestage Wholestone will operate the two plant locations in Eagle Grove and Fremont with a daily single shift harvest capacity of approximately 21,000 head per day. In a press release, the Eagle Grove facility will remain managed by the Prestage family. Prestage Wholestone is expected to start joint operations within the next 12 months. Wholestone Farms was founded as a cooperative of 200 Midwest family farms in 2018. The Eagle Grove Prestage Foods of Iowa opened its $350 million pork plant in 2019.

The Exira-EHK School board met on Tuesday evening in the conference room in Elk Horn for a regular meeting. During the meeting Superintendent Trevor Miller presented a tentative agreement with the Exira-EHK Education Association that proposes a 5.45% salary increase for Certified Staff members. That was unanimously approved as presented by the board.

The Board also approved resignations, hires, and transfers. Resignations included: Cody Parmley, Spartan Media Sponsor; Julie Rasmussen, Art Teacher; Andrea Schwery, Science Teacher and Softball Coach (after 2023 season); and Heather Sprague, Title Teacher. Hires included Cory Bartz as high school girls track coach and Doug Newton as junior high boys track coach.

A public hearing was also held on the proposed 2023-24 District Calendar with no comments received from the public.

The Exira-EHK School Board will next meet on March 21st at 5:30 p.m. in the Exira-EHK Conference Room in Elk Horn.

The Creston Police Department reports the arrest on Wednesday at 3:23 p.m. of 45-year-old Travis Quinn Wambold of Creston at 302 Pine Street. Wambold was charged with Violation of Probation and taken to the Union County Jail and held on no bond until seen by a Magistrate.

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest on Wednesday of 21-year-old Sebastian Kage Meek of Red Oak on a charge of Theft 2nd Degree, a Class D felony. Meek was arrested at 8:04 p.m. in the 100 block of E Street and taken to the Montgomery County Jail. He was being held on $5,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) The Iowa Supreme Court heard arguments in a request by the state to dismiss a lawsuit against the governor over the release of public records during the COVID pandemic. The records were released 18 months after the request when the lawsuit was filed by the Iowa A-C-L-U on behalf of journalists seeking the records. The attorney for the governor, Eric Wessan, says the administration followed the law because it never denied the request.

Chief Justice Susan Christensen says this approach could require anyone who requested open records to eventually hire a lawyer to get an agency to comply. She says that could be expensive and some people could not afford to do that.

The attorney for the A-C-L-U, Thomas Story, says the state should not be allowed to stall and force a lawsuit.

Wessan says it’s an important part of democracy. Wessan says the governor’s office gave very little response to the records request other than to acknowledged they received the request. He says there should be some reason given for not producing the records.

He says the strategy was to delay and force a lawsuit.

The Supreme Court will issue its ruling at a later date.

(Radio Iowa) Most Republicans in the Iowa Senate have voted for a bill to provide new liability protection for the trucking industry as well as companies with commercial vehicles, like delivery trucks, cranes or utility vehicles. Non-economic pain and suffering damages in lawsuits over accidents would be limited to two MILLION dollars, while payments to cover medical expenses, economic losses and punitive damages remain UN-limited. Republican Senator Adrian Dickey of Packwood owns a trucking company and is chairman of the Iowa Motor Truck Association’s board of directors.

“This is not about avoiding responsibility,” Dickey said. “It’s simply an attempt to rein in these ambulance chasing attorneys and false claims that…are plugging up our legal system.” Four Republican senators joined all the Democrats in voting against the bill. Senator Mark Lofgren (LAHF-grehn), a Republican from Muscatine, voted earlier this month against similar liability changes for medical malpractice claims. He cited the details of his grandson’s death after surgery to remove the two-year-old’s adenoids.

“Families that lose their family members from a truck, an injury that happens or whatever, they love their families just like those that lose their family with medical malpractice,” Lofgren said. Senator Mike Bousselot (BOO-suh-loh), a Republican from Ankeny, says the bill is needed to protect the trucking industry from trial attorneys seeking out-of-whack pain and suffering awards that drive up trucking company costs.

“We can see the nuclear verdicts here in Iowa. We can see the nuclear verdicts coming our way from as close as Illinois or Arkansas, but we can also see it on the very shelves that we shop. We see it when we try and buy a dozen eggs, when the goods that we want aren’t on that shelf.” Senator Pam Jochum (YOH-kum), a Democrat from Dubuque, says families who lose a loved one in an accident need more support than the bill would allow.

“This bill robs everyday Iowans of justice, senators,” Jochum says. “Are you going to protect the bottom line of gross negligent trucking companies?” The bill’s liability structure for commercial vehicle accidents is similar to the language in the medical malpractice bill the governor signed into law last week. The bill that cleared the Senate last (Wednesday) night now goes to the House for consideration.