(Radio Iowa) – There have already been 14 motorcyclists killed in accidents this year and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau and the Iowa D-O-T are trying to raise awareness of the problem. G-T-S-B spokesperson, Colleen Powell, says some people are not following basic safety rules.

“We know speed has been a factor even in our passenger cars, that people are just driving way too, fast excessive speeding. We may also be seeing that on motorcycles people being distracted,” she says. Powell says being distracted in a car or on a motorcycle can lead to bad results as you need to have all your attention focused on driving. She says there’s also another trend in the motorcycle deaths.

“Seventy-four percent of our motorcycle fatalities are unhelmeted, and that’s compared to the national average which sits closer to 38 percent,” She says. “So we’re almost double here in our state.”Powell says motorcyclists can give themselves more protection with a helmet. “We’re one of three states without a helmet law — right now people’s choice but we always encourage people to be protected, the same way we encourage people to wear seatbelts when they’re in a vehicle,” Powell says.

Motorcycles make up three tenths of one percent of all registered vehicles in the state, and point-33 percent of all vehicle miles traveled. But last year motorcycle deaths accounted for 16 percent of total traffic fatalities.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says a focus on what’s called “the science of reading” will improve the reading skills of students. The governor went to Adel Tuesday afternoon and sat among a group of first graders as their teacher led them through a reading lesson. The Adel-DeSoto-Minburn district adopted the science of reading three years ago in all grades and Travis Welker, the administrator in charge of the project — says they’ve had amazing results. Four years ago, tests showed a quarter of the district’s students were not skilled readers. This year’s results show 95 percent are proficient at reading and writing.

“Our teachers have taken this on at all levels. We’ve asked our high school teachers to engage in this, not just our lowest grade levels, ” he said, “and the results speak for themselves.” Reynolds chose an A-D-M board room as the site for signing a bill into law that requires Iowa schools to develop a plan for each student in first, second or third grade who is not reading at grade level. The law also requires testing of Iowa college students who want to be teachers to gauge their knowledge of the science of reading. Reynolds says the most recent data shows 35 percent of Iowa third graders aren’t reading at grade level.

Governor Kim Reynolds sat in the back row as ADM teacher Erin Koelker led her first graders through reading exercises.

“That’s why we’ve made it a priority to empower all teachers and school districts with the tools they need to implement the science of reading in their classrooms by providing critical training at no cost to 6000 teachers and 600 administrators,” Reynolds said. Nine-million dollars is set aside in the state budget for that training. “Stay tuned because I think this is something we’re going to be able to show progress year after year and really have some good wins to talk about,” Reynolds said.

The governor spoke with reporters at the end of a hallway the school had named “Literacy Way.”

(Radio Iowa) – Nearly 27-million dollars in state funding that could have been used for prevention and treatment of opioid use won’t be spent. States are getting money from legal settlements with pharmaceutical companies and distributors accused of fueling the opioid crisis, but Republicans in the Iowa House and Senate can’t agree on how money in the Iowa’s Opioid Settlement Fund should be spent. Republicans in the Senate favored letting Iowa’s attorney general and the Department of Health and Human Services distribute the money. House Speaker Pat Grassley says Republicans in the House had a different idea.

“Where we wanted to get is assign some of those dollars to specific projects, but at the same time not just blanket hand those dollars over to the department,” Grassley says. “…We wanted to at least set up an advisory board that the legislature would have some input on.” The state’s Opioid Settlement Fund will eventually receive 144 million dollars over the next several years. That is to be split evenly between state and local governments in Iowa. House Republicans proposed that new council made up of opioid experts in state government and the private sector review grant applications and make recommendations to the legislature for approval.

“To get those kind of dollars that you’re talking about out the door, I think the legislature should be involved in that conversation and ultimately that’s where the differences boiled down to,” Grassley says, “turn it over to the department or have a little bit more control by the legislature.”

Grassley made his comments during a recent appearance on “Iowa Press” on Iowa P-B-S.

(Radio Iowa) – The U.S. Labor Department says a Tennesse-based cleaning company will pay $649,000 in penalties for employing children at facilities that included the Sioux City Seaboard-Triumph pork plant.

An investigation earlier this year found that children, some as young as 13, were put on overnight sanitation shifts at the Sioux City plant and Perdue farms facility in Virginia. At the Seaboard Triumph facility, federal investigators witnessed children concealing their faces carrying glittered school backpacks before starting their overnight shift.

They learned children were assigned to use corrosive cleaners to clean dangerous kill floor equipment. Seaboard Triumph has since fired the company.

AMES, Iowa – May 7, 2024 – Join the Iowa Department of Transportation for a virtual presentation to share your input on U.S. 30 in Missouri Valley in Harrison County. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027.

Virtual presentation:

When: Anytime between Tuesday, May 7, 2024 –  Monday, May 20, 2024

How to Attend: Navigate to https://pima.iowadotpi.com/public/event-registration/search?project_id=13099&pe_guid=2e180c4c-9c8f-4a4e-8645-5d35499bc272

Description: The website will help you get information about the project plans and allow you to give us feedback.  If you would like to receive future emails about this project or submit a comment or question for this project, you can go directly to: https://pima.iowadotpi.com/public/comment/project-comment?project_id=13099&pe_id=5928

Comments are due by Monday, May 20, 2023

For general information regarding the project, contact Scott Suhr, Field Services Coordinator, Iowa DOT District 4 Office, 2210 E 7^th St., Atlantic, Iowa 50022, phone 712-388-6883 or 800-289-4368, email Scott.Suhr@iowadot.us

Please contact the person listed above if you need information in another language or if you need an interpreter. We will provide these at no cost to you.

Find information on any DOT project at www.iowadot.gov/pim. There are several ways to keep informed about projects in your area. Iowa DOT ensures nondiscrimination and equal employment in all programs and activities in accordance with Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other nondiscrimination statutes. If you need more information or special assistance for persons with disabilities or limited English proficiency, contact Iowa DOT Civil Rights at 515-239-1111 or by email at civil.rights@iowadot.us.

(Radio Iowa) – Environmental groups and experts say a new study shows serious health issues surrounding two coal-fired plants operated by MidAmerican Energy in northwest Iowa just south of Sioux City. Josh Mandelbaum of the Environmental Law and Policy Center says “We know that these plants are massive carbon polluters. They’re impacting the climate, but on a local level, they are having an immediate and significant impact on the health of the communities surrounding these plants,” Mandelbaum says.

The study released by the Iowa Environmental Council says from 1999 to 2020, pollution from the plants caused 165 premature deaths in the region and 14-hundred overall. And it shows higher rates of asthma, C-O-P-D, and heart disease. Environmental Council Senior Policy Advocate Cody Smith. “We hope that our report is a wake-up call for the leadership of Mid-American Energy and that they act swiftly to become the responsible corporate neighbor they claim to be,” Smith says.

Smith and others who took part in a virtual news conference (Tuesday morning) say the public deserves better. They say lower-income and people of color are at the highest risk of health issues. A spokesperson for MidAmerican Energy says the company plans to phase out coal-fired plants by the year 2050.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa is joining 20 other states in a lawsuit over the Biden Administration’s move to expand Title Nine protections for women to ban discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird says the new rule violates the U-S Constitution as well as a federal law that requires agencies to fully consider the costs of complying with new regulations. “And that’s something I get to do as attorney general is to enforce our laws and constitution on the federal government when it gets out of control,” Bird says.

The new restriction would apply to all schools — from preschool through college — and schools that fail to comply could lose federal funding. Bird says the mandate tears down more than 50 years of landmark protections for girls and women who will now be forced to share private facilities with males. Governor Kim Reynolds says there are important biological differences between males and females and she asked the attorney general to join the lawsuit. The governor made an indirect reference to the rule during a speech at the Iowa Republican Party’s state convention.

“And by God, we will protect girl’s sports. Bring it on, bring it on,” Reynolds said, to cheers. “Bring it on!” Title Nine is the landmark civil rights law passed in 1972 that prohibits discrimination in any school or education program that receives federal funding and it led to an expansion of girls’ and women’s sports across the country. The attorneys general from Missouri and Arkansas are leading the lawsuit to try to stop the Biden Administration’s changes in Title Nine from going into effect August 1st.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday morning, received a request for County participation in helping the Anita Locker receive an economic development grant. Supervisors Board Chair Steve Baier said he wrote “a general letter of support” for the grant, because other projects that have flourished under similar grants.

Scot and Cheryl Bailey, along with their son Jackson, own the Anita Locker. Scot and Cheryl appeared before the Board to explain the need for funds to update their facility, especially in light of business coming from the Minden Locker, which had to close due to damage from the April 26^th tornado.

Cheryl Bailey said they applied for a matching grant from the IEDA (Iowa Economic Development Authority) in the amount of $41,500.

She said they have applied for a CIS (Cooperative Interstate Shipping) license, which allows participating state-inspected meat and poultry establishments to ship products across state lines. To qualify for the CIS program, a meat processor must have fewer than 25 full-time employees and comply with all federal food safety, sanitation and facility regulations. Anita Locker has six employees, including two full-time and two part-time, and if the locker can update it’s compressor, that would bring in more business and allow them to hire three-to-four more people.

The Board took no action on the request at this time. In the interim, Supervisor Steve Green suggested the Bailey’s check with SWIPCO and/or CADCO to obtain other, possible sources of funds, including a loan. Supervisor Mark O’Brien said providing funds might “Open-up a can of worms” to the private sector. Supervisor Wendy Richter….

The Cass County Supervisors also heard a request for the use of ARPA funds for a proposed Griswold Splash Pad. Griswold City Administrator Sheryl Owen said they have $112,000 from their CD account to use for the project, but would like extra funds to really get the ball rolling. The project would be located where the current wooden playground is, in Griswold.

There will also be a green space for a play area. Owen said with the opening of the new daycare center, and housing development, the addition of a splash pad would be a welcome site for families moving into the area.

Supervisor Steve Green said he would be in favor of granting the funds, if the project was further along. The Board also considered a request by the City of Griswold/Noble Initiative Community Foundation, for $227,400 for a lift station at the Land of Oz Housing Development project.

Sheryl Owen said the City has already, technically, invested $1.1-million dollars in the project, including $500,000 directly from the City. The Board discussed the matter for a considerable amount of time and considered the request, but took no action at this time. Owen said they would like the board to act on the request by no later than the end of June, as the completion date is expected sometime in July or August, depending on the weather.

ADAIR COUNTY—Heavy precipitation is causing a bypass of untreated wastewater from the City of Fontanelle. It is flowing from the lift station located at Washington and Main Streets in town to an unnamed tributary which runs over a mile before reaching the Middle Nodaway River.

The bypassing began at 11:15 p.m. last night. The amount of the discharge is unknown at this time. DNR staff are monitoring the situation and sampling has been required.

It is recommended to stay away from this area until the bypass has stopped.