(Radio Iowa) – A bill that criminalizes certain types of trespassing on agricultural properties has passed the Iowa legislature and now awaits Governor Kim Reynolds’ signature. Drew Mogler, the public policy director at the Iowa Pork Producers Association, says it creates new penalties for those found guilty of trespassing to set up surveillance equipment on someone else’s property to secretly capture images or video.

“It does have some important protections for not just our members but really anyone who has private property and that was really the basis of this bill,” Mogler says, “protecting private property rights for folks in the state of Iowa, to have some strong support from some of the business groups in the state as well.” Iowa legislators have been trying for years to enhance trespassing laws in response to undercover operations that target large-scale livestock operations. Mogler says the way the bill was written should help it withstand any possible lawsuits.

“We’ve had trespass laws on the books for quite some time in Iowa, it strengthens those,” Mogler says. “We really believe that should pass the court’s muster and shouldn’t be challenged from that standpoint.” Earlier measures were written as what critics called “ag gag” laws, which were thrown out, although some of those measures are still being argued in court. Mogler says trespassers need to be held accountable and this bill will ensure it happens.

“Producers deserve to be protected from folks who are trespassing on private property or breaking into their properties and trying to do harm,” Mogler says. “This bill will offer more protections for farmers for their private properties and also for other businesses across the state as well.” The measure passed the House on a 72-to-20 vote while the Senate approved it 35-to-11. The governor is expected to sign it into law.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson is co-sponsoring legislation to make a retroactive change in the federal Paycheck Protection Program for some farmers and small business owners. The P-P-P was created last spring and quickly ran out of money. A third round of funding was approved by Congress in December. “Currently, there’s a technicality with the PPP that’s preventing some Iowa farmers and self-employed small business owners from receiving their full PPP forgiveable loan,” Hinson says.

Hinson, a Republican from Marion, and Virginia Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, are co-sponsoring the bill. Hinson says a technicality had prevented some farmers and self-employed small business owners from using gross income rather than net profit to determine the size of their P-P-P loans.

“Basically it just fixes that disparity, allows the retroactivity and then allows them to recalculate to get the whole payment,” Hinson says, “regardless of what the loan status was before.” The National Federation of Independence Business has endorsed the legislation.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne is calling on congressional leaders to include money for the renewable fuels industry in the infrastructure bill they’re crafting. President Biden’s American Jobs Act proposes spending 174 billion to promote development of electric vehicles and install charging stations.  “We’ve also got our homegrown alternatives in clean biofuels that can be readily be put in place immediately,” Axne says, “much more quickly than we can move towards electric vehicles.”

Axne says she’s talked with U-S Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg about ensuring the biofuels sector gets included in the final package. There are more than 284 million registered vehicles in the U.S. — and fewer than half a percent of them run on electricity. Axne says investing now in biofuels infrastructure — like new fuel pumps that dispense higher blends of ethanol in gasoline– would have an immediate impact on air quality.

“We can get into markets more quickly,” Axne says. “We can increase the amount of ethanol used and automatically reduce our greenhouse gases and make sure we’re coming out of the gate with this bill actually making an impression from the beginning.” In a letter to six top House leaders, Axne cited recent Harvard University research that suggests ethanol’s carbon intensity score is nearly half that of gasoline and could be be even lower.

Members of the City of Atlantic’s Park and Recreation Board will meet 5:15-p.m. Monday (April 19), via Zoom. Action items and/or New Business during the meeting, will include:

• Sunnyside Tennis Court Bathrooms
• Dog Park Upgrades
• Summer Programs
• An updated Campground Kiosk
• Spotlight days
• Online recreation item reservations,
• and Little League/Soccer Association.

In the Director’s Report, Atlantic Parks and Rec Director Bryant Rasmussen will discuss:

• Nesting Boxes
• Controlled Burns
• The Easter Egg Cruise
• Groundskeeper applications,
• and more.

Members of the Audubon School District Board of Education will hold their regular monthly meeting Monday, April 19th, in the High School Board Room. The meeting begins at 7-p.m. Some action items on the Board’s agenda include (but are not limited to…):

• Approving the last day of school and the list of graduates.
• Approving an AEA Purchasing Agreement.
• Approval of a “Quit Claim” Deed for the Christensen Trust.
• and approval of a late Open Enrollment request.

In other business, the Audubon School Board will receive updates from Superintendent Eric Trager, with regard to Federal COVID Relief Funds, along with a report on buildings and grounds. At the end of regular business, the Board will move into an Exempt (closed) Session, for the purpose of strategy negotiations with those employees not represented by a collective bargaining unit.

Coming out of the closed session, the board will take action on approving raises for those same employees

The CAM Community School District will hold a Community Engagement meeting live, and via ZOOM, beginning at 6:30-p.m., Monday (April 19th), with regard to district facilities. The meeting takes place at the CAM Middle School, in Massena (If you wish to view the meeting by ZOOM, click HERE).  Everyone is encouraged to attend the meeting, either in-person, or virtually.

(Atlantic) – If you love to read a good book, you have an opportunity to fill your bookcase, AND, help out the Atlantic Public Library. The group “Friends of the Atlantic Public Library,” (FOL) will hold their Spring Book Sale this coming Wednesday through Friday, from 9-a.m. to 6-p.m., each day. Proceeds from the book sale helps to support a variety of library programs, such as the: Summer reading program; adult programs; youth programs and the annual “Shred day.”

COVID threw a wrench in efforts to hold the event last Spring, but the Fall sale went on as scheduled. Persons planning to attend the Spring Book Sale will still need to wear a mask and practice social distancing. In 2019, 15 volunteers worked more than 200 hours getting ready for the event. They unpacked booked, arranged and alphabetized them, and ended-up selling an estimated 5,000 books/periodicals. Their efforts raised a little more than $3,100, from books sold for anywhere from 25-cents to One-dollar.

You can also donate books, prior to the sale. If you’d like more information about FOL, contact President Ken Moorman, Vice President Linda Templeman, Secretary Barb Chase, or Treasurer Dottie Krogh.

Kansas City, MO – Although its origins are uncertain, April 20 (more commonly known as 4/20) has become synonymous with marijuana use and, in some circles, the date is a marijuana “holiday.” On Tuesday, April 20, 2021, there will likely be an increase in marijuana use. To help keep drug-impaired drivers off the roads, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Region 7, consisting of Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, is spreading the message that drug-impaired driving of any kind is dangerous and illegal. NHTSA wants to remind all drivers: If You Feel Different, You Drive Different. Drive High, Get a DUI.

Just like drunk driving, drug-impaired driving is illegal nationally, and yet 25.1% of crashes where results are known across the country involve a driver who tested positive for drugs. Over the past 25 years, the number of automobile crashes with fatalities where at least one driver involved tested positive for drugs has surged across all Region 7 states as well. In 2019, the percent of crashes with fatalities where at least one driver tested positive for drugs: Arkansas 36%, Iowa 16%, Kansas 18%, Missouri 33%, and Nebraska 9%.

This is why it’s so important we spread this life-saving message: If You Feel Different, You Drive Different. Drive High, Get a DUI.  If you think driving while high won’t affect you, you are wrong. Regardless of the term used, if a person is high, stoned, wasted, or drunk, they are impaired. Driving while impaired by any substance is illegal and can be deadly to the driver and other road users. It’s that simple.

NHTSA Region 7 Administrator, Susan DeCourcy says “Drug-impaired driving is a safety issue for everyone on the road. We hope that people will think twice before driving while impaired by drugs. It is deadly for the driver and for his or her passengers and for other people on roadways. If you are taking any type of drug, prescription, over-the-counter or illegal, pass your keys to a sober driver. Remember: A DUI is for more than just alcohol.”

There are many resources available to get home safely. Plan ahead and designate a sober driver. Use public transportation or a rideshare service. Law enforcement partners will make zero exceptions. By working together, we can save lives and help keep America’s roadways safe.

With Ric Hanson.

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