(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s not ready to reveal details of the “new direction” she is seeking in the largest agency in state government. Reynolds, who asked the director of the Department of Human Services to resign last month, says welfare reform is part of the discussion. “We’re going to look at everything. I’m not going to specifically start to point things out,” Reynolds said.  This past February, Reynolds said the state cannot afford to pay welfare benefits to able-bodied adults who do not have children to stay at home. Some of the governor’s fellow Republicans in the legislature say welfare reform will be a priority issue next year. On Tuesday, Reynolds said she wants to encourage welfare recipients to enter the workforce with a “carrot instead of a stick” approach. “If we can help provide them the support system them need, help provide them the skills, match them up with an employer,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds held a news conference Tuesday morning, to tout a state website that was redesigned in June and currently lists 80-thousand job openings in the state. “Any time or any way we can get information out to Iowans who are looking for an opportunity to have a better career and a better quality of life in Iowa, we should do that on all fronts,” Reynolds said. Reynolds later reviewed with reporters the reasons she has given for dismissing Department of Human Services director Jerry Foxhoven. Foxhoven has said he was asked to resign after raising concerns about having agency money pay the salary of a staffer in the governor’s office. Reynolds disputes that. “I want to be clear,” Reynolds told reporters. “He never raised any concerns to me or my office about anything.”

Reynolds says the practice of financing governor’s staff salaries with funds legislators set aside for state agencies dates back to the 1970s when Robert Ray was governor. Reynolds says a few state agencies are checking to ensure state rather than federal funds are being used to pay some of her staff. Reynolds has declined — as she did again today — to list the reasons she asked Foxhoven to resign. “I don’t believe that the agency is where it should be and I think that we can do better and because of that, I’ve made the decision to go in a different direction and that’s what we’re doing,” Reynolds told reporters.

Reynolds says she’s looking for someone with new ideas to lead the Department of Human Services — someone who’s provided “transformational change” in a previous setting.

Atlantic Fire was dispatched at 6:14-a.m. today (Wednesday), to a semi-tractor trailer, tire fire. The semi was located at the 60 mile marker eastbound off ramp from Interstate 80. Firefighter Gene Schmeling told KJAN news the truck driver was trying to extinguish the flames when they arrived on the scene. Crews were on location for about 25 minutes. No injuries or truck damage were reported.

Cass County ISU Extension in Atlantic is offering a hands-on workshop for making and taking homemade jam. Learn how to “Preserve the Taste of Summer!” during a hands-on canning workshop presented by ISU Extension Nutrition and Wellness Specialist Barb Fuller. The workshop is based on USDA-approved food preservation recommendations, so that the food you preserve is not only delicious but safe to store for up to a year. Everyone who attends the workshop goes home with a jar of food and a complete collection of ISU Extension home preservation publications. Cost of the workshop is $35, and pre-registration is required by Thursday August 1st.

Jam Making and Dehydration, will be held from 9-a.m. until 1-p.m. Saturday, August 3rd, at the Cass County Fair Food Stand in Atlantic. Get ready to enjoy the taste of fresh fruit year round with this workshop on making and canning blueberry spice jam. This workshop will prepare you for preserving any type of fresh fruit through hot-water-bath canning or dehydration. All supplies will be provided, including jars, lids, screw rings, and berries.

Register online at http://bit.ly/ptts13409, or stop by the Cass County Extension office to sign up today! All registrations are due by August 1 to ensure supplies are available. Call 712-243-1132 for more information and to register for the class, or visit www.extension.iastate.edu/cass to register online.

In addition, ISU Extension offers a library of publications with recipes and instructions for preserving a wide variety of foods, from fruits and vegetables to pickles and meats. These publications are available as free downloads on the ISU Extension Store at https://store.extension.iastate.edu/, or can be picked up at your local ISU Extension Office.

Police in Red Oak arrested a woman early this (Wednesday) morning, on an assault charge. 27-year-old Alyssa Mae Jaraz, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 2:30 a.m., on a Pottawattamie County warrant for domestic abuse assault. Jaraz was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail, pending transfer to Pottawattamie County.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa City police officer and a woman accused of shooting him with a BB gun have been released from a hospital. A city news release sent Tuesday night says 25-year-old Cierra Lewis was taken to Johnson County Jail after her release and has been charged with two felonies: assault with a weapon on a police officer and willful injury-serious injury.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation says the exchange of shots occurred Monday afternoon, after police were called to check a shoplifting report. The officers found a suspect who was later identified as Lewis, and police say she shot one of the officers several times, including in the face. He then shot her.

The officer’s name hasn’t been released.

Cass County Democratic Party Chair Sherry Toelle reports Democrat Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan will be in Atlantic this Friday, August 2, 2019, at 1:40 PM, to speak at the Farmer’s Walnut Street Diner. Ryan is currently serving his ninth term in the US House of Representatives, representing northeast Ohio.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Prosecutors are dismissing several criminal charges and traffic tickets against defendants arrested by an Iowa police officer who is no longer considered credible. Cedar County Attorney Jeffrey Renander says his office is dismissing the cases tied to officer Robert Smith “in the interest of justice.” He says his office has concluded it is unlikely to be able to obtain a conviction in any criminal cases where Smith is the primary or only state witness.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials have approved a final set of rules for the state’s new law allowing sports betting, which is set to go live at noon on Aug. 15. The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission on Tuesday approved the new rules to legally bet on professional, collegiate and international sporting events. Mobile apps for sports betting will only be operable within state borders. So residents in Omaha, Nebraska, would have to cross state lines each time they wished to place a bet on their phones.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds has appointed an information technology officer for the Iowa Department of Transportation to become the state’s top technology officer. Reynolds said Tuesday she named Annette Dunn to lead the Iowa Office of the Chief Information Officer. Dunn begins the new appointment Aug. 5.

OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) — Work has resumed to tear down a partially demolished hospital in Ottumwa. The Ottumwa Courier reports that crews this week began work on the former St. Joseph Hospital, nearly a year after a halt in the demolition. Des Moines-based Blackbird Investments had initially planned to convert the 94-year-old building into apartments but then opted to demolish the structure and build new housing. Demolition started in 2018 but was halted over a pay dispute that led to a lawsuit.

(Radio Iowa) — A retooled state website has a list of more than 80-thousand job openings in Iowa and adjacent areas in the states that SURROUND Iowa. “Around a 25-mile radius because we do have many Iowans who work across borders, but live in Iowa.” That’s Beth Townsend, director of the state’s Workforce Development agency. She says IowaWORKS-dot-O-R-G launched in June.

“Users have access to various tools such as assisted job search, creating resumes or building resumes and having an individualized portfolio that they can access 24/7,” she says. Iowa companies submit job listings, plus the website uses what Townsend calls “spidering” technology to find job openings online, then the software sifts through the data so a job opening won’t be listed more than once on the site. Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg says health care, information technology, and advanced manufacturing appear to be the industries with the most open positions.

“Make no mistake, the path to a new career is available at the click of a mouse,” Gregg said, “any time, anywhere.” The site also collects labor market data, like wage information for specific jobs. Job listings may be sorted, too, by location, by business or by certain industries.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa is scheduled to be the first state in the country to launch “model legislation” designed to fight human trafficking in the lodging industry. Workers in hotels and motels in Iowa and nationwide took part in training sessions about human trafficking today (Tuesday), what the industry calls a Day of Action. Chip Rodgers, president and C-E-O of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, says hotel employees can play a key role in spotting and stopping what he refers to as modern-day slavery.

Rodgers says, “When you have two people coming to the front desk and one of them may be a child and that child doesn’t look comfortable or that child looks to be out of place, you’ve got to be able to detect the signs of what may be a situation that needs to be looked into further.” He says hoteliers are in a unique position to identify and disrupt this terrible practice.

“Traffickers are seeking anonymity and they feel like if they check into a hotel, they can get that anonymity and carry out these illegal acts,” Rodgers says. “We’re going to stop that. We’re going to let them know this is not the place this can ever happen.” Human trafficking is a 150-billion dollar industry worldwide, with 40-million people trafficked every year.

“Because we have, as a society, not done a very good job recognizing this, sometimes it’s difficult to know just how many people in a given state are being effected by it,” Rodgers says. “There is no question that it’s happening in Iowa and all of the other 49 states.” The American Hotel & Lodging Association is working with Governor Kim Reynolds and Senator Joni Ernst on creating legislation to fight trafficking. An announcement is planned in Iowa on August 13th.

“We will be having an event in Des Moines to train employees at a local hotel,” Rodgers says, “but to also highlight this and begin the process of what we believe will be model legislation for the country in making sure every hotel employee is trained so they can detect the signs of human trafficking.” While thousands of hotel employees are trained every year already, the association is working to convene the entire industry with the goal of training every hotel worker.

For more information, go to http://www.ahla.com/noroomfortrafficking

Officials with Democrat Joe Biden’s Presidential campaign report the former Vice-President’s wife, Jill Biden, will travel to Iowa this Thursday and Friday, to hear from supporters, volunteers and, community members.

On Thursday, Jill Biden will attend “Biden for President” office openings in Sioux City and Council Bluffs. Then on Friday, she will attend community meet-and-greets with supporters, volunteers, and activists in Glenwood and Clarinda.

The following schedule is subject to change:

THURSDAY, AUGUST 1st: –

• Sioux City Biden for President Campaign Office Opening, Sioux City, Iowa; 4:00-p.m., 1754 Hamilton Boulevard.
• Council Bluffs Biden for President Campaign Office Opening; 6:30-p.m., 530 West Broadway St..

FRIDAY, AUGUST 2nd:

• Meet and Greet with Jill Biden in Glenwood; 10:00-a.m, .United Congregational Church Fellowship Hall, 109 North Walnut Street.
• Meet and Greet with Jill Biden in Clarinda; 12:15-p.m., Garrison Coffee House, 106 North 16th Street.