A ban on nearly all abortions in Iowa after the sixth week of a pregnancy has cleared a House committee with the support of a dozen Republicans. However, at least two of those Republicans made it clear they want changes in the bill if or when it’s debated by the full House. Representative Rob Taylor of West Des Moines was among those voting “yes” “I believe that we all respect life in this room, but there’s a disparity between how we treat life inside the womb and how we treat life outside the womb,” Taylor said. “…As this bill stands today…it needs a lot of refinement, but that’s why I’m voting for this bill today.”

All the Democrats on the committee, including Representative Timi Brown-Powers of Waterloo, voted against the bill. “I’m a mother of one who had eight miscarriages. I would never choose an abortion for me,” Brown-Powers said in an emotional statement. “But I cannot choose for any of you what you would do because, quite frankly, it is none of my business.” The bill is a merger of two proposals — the ban on abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected along with a ban on the sale or donation of fetal tissue from a miscarriage or abortion. Representative Marti Anderson, a Democrat from Des Moines, suggests the bill’s abortion ban “intentionally goes too far.” “The motivation is clear: to create a vehicle to legally challenge Roe v Wade,” Anderson said.

Representative Sandy Salmon, a Republican from Janesville, is among those arguing the ruling that legalized abortion should be overturned. “Unfortunately a number of things that are legal are also destructive and this is among the worst,” Salmon said. Representative Mary Mascher, a Democrat from Iowa City, says similar laws in other states have already been ruled unconstitutional in federal courts. “Iowans are watching…They are listening,” Mascher said. “Iowans will not forget and they will vote.”

Representative Shannon Lundgren, a Republican from Peosta, says supporters of the bill are fulfilling a campaign promise to seek abortion restrictions. “The one important reason why we’re here today — there is another life at stake,” Lundgren said. “All lives matter. Absolutely all lives matter.”  Iowa’s current law bans abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy.

(Radio Iowa)

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 58-year old Thomas Oscar Anderson, of Red Oak, was arrested a little after 6:20-p.m. Thursday, on two separate warrants, both of which were for Violation of a No Contact Order. Anderson was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $600 cash only bond.

A new report ranks all 99 of Iowa’s counties for their health, based on criteria like access to good doctors, education and affordable housing. Katie Wehr, senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, says a host of key factors like -where- we live play a definite role in how well we live and for how long.

“Those include not only health behaviors, like what you might consider healthy eating or smoking or even clinical care,” Wehr says, “but it’s also looking at social and economic differences in our communities, aspects like child poverty or high school graduation rates or employment.”

The new rankings list Iowa’s five healthiest counties as: Grundy, Sioux, Cedar, Dallas and Winneshiek, while the five counties in the poorest health are: Monona, Appanoose, Decatur, Audubon and Lee. (Cass County is ranked 82nd; Guthrie County 77th; Shelby County 53rd; Harrison County 64th; Pott. County 90th; Audubon County 96th; Adair County 84th, Adams County 80th; Union County 89th; Montgomery County 88th; and Mills County, 63rd in overall Health Outcomes)

“What’s most important is that no matter where counties are ranked, it’s about recognizing there are areas for improvement and that the county ranking is a starting point, not an ending point,” Wehr says. “County residents and their leaders can take a look at the data, identify where they’re doing well and where they can continue to improve in their journey to better health for all people.”

She says the local-level information makes it clear good health is influenced by many factors beyond medical care including housing, education and jobs. “You can compare counties, so if there are peer counties you’d like to compare yourself to both within your state and in other states, you can take a look at that and see how you’re doing and take a deeper dive into not just the rank but those different elements that go into the rank, those different measures that help to contribute.”

The new report says poverty limits opportunity and increases the chance of poor health. Children in poverty are less likely to have access to well-resourced and quality schools, and have fewer chances to be prepared for living wage jobs. The report reveals that in Iowa, 15-percent of children live in poverty, compared to the national rate of 20-percent. Learn more at www.countyhealthrankings.org.

(Radio Iowa)

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

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A newspaper reports an Iowa Statehouse lobbyist has resigned from her job days after a video was released that showed her kissing a state senator. Iowa League of Cities Executive Director Alan Kemp on Thursday confirmed the resignation of Lindsey McCune to the Des Moines Register, but he declined to give more information. The League promotes policy in the Statehouse on behalf of cities.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has called a special election to fill the Senate seat left vacant by former lawmaker Bill Dix. Reynolds announced Thursday an election will be held April 10 for Senate District 25. It’s comprised of Grundy and Hardin counties, and portions of Butler and Story counties. Dix served as Senate majority leader until Monday, when he resigned from office after a video showed him kissing a Statehouse lobbyist.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Firefighters say two children have died in a Waterloo house fire. The fire was reported a little after 4 a.m. Thursday. The Courier reports that 9-year-old Amari Burkett and 6-year-old Ava Everman were removed from the home and pronounced dead at a local hospital. A woman also pulled from the house was taken to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. A third child, a girl, was able to escape by crawling through her bedroom window.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A group of Iowa soybean farmers will travel to China this week in hopes of smoothing over any rift in the trade relationship caused by the Trump administration’s announced tariffs on steel and aluminum. Iowa Soybean Association President Bill Shipley says now isn’t the time for the U.S. to retreat as a trusted source of soybeans because U.S. commodity prices are sliding and other countries are ramping up production.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A newspaper reports an Iowa Statehouse lobbyist has resigned from her job days after a video was released that showed her kissing a state senator. Iowa League of Cities Executive Director Alan Kemp on Thursday confirmed the resignation of Lindsey McCune to the Des Moines Register , but he declined to give more information. The League promotes policy in the Statehouse on behalf of cities.

The website Iowa Starting Line published video Monday morning that showed McCune kissing former Sen. Bill Dix at a Des Moines bar. The married Republican resigned from office hours later. He served as the Senate majority leader.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Thursday that a special election will be held April 10 to fill Dix’s district seat.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of 34-year-old Terence Chevy Magill on a warrant for Failure to Pay Child Support. Magill was arrested at 2:05pm Thursday in the 100 block of West Joy Street in Red Oak. Magill was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on no bond.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The campaign for tighter gun laws that inspired unprecedented student walkouts across the country still faces an uphill climb in a majority of states, an Associated Press review of gun legislation found.

The AP survey of bill activity in state legislatures before and after the Parkland, Florida, school shooting provides a reality check on the ambitions of the “Enough is Enough” movement. It suggests that votes like the one in Florida, where Republican lawmakers defied the National Rifle Association to pass new gun regulations, are unlikely to be repeated in many other states, at least not this year.

The student-led activism might yet lead to future reforms, but for now, the gun debate among most lawmakers still falls along predictable and largely partisan lines, with few exceptions, according to the analysis.

Because Congress shows no sign of acting, state legislatures dominate the national debate over guns. And major changes won’t be easy to achieve in statehouses that are mostly controlled by the gun-friendly GOP. Republicans have sponsored more than 80 percent of bills that would expand gun rights, while Democrats have introduced more than 90 percent of bills to limit them. The total number of gun-rights and gun-control bills identified by AP statehouse reporters is roughly equal — about 300 in each category.

Many of the Democratic gun-control bills have been introduced in legislatures dominated by Republicans, meaning they have little or no chance of passing. “I think (the) public attitude has changed, but I don’t see a big change here in the Legislature,” said Iowa Rep. Art Staed, a Democrat who sought unsuccessfully after the Parkland attack to force the Iowa House to consider allowing courts to temporarily seize guns from dangerous individuals. “It’s been very frustrating.”

Iowa’s GOP-controlled Legislature, which last year approved a historic expansion of gun rights, has not held hearings on Democratic proposals to ban assault-style weapons, prohibit high-capacity magazines or expand background checks. Instead, lawmakers have considered more pro-gun initiatives, including a bill to allow residents to carry handguns without obtaining permits and a resolution to enshrine the right to bear arms in the Iowa Constitution.

Iowa Gun Owners, a “no-compromise gun lobby,” has mobilized its members to pressure Republican lawmakers to hold firm.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A monthly survey of bankers suggests the economy is likely to continue improving slowly in rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says crop prices have improved a bit, but remain relatively weak. That’s hurting business. The overall Rural Mainstreet index slipped slightly to 54.7 in March from February’s 54.8. Any score above 50 suggests a growing economy in the months ahead.

Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Firefighters say two children have perished in a Waterloo house fire. The fire was reported a little after 4 a.m. Thursday. Two people who saw the smoke followed it to the home and tried to use a garden house on the flames after they called 911. Firefighters later pulled a woman and one child from an upstairs window and carried the other child down stairs to reach the outside. The children were pronounced dead at a Waterloo hospital. The woman was taken to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City.

The names of the children and the woman haven’t been released. The fire cause is being investigated.

The Iowa West Foundation Board of Directors recently approved $4 million in grants and initiatives funding to 29 nonprofit organizations and government entities in southwest Iowa and eastern Nebraska. Several of the grantees were the recipients of multi-year funding. Launched in 2016, multi-year funding is designed to provide essential general operating funds over a three-year period rather than one year, which allows organizations the capacity to focus more heavily on their missions. Among the local grant recipients was:

• The Carson and Treynor Volunteer Fire Dept.’s, $10,000 each, for EMS equipment
• The Pott. County Board of Supervisors, $474,125 to be used for: the City of Carson, to complete its facade improvements; and the City of Hancock, to improve its municipal wastewater treatment system.
• The City of Logan, $20,000 for basketball and tennis court rehabilitation in the City Park/”Kellen’s Kourts.”

The first cohort included human services organizations: Boys and Girls Club of the Midlands, FAMILY, Inc., Green Hills AEA, Heartland Family Service, Justice For Our Neighbors, Lutheran Family Services and the MICAH House. Housing also was a significant theme for this grant cycle. The 712 Initiative received $1 million to renew the downtown re-vitalization fund, which has been a major driver of development in downtown Council Bluffs. The organization received an additional $500,000 to support its operations. Neighborworks Home Solutions received a combined $262,500 to support new housing and neighborhood outreach in the west end of Council Bluffs near the former Walnut Grove School.  Finally, the City of Council Bluffs received $200,000 toward planning a bike trail along the First Avenue corridor. These grants respond to the recommendations of the Iowa West Foundation’s Housing Task Force. The task force was convened in 2017 to recommend funding priorities for housing in Council Bluffs.

Also in the placemaking category, the Friends of Lake Manawa received a $160,000 grant for the Dream Playground Re-Imagined project. Though the project is still in the fundraising phase, plans call for a six-day community grassroots effort to construct the new playground equipment scheduled for May 22^nd-27^th. More details can be found on the group’s Facebook page.

Local nonprofits gearing up for the 24-hour online giving day Pottawattamie Gives! have an extra incentive again this year. The Iowa West Foundation awarded $20,000 in bonus dollars for the event, which will take place on May 23^rd. The funds are specifically set aside for nonprofits who meet the Foundation’s qualifications and are based in Pottawattamie County or provide services here full time.