DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa lawmakers have adjourned the 2015 legislative session, approving a $7.3 billion spending plan that includes modest increases for education, funding to maintain mental health institutions and a tax-break for broadband Internet infrastructure.

The Democratic-led Senate and the Republican-controlled House concluded their work Friday afternoon. Their budget bills move to Gov. Terry Branstad, who must decide whether he will sign off.

Under the compromise spending deal, the state will spend about $7.3 billion for the fiscal year that starts July 1. The deal represents only a slight increase over the current spending and includes $7.17 billion in ongoing spending, plus $135 million in one-time payments for items like schools, universities and Medicaid. Those payments will come from the surplus fund dollars left at the end of the current fiscal year.

Summer will arrive June 21st and already Iowans are being buzzed and bitten by mosquitoes. Brendan Dunphy, an entomology researcher at Iowa State University, says he’s been studying the habits of these tiny flying pest for years and spotted his first mosquito of 2015 in Boone County back in March. “What was happening was, they were simply coming out of their winter hiding places,” Dunphy says. “Now that we’re in the time of year when we’ll have consistently high temperatures, we have the type of environment that could sustain mosquito activity for months to come.”

Dunphy said the mosquito bites can make people sick but the bugs are much worse on other continents. “They are capable of transmitting human disease agents, plenty of viruses, West Nile virus would be the best example here in Iowa,” Dunphy says. “Also, a number of other things that are even more pathogenic and cause death in other parts of the world. Thankfully, in a place like Iowa, we have it relatively easy compared to sub-Saharan Africa.”

He urges Iowans to police their yards to make it harder for mosquitoes to find a home “Getting rid of sources of standing water on your own property,” Dunphy says. “Bird baths, tires, buckets, children’s swimming pools, turned-over truck toppers, anything that can collect water can essentially be a reservoir or a breeding ground for future generations of mosquitoes, including ones that can transmit viruses.”

Another recommendation is to wear long-sleeve shirts and use insect repellant when outdoors and staying indoors around dawn and dusk when mosquito activity is often the highest.

(Radio Iowa)

Around 96-percent of the men and women in Iowa’s prison will eventually be released and corrections officials are hoping a federal grant will help them reduce the number of inmates who return to prison. Beth Skinner is the Recidivism Reduction Coordinator with the Iowa Department of Corrections (DOC). She came to Iowa from New York earlier this year, shortly after the DOC was awarded a $3 million Second Chance Act grant from the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“We’re looking at areas we’ve done work in and kind of upgrading them, enhancing them, and building upon that to reduce recidivism,” Skinner said. Last year, Iowa’s prison recidivism rate dropped to 29.7-percent. That’s down from 45-percent 15 years ago. Iowa’s prisons are currently holding 8,267 inmates. That’s more than 13-percent over the design capacity of the facilities. Skinner is certain the recidivism rate can be further reduced, ultimately decreasing the overall prison population.

“We are going to be looking at how we do business. We’re going to be looking at the practices we use and the programs we use with offenders. We’re going to be ensuring that we’re using evidence-based practices, practices that we know reduce recidivism. So, of course we’re going to make an impact on that (the overall prison population),” Skinner said. The $3 million grant from the DOJ is spread out over three years. Skinner delivered an update on the program before an Iowa Board of Corrections meeting today (Friday) in Fort Dodge.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled marriages in the state can’t be ended without all the property involved being divided up. The case involved Susan and Ronald Thatcher, who were married in 1984. Susan was diagnosed with terminal cancer in January 2013 and filed to end the 29-year marriage, saying their relationship had broken down. Ronald resisted the ending the marriage.

The Linn County District Court ruled in favor of Susan one day before her death, and ordered the property to be divided at a later date. The ruling was upheld on appeal. The Iowa Supreme Court says Iowa law does not directly address the issue known as bifurcation. The court says there are some advantages to a bifurcated divorce, but also many disadvantages in separating the property of those involved.

The court says the Iowa legislature is the appropriate body to make the policy judgments on whether to allow bifurcated divorces and under what conditions. The Supreme Court vacated the appeals ruling and reversed the district court ruling and says the probate court will now decide how the property is divided.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — GOP presidential hopefuls are taking a break from the hotel ballrooms and church basements where they usually campaign. Several are going to the “Roast and Ride” event in Iowa this weekend. It features a pig roast, motorcycles rides and speeches. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry are expected to ride.

It’s a new event in Iowa. The big draws used to be a straw poll that is becoming less relevant and the annual Democratic steak fry that ended last year. The “Roast and Ride” event is being held by freshman Sen. Joni Ernst.

Also attending are Sens. Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham, former Gov. Mike Huckabee, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety (DPS) has received reports from MidAmerican Energy Company regarding a recent surge in scam phone calls to customers throughout Iowa. Since late May 2015, MidAmerican has documented a significant increase in calls from customers reporting fraudulent phone scam attempts in the Des Moines, Council Bluffs, Fort Dodge, Iowa City, and Davenport areas. MidAmerican anticipates customers in additional Iowa cities are being targeted but not reported.

• MidAmerican has made efforts through media channels to warn business owners and the public of the scam targeting their customers. Despite these efforts, scammers have been successful in retrieving Personal Identifying Information (PII) or collecting money via credit cards or pre-paid (Green Dot) cards from the scam victims.
• From the reports, an estimated 4-5% of the customers have provided money and/or PII to the scammers.

The scammers generally apply the same tactics by calling residential or business customers, claiming association with MidAmerican, and demanding payment with threats to disconnect their utility service immediately. Scammers are said to be persistent and use sophisticated devices that make it appear to the victim’s Caller ID system that the phone call is coming from the utility company. The scammers insist on direct payment on the phone via a credit card or they direct the customer to callback a specific number and pay with a pre-paid (Green Dot) card.

MidAmerican wants customers to know that they do not threaten immediate disconnection or demand payment over the phone. The company advises customers receiving such a call to hang up immediately and call 1-888-427-5632 to verify the authenticity of the call.

Residents, business owners and community and economic development leaders in Cass and surrounding counties can share their thoughts about opportunities and challenges facing rural Iowa when Bill Menner, USDA Rural Development State Director in Iowa, visits Atlantic on Wednesday, June 17th. A rural summit will take place starting at 10-a.m. at Southwest Iowa Planning Council’s office, 1501 SW 7th Street in Atlantic.

USDA Rural Development’s funding continues to have a dramatic impact on rural communities across Iowa. Since 2009, USDA Rural Development has invested more than $3 billion on essential public facilities, small and emerging businesses, water and sewer systems, and housing opportunities for Iowa families. Today, more than 1.7 million Iowans live in rural communities and areas, and nearly half of the state’s communities have fewer than 500 residents.

This past year USDA Rural Development’s investment in rural Iowa helped create or retain more than 1,000 jobs, aided 2,400 families in buying their own homes and assisted more than 50 communities as they made improvements to their facilities, services and infrastructure.

For more information about the event, contact the Southwest Iowa Planning Council at (712) 243-4196 or email swipco@swipco.org.

Iowans who suffer from allergies aren’t getting any breaks this year. Doctor Jill Poole, an allergist in Omaha-Council Bluffs, says those who are sensitive to pollen have been suffering for months already and it won’t be coming to an end anytime soon. “One of the big problems is, the tree pollen season started back in January and there is still some tree pollen in the air,” Dr. Poole says. “The tree pollen season was super-long and now we’re hit with the grass pollen season and this started a little earlier this year than it did last year.”

Grass pollen started giving Iowans red eyes, runny noses and sneezing fits in the past two weeks or so and the season will likely stick around through the end of June. Poole says several over-the-counter antihistamines offer significant relief of the symptoms.
“What’s really great this year is that the intranasal steroid sprays are over-the-counter now,” Poole says. “They go by names like Nasacort and Flonase and those can be really helpful.” There is a steroid injection that offers some allergy sufferers relief, but Poole says she doesn’t typically recommend it as there are long-term side effects.

“I recommend more prescription approaches like allergy desensitization shots which are a lot of shots over a period of time,” she says. Poole is an allergist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

(Radio Iowa)

Several law enforcement agencies around the state, in recent months, have been responding to fake emergencies. It’s a growing problem across the country — a prank referred to as “swatting.” Colonel John Stuelke, with the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, told KCRG-TV his agency has responded to three swatting calls in the last 12 months. It involves a fake emergency call that sends all available law enforcement to one location — something that creates serious safety concerns.

“It’s not only the call itself that makes it serious, but we have people running red lights and sirens to these calls and that’s always a dangerous situation too,” Stuelke said. Linn County Sheriff’s Major Gerald Hansel told KCRG there are several possible motives behind the calls. “He’s checking our response, maybe he doesn’t like someone so he’s trying to get them in trouble,” Hansel said.

Swatting calls can pull officers away from real emergencies, so even if the calls are meant to be joke, the consequences can be serious. Anyone caught swatting can face criminal charges. Earlier this week, officers surrounded a home in the Linn County town of Toddville after a caller dialed police claiming to have shot an individual and threatening to hurt more people in the home. The call was prank, similar to other swatting calls in Fairfax in December 2014 and Robins in March 2015.

(KCRG/Radio Iowa)

CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) – A Charles City woman has claimed her second $30,000 prize from one of the Iowa Lottery’s scratch games. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that Donna Holtz claimed her prize Monday after buying her winning “Bonus Crossword” game ticket on Sunday at Hy-Vee Gas in Charles City. She says she won her first $30,000 top prize in a similar version of the Crossword game in 2001.

Holtz says she and her husband, Doug, plan to spend the winnings on new windows for their house and a newer vehicle.