(Radio Iowa) – Sixty Republicans in the Iowa House have given final legislative approval to a bill outlining state spending for administrative and regulatory agencies. One Republican and 34 Democrats in the House voted against the plan. Representative Megan Srinivas, a Democrat from Des Moines, says the bill provides a nearly 22 percent increase in the budget for the governor’s office.

“There’s an unprecedented half a million dollars that is completely unearmarked that we are giving to the governor’s office with no answers as to how that money is needed or needs to be spent,” Srinivas says. A spokesman for Governor Kim Reynolds says the money will be used to recruit and retain staff in the governor’s office. Representative Michael Bergen, a Republican from Dorchester, says the governor and her staff are implementing a major reorganization of state government and the budget for Reynolds’ office is smaller than governor’s offices in states of similar size, like Utah and Kentucky.

“So I fully support the governor’s ask and feel that it’s merited,” Bergen says. Several budget bills were passed in the House and Senate Tuesday, with more on today’s (Wednesday’s) docket.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has voted to make changes in a Senate bill that expands the hours teenagers may work and the types of jobs they may perform. Sixteen and 17 year olds would be able to sell or serve alcohol in a restaurant, but not a bar — and the House voted to require that two adults be present. If the kitchen is closed and food service has stopped, teenagers would have to stop serving alcohol. Republican Representative Dave Deyoe of Nevada says the overall package provides reasonable work opportunities for teenagers.

“Here are some of the things that are the benefits for employment for young people…less poverty, money for future education, less delinquent behavior, experience in the workplace and access to role models,” Deyoe says. House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst thanked Republicans for accepting some of the ideas House Democrats proposed. “This is how it’s supposed to work,” Konfrst says. “The bill is better than the Senate’s…doesn’t make it great, but it makes it better and it makes it better for Iowans.”

But Konfrst and other House Democrats still voted against the bill, citing concerns about having teenagers engaged in some jobs — and being too tired for school. The House-passed bill specifies that 14 and 15 year olds cannot be eligible for state waivers to work at certain occupations, but Deyoe says it will let 16 and 17 year olds be involved in work-based learning programs.

“I learned welding, I learned electrical wiring — I learned all that stuff in shop when I was in high school, but a lot of the high schools can’t afford to maintain (the equipment),” Deyoe says. “…It costs thousands and thousands of dollars to buy the equipment and they’ve got to continue to buy new stuff all the time to keep it updated.”

The bill says teenagers cannot work in meatpacking plants or in the mining industry. Deyoe is optimistic the Senate will approve House adjustments in the bill and send it to the governor.

(CRESTON, Iowa DOT Construction Office) – May 2, 2023 – If you’re planning to drive on Iowa 141 in Dallas and Guthrie counties, there’s an upcoming asphalt crack filling project that could slow down your trip.

Beginning on Monday, May 8, weather permitting, construction crews will work on crack filling on Iowa 141 from Iowa 4 to U.S. 169 weekdays from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. until Thursday, June 1. You will be assisted through the work zone with the use of flaggers and a pilot car. A 12-foot lane-width restriction will be in place during this project.

Help keep everyone on the road safer. Drive with caution, obey the posted speed limit and other signs in the work area, and be aware that traffic fines for moving violations are at least double in work zones. As in all work zones, you should stay alert, allow ample space between vehicles, and wear seat belts.

(Radio Iowa) – To many Iowans, it seems like winter ran long this year, with plenty of springtime snowstorms and frigid wind chills, but it turns out that our temperatures were right on target during April. State climatologist Justin Glisan says there were extremes on both ends of the thermometer, but it all averaged out to be normal for the month.

“If we look at the statewide average temperature, it was right on the average of 49 degrees,” Glisan says. “We did have pockets of slightly above average temperatures in southwestern Iowa, and then over into eastern Iowa, but overall, near-normal temperatures across the state.” There was severe weather on April 4th that included large hail, high winds and several funnel clouds and tornadoes, as well as multiple bouts with snow during the month, but overall, Iowa was lacking for rainfall during April.

“So if we look at the statewide average, it was a little over two inches, and that’s about an inch and a half below average,” Glisan says, “with the driest part of the state down in southeastern Iowa, with departures of up to one to three inches below average.” Computer models are pointing to a continued dry spell for the month ahead, while Glisan says the immediate forecast looks about right.

“Basically, across the upper Midwest and through the Corn Belt, an elevated signal for drier conditions in May,” Glisan says, “and May is the second wettest month climatologically for the state with almost five inches, so we don’t like to see that dry signal, but at least in the short term, we are seeing near-normal precipitation.”

Forecasters anticipate an El Nino weather pattern will develop over the region within the next few months, which typically means moderate temperatures and better chances for precipitation.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two women were arrested on the first day of May:

35-year-old Nicole Katherine Spracklin, of Plattsmouth, NE., was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Jail, on a Mills County warrant for Harassment in the 3rd Degree. She was being held without Bond; and, 35-year-old Jessie Amanda Harman, of Glenwood, was arrested at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, on a warrant for two counts of Violation of Probation, and Violation of a No Contact Order. She too was being held without bond.

(Radio Iowa) – The Drake Relays attract an international roster of athletes and spectators to Drake University every year, but last week’s event left the Des Moines campus with something extra — an outbreak of COVID-19. What’s billed as America’s Athletic Classic is considered one of the nation’s top track and field events, drawing some five-thousand high school, college and elite-level competitors and 40-thousand fans.

The 113th annual event ran last Thursday through Saturday and university officials are now reporting at least 76 Drake students have tested positive for COVID-19. Finals start next week at Drake and all instructors are being told to use their best judgment as to whether to hold the remaining classes — and those finals — online or in-person.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa legislature has approved a compromise bill designed to limit future property tax increases. Many Iowans saw the assessed value of their home or farmland rise dramatically this spring. Those assessments will impact property taxes due in September of 2024. Senator Dan Dawson, a Republican from Council Bluffs, says the bill includes a formula that requires cities and counties to lower property tax levies next year. “We stop the old practice of assessement windfalls being a windfall for local government budgets,” Dawson says. The bill is projected to save Iowa property owners about 100 million dollars.

“It’s a complicated system that’s going to require multiple bills over multiple years. The work here isn’t finished. It’s only just begun.” The bill hikes the homestead credit for property owners who are 65 and older, providing relief for an estimated 200-thousand Iowans. More than 100-thousand Iowa veterans will get a property tax exemption that’s double the current homestead credit for veterans. Representative Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican from Wilton, says those are big moves for veterans and older Iowans.

“For all Iowans the predictability and the transparency that this bill brings is a big deal and for all Iowans the foundational changes that we’re making is a big deal,” Kaufmann said, “and what I’m going to sit here on the floor today and say is phase one of bold property tax relief.” The bill passed the Senate this (Tuesday) morning unanimously. Senator Pam Jochum, a Democrat from Dubuque, says it will slow the growth of property taxes.

“It’s a $6 billion-plus system,” Jochum says, “and we all know that every tax system can use some change” The bill passed the House this (Tuesday) afternoon on a 94-to-one vote. Representative Elinor Levin, a Democrat from Iowa City, was the only no vote in the legislature. All other House Democrats, like Representative Sharon Steckman of Mason City, voted for it, but say they prefer the proposals in the original House version of the bill rather than the final compromise.”I wonder why we’re rushing it through,” Steckman said. “Do we not want any comments from people that this might affect? I thought we were all for local control. We’re taking away that local control.”

Representative Dave Jacoby, a Democrat from Coralville, says despite its flaws, the bill is a move in the right direction. “We’ve listened to the taxpayers of Iowa, we’ve listened to the property owners, we’ve listened to the leasees who are saying: ‘I can’t afford to live here if my taxes go up astronomically,'” Jacoby said.

Governor Reynolds says the package provides much needed property tax relief and lays the groundwork for more reform in the future.

DES MOINES, IA – Four individuals have been sentenced in federal court for schemes to smuggle drugs into the Polk County Jail. The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports that on December 19, 2022, Michael Joseph Wilson, 35 of Des Moines, was sentenced to 12 months in prison for attempt to possess contraband in a federal facility. On April 11, 2023, Fawn Ann Colyn, 57 of Des Moines, was sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to providing contraband in a federal facility. On April 28, 2023, Randall Joseph Verbeski, 61 of Sioux City, was sentenced to thirty months in prison for possessing contraband in a federal facility. On April 28, 2023, Ashley Michelle Evans, 35 of Ottumwa, was sentenced to a term of five years’ probation for attempt to provide contraband in a federal facility.

According to court documents, as well as evidence presented at the sentencing hearings, Colyn and Verbeski engaged in a scheme to mail Suboxone and other opioids into the Polk County Jail, which houses federal prisoners. The scheme involved Colyn, who was not incarcerated, hiding drugs in envelopes and documents disguised as legal mail, and then sending those envelopes to Verbeski. Verbeski was in the Polk County Jail serving a federal sentence related to a prior gun and drug trafficking offense.

According to court documents, Wilson and Evans engaged in a similar scheme to mail MDMB-4en-PINACA, commonly known as K2, into the Polk County Jail. Evans, who was not incarcerated, hid the K2 in an envelope and document disguised as legal mail which she sent to Wilson. At the time, Wilson was in the Polk County Jail after officers found methamphetamine, heroin, MDMA, and a loaded revolver at his residence in Des Moines. At the time of his arrest, Wilson was on federal supervised release out of Indiana for a firearm conviction. Wilson was ultimately sentenced to a total term of 240 months, for the Iowa and Indiana federal charges. Following their prison sentences, Colyn, Verbeski, and Wilson will serve terms of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

The investigated was conducted by the United States Marshals Service and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office—Jail Division.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa legislature is poised to raise the pay for attorneys who represent indigent defendants by five dollars an hour. The state budget plan G-O-P lawmakers in the House and Senate have agreed to will — for the first time — provide 35 dollars an hour for travel time, as some attorneys drive hours driving around Iowa to court hearings. Jim Carney, a lobbyist for the Iowa Bar Association, calls these moves unprecedented and historic. “It’s the best thing that’s happened since about 1986 when the state assumed the responsibility of funding indigent defense,” Carney said, “so thank you, thank you.”

According to the Iowa Supreme Court’s chief justice, only six-hundred Iowa attorneys are willing to be appointed to represent indigent clients because of the pay and it’s leading to trial delays. Representative Brian Lohse, a Republican from Bondurant, says he’s been hoping to address the issue since he joined the legislature five years ago. “Hearing the issue from the chief justice, from her address in January, I think really shed a light on that,” Lohse says. “Various members heard a lot from their home districts in regard to the need for and the crisis that’s really out there.”

Lohse leads the House panel that’s drafted the budget plan for Iowa’s justice system.

DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate and his team are working with county auditors to prepare for the upcoming 2023 City/School elections on November 7, 2023. His office reports County auditors from across the state convened in each of the six Iowa State Association of County Auditor (ISACA) Districts over the last two weeks for important training and workshops as a part of the Secretary’s commitment to ensuring fair and accurate elections.

A photo courtesy Paul Pate, from one of the ISACA District trainings