(Radio Iowa) – A legislative committee has approved emergency rules that will let Iowa school districts continue to use paraeducators hired to work with individual students as substitute teachers in any classroom. The action was necessary as the governor’s public health emergency proclamation which had allowed paraeducators to be subs during the pandemic expires at midnight. The committee is also proposing legislation directing schools to make a good faith effort to find substitute teachers and ending the policy after this school year is over. Representative Megan Jones, a Republican from Sioux Rapids, is the bill’s sponsor. “We don’t want enterprising folks thinking that we should put less qualified people into a classroom and use a para because we can pay them $12 an hour,” Jones says.

Jones also blasted the Board of Educational Examiners for holding a meeting yesterday (Monday) at 7:30 a.m. to reveal its solution to the problem, as that limited the public’s ability to review the regulations that already have been approved 24 hours later. “This process has been very ugly,” Jones said. “…It makes me sick to think of eliminating all of this public notice.”
The executive director of the Board of Educational Examiners says state officials do not know how many paraeducators are employed in Iowa schools. The board’s emergency rule requires schools to ask for waivers when paraeducators are taken away from their main jobs to substitute teach in another classroom. Emily Piper, of the Iowa Association of School Boards, says that’s important “We do share concerns about this being a permanent soluation,” Piper says. “We don’t think this is the answer, long-term, to our sub shortages.”

Melissa Peterson, a lobbyist for the Iowa State Education Association, says there are paraeducator shortages as well.  “These are folks who provide services to some of our most needy and vulnerable students,” Peterson says. Senator Rob Hogg, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, blasted the governor for letting her public health emergency expire and creating this dilemma in schools that required this scramble to ensure paraeducators can continue to be assigned to substitute teach tomorrow (Wednesday). “This is the failure of the governor’s office to put us in this position. That has to be said today,” Hogg says. “This was totally foreseeable that something like this would happen.”

Hogg’s wife is the media secretary at a Cedar Rapids school, but she’s also a former paraeducator and Hogg says she’s often been assigned to lead a classroom as a substitute teacher over the past two years.

Sheriff’s officials in Union County report a man from Corning became impatient while waiting on a train, and decided to turn into a parking lot. Due to sun glare on his windshield, Lawrence W. Stedman didn’t see a large rock. His vehicle struck the rock and become “high centered” on the rock. There was no damage to the vehicle or rock. The accident happened at around 4-p.m.

Authorities say Monday evening, 38-year-old Alicia Ellen Lovell, of Creston, was driving a 2022 Toyota Camry southbound on Elm Street near Clark Street, in Creston, when according to Lovell, she fell asleep. When her car struck a curb, the woman over-corrected and accelerated into a stop light and power pole. There were no injuries or citations. Damage to the car was estimated at $7,500. The poles sustained an estimated $2,000 damage each.

(Updated w/changes) (Atlantic, Iowa) – Beginning today (Tue., Feb. 15, 2022), the Bull Creek Pathway in Atlantic, NORTH of 14th Street will be closed. Parks and Rec Director Bryant Rasmussen says “We apologize for any inconvenience, but we are excited to have this opportunity to address Bull Creek and expand on its beauty.”

He advises you to check the Parks and Rec Facebook page for updates on the work happening on the Bull Creek pathway. “In the meantime,” Rasmussen says, “please feel free to utilize the other trails through town, such as East Ridge, Mollett, or Schildberg.”

Bull Creek Pathway (Atlantic, Iowa)

At this time he said , the section of the Bull Creek Pathway SOUTH of 14th street will remain open.

(Radio Iowa) – An invasive moth that can eat away the leaves of trees has so far been held in check in Iowa. The D-N-R’s Tivon Feeley, monitors the gypsy moth — which is now known as the spongy month. “We’ve caught a few captures statewide this past year, but they are pretty low in number, and mainly in northeast Iowa. If we look back over the years, we’ve had to do some controls to kind of keep those populations at bay — and those have been very successful,” according to Feeley.

He is the D-N-R’s forest health program leader, and says there’s a concern about the population of spongy moths in Wisconsin and Illinois. “What we’re looking at here is how to keep those from spreading over and how to slow that spread down. And that’s what we work on. So we do trap and monitor where they are at,” he says.”We use a technique called mating disruption to prevent them from spreading as quickly. And that’s when you go out to the forest and spray the scent of the female — the pheromone out into the forest — and then they can’t find each other to mate.”

He says they can quickly impact trees. “The caterpillars defoliate trees — they prefer oaks — but there are over 300 species of trees that they will feed off of. The months lay their eggs –hence the name spongy, they look a little spongy — on just about everything from underneath your tire on your R-V, to your boats, you name it,” Feeley says. He says you can help prevent their spread by looking for their eggs if you are in other states. Feeley says they have traps set up to keep an eye on the spongy moth movement. He says they have some 18-hundred delta traps that look like green and orange triangles in nine northeast Iowa counties “It has the scent of the females inside, and when the moth flies by, the male moth gets stuck in there. And that helps us monitor their populations,” Feeley says.

He says Iowa doesn’t have any spongy moth treatments set for this year, but there is one across the river in Wisconsin.

The Creston (IA) Police Department reports 34-year-old Amanda Lea Thompson, of Creston, was arrested Monday night at her residence. Thompson was charged with Domestic Abuse Assault with a Dangerous Weapon. She was transported to the Union County Jail and then onto the Adams County Jail. She was being held without bond pending an appearance before the magistrate.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – There’s some good news with regard to COVID-19 data in Iowa. Officials with Iowa Department of Public Health, Monday, said on the COVID-19 dashboard, the numbers continue their retreat from the last several weeks. In fact, every key metric has improved in the last week. IDPH reports 8,370 positive virus tests in the last seven days, down from 10,032 on Friday. The state’s 14-day positivity rate has dropped from 13.9% to 12.4%.

The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 has fallen precipitously, down from 587 on Friday to 463, the lowest total in 2022. Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, 53,7% are unvaccinated, while 67.4% of those listed in intensive care with the virus are unvaccinated. Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, 47% had a primary diagnosis, while 53% were hospitalized for another reason, but tested positive. The number of long-term care facilities reporting an outbreak in Iowa dropped from 114 to 106.

There have been 4,886,063 vaccine doses administered in Iowa, with 71.5% of those 18 and older fully vaccinated and 76.2% of those 12 and older with at least one dose. The Iowa Department of Public Health is no longer providing three weekly updates on the COVID-19 dashboard. The state will instead offer weekly data updates.

(UPDATE 2/16/22) – A 14-year-old girl last seen in Iowa has been found. The FBI says Addison Windbigler was found safe and unharmed in Minneapolis.

Original story follows….

OMAHA, Neb. — The Federal Bureau of Investigations is asking for help to find a missing 14-year-old girl last seen in Iowa. The FBI Omaha Office said 14-year-old Addison Windbigler traveled with a family member to Keokuk, Iowa on Dec. 13. Windbigler, who is from Nauvoo, Illinois, was left in the custody of a family friend, the FBI said. She was last seen in Keokuk on Dec. 14. She is 5 feet, 4 inches tall, 125 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair.

“The FBI is investigating every lead and using all the resources available to us to find Addison,” FBI officials said in a news release. “Agents believe there are people in the Keokuk community who can provide information that will assist in finding Addison.” Anyone with information is asked to call FBI Omaha at 402-493-8688.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Valentine’s Day wasn’t so sweet for three people who were arrested on drug charges Monday, in Red Oak. According to the Red Oak P-D, 26-year-old Jeffrey Steven Whitt, of Villisca, and 23-year-old Colby John Nicholas Rasmussen, of Red Oak, were arrested at around 5:10-p.m., following the execution of a search warrant at 1804 E. Summit Street, Apt. 28.

Rasmussen

Rasmussen was taken into custody on Felony charges that include: Possession of Cocaine; Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana (nearly 36 grams), and a Drug Tax Stamp Violation. He was additionally charged with Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drugs, a serious misdemeanor. Rasmussen was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail. Whitt faces a charge of Gathering where marijuana is used, a serious misdemeanor. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

Whitt

And, 24-year-old Jacob Lee Reafling, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 7:15-p.m. Monday, in the 100 block of E. Oak Street, in Red Oak. He was taken into custody on a Mills County warrant for Possession of a controlled substance/marijuana-1st offense. He was transported to the Mills County Jail and held on a $2,500 bond.

Reafling

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans in the legislature have agreed on a two-and-a-half percent increase in state spending that’s divided among public school districts on a per pupil basis. Governor Reynolds recommended the same amount and it’s expected she’ll approve the bill soon. Democrats like Senator Jackie Smith of Sioux City say it’s far short of what’s needed. “That lack of state support leaves teachers dealing with large classes, fewer classroom resources and chronic underpay,” Smith says. “…The Republican school funding bill means Iowa public schools will fall farther behind. It means schools can’t hire and retain enough teachers.”

Senator Amy Sinclair of Allerton, the Republican chair of the Senate Education Committee, says the average salary for Iowa educators is 61-thousand dollars. “The facts are Iowa’s teacher, individually, makes roughly the same amount of a household income of the children that are being educated by them,” Sinclair says. “That’s not chronic underpayment. That’s not a lack of love. We are valuing our educators.”

Senator Sarah Trone Garriott, a Democrat from Windsor Heights, says the increase won’t come close to meeting the rising costs of utilities and transportation or addressing the competition for teachers. “This inadequate number means losing teachers to other states and other industries, making our teacher shortage even worse,” Trone Garriott says. “…Let’s not do the least we can do. Let’s do better.”

Sinclair says hundreds of millions of dollars in federal pandemic relief can help schools cover short-term inflationary costs and this two-and-a-half percent bump in general state support on top of that is a promise that can be kept. “Nothing we’re doing here is a cut to education,” Sinclair said, “and the only districts that will see less money this year than last year is districts that have fewer students this year than last year.”

House Republicans approved this spending level last week and Senate Republicans voted for it yesterday (Monday). Another House G-O-P proposal would send schools an additional 19 million dollars to deal with staff shortages, but Senate Republicans have not voted on that plan.

(Radio Iowa) – Several speakers at a public hearing made pleas for additions to the tax plan House Republicans have proposed, while others blasted the bill’s central theme of dramatically reducing the personal income tax rate. J.D. Davis of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry praised elements of the House plan, but made the pitch for adding a corporate tax cut. “We just hope that all categories of businesses are considered in your final product,” Davis said.

Anna Gray is with the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation. She urged inclusion of the sales tax maneuver Republicans in the SENATE have proposed that would finally put money into the Iowa Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Fund. “As you weigh various tax policies and ideas for making Iowa a competitive state for economic growth and workforce development, we encourage you to consider the trust fund and its potential and include it in your final tax bill,” Gray said.

A lobbyist for the Iowa Bankers Association asked House Republicans to include a tax cut for banks that’s in the Senate G-O-P tax plan. Raymond Phillips of Norwalk argued for a completely different approach. Phillips said his largest expense is the property tax on his home. “Decreasing the income taxes to 0% for everyone will only help the rich and provide nothing for the senior citizens and the middle class,” he said.

Anne Discher, of Common Good, Iowa told lawmakers Iowa’s tax system is already upside down, with low and moderate income Iowans paying more in state and local taxes than Iowans at the top of the income ladder do. “This bill will make Iowa’s already unfair tax system even more unfair,” Discher said.

The hearing ended after 22 minutes when the tenth and final person signed up to speak was done.