(Radio Iowa) – University of Iowa researchers are studying the electronic gadgets car insurance companies are asking customers to install in their vehicles to monitor driving habits. Richard Peter, a U-I professor of finance, says the devices are typically provided by the insurance company to promote safe driving, and they usually bring significant discounts on insurance premiums. That sounds like a win-win, right? Well, Peter says, no.

“They measure people’s driving behavior in real time,” Peter says, “so they look for things like speeding, sharp acceleration and braking, hard cornering, and these types of things.” While the devices were introduced in the late 1990s, few drivers are installing them to take advantage of the cost savings. Peter says only about five-percent of motorists in the U-S are using the tiny monitors, and he’s considering the reasons why they’ve never caught on.

“The most obvious one might be the ‘Big Brother’ argument that people have privacy concerns about how their data might be used,” Peter says, “but at the same time, we think that this explanation doesn’t seem to be particularly convincing, while consumers state privacy concerns at the same time they give up their data voluntarily in all kinds of contexts.” The sensors monitor a driver’s actions and use algorithms to create a score that’s the basis for how large of a discount the driver may receive. Safer drivers will save more money. Still, it’s not a perfect system, as your score may be dinged if you slam on the brakes.

“The context matters, so if you have to brake hard to avoid an accident, isn’t that a good thing,” Peter says, “and can you really be sure that the technology picks up the context of that particular driving situation?” That algorithm may be too complicated for some people to follow, and Peter suggests policyholders fear they’ll be misclassified as a bad driver even when they’re driving safely, which is why many people may pass on the devices.

“The main benefit for the insurance company is, obviously, to have access to data about people’s actual driving behavior,” Peter says. “There is some preliminary evidence that feedback from new technologies can also lead to favorable changes in people’s driving behavior, so it can help people become safer drivers.” Peter says a German insurance company quit using the devices after its customer service lines were flooded by drivers calling to explain their driving behaviors which may have registered on the device as erratic.

The U-I study will be published in the Journal of Risk and Insurance, the flagship journal of the American Risk and Insurance Association.

DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate has announced 19 Iowa schools qualified for the Carrie Chapman Catt Award this school year. The award goes to schools that register at least 90 percent of their eligible students to vote. More than 2,600 high school students registered this year in conjunction with the Catt Award initiative. In southwest Iowa, the list of schools includes: Essex Junior-Senior High School; Harlan High School; and the West Monona High School. (Find the entire list, below)

Secretary Pate created the award in 2019 to encourage voter registration in Iowa high schools. The award is named after Carrie Chapman Catt, a famous Iowa native who was instrumental in securing passage of the 19^th Amendment, granting women access to the ballot box more than 100 years ago. “It’s great to see so many young people stepping up and taking the first step in the voting process by getting registered,” Secretary Pate said. “Thank you to the teachers and administrators at these 17 schools by engaging the students in civics. I tell young people all the time, the best way to make your voice heard is by voting, and to do that, you need to get registered.”

Each of the 19 schools recognized for registering 90% or more of eligible students will be presented the Carrie Chapman Catt Award trophy. Additionally, 9 Iowa schools registered more than 70 percent of eligible students, and 10 registered more than 50 percent. Inspire2Vote collaborated with Secretary Pate’s office to assist schools with their voter registration efforts.

Here is a list of the 19 schools that earned the award. Five schools qualified for the award for the fourth straight year (denoted with four asterisks****). Four schools qualified for the award for the third time (denoted with three asterisks***). Four schools qualified for the award for the second time (denoted with two asterisks**). Six schools qualified for the award for the first time this year.

• Ballard High School (Huxley)****
• Bishop Garrigan High School (Algona)***
• Central Community School (Elkader)**
• Clayton Ridge High School (Guttenberg)***
• Dubuque Senior High School (Dubuque)
• Essex Junior-Senior High School (Essex)
• Fairfield High School (Fairfield)
• Gladbrook-Reinbeck High School (Reinbeck)**
• Harlan High School (Harlan)
• Isaac Newton Christian Academy (Cedar Rapids)****
• Lake Mills High School (Lake Mills)**
• Lone Tree High School (Lone Tree)****
• Marquette Catholic High School (Bellevue)***
• Norwalk High School (Norwalk)****
• Remsen St. Mary’s High School (Remsen)
• Rivermont Collegiate (Bettendorf)****
• West Marshall High School (State Center)**
• West Monona High School (Onawa)
• Woodward-Granger High School (Woodward)***

Schools that registered at least 70% of eligible students (9) will receive a commemorative banner recognizing their achievement:

• BCLUW High School (Conrad)
• Camanche High School (Camanche)
• Central Lyon Senior High School (Rock Rapids)
• Denver Senior High School (Denver)
• Hillcrest Academy (Kalona)
• Newman Catholic High School (Wausau)
• North Tama High School (Traer)
• Storm Lake St. Mary’s (Storm Lake)
• Waterloo Christian High School (Waterloo)

Schools that registered at least 50% of eligible students (10) will receive a personalized certificate from the Iowa Secretary of State:

• Collins-Maxwell Middle/High School (Maxwell)
• Dunkerton High School (Dunkerton)
• East Mills Jr/Sr High School (Malvern)
• Fremont-Mills Middle and Senior High School (Tabor)
• Griswold Middle/High School (Griswold)
• Grundy Center High School (Grundy Center)
• Oelwein High School (Oelwein)
• Regina Jr Sr High School (Iowa City)
• Wapello Senior High School (Wapello)
• Westwood High School (Sloan)

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Doug Burgum is campaigning in Iowa today after kicking off his long shot campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in his home state of North Dakota. The state produced a million barrels of oil a day in 2022 and Burgum, in the middle of his second term as North Dakota’s governor, says energy policy will be a focus of his campaign. “If we can start selling energy to our friends and allies instead of buying iu from our adversaries, that 180 degree switch is the thing that’s going to help kick start and drive the American economy,” Burgum says.

Burgum argues the U.S. needs to pursue an all-of-the-above energy strategy and he’s criticizing the Biden Administration’s quick shift to promoting electric vehicles. “If you want to get rid of liquid fuels in this country and do everything with a battery, then we’re just going to be trading dependence on OPEC…and then the next 70 years can be dependent on Sinopec and China,” Burgum says. The proposed route Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline that would run through Iowa ends in North Dakota, where the carbon would be permanently stored underground. The federal government is offering an 85 dollar tax credit for every metric ton of carbon that’s captured. Burgum says the subsidy makes sense.

“Internal combustion machine liquid fuels has to be part of this energy transition for decades and decades and the best way to do that if you care about CO2 is to decarbonize the CO2,” Burgum says, “and if you’re going to subsidize wind and solar, then the incentives for CO2 storage make a ton of sense for us to have a strong, truly independent energy in the United States.”

Burgum took office in North Dakota in the midst of protest over the Dakota Access pipeline, which ships crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois. He says the pipeline, which began operating six years ago, helped fuel America as the global market was rocked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Burgum says the Biden Administration has weaponized the E-P-A, which is conducting an environmental review of that pipeline, and he says that sends the wrong message.

“We need pipelines. It’s the safest and easiest way to transport any fuel and any liquids in this country. We don’t need them moving on trains. We don’t need those liquids moving down the highways. We need them moving through pipelines and America needs to figure out how to build essential infrastructure or we can just cede our leadership in the world and, again, just get all our batteries from China and get all our oil from the Middle East.”

Burgum, who will be visiting a farm implement dealership in Farley today (Thursday), supports the federal ethanol and biodiesel production mandates. “Absolutely, essentially, completely, totally,” Burgum says. “The Midwest is going to be the epicenter of sustainable aviation fuels for the world and we’re so well positioned with the great agricultural producers across the Midwest combined with the CO2 storage that we have in North Dakota and other places around the United States. So it’s absolutely critical.”

Burgum will also visit the Field of Dream in Dyersville today (Thursday).

(Radio Iowa) – The Jefferson Highway Association’s annual conference is underway in Mason City. Named after President Thomas Jefferson, the north-south route is one of America’s earliest highways, stretching 23-hundred miles from New Orleans to Winnipeg, though in most of Iowa, it’s known as U-S Highway 65. Visit Mason City executive director Lindsey James says after caravans through Lamoni, Des Moines and Iowa Falls earlier this week, today (Thursday) they’ll take buses north. “They are going to travel a portion of the Jefferson Highway, and they are going to head north up to Minnesota, their final destination being Owatonna,” James says. “They’ll stop at sites along the way and get to see other communities in the region, learn more about the history of each community, as well as the Jefferson Highway in those communities.”

James says association members will spend much of tomorrow (Friday) in seminars at Mason City’s Historic Park Inn Hotel.  “They have a great lineup of speakers,” she says, “talking about historic preservation, marketing for communities along the Jefferson Highway, how to celebrate the history and use history to promote tourism, as well as other things in line with that preservation theme.” On Saturday morning, James says the public is welcome to join association members at the Kinney Pioneer Museum for a special Community Day.

“There will be a flag ceremony starting shortly after 10:00 AM and admission is free,” James says. “It’s a great opportunity for local residents to come out and learn more about the Jefferson Highway, about the association, but also see the Kinney Pioneer Museum if you haven’t been there recently, a great opportunity to come out there and join us.” The conference is held in different cities every year and Mason City put in a bid for it initially in 2018 and won the event in 2020, though due to the pandemic, it’s being held there this year instead.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – The Pottawattamie County Medical Examiner’s Office is celebrating the distinction of being named Iowa Donor Network’s 2023 LEGACI Award Winner for Innovation. LEGACI Awards are given to Iowa Donor Network’s (IDN) partner agencies and/or their dedicated team members for going above and beyond to collaborate with IDN on meeting its mission of “Working Together to Transform Lives through Organ and Tissue Donation”.

There are six categories under the LEGACI Awards: Leadership, Education, Gratitude, Advocacy, Clinical Excellence, and Innovation. The award for Innovation is given to individuals and/or partner agencies who seek new ways to educate and promote donation, develop, and implement breakthrough best practices, and promote the use of technology to establish/ improve the donation process. “Our team is extremely appreciative of this recognition,” said Pottawattamie County Medical Examiner Dr. Christopher Elliott. “We’re advocates of organ and tissue donation and it’s rewarding to be recognized for promoting an initiative we strongly believe in.”

The Pottawattamie County Medical Examiner’s Office was nominated for its support in piloting technology known as iReferral. iReferral uses an electronic portal in lieu of a phone call to share information with Iowa Donor Network. The Office’s assistance in piloting the program helped Iowa Donor Network learn how other Medical Examiner offices, as well as EMS agencies, might utilize the program to increase the number of patients and families in Iowa who may be offered the opportunity of donation. In 2022, the Pottawattamie County Medical Examiner’s Office made 117 referral calls to Iowa Donor Network, resulting in five donors who went on to give the life saving and life enhancing gifts of tissue. One tissue donor can impact between 50 to 300 individuals.

Photo: Front row from left: PCMEO Investigator Felica Luczek, PCMEO Investigator Kalen Knight, PCMEO Investigator Abby Robinson, PCMEO Chief Investigator/Coordinator Cheri Dahlheim, IDN Partner Relations Coordinator Madelyn Clark, PCMEO Medical Examiner Dr. Christopher Elliott. Second row from left: Board of Supervisors, Tim Wichman, Scott Belt, Brian Shea, Susan Miller, Jeff Jorgensen. (Courtesy Craig Carlsen, Pott. Co. Public Relations)

“Donation is a collaborative effort, and Iowa Donor Network is grateful to the entire Pottawattamie County Medical Examiner team for all they do to promote donation in their community,” said Iowa Donor Network Partner Relations Coordinator Madelyn Clark.

About Iowa Donor Network: Iowa Donor Network (IDN) is a non-profit organization that operates as the primary contact for organ, tissue and eye donation services for the state of Iowa. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have certified IDN to function as the single organ procurement agency in the state. IDN also serves as the tissue recovery agency for the state. To learn more, visit iowadonornetwork.org.

About Pottawattamie County: The purpose of Pottawattamie County government is to provide the highest quality government possible to the citizens of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and other governmental entities in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible. It is also to encourage economic development, enhance our tax base and provide higher quality jobs for our citizens. For more information, visit PottCounty-ia.gov.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports four recent arrests. Three arrests took place on Tuesday (June 6):

• 41-year-old Jennifer Lee Kell, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at around 1:50-p.m. on Highway 34 at Ingrum Ave., for Driving While Barred (Bond $2,000).
• 33-year-old Tyler Eldon Buckner, of Emerson, was arrested at around 11:15-p.m. Tuesday, for being a Felon in Control of A Firearm. (Bond $5,000).
• and, 61-year-old Jeffery Richard Pape, of Emerson, was arrested at around 5:20-p.m., Tuesday, on a warrant for Contempt of Court. (No bond)

On Saturday (June 3), 39-year-old Kevin Douglas Wendt, of Pacific Junction, was arrested in Mills County at around 7:25-p.m., on a warrant for Violation of Probation. (Bond $1,000)