Iowa Chronic Absenteeism Advisory Council has released four recommendations to help school districts that have too many students missing class. Governor Terry Branstad’s Special Assistant for Education, Linda Fandel, was part of the group. “The first recommendation is to establish a uniform way to define an track chronic absenteeism,” Fandel says. ” And that definition is missing 10 percent or more of school for any reason — excused or unexcused. In Iowa if a student misses 10 percent of school, at a minimum that’s 18 days, and that’s nearly a month of school.”

The Department of Education says an average of eight-point-three percent of school kids are chronically absent across the state. “The second recommendation is to launch a statewide campaign to raise awareness about the importance of good attendance and the impact of chronic absenteeism on student success,” Fandel says. She says a study by the Child & Family Policy Center shows the impact of kids missing school. “Students who were chronically absent were less likely to be reading proficiently by the end of third grad. So the council wanted to launch a campaign to raise awareness about the need to step up and address the problem,” Fandel says.

She says many school districts already make promoting good attendance a high priority and some offer extra support to families facing barriers. That includes efforts in Council Bluffs, Cardinal, Denison, Des Moines and Muscatine. The third recommendation is to create a statewide mechanism for disseminating best practices and resources to schools.  “The fourth recommendation is to establish an advisory group through the Iowa Department of Education to explore how to better collaborate across systems and with families to reduce chronic absenteeism,” according to Fandel. “And that’s getting at the fact that a lot of different systems and organizations are involved in helping address chronic absenteeism and and we want to maximize communication and cooperation to help them get services to schools.”

The group met once a month from August through November, and has now forwarded their recommendations to the governor. “Now the governor and Lieutenant governor will look at these recommendations and consider the next steps.

The Council’s report can be found here https://governor.iowa.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2016%20Iowa%20Chronic%20Absenteeism%20Advisory%20Council%20Report%20-%20Final.pdf.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with the Creston Police Department today (Monday), released a report on recent arrests and incidents. Authorities say 40-year old Richard Starlin, of Creston, was arrested Sunday for Criminal Mischief in the 3rd Degree. He was later released from the Union County Jail on $2,000, bond. On Saturday, Creston Police arrested 20-year old Tyrell Stucker, of Lorimor, and 23-year old Steven Patterson, Jr., of Hampton, were arrested on separate Driving While Suspended charges. Stucker was later released on $300 bond, while Patterson was released on a Promise to Appear later, in court.

Creston Police said also, a woman residing in the 500 block of E. Howard Street reported Sunday that sometime between 7-p.m. and 12-a.m. Saturday, someone destroyed an inflatable snowman that was in her yard. The damage was estimated at $25. And, a man residing in the 800 block of N. Walnut Street in Creston, reported Sunday that sometime Saturday night into Sunday morning, someone stole a decorative Christmas laser light from his yard. The loss was estimated at $50.

Voters in 13 southwest Iowa Counties will head to the polls tomorrow (Tuesday), to determine the fate of a $14.5-million Iowa Western Community College bond issue that’s designed to help pay for security upgrades at each of the college’s campuses and centers. A training exercise last year unveiled some flaws in how the buildings’ designs, and even things as simple as door locks, interfered with employees’ abilities to respond correctly and quickly to various situations. School officials have said the bond issue will also provide for a decrease in one of the school’s levies from .34-cents to 13-cents per thousand dollars valuation. On a $100,000 home, that would reduce the taxes about $20 per year.

The bond issue vote takes place in Merged Area 13, which covers Adair, Adams, Audubon, Cass, Crawford, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie and Shelby counties. A 60% supermajority is necessary in order for the bond issue to pass. The polls will be open from Noon until 8-p.m., Tuesday. You may also vote absentee, in-person at the County Auditor’s Office at the Cass County Courthouse. ONLY FIVE VOTING CENTERS WILL BE USED FOR THIS ELECTION in Cass County:

The two VOTING CENTERS for the ATLANTIC COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT are: Voters living in Wards 1, 4 and 5 of the City of Atlantic will vote at Heritage House, 1200 Brook Ridge Circle in Atlantic.

Voters residing in the remainder of the Atlantic Community School District, being those voters residing in Audubon and Pottawattamie counties; Bear Grove, Benton, Brighton, Cass, Franklin, Grove, Pymosa and Washington townships of Cass County; the City of Marne; the City of Wiota; and Wards 2 and 3 of the City of Atlantic will vote at the Atlantic Public Library (507 Poplar), Atlantic, Iowa.

The two VOTING CENTERS for the CAM COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT are: In ANITA:  Voters residing in that portion of the CAM Community School District lying in Adair and Audubon counties; Benton, Franklin, Grant and Lincoln townships of Cass County; the City of Anita; and the City of Wiota will vote at the ANITA COMMUNITY CENTER (805 Main St).

In MASSENA:  Voters residing in that portion of the CAM Community School District lying in Adams County; Bear Grove, Edna, Massena, Noble, Union and Victoria townships of Cass County; the City of Cumberland; and the City of Massena will vote at the MASSENA PUBLIC LIBRARY in Massena (122 Main St).

The VOTING CENTER for the GRISWOLD COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT is:  In GRISWOLD– at the Griswold Community Building, 601 2nd St, Griswold and all voters of the School District will vote there.

If you have any questions, contact the Cass County Auditor’s Office.

An unidentified Iowa State Patrol Trooper was injured during a collision Sunday morning, in northeast Iowa’s Buchanan County. The Patrol says the Trooper’s SUV was parked on the inside shoulder of Interstate 380 southbound, while he was assisting a motorist whose vehicle had gone into the median. A 2006 Toyota Camry driven by 22-year old Brittany Anderson, of Charles City, was traveling south on I-380, when the car went out of control and struck the rear of the Trooper’s 2015 Ford Explorer, causing the SUV to enter the median.

The Camry crossed both lanes of traffic and came to rest in the ditch. Authorities say Anderson was driving too fast for conditions when the crash occurred at around 9:20-a.m., Sunday. The Trooper, who was wearing a seat belt, was transported by private vehicle to St. Lukes Hospital in Cedar Rapids.

Anderson was not injured. The accident remains under investigation.

While Iowa farmers are still struggling with low commodities prices, Iowa consumers are seeing consistently lower prices at the grocery store. A review from the U-S-D-A finds prices at the supermarket fell over the past several months, prompting agency ag analyst Annemarie Kuhns to recalculate her food price forecast for 2017. Kuhns says, “We’re now expecting to pay half to one-and-a-half percent more for groceries in 2017 than we will in 2016.”

That projected increase is tentative and she says prices could actually go down next year, though food prices haven’t decreased for two years in a row in 63 years. The U-S-D-A’s initial prediction for this year was that food prices would rise two-to-three percent from 2015, but they dropped about one-percent overall for the year. Kuhns says there was one big factor that resulted in the reduction of food prices, something that shook Iowa’s poultry industry.

“Eggs, we’re now predicting them to decrease between 21 and 22% in 2016,” she says, “but that was after they had increased 17.8% in 2015 following the highly-pathogenic avian influenza outbreak.”

Prices on a host of products at the grocery store fell in recent months and Kuhns says the trend should continue for many of those same products in 2017. “Beef and veal we’re expecting to decrease one to two-percent,” she says. “Pork we’re expecting to decrease zero to one-percent, though previously we had been predicting a zero-to-one percent increase. We’re expecting eggs to decrease an additional 11 to 12-percent in 2017. And then, looking at fresh vegetables, we’re now expecting those to decrease two to three-percent.”

The U-S-D-A is also projecting several items will be more expensive in the year ahead, including: milk, chicken, bread, cereal, fish and prepared foods.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CST

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Donald Trump’s election and Republicans’ firm grip on Congress have raised the National Rifle Association’s hopes of seeing a sweeping expansion of gun rights. The gun lobby’s priorities include eliminating gun-free zones at schools and allowing anyone with a concealed carry permit issued by one state to carry the weapon into any other state.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Iowa and Nebraska legislators are preparing a new push for gun-rights laws next year, and they may be in a good position to succeed after past failures. Republicans will soon control both the Iowa House and Senate, and in Nebraska, a leading gun-rights advocate said he’s hopeful newly elected conservative senators will support a proposal that could overturn local gun restrictions in Omaha and Lincoln.

CANNON BALL, N.D. (AP) — Oil pipeline protesters are pledging to remain camped on federal land in North Dakota, despite a favorable government ruling and an imminent deadline to leave. Monday’s government-imposed deadline for the protesters to depart the property comes a day after the Army Corps of Engineers refused to let the company extend the pipeline beneath a Missouri River reservoir. Despite the deadline, authorities say they won’t forcibly remove the protesters.

FOREST CITY, Iowa (AP) — Arson and burglary charges against a former Forest City officer have been dismissed. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that prosecutors have determined that without a confession and other evidence thrown out by state courts, they cannot get a conviction against Thaddeus Ellenbecker, who was convicted in 2012 of arson and burglary. In 2014, the Iowa Court of Appeals ordered a new trial for Ellenbecker because officers didn’t read him his Miranda rights before the questioning.