It was one year ago on Memorial Day that Governor Terry Branstad signed the “Home Base Iowa” bill into law. The law creates several benefits for veterans in an effort to get them to live in Iowa once they leave the military. Casey’s General Stores C-E-O Bob Myers, and former Iowa Congressman Leonard Boswell are the co-chairs of the Home Base Iowa effort. Myers says a lot has happened since the program got going.

“We do know that at this point the number of hires is over 13 hundred,” Myer says. He says in the year since the signing of the legislation, Iowa moved from a “veterans unfriendly state, to a veterans friendly state.” Myers says his company has hired veterans through the program and they have worked out very well. Myers says he is a member of the Iowa Business Council and its 20 members have pledged to hire 25-hundred veterans over the course of the next five years. “So, many of those 13-hundred hires are part of the Iowa Business Council partnership, so we should all be proud of the fact that we’ve hired that many veterans,” according to Myers.

Myers and Boswell are both Vietnam veterans. Boswell says they understand what it means to veterans to be able to get a job and contribute to society once they get out of the military. “The whole idea behind this Home Base Iowa was the fact that 250-thousand or plus men and women are being pushed out of the service. They are there, they are volunteers. The preponderance of those have been there 10 or more years, they are not qualified to retire or do anything like that,” Boswell says. He says the program takes advantage of the skills and training the soldiers got in the military.

“They’ve got a lot of talent, they’ve got a experience, they are motivated, so we extended out this program to bring them to Iowa,” Boswell says. Boswell says the effort is not done. “If it stopped today it would be a success story, but it’s not going to stop, it’s got momentum,” Boswell says. Myer says the cut back in U-S forces continues, and while that may turnaround sometime, he doesn’t see that happening in the immediate future.

“We still have a need if you will, to employ veterans who are leaving the services until that changes,” Myers says. “And it may not change, and it won’t change for the next couple of years. That’s what I see going on right now.” Some of the provisions of the law eliminate state income taxes on military pensions for soldiers and their surviving spouses. It also makes it easier for soldiers to earn academic credit for their military training and experience, if they decide to seek a degree at an Iowa college or university.

In addition, state boards are required to take into account a soldier’s military skills when the soldier applies for a professional license. Those interested in the program can find out more information at: www.homebaseiowa.gov.

(Radio Iowa)

Many Iowans are spending the Memorial Day holiday on the water and Iowa Department of Natural Resources officials are hoping this boating season is a safer one than last year. Susan Stocker is the DNR’s boating law administrator and education coordinator. She says there were 32 boating “incidents” in Iowa in 2014 with seven fatalities. There have already been two fatal boating mishaps this year and one occurred this weekend.

Lake Okoboji in NW Iowa (File photo)

An Oskaloosa man was killed on Saturday when the boat he was operating overturned, throwing him and a passenger into Rathbun Lake. Fifty-year-old Gregory Williams was pronounced dead at Mercy Medical Center in Centerville. The passenger was not seriously injured. Investigators say the boat rolled after making a sharp turn. Rough water caused by windy conditions may’ve contributed to the incident. On April 11, a Waldorf College student died when his small kayak overturned in a waterway in Hancock County.

National statistics show more than 8 out of 10 people who die from drowning in a boating accident were not wearing a life jacket. Stocker says even people who consider themselves to be a good swimmer should wear a life jacket. “When you’re in car, you don’t expect to get in a car accident, so we all wear our seatbelts because it’s required. In a boat, you don’t expect to get in a boating accident, but just like in a car, you won’t have time to put on a life jacket…and if you’re unconscious, you’ve got nothing,” Stocker says.

Iowa law requires children who are 12-and-under to wear a life jacket while the boat is in operation. Stocker says boating while intoxicated (BWI) arrests have been steadily declining in Iowa since 2011 when lawmakers lowered the legal limit for drunk boating to a blood-alcohol level of point-oh-eight (.08). “What we’re finding is people do have a designated driver,” Stocker says.

According to Stocker, a person’s senses and judgment are impacted even greater when they’re on a boat and drinking alcohol. “In a boat, you’ve got the wind, the waves and the glare…and the effects of one beer or one alcoholic beverage you might have on land is going to be double or triple when you’re on the water,” Stocker says. Nationally, alcohol use is the leading known contributing factor in fatal boating accidents. It’s listed as the leading factor in nearly one-fourth of deaths in boat crashes.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa DNR said late Sunday evening one boater was rescued, but another is missing, after the small jon boat they were in went over the roller dam at Lock and Dam 18 near Burlington. The one boater was in the water holding a log in the Mississippi River when he was rescued by Iowa Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Officer Paul Kay late Sunday afternoon.

The search for the other missing occupant of the boat will continue on Monday when
there is daylight. The names of the boaters were being withheld pending notification of relatives. The incident remains under investigation by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Des Moines County Sheriff’s Department.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

SIBLEY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa farmers who have been dealing with thousands of dead chickens attracting flies for weeks are frustrated with the government’s response to the ongoing bird flu outbreak. The Des Moines Register reports several chicken and turkey farmers expressed their concerns at public meetings in northwest Iowa Saturday. Merlin DeGroot says he’s waiting for government crews to dispose of his dead chickens, but the agencies involved haven’t coordinated plans well.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — As budget talks drag on in the state Capitol, educators are growing increasingly frustrated. School funding has been a central point of conflict throughout the legislative session, with the Democratic-led Senate seeking to provide more new dollars than the Republican-controlled House for the 2015 to 2016 academic year. The two sides are about $50 million apart on funding.

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — Former Texas Governor Rick Perry is working his way through small-town Iowa one handshake, bear hug and backslap at a time. The early, hands-on approach from the 2016 presidential prospect contrasts with his failed bid four years ago, when he entered the Republican race relatively late and stumbled in debates.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Council Bluffs have arrested a man after the stolen car he was driving smashed into parked cars and a house. KETV reports the incident happened around 4:30 a.m. Sunday in Council Bluffs. Police say a 22-year-old man’s vehicle hit an oncoming minivan and two parked cars before striking a house.

U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, will lead a Senate delegation visit to Vietnam and Singapore this week at a critical time for U.S. interests in the Asia-Pacific region. The delegation visiting Vietnam, which is marking the 20th anniversary of the normalization of relations with the United States – an effort in which Senator McCain played a leading role – will include Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK). In Singapore, the delegation will be joined by Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI).

In Vietnam, senators will meet with top government officials and civil society leaders in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to discuss a range of vital security and economic issues. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam and the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.

In Singapore, senators will participate in the The Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual conclave of Asia-Pacific defense ministers and policy makers, including U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter.

MUSCATINE – Four people escaped serious injury when the boat they were in went over the spillway at Lock and Dam 16 near Muscatine late Saturday evening. Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said Sunday, the fiberglass runabout boat being operated by 41-year old Kevin Mundt, of Orion, Ill., went over the spillway shortly before 11- p.m. on Saturday at a high rate of speed landing in about two feet of water. Both Mundt and 20-year old Jenna Bundy, also of Orion, Ill., were transported to Trinity Hospital in Muscatine where they were treated for non-life threatening injuries.

The other passengers in the boat, 31-year old Daniel Dick, 31, and 33-year old Amanda Dick, both of LeClaire, were ejected from the boat, but uninjured. None of the occupants of the boat were wearing life jackets at the time of the incident, but did put them on before swimming and wading to shore.

The incident remains under investigation by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Atlantic Police Chief Steve Green, Sunday afternoon, issued a statement to the media with regard to a set of burglaries that occurred early Sunday morning in the vicinity of 9th and Birch Streets. Green said “Atlantic Police would like to encourage citizens to lock their cars and houses.”

Green said “While Atlantic enjoys an unusually low rate of crimes of this type, the recent incidents are a reminder that all citizens should observe common security measures.” About 10 days ago, Green says there were a number of unlocked cars entered, and items stolen. A number of local juveniles are currently being investigated for the offenses, however, according to the Chief, “The case is not complete, so no further details will be released at this time.”

Green says “One of the best defenses against theft and burglary is the common door lock, couple with the neighborly act of reporting anything unusual or suspicious in your neighborhood. Citizens do not need to be alarmed by these occurrences” according to Green, but rather this is “A call to be observant, and practice what should be normal, daily security measures.”