Iowa’s tourism industry has mounted another effort to stop schools from starting way before September 1st and the top Republican in the House sees “more support” for the proposal this year. House Speaker Kraig Paulsen says a more uniform school starting date might help schools better coordinate shared classes. “If we want schools to work together and provide some of those opportunities, then starting at the same time is also part of that,” Paulsen says. “I don’t know that we want to go to some sort of mandated, common schedule. I’m not suggesting that, but I do think starting at a similar time of year would be helpful.” Iowa law requires schools to get a state waiver if they start before the week in which September 1st falls and most schools get one, without any questions. Managers of hotels, resorts and even city-owned swimming pools say they lose the last profitable weeks of the summer tourism season when school starts in mid-August.

Craig Walters is executive director of the Iowa Lodgers Association.”Ten weeks is at best what we have in Iowa for our travel season and if we’re going to utilize that, that’s the window we need from the middle of June, actually, through the end of August to make it really work,” he says. The House speaker says he’s been swayed by those arguments and now supports the idea of keeping schools from starting in mid-August. “When I initially showed up in the legislature, I didn’t see necessarily why the legislature should get into that. At this point, I sort of do, especially as we look for more opportunities for school districts to work together,” Paulsen says. “I will tell you it has the most support in the House that I’ve ever seen in the 10 years I’ve been there.” But another Republican — Representative Greg Forristall, of Macedonia — vows to do what he can to kill the bill.

“I’m chair of the House Education Committee and we’ve fought this for six years now and no self-respecting chair of education is going to put commerce in front of the education needs of children, “Foristall says. “I think this bill is an embarassment.” Educators argue starting school earlier in August is better because kids find it harder to concentrate when school stretches later in June. Amy Campbell, a lobbyist for the Iowa Travel Federation, rejects those arguments. “We cannot find any studies that show starting school later impacts student achievement,” Campbell says.  Supporters revived this policy debate at the statehouse by drafting legislation that included a fee — as bills that deal with fees are still eligible for consideration in committees. Paulsen says there are “more than 51” votes in support of keeping schools from starting in mid-August, but he’s not sure the fee will survive.

“I have to have someone explain to me how the fee works and all,” Paulsen says. “That was actually news to me yesterday.” The proposal will be considered Monday in the House Ways and Means Committee. It would allow schools to pay a one-hundred dollar ($100) waiver fee if they want to start early, but they’d only be able to start the week before September 1st. That would mean August 27th is the earliest classes could start this fall. Last year, some Iowa schools started classes on August 15th.

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)

The Iowa State Patrol says a Charter Oak woman was cited for failing to obey a stop sign and yielding the right of way, following a collision Thursday evening, in Missouri Valley. The accident happened at around 5-p.m., at the intersection of West Huron and 1st Streets. Officials say a car driven by 66-year old Elizabeth Mahlberg, of Charter Oak, was traveling west on West Huron and had stopped at the stop sign at 1st Street, before pulling away from the intersection.

After Mahlberg’s 2005 Cadillac was struck by a southbound 1993 Chevy Blazer, her car spun partially around and hit a legally parked, unoccupied Chevy Cobalt. The Patrol says the driver of the Blazer, 47-year old Ronald Harvey, of Missouri Valley, slammed on his brakes, but was unable to avoid hitting the Cadillac on the right rear side. No injuries were reported.

Damage from the collision was estimated at $10,500.

Area students interested in working in the medical field have onlya few more days to apply for a scholarship from the Cass County Memorial Hospital Foundation. The application deadline for the $1,000 Elsie and Louie Hansen Memorial Scholarship is Monday, April 2nd, 2012. To be eligible for a scholarship you must be a Cass County high school graduate who is enrolled in, or has been accepted to and will be attending, a college of nursing or medicine leading to an LPN, RN, or MD degree.

The Louie and Elsie Hansen Scholarship was established through the generosity and careful planning of the two life-long Cass County residents, who believed in students receiving a higher education so much, that they bequeathed over 70% of their estate for that purpose, including a gift to the CCMH Foundation.

Under the supervision and guidance of the CCMH Foundation, scholarship opportunities are provided yearly.  Scholarship candidates must have graduated from a Cass County high school and be enrolled in an accredited nursing or medical doctor school. Applications are available on line at www.casshealth.org or may be picked up from the CCMH Foundation office.

The Iowa State Patrol says an Omaha man was injured during a rollover accident this morning on Interstate 80, in Cass County. Officials say 53-year old John L. Price was transported by Medivac Ambulance to the Cass County Memorial Hospital. Troopers had said earlier, Price was suffering from rib and shoulder pain, after the 1997 Toyota 4-Runner he was driving eastbound on I-80 went out of control at around 8:35-a.m.

The SUV crossed the median and rolled several times before coming to rest on the drivers side on the westbound lanes of I-80, about a mile and a-half east of the Marne exit.

Marne Fire, Atlantic Fire and Rescue and Atlantic Medivac assisted the Patrol at the scene. The accident caused the westbound lanes to be blocked-off for about 70-minutes.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – State medical board regulators say a Council Bluffs doctor violated treatment standards by improperly sedating patients while he worked alone after-hours at his clinic. As a result Michael Prescher’s medical license is suspended for a year and he must pay a $10,000 fine.  Prescher, a pain treatment doctor, was chief of staff at Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs. His privileges to practice there were suspended after some of the women he treated in 2009 and 2010 alleged he sexually abused them while they were sedated at his office.  Police never found evidence of abuse and the medical board says it was not proven.  Prescher’s attorney, David Richter says the suspension is too severe since none of the sex allegations were proven.  Prescher may reapply for a license in December.

The Atlantic Police Department reports 20-year Samantha Wehrli, of Atlantic, was arrested Thursday. Wehrli was taken into custody on a Cass County warrant for 4th Degree Criminal Mischief. The woman was booked into the Cass County Jail.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa’s unemployment rate has dropped a tenth of a percentage point, to 5.3 percent in February.  A report released Friday by Iowa Workforce Development says the rate was seven-tenths of a point under the year-ago figure of 6 percent. It’s the fourth month in a row the rate has been under 6 percent.  The U.S. unemployment rate remained at 8.3 percent in February.  Director Teresa Wahlert of Iowa Workforce Development says the gain of 8,700 nonfarm jobs last month “reinforced the view that Iowa’s economy is turning the corner.”