Wednesday night, the Atlantic city council began the process of eliminating the Park & Recreation Board.

The council voted 6-1 passing the first reading of the ordinance that would dissolve the publicly-elected board and replace it with an advisory committee.

Fourth Ward council member Linda Hartkopf was the only “No” vote.  The measure will need to be approved two more times to make it official.

The council also unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance that would create the advisory Committee.

If the council follows through on the plan, a new five-person committee would be formed, with three of the members being Atlantic residents, two other being Cass County residents and a one high school student who would be a non-voting member.

Concerns about aging members of Congress and the president were raised again after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky froze while speaking to reporters last week. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says elected officials are expected to be able to handle the duties they were elected to carry out.

Ernst says McConnell was checked out no evidence of seizure, Parkinson’s or stroke was found.

Ernst says she met with McConnell Tuesday evening.

Ernst says the national media keeps focusing on McConnell, but not President Biden’s failures. It was the second time McConnell had frozen up while speaking in the past two months.

The harvest season will likely start in northern Iowa within a week to ten days, according to Angie Rieck Hinz (REEK HINES), a field agronomist at Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. With the hot temperatures, low humidity and windy conditions we’ve had lately, she says the crops matured much more quickly than expected, and those dry conditions may lead to a much greater risk during the harvest.

As farmers prepare for the big job ahead, Rieck Hinz says they’d be wise to make a checklist, one that includes fire safety.

At least seven Iowa counties have active burn bans in place due to continued drought conditions: Buchanan, Delaware, Fayette, Greene, Grundy, Hancock and Worth.

Nearly 70 people have weighed in during a public hearing about a
proposal to streamline state licensing and either consolidate or eliminate about 100 state boards and commissions. West Virginia University economics professor Edwin Timmons told the panel considering the changes that Iowa requires a license or certification for too many professions and it limits job opportunities for low income Iowans.

Samantha Groark (GROH-ark), executive director of the Central Iowa Construction Trades Council, represents 15-thousand licensed tradesmen and women.

Elevator manufacturers and people who operate boiler systems that heat major facilities like public buildings and factories say proposed changes in the boards that oversee their professions threaten public safety. Pete Hird is secretary-treasurer of the Iowa Federation of Labor.

Iowans have until September 17th to submit written public comments about the proposed changes. A review committee set up by the government reorganization bill Governor Reynolds signed this year has until September 30th to draft a final set of recommendations. During Wednesday’s public hearing at the statehouse, licensed psychologists, social workers and chiropractors objected eliminating boards that oversee their professions and shifting that oversight to other boards. An advisory council created by bill that became law this summer may be on the chopping block. Bethany Gates of the Iowa Midwives Association says it’s a setback for midwives who planned to apply for a license.

Others warned elimination of the Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service and revoking Iowa’s membership in a regional higher education board will cost the state millions in federal funding. Court reporters say the plan eliminates certification for their profession. Representatives of the state’s 11-hundred licensed athletic trainers say the plan eliminates their state licensing board and a different board may eliminate or downgrade the professional requirements for athletic trainers. Vic Miller, president of the Iowa Athletic Trainers Society, says any changes would greatly affect his ability to travel with the men’s basketball team at Iowa State University.

Andy Conlin, an Iowa based lobbyist who represents the Foundation for Public Accountability, says an overall review of state licensing requirements is long overdue.

The review committee is also considering repeal of the state law that requires boards and commissions at all levels of government to have as close to an equal number of men and women as possible. Laura D’Agostino (dag-uh-STEE-noh), an attorney with a California non-profit, says the committee and Governor Reynolds should ensure all Iowans are treated equally.

Iowans who testified at the hearing denounced the idea. Katherine Farris, the Iowa co-president of the American Federation of University Women, says in 1987, Iowa led the nation in passing a gender equity law applying to state boards and commissions and it was extended to local boards in 2009.

Iowa law lets state and local officials who’ve made a good faith effort for 90 days to ignore the gender balance requirement — and there’s gender balance on two-thirds of boards and commissions today. In January, Governor Reynolds told Radio Iowa the best people for government boards are those who have a passion for the work and she’s never felt good about the gender balance law. As a state senator, she voted against expanding the requirement to local government boards and commissions.

The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission has unanimously rejected Navigator C-O-2’s application to build a carbon capture pipeline in South Dakota.

Navigator is one of three companies with plans to build carbon pipelines in the Midwest. South Dakota regulators held public hearings on the company’s route through their state in late July and early August, then unanimously voted yesterday (Wednesday) to reject Navigator’s application for a construction permit. The head of South Dakota’s Public Utilities Commission cited concerns about Navigator’s notices to property owners along the proposed pipeline route. Navigator had objected to county ordinances restricting how close the pipeline could be built near homes, schools and other structures, but South Dakota utility regulators have also refused to override those county regulations. A written statement from the company says Navigator remains committed to responsible infrastructure development and will evaluate the written decision from South Dakota regulators before deciding what to do next.

The Iowa Utilities Board hearing about the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline continues today (Thursday) in Fort Dodge with more testimony from witnesses who support the project. Landowners who oppose Summit’s pipeline testified over the past two weeks. The permit hearing for Summit’s route in SOUTH DAKOTA is scheduled to begin Monday. In early August, regulators in NORTH Dakota rejected Summit’s construction permit and the company has altered its route in North Dakota in response to concerns about it’s proximity to Bismarck and is asking North Dakota’s Public Service Commission to reconsider the application.