(Radio Iowa) – The chairman of the Iowa G-O-P says the party will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a voter turn-out effort this year. Jeff Kaufmann says getting Republicans to vote BEFORE Election Day is the priority. “I understand tradition. I get grandmas and grandpas wanting to take their grand kids into the voting booth. I get that and respect it,” Kaufmann says, “but here’s the deal: every single dime has got to be maximized.”

Kaufmann says once an Iowa Republican votes early, the party will no longer call or send them reminders in the mail — or pay people to knock on their door to ask about their voting plan.While former President Trump has said his goal is to have all votes cast on Election Day, Trump has called early voting and absentee voting an acceptable option in 2024. “I think he’s starting to realize, I know the campaign is starting to realize that they have got to move into that,” Kaufmann says, “so our Republican Party, we’re going to put a lot of resources into absentee voting and chasing them.”

Democrats have embraced early voting for years. In 2022, for example, Democrats held a significant edge in early voting a week ahead of Election Day. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds says heading into this year’s election, she has a simple message to her fellow Republicans. “We need to ‘bank the vote, bank the vote, bank the vote.’ We need to learn to play their game,” Reynolds says. “We have very safe elections in the state of Iowa.”

Reynolds and Kaufmann made their comments last (Wednesday) night at a fundraiser for House Speaker Pat Grassley. Grassley’s grandfather — U-S Senate Chuck Grassley — closed his remarks at the event by announcing he intends to vote early. “You don’t know what the future holds for you. Vote just as soon as you can under the laws of Iowa,” Grassley said. “…This country is in a perilous time and we can’t fiddle around wondering what will happen on November the 5th. We’ve got to get this thing locked up before November the 5th.”

Iowans can submit absentee ballot request forms to their county auditor now. County auditors may start sending ballots to voters on October 16th. The early voting period in Iowa used to be 40 days before Election Day, but Republican lawmakers have taken steps to reduce the early voting window to 20 days. And absentee ballots must be in the county auditor’s office by 8 p.m. on Election Day.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Growing older is the greatest risk factor for acquiring Parkinson’s disease and many people live with symptoms for several years before being diagnosed. Often people in early stages of Parkinson’s disease assume their symptoms are part of normal aging or are due to other health problems they may have, such as arthritis. However, early Parkinson’s disease symptoms may not be that apparent and may even come and go. Frequently it is the spouse or other relatives who first notice slight problems with a loved one’s movements.

You can learn about Parkinson’s disease, its effects, and possible treatments, by participating in “A Journey Through Parkinson’s Disease” an educational series from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Cass County Extension, along with Iowa State’s Department of Kinesiology, Human Sciences Extension and Outreach and Heritage House are sponsoring the series in Atlantic beginning Monday, September 9, 2024.

The educational series consists of three, 1-hour sessions held weekly. Leah Brooke, a Human Sciences Specialist in Food and Health, will teach the classes, which include interactive lessons, discussions, and activities. Sessions are scheduled for September 9, September 16, and September 30 from 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM at Heritage House, 1200 Brookridge Circle, in Atlantic. There is no fee for the program. For more information or to register on-line, go to https://go.iastate.edu/WHFLJL or contact Kate Olson, Cass County Director, at 712-243-1132 or by e-mail at keolson@iastate.edu.

According to Brooke, “Participants will learn about the signs of Parkinson’s disease and how to seek medical care, as well as the cause of the disease and how specific treatments work. You will also learn about alternative therapies and in-home activities that can delay the progression of Parkinson’s disease, which is very important for continuing to live a full and happy life.”

More information and a registration link are also available on the Cass County Extension website at www.extension.iastate.edu/cass. Anyone affected by or interested in learning more about Parkinson’s disease is invited to participate. Register today to reserve your space for this free program!

DES MOINES – The Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) today recognized outstanding housing initiatives and leaders through the annual HousingIowa Awards at the 2024 HousingIowa Conference in Des Moines. The HousingIowa Awards recognize outstanding programs, projects and professionals for leadership and innovation in advancing housing opportunities for Iowans.

The award categories include: Single-Family Development, Multifamily Development, Innovation, Special Needs Development, Kay Anderson Friend of Iowa and the Mark Sertterh Friend of Housing Award. HousingIowa Award nominations are accepted each year and an independent panel of judges determines the statewide award winners.

2024 HousingIowa Award Winner:

Single-Family Development
Project: Hillside Estates, Council Bluffs
Development Partners: Turn the Paige Construction, Iowa West Foundation, the City of Council Bluffs, NeighborWorks Home Solutions and Habitat for Humanity of Council Bluffs.

Hillside Estates project

PIGSKIN PAYOFF WINNERS WEEK #1

IOWA- 40, ILLINOIS-0

1st place…Rachel Sanderson…Iowa-48, Illinois-12….$25

2nd place…Roger Charley…Iowa-35, Illinois-10… $10

3rd place… Denise Johnson…Iowa-32, Illinois- 8… $5

DES MOINES – Governor Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Department of Corrections (DOC) announced a public-private partnership with Recidiviz, a technology nonprofit using data to enhance public safety and improve outcomes. The partnership builds on the DOC’s already impressive record of reducing recidivism three years in a row as well as legislation passed last year to streamline government operations. Iowa joins 15 other states leveraging Recidiviz’s data and tools to improve the lives of people in prison and on community supervision.

“Together, we are ushering in a new era,” said Reynolds. “This partnership will build on the landmark alignment legislation we passed last year to streamline government operations in Iowa. Better data will improve consistency, efficiency and staff performance across the agency and across the state.”

“We’re harnessing the power of data to build a fairer and safer system,” said DOC Director Beth Skinner. “Through this collaboration, we’re continuing our work to transform our corrections system into a rehabilitation engine, enhancing public safety by getting people the support they need to reintegrate into our communities and build meaningful lives.”

Agency staff, elected officials, and communities need real-time data to improve the criminal justice system. But today, most criminal justice data is scattered, siloed and not actionable to decision-makers. Recidiviz stitches together disconnected databases to create a standardized, state-wide data layer. The nonprofit then builds technical tools that save staff time and improve agency operations. Using Recidiviz tools, leadership can view and monitor trends and better serve people in their custody and on supervision.

“Staff will have real-time data at their fingertips,” said DOC Deputy Director Sally Kreamer, who leads community supervision work. “Better data on clients’ needs and officer performance will ensure that there is consistency and efficiency statewide in community corrections.”

Probation and parole officers will get personalized dashboards showing live analytics about their caseloads, to help them better support their clients.

The partnership is currently focused on improving outcomes for the 40,000 people on supervision – including pretrial, probation and parole. By improving these outcomes, the DOC aims to improve population management within the broader system.

Recidviz Executive Director Clementine Jacoby added, “Recidiviz is thrilled to support the forward-thinking leadership and dedicated staff at the Iowa DOC. We know the tools we’ve deployed in 15 other states can support Iowa and help save corrections staff time, so that they can direct energy to people most in need.”

Recidiviz started as a volunteer project at Google to uncover how technology could standardize criminal justice data and improve the system nationwide.

Recidiviz became a standalone nonprofit in 2018. Today, the team develops an open-source software platform for corrections agencies, cleaning and connecting data from existing systems to provide a complete, timely, actionable picture of what is and is not working to agency leadership and line staff.

The group launched public data dashboards in both Pennsylvania and North Dakota that provide real-time visibility into statistics like the prison and parole populations, reasons for incarceration, parole success rates and racial disparities. In Idaho, its line staff tools identified that 5% of the people in the state’s parole program were already eligible for early release or a supervision-level downgrade; a figure like that for Iowa could identify thousands of people on the wrong level of supervision, leading to swift actions that increase efficiency and save the state money.