(Radio Iowa) — Five members of the Iowa House have signed off on the IDEA of charging a new fee to the owners of electric vehicles AND a new, per-kilowatt-hour tax at public charging stations. Michael Triplett, a lobbyist for the Automobile Manufacturers Association, urged legislators not to set the fee higher than what electric car owners are paying in neighboring states.

“This is the future,” Triplett said. “These are drivers currently who are little bit wiser in their use of their car and its sound to some of our members like they’re being punished for choosing the most economical, environmentally-friendly option.”

The Iowa D-O-T has recommended a 130-dollar annual fee for electric vehicles. That’s
higher than what’s being charged in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri and Nebraska. Drivers of gas-powered vehicles pay the state fuel tax which finances the upkeep and construction of roads and bridges. Scott Newhard, a lobbyist for the Associated General Contractors of Iowa, says electric vehicles should pay into the Road Use Tax, too.

“One thing about electric vehicles — they do use the roadway,” Newhard said. “…Their presence on the roadway requires them to pay a user fee.” Representative Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Marion, says automobile makers are promising to produce more electric vehicles — displacing the gas-powered vehicles that are generating the tax revenue for roads now.  “We need to be making these decisions so the infrastructure is in place, so we’re ready for that,” Hinson says.

By late last year there were 800 battery-powered vehicles registered in Iowa. There were about 19-hundred plug-in hybrids that can switch to gas power when the charge runs out.

(Radio Iowa) — A bill that would re-establish the death penalty in Iowa has emerged in the Iowa SENATE, but it’s unlikely to become law. A key member of the Iowa HOUSE who supports the concept of capital punishment tabled a similar plan last year. He concluded it costs taxpayers less to put someone in prison for life than to pay for years of legal challenges to a death sentence.

Governor Kim Reynolds says SENATORS now have an opportunity to discuss the issue. “But there’s a lot of things that go into considering that and I haven’t seen any shift from where we were last year,” Reynolds says.  House Speaker Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake doesn’t sense a death penalty bill is a priority for her fellow Republicans in the House. “Sometimes I hear from people: ‘I want to do this.’ ‘I want to work on this,'” Upmeyer says. “I have not heard that, so I guess that would surprise me if that became an issue.”

Another wrinkle in this year’s debate is an announcement last August from the head of the Catholic Church. Pope Francis said the death penalty is “inadmissable” and it’s the goal of the church to abolish capital punishment worldwide. Tom Chapman of the Iowa Catholic Conference says priests are talking about the issue in their parishes. “We don’t want to commit violence to try to protect people from violence,” Chapman says.

Twenty Republicans in the Iowa SENATE are co-sponsoring a bill to impose the death penalty on those found guilty of kidnapping, raping and killing a child. It takes the support of 26 senators to pass a bill. Iowa abolished the death penalty 54 years ago.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The nation’s farmers are struggling to pay back their loans after years of low crop prices, with nearly one out of five loans in a government farm program now delinquent for the worst January default rate in at least nine years. The bulk of the nation’s agricultural loans typically come due around Jan. 1 for seasonal and tax planning purposes.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Twenty Senate Republicans have signed on to a bill that would reinstate a death penalty in Iowa, a state that hasn’t put anyone to death in more than 50 years. A Senate subcommittee on Wednesday approved the bill with only Republican support. It would make it a capital offense to kidnap, rape and murder a minor. A similar bill failed last year, and this year’s bill isn’t expected to be approved by the Legislature.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s cold and snowy winter has been especially difficult on livestock producers who’ve often struggled just to reach their animals. The Des Moines Register reports that Iowa has seen an average of 21 inches of snowfall so far in February, just short of a record set in 1962. One rancher says he had to ride a snowmobile 50 miles Sunday to check on his pigs, and that snow is causing an overwhelming amount of maintenance issues.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A 37-year-old western Iowa woman has been sentenced to three months in prison for Social Security fraud. Prosecutors say Jamie Opalia, of Council Bluffs, was sentenced last week and told to pay nearly $22,600 in restitution. Federal court records say she’d pleaded guilty, admitting that she used for herself Social Security benefits that were granted to support another person.

The increasing number of school cancellations and delays for the Atlantic School District will likely mean changes to the current school year calendar. Superintendent Steve Barber, Wednesday evening, said administrators determined students had missed six full school days due to the weather, and currently have put-in 1054.5-hours. There are 25.5-hours that need to be made-up for missed days and hours.

Barber said they talked with the Calendar Committee. He said there’s six teacher days included in the make-up time frame, and the tentative plan to make those days good won’t be finalized until the Board’s next meeting on March 13th, taking into consideration any necessary snow days between now and then.

Barber said the planned make-good days include the Friday before Memorial Day, along with the Tuesday and Wednesday after Memorial Day. In addition, they may consider using Good Friday – which is traditionally an “off” day – used as a make-good for missed days, which gets the district closer to the required Instructional Hours. Still to be determined is how to fit-in two teacher Professional Development (PD) days.  A contingent plan would be to take a couple of PD days (during which there is reduced hours), but Barber says he’s “Not ready to go there yet.” All plans are subject to change as we move through the winter.

In other news, Aaron Thomas, the son of slain Parkersburg High School Football and Hall of Fame Football Coach Ed Thomas, will speak 10-a.m. Friday, March 22nd, in the Atlantic High School Gym. His presentation is directed at Middle and High School Students, but is open to the public. The faith-based family forgave one of Ed Thomas’ former players who shot and killed him June 24th, 2009. Aaron Thomas will recount the story of Ed Thomas’ career and how the family and community dealt with the tragic event. The Ed Thomas Foundation, which was established by his wife and two sons, is based on his priorities of Faith, Family, Character and Integrity.

Superintendent Barber reminded the Board also, that: The bond referendum special election early voting begins March 4th; The end of the 3rd Quarter is March 8th; A Public Hearing on the School Calendar will take place during the Board’s regular meeting 5:30-p.m. March 13th; Parent Teacher Conferences are March 13th and 14th, and there is no school March 14th, 15th, 18th & 19th.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – A Nebraska man was sentenced last week in Council Bluffs, to serve 19-months in prison for Interstate Communication of a Threat. The sentence for 41-year old Andrew Simet, of Omaha, was handed down in U-S District Court.

Simet was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release to follow his prison term. He entered a guilty plea to using social media, sending voice messages, and e-mails to an Iowa District Court Judge and an Iowa Public Defender that contained language that would knowingly be perceived as legitimate threats.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.