Iowa school kids are back in class and one of the biggest challenges some districts are facing now is finding enough people to keep wheels on the buses going round and round. Max Christensen, the executive officer for school transportation at the Iowa Department of Education, says many other states have the same issue. “From coast-to-coast and border-to-border, there’s concern with trying to fill that seat behind the steering wheel on those school buses,” Christensen says.

He says Iowa schools are doing all they can to get out the word. “A lot of school districts are parking buses in parking lots at malls or grocery stores and that sort of and putting banners on advertising that school bus drivers are wanted,” Christensen says. “One school district in northeast Iowa is using a new tactic that I’ve never seen before…its’s kind of low tech. They are actually using yard signs to advertise for school bus drivers.”

He says they have around nine-thousand school bus drivers in the state and around one-thousand leave each year. Christensen admits the challenges involved in driving a school bus may deter some people. “Being a school bus driver is not an easy task. You are driving down the road with a big vehicle and you’ve quite a number of students behind you — upwards of 40 or 50 students sitting behind you,” Christensen explains. Trying to drive the bus and control the kids at the same time is sometimes somewhat challenging.”

But he says you don’t just hop on the bus and drive away. He says there’s training for you and there’s licensing through the D-O-T along with drug, background and alcohol tests before you can take the wheel. Bus driving generally requires a split shift in the morning and afternoon, which rules out a lot of people who have other jobs. “They work very well for stay-at-home mothers or retired people, somebody like that,” Christensen explains. “It’s also very good income for a lot of college students. I know in a lot of college towns, college students drive a lot of school buses. It just depends on your personal schedule whether it will fit. For those it works well for — it’s really a pretty good income.”

He says the driver shortage has caused some districts to offer more pay. “I’ve seen upwards of anywhere from 18 or 19 upwards to 25 dollars an hour — which is really pretty good money to drive a school bus,” according to Christensen. ” If it works for you, that’s certainly good extra income,” Christensen says.  He suggests you check with your local school district if you might have the interest and time to drive a school bus. “Regardless or where you are at in Iowa, I think just about every district will take a look at you if you want to come in and drive a school bus. The shortage is just that severe,” Christensen says.

“School Bus Fleet” magazine recently reported that a school district in Muncie, Indiana canceled the first two days of school because they had a shortage of bus drivers. The state of Hawaii had to consolidate and eliminate some of its bus routes due to a lack of drivers, as did a school district in Oklahoma.

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say two groups of people have traded gunshots in a Sioux City neighborhood.  Investigators are trying to determine whether two people with bullet wounds who were taken to a Sioux City hospital were involved in the gunbattle Monday evening. At least one house was struck by bullets, but police say no one inside was injured.

Police were uncertain how many people were involved and how many of them fired guns. No arrests have been reported.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:55 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A 51-year-old man has been accused of duping a homeowner out of more than $366,000 for unfinished and shoddy repairs. Authorities say Scott Geary, of Clinton, is charged with theft. Court records don’t list an attorney for him. Police say the victim paid Geary and another, unnamed person more than $366,000 for work on a home that’s been assessed at $250,000 for taxes.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a Missouri man has admitted robbing a bank in eastern Iowa. Prosecutors say 60-year-old Peter Lundberg, of St. Ann, Missouri, pleaded guilty Friday to robbing a Bank of the West branch in Coralville of nearly $1,100 on April 20. His sentencing is set for Jan. 8.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Three neighboring cities are resisting paying Sioux City’s long-overlooked wastewater service charge. The Sioux City Journal reports that the city discovered the neglected charge during an audit and notified officials in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa; North Sioux City, South Dakota; and South Sioux City, Nebraska, that it would begin imposing the 7 percent charge. Those cities’ officials worry about having to pass along the cost to their residents.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Mason City woman has been accused of setting fire to a house in the northern Iowa city. No injuries have been reported from the fire, which was reported around 1:50 p.m. Saturday. Jail records say 29-year-old Donyale Jones remained in custody Monday on an arson charge. Court records don’t list the name of an attorney for her.

A man who lost a bag off his motorcycle on Interstate 29 in Harrison County, attempted to retrieve it by pulling over and walking across both the south- and north-bounds lanes of traffic. In doing so, he was partially struck by a pickup driven by a man from Cass County. The Iowa State Patrol says 73-year old Earl Lee Bolls, of Chamberlain, SD, was clipped by the side view mirror of a 2013 Ford F-150 pickup driven by 69-year old Lynn Poeppe, of Atlantic. The Patrol says Poeppe came up over a hill on I-29 and swerved to avoid Bolls, but was unable to entirely miss him. The accident happened at around 3:05-p.m., Sunday on I-29 northbound, near the 78 mile marker.

Bolls suffered minor cuts to his hand during the incident. He was transported by Missouri Valley Rescue to the Missouri Valley Hospital for treatment.