(Radio Iowa) – The top Republican in the Iowa House says G-O-P lawmakers will wait to see whether legal challenges successfully derail President Biden’s Covid vaccine mandates before deciding whether to advance a bill to ban vaccine mandates in Iowa. House Speaker Pat Grassley says the legislature has already given unvaccinated workers facing dismissal, the right to claim a religious or medical exemption and receive unemployment benefits. “I remind everyone with this topic, we did take some significant action to make sure we could provide that level of support for Iowans who maybe wanted to make an alternative choice,” Grassley says.

That law was passed in late October. Some Republican legislators want to ban Covid-19 vaccine requirements in the workplace altogether, but Grassley says courts have already blocked two of the federal vaccine mandates and Governor Reynolds is calling on the Supreme Court to rule on a third lawsuit.  “So as far as a bill that would completely ban it,” Grassley says, “…see how that plays out.”

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed it had received several appeals of the federal requirement that large employers ensure workers are vaccinated against Covid-19 or tested weekly. Last Friday, a federal APPEALS court revived the mandate, which applies to businesses with at least 100 employees.

(Audubon, Iowa) – The Audubon School Board met in a regular session Monday evening. Superintendent Eric Trager told KJAN News the Board approved Early Retirement applications from six teachers, effective the end of the current school year. He said those vacant jobs will be posted online so they can be filled before the 2022-23 school year begins. The Board also approved an increase in teacher substitute pay.

In other action, the Audubon School Board approved the hiring of a Full-time Elementary Counselor.

He said they experienced an increase in unacceptable behavior, which is most likely attributable to the stress created by the pandemic.

In other business, the Board hired an associate Art Teacher in Maryssa Soder. She will also be involved in Boy’s Tennis. As we mentioned last week on KJAN News, a $1-million dollar Career Academy Grant was awarded to DMACC in Carroll, which allows for the establishment of a career academy that will serve several area districts.

Superintendent Trager said the Board Monday night discussed last week’s lifting of a stay for the Federal Vaccine Mandate by the 6^th Circuit Court. The mandate requires employers with more than 100 workers to get vaccinated, or mask-up and test weekly for COVID.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa. – December 21, 2021 – Two Alliant Energy line workers have received the Governor’s Lifesaving Award for their courage and bravery after helping to save the lives of four Iowans during two separate incidents – a house fire and a home explosion. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds presented the awards to Customer Service Mechanic Danny Gutschenritter and Service Responder Alex Schwenke during a ceremony on December 16 at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines.

On May 26, 2019, Schwenke was dispatched to a home in Rose Hill, Iowa after a smart meter indicated a power outage. When he arrived at the address, Schwenke found a large pile of debris. It appeared the home had exploded and collapsed. After calling 911, he turned off the utilities to the area. The couple trapped inside the house saw his flashlight and started calling for help. Schwenke and firefighters then worked to rescue them. “I thought I was going to a power outage, but I ended up being a first responder,” Schwenke said. “It felt great to help them out.”

The second incident took place months later in Creston, Iowa. On October 11, 2019, Gutschenritter arrived home from work to find a neighbor’s house was on fire and his neighbor was yelling for help through a window. Gutschenritter ran around the house, smashed a window with a brick and rescued a 12-year-old girl trapped inside. As thick smoke poured out of the windows, he ran to the other side of the home to help his neighbor escape. Once everyone was safe, Gutschenritter disconnected the utilities to make it safe for firefighters to put out the fire when they arrived.  “I just got lucky,” Gutschenritter said. “God put me in the right place at the right time.”

Daniel Gutschenritter

The Governor’s Lifesaving Awards are presented to those who have performed courageous acts in an attempt to save individuals who are in danger of losing their life or to individuals who unselfishly rendered service in a time of emergency.

Davenport – The Iowa Department of Corrections says 33-year-old Joseph LaShawn Roberts, who was convicted of Robbery 2nd Degree in Scott County, failed to report to work from the Davenport work release facility as required yesterday (Monday). Roberts is a Black male who stands 5-feet 9-inches tall, and weighs 186 pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on Dec. 7, 2021. Persons with information on Robert’s whereabouts should contact local police.

Joseph LaShawn Roberts

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa has improved slightly but still has one of the nation’s worst rates of children being hit by trains, according to a study by a non-profit group that works to protect kids from preventable injuries. Nadji Kirby, senior program manager with Safe Kids Worldwide, says their surveys find many parents don’t make it a priority to educate their children about the dangers that surround railroad tracks. “It’s something that they’re not talking to their kids about, even if the family is living near the railroad tracks,” Kirby says. “That’s kind of surprising, considered more broadly that every five days a child is injured in a rail-related incident.”

In the past year, Iowa has moved from having the third- to the eighth-highest percentage of railroad-related accidents involving kids. In 2020, there were zero reports of railroad-related injuries or deaths of children in Iowa, but between 2010 and 2019, there were 54 such reports, 12 of which were fatal. Kirby says people don’t recognize how fast a train may be moving. “They can go up to 70 miles an hour and it’s hard for them to stop. It takes up to a mile for a train to stop, or about 18 football fields back-to-back,” Kirby says. “They can’t stop because they’re so heavy. One train weighs about 12-million pounds.”

Many kids — and adults — will walk along train tracks as a short cut or to take selfies, but they may not realize how quiet trains can be, especially when they’re moving toward you. “You don’t have that traditional clickety-clack on the modern trains. They’re much quieter so they can really sneak up on you because you can’t hear them,” Kirby says. “They’re also much wider than the tracks. People think they can jump out of the way quickly but that’s really not the case. Most trains are at least three feet wider and some are four-to-six feet wider.”

Kirby says accidents at railroad crossings often happen when a driver isn’t paying attention, when drivers or walkers choose to bypass safety barriers, or when they race to cross the track before the train passes. Learn more about railroad safety HERE.