DES MOINES –  Gov. Kim Reynolds has issued a disaster proclamation for Benton, Iowa, Jasper, Muscatine, and Poweshiek counties in response to severe weather that occurred on May 7. The governor’s proclamation activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program and the Disaster Case Management Program for those counties.   

The Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program provides grants of up to $5,000 for households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Grants are available for home or car repairs, replacement of clothing or food, and temporary housing expenses. Original receipts are required for those seeking reimbursement for actual expenses related to storm recovery. The grant application and instructions are available on the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services website at hhs.iowa.gov/disaster-assistance-programs. Potential applicants have 45 days from the date of the proclamation to submit a claim.  

The Disaster Case Management Program addresses serious needs related to disaster-related hardship, injury, or adverse conditions. Disaster case managers work with clients to create a disaster recovery plan and provide guidance, advice, and referral to obtain a service or resource. There are no income eligibility requirements for this program; it closes 180 days from the date of the governor’s proclamation. For information on the Disaster Case Management Program, contact your local community action association or visit www.iowacommunityaction.org.    

(Washington, D-C) To mark Public Service Recognition Week, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) has announced it has approved nearly 616,000 borrowers nationwide for approximately $42 billion in Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) since October 2021.

PSLF covers public employees—such as teachers, firefighters, and members of law enforcement, as well as those who work for a non-profit organization—in a variety of fields by forgiving the remaining federal student loan balance for those who make the required 120 qualifying monthly payments.

In fact, PSLF is making an incredible difference for public servants in Iowa:

• Between October 2021 and May 2023, the Department has approved more than 6,300 borrowers in Iowa for approximately $335 million in loan forgiveness under temporary changes the Biden-Harris Administration made to the PSLF Program. That’s more than $52,000 per borrower!
• While hundreds of thousands of Iowa borrowers already have benefited from PSLF, more will benefit as the program continues.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said “Since Day One, the Biden-Harris Administration has worked relentlessly to fix a broken student loan system, including by making sure we fulfill the promise of Public Service Loan Forgiveness for those who have spent a decade or more serving our communities and our country.

To date, the Biden-Harris team has kept that promise for more than 615,000 teachers, nurses, social workers, servicemembers, and other public servants by approving a combined $42 billion in student loan debt forgiveness. The difference that Public Service Loan Forgiveness is making in the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans reminds us why we must continue doing everything we can to fight for borrowers and why families cannot afford to have progress derailed by partisan politicians. During Public Service Recognition Week—and every week—we thank all those who serve our communities.”

Public Service Recognition Week celebrates individuals who serve the United States and local communities as employees of federal, state, local, or tribal government.

Recent Improvements to the PSLF Application Process

• In addition to record approvals, the Department is also announcing that for the first time, borrowers can now sign and submit their PSLF forms digitally and closely track their status through the process.
• These significant changes to the PSLF application process create a faster, more straightforward, and more transparent process for borrowers.
• The changes also improve the experience for public service employers, who now can confirm a borrower’s employment digitally via DocuSign.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston say no injuries were reported following a collision this (Monday) afternoon. Authorities say a 2008 GMC SUV driven by 61-year-old Angela Sue Smith, of Creston, was sitting at a stop light at the intersection of Sumner Street and Highway 34, in Creston. As the light turned green she proceeded forward, westbound on Highway 34.

A vehicle in the opposing lane traveling eastbound, crossed the center line of the road and caused the SUV to slow down. A 2018 Dodge RAM pickup driven by 19-year-old Tate Robben Steinhoff, of Griswold, was behind the SUV, and rear-ended the vehicle. The accident happened a little after 2-p.m.

Minor damage was reported to have occurred to both vehicles, with the dollar amount at $1,800 altogether. No citations were issued, but the report did mention Steinhoff was following too close.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court has reversed a 2017 ruling that allowed lawsuits directly against state officials for monetary damages under the Bill of Rights of the Iowa Constitution.The unanimous decision came in a case where a garbage truck driver sued the state after being charged with interference with official acts for not helping a D-O-T officer conduct a safety inspection of his truck. The charge was later dropped.

The Supreme Court ruling says the ruling six years ago in the case of workers’ compensation commissioner Christopher Godfrey is not supported by constitutional text or history. The ruling also says Godfrey has been difficult to apply because our court has had to spin out new rules of law to accommodate these new types of claims. And Godfrey has undermined the established allocation of responsibility between the legislative and the judicial branches of government.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State University researchers are getting a National Science Foundation grant to study if people who get cybersick while using virtual reality headsets can adapt over time. I-S-U psychology professor Jonathan Kelly predicts virtual reality will have an increasingly bigger role to play in education, work and social life, and researchers want to make sure everyone can have equal access to it without feeling woozy.

“If we can address some of the usability problems now,” Kelly says, “then it’ll pave the way for VR to be a bigger tool and have a bigger impact on society.” The researchers already know women tend to experience motion sickness from V-R more often than men. Now they want to find out if people who get cybersick can adapt to virtual reality and eventually not feel sick. Kelly says there are tools that can help narrow peoples’ fields of vision while using virtual reality. They’re kind of like training wheels that gently expose someone to V-R.

Taylor Doty using VR headset. (ISU photo)

“And then we could kind of take off the training wheels, as it were, and say, ‘Okay, now you’re free to explore VR and you’re not going to get sick.’ So that’s kind of like the ultimate goal,” Kelly says. “I don’t know whether that’s really achievable.” He says researchers want to see virtual reality be as accessible as possible, especially as it becomes more widely used. The grant is for 600-thousand-dollars.

(by Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – The requirement that applicants for state teachers’ licenses be at least 21 years old is being eliminated. The bill getting rid of that minimum age for Iowa teachers cleared the legislature unanimously this year and the governor has signed it into law. Senator Sandy Salmon of Janesville says the change is important for students who’re taking community college classes during high school.

“Many students graduate from high school with their AA degree and so they finish up their bachelor’s by the time they’re 20,” Salmon says, “so this enables them to go straight into the teaching field.” Representative Thomas Moore of Griswold is a retired educator and coach. He says in today’s Iowa, prospective teachers who’re enrolled in community college and high school at the same time are penalized for completing college before they’re 21.

“This is important because a school could have a great candidate in a student teacher, but is unable to offer a job due to their age,” Moore says, “or a candidate could have a glowing resume, but has to wait a year for employment due to age or a candidate takes another job in a separate field because of age and decides that is a better fit.”

According to the U.S. Department of Education, 71 percent of the people teaching in Iowa schools in 2021 had started in the profession when they were under the age of 26. No other state had a higher percentage of teachers who got their initial teaching license when they were in their early 20s.