(Radio Iowa) – It was a happy homecoming for 90 soldiers from the Iowa National Guard’s 113th Cavalry – Troop C from Le Mars. Hundreds of people lined the route waving flags, displaying posters, and cheering as the soldiers returned home Wednesday from a 10-month deployment to Africa. Barbara Grady of Granville was there to see her son, Specialist David Grady. “I am so delighted and God is so good — and it turned out to be a beautiful day,” Grady says. Grady says she tried to ease any homesickness by corresponding with her son on a regular basis. “We kept him in touch with the family and hopefully made him feel at home even though he was not at home,” she says. She says there were a lot of letters and texts and messages online throughout the deployment.

Specialist David Grady says it is good to be back home — but added his time at Africa for the National Guard mission was time well spent. “It was a lot of fun. Really helped out a lot, we interacted with the locals lot and helped them out when we could and protected our little FOB (forward operating base) there in Somalia,” he says. Grady says he has been looking forward to the trip back home for about three months. He says the soldiers had a general idea as to when their mission would be completed, but it was only recently that they learned the specific date for returning home. After months of military food — he is looking forward to something different. “Probably eat a big nice juicy hamburger I think — and spend time with my family,” Grady says.

Specialist Grady says the guard unit will be off for a couple of months, then it will be back to their regular training schedule once a month.

Officials with the Creston Police Department say a man residing in the 500 block of Livingston Avenue, in Creston, reported Wednesday morning, that his Orange 2013 Harley Davidson Heritage Soft Tail was missing from his front patio. The loss was estimated at $13,000.

2013 HD Heritage Soft Tail (File photo. Not the actual cycle stolen)

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has passed a wide ranging bill that would escalate penalties for protests that damage property and provide police with new liability from lawsuits. Fifty-five Republicans and eight Democrats voted for the package. Republican Representative Jarad Klein of Keota says the bill is a response to protests that created unsafe situations in Iowa and other parts of the country over the past year. “We know our law enforcement officers are some of the bravest men and women in our state,” Klein said. “They sign up to risk their lives to keep us safe. It is our job as Iowa legislators to minimize that risk as much as possible.”

Two Republicans and 28 Democrats opposed the bill, which does not include the anti-racial profiling proposal from Republican Governor Kim Reynolds. Representative Ako Abdul-Samad, a Democrat from Des Moines, suggests the bill is tone deaf to what is fueling racial justice protests. “When are we going to start talking instead of just putting bills out there? And I do support police officers,” Abdul-Samad said, “…but I also support the communities that are in pain and have suffered.”

Representative Mary Wolfe, a Democrat from Clinton, says the bill makes damage of any publicly-owned property a felony and jumps up the penalties for protests that blocking sidewalks or yelling rude and annoying things at police. “I can’t vote yes on a bill that targets a specific population of Iowans and in my opinion for no other reason than to teach them a lesson, send them a message,” Wolfe said, “which is basically sit down and shut up.”

Klein says his constituents were pretty unhappy graffiti was painted on the Children’s Hospital in Iowa City during protests last June. “Protests are fine. Protests are great as long as they’re peaceful,” Klein says. “But when they start going down destructive paths and they start assaulting and going after people and spitting on law enforcement and going after them the way I’ve seen, that is now a violent protest.”

Several other proposals were folded into the bill. It would make it a crime to use a lazer to try to blind police. Police, prosecutors and judges could enter a program that makes their home addresses confidential if the bill becomes law. The Senate has approved parts of the bill already, but must review and pass the entire package before it would go to the governor.

(Radio Iowa) – Senate Republicans are proposing a more than six million dollar increase in next year’s budget for the Iowa Department of Corrections, but that is 14 million dollars below the recommendation from Republicans in the House. Danny Homan, president of the union that represents employees in the state prison system, says the prisons are grossly understaffed and the brutal murders of two Anamosa prison employees are a direct result.

“Years of inadequate funding…have left staff in all of our facilities to work in extremely dangerous institutions,” Homan said. “…It’s time to fix this problem…How many more people have to die before we’re going to take this seriously?” During a subcommittee hearing on the prison system’s budget, Homan told senators there was only one serious assault on a prison employee a dozen years ago, but last year there were 13.

“There are not many folks inside these institutions that feel today after what happened on March 23, all right?” Homan said. “You guys may wish to ignore this reality, but you know who isn’t ignoring the reality? Inmates inside our systems…And don’t blame me for bringing this to your attention. The inmates have nothing better to do every day than sit and count how many officers are at work.”

Homan says six million dollars is a start, but it cannot be the end after what happened at the Anamosa prison three weeks ago. He asked senators to provide the funding for an independent investigation of the killings of correctional officer Robert McFarland and nurse Lorena Schulte and to buy a new radio communications system for the prison. “Some of the worst of the worst are at Anamosa,” Homan said. “…Our belief is enough is enough. We would like to see a budget passed to ensure what happened at Anamosa never happens again.”

Senator Julian Garrett, a Republican from Indianola, describes the six-point-three MILLION dollar increase in the prison system’s budget as an opening offer from Senate Republicans.  “I do want to say that we certainly appreciate the work of all the people who are working in our corrections system,” Garrett said. “…Our thoughts and prayers certainly go out to the families of the two individuals that lost their lives in Anamosa.”

In addition to the criminal investigation of the murders, there are two other reviews of the incident. Garrett says there’s it’s too soon to say more staff would have prevented the attacks. “Before we jump to conclusions, we should at least hear the results of those investigations,” Garrett says. Garrett says six-point-three million dollars is a substantial increase, but he understands many would like more than that — and there may be more when the final budget decisions are made.