(Iowa Capital Dispatch) – An Iowa Senate committee gave its approval Wednesday to a bill that would eliminate a requirement for the state to inspect all hotels every two years. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports before approving the bill, members of the Senate State Government Committee stripped it of a measure that would have eliminated the annual inspections of businesses that are licensed to remove asbestos from construction sites. That element of the bill ran into opposition from labor organizations and others who said they were concerned that moving to complaint-only asbestos inspections could endanger the public as well as construction workers.

The provision of Senate Study Bill 3064 dealing with hotel and motel inspections is intended to legalize the longstanding practice of the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing (DIAL). Although the law currently requires DIAL to inspect all hotels at least once every two years, the department has not complied with that law, opting instead to perform inspections on a prioritized basis and in response to complaints.

At Wednesday’s committee meeting, Sen. Tony Bisignano, a Des Moines Democrat, spoke out in opposition to the elimination of the two-year requirement for inspections. Sen. Carrie Koelker, R-Dyersville, voiced support for the bill, noting that it was backed by Iowa’s hotel industry. The Iowa Hotel and Lodging Association is not registered to lobby on the bill. Bisignano said the inspections department isn’t keeping up with mandated inspections and warned that’s something that may eventually become an issue for Iowans. The bill was approved by the committee along a party-line voice vote, with Democrats opposing the proposal and Republicans supporting it.

It’s not unusual for Iowa hotels to go four years or more without an inspection. Even when complaints are verified, that may not lead to action by regulators. Last September, for example, an Iowa City hotel that is part of a chain was inspected for the first time in four and half years. The visit was in response to a complaint related to some unspecified form of pests in the guest rooms. A Johnson County Health Department inspector reported the complaint was “verified,” but also indicated in his report that the hotel was “in compliance” with pest-control regulations and no action was taken.

GREENE COUNTY, Iowa [KTIV] — An Iowa man accused of kidnapping his son from school is facing charges in Greene County, Iowa. Brandon Duong is accused of kidnapping his 7-year-old son Bryson Duong, and using him as a hostage during a standoff near Remsen, Iowa. According to court documents, Brandon Duong took Bryson from Greene County Elementary School in Jefferson, Iowa. Authorities say that happened around 12:45 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 30th. Authorities say in December 2023 a court order was issued restricting Brandon from having custody of Bryson.

When an officer got to the school, they viewed security footage that showed Brandon taking Bryson during recess. Authorities say this video showed Bryson running toward Brandon and his Black Toyota Tacoma, after which they left the area. Court documents show authorities later found out Brandon had left his cell phone behind to avoid being tracked. An AMBER Alert was issued for Bryson and by 4:40 p.m. Tuesday, an officer with the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office spotted Brandon’s Tacoma south of Correctionville and Cushing. Officers attempted a traffic stop and a pursuit began, entering Cherokee and then Plymouth County before officers lost track of the vehicle.

The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office says at about 4:50 p.m. officers found Brandon’s vehicle again in the area northeast of Remsen, where another high-speed pursuit began. This pursuit ended in a crash near Sunset Avenue and 160th Street, which is between Remsen and Marcus. During the pursuit, the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office says they learned Duong was possibly armed with a rifle. Authorities say after crashing the vehicle, Brandon left the vehicle on foot, carrying Bryson and a rifle. Multiple agencies responded to the area and the field Brandon had walked into was surrounded by law enforcement.

During the almost three-hour standoff that followed, Brandon allegedly had Bryson over his shoulder while law enforcement officers had their guns drawn. The Iowa Department of Public Safety says negotiators were able to convince Brandon to surrender. Authorities were also able to recover Bryson safely.

Brandon was taken to the Greene County Jail and charged. He had originally been booked into the Plymouth County Jail, on a warrant for violating a custody order. Bryson Duong was taken into the custody of the Department of Human Services.

SAC COUNTY, Iowa (KCAU) — ​The amount of money in the reward for missing Sac County man David Schultz has increased. The Sac County Board of Supervisors last week unanimously approved an application for the American Rescue Plan funds of $25,000. According to the county’s board minutes, the money is to be used as a reward for any information that leads to Schultz’s location. The funds will be available through November because of the ARP rules.

David Schultz

Schultz has been missing since the early morning hours of Nov. 21. His semi truck full of hogs was located on Highway 71 with his phone and wallet inside. Officials say David Schultz is about 5 feet 11 inches tall. He weighs around 180 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes. Schultz was last seen wearing Wrangler jeans, cowboy boots, and a Peterbilt hat.

If you have any information about David Schultz or where he might be, call the Sac County Communication Center at 712-662-7127.

(Corning, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Adams County, Wednesday afternoon, reported a pursuit that began with a traffic stop Tuesday evening, resulted in the arrest of a man from Nebraska, and a woman from Iowa. Authorities say that at approximately 10:30-p.m., Tuesday, Deputies were patrolling in the area of Highway 34 at the Adams/Montgomery County line and observed a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed. Deputies attempted to conduct a traffic stop. The driver, 20-year-old Thomas Greenwood, of Omaha, Nebraska, led Deputies on a chase through Adams County at speeds of 120 mph. Greenwood entered the city limits of Corning where he bailed on foot at the corner of 6^th Street and Highway 148. He was later apprehended at the corner of 6^th Street and Davis Avenue.

Greenwood was charged with Felony Eluding, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Marijuana, Intent to Deliver Marijuana, Failure to Affix Drug Tax Stamp, Gathering Where Unlawful Substances are Used, and Reckless Driving. He was also cited for multiple traffic offenses incurred as a result of the pursuit.

A passenger in the vehicle, 20-year-old Shelby Stillwell, of Lawton, Iowa, was arrested for Possession of Marijuana, Intent to Deliver Marijuana, Failure to Affix Drug Tax Stamp, and Gathering Where Unlawful Substances are Used.

And, following a traffic stop early Saturday morning (Jan. 27) in Corning,  29-year-old Danielle Rae Hilton, of Clearfield,  was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance (Marijuana), Possession of a Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine), and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Hilton was booked into the Adams County Jail on $2,300 cash only bond.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa [KETV]— Over the next ten years, 1,300 multi-family homes are coming to Council Bluffs by spending millions of dollars over the next decade. They’ll be built at river’s edge, where initial construction is underway: to city-owned 93 acres east of Lake Manawa, bought with ARPA money, to a two and a half acre vacant lot just off of Broadway and later on, the city is preparing to build over Dodge Park.

The city is currently taking developer applications to build multi-family, row and town houses.There’s $6 million in the bank, ready to be spent. $4 million are from Iowa West Foundation, the other $2 million comes from the city’s federal ARPA funds and a goal of reaching $10 million.

The process will begin immediately as the city wants to start construction in 2024.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Des Moines Orthopaedic Surgeons, known as DMOS, recently informed patients of a possible data breach involving their personal information. In the letters, DMOS said it notified the FBI of the potential breach and discovered the unauthorized removal of patient files in December.

The letter said “We recently experienced a security incident on or around February 17, 2023, when an unauthorized actor was able to access and remove certain DMOS files from certain systems within our network due to a DMOS vendor failure.” The discovery led to patients being notified in the January, 2024.

The breach included personal information including full names, addresses, birth dates, information off drivers licenses and state IDs as well as medical and health insurance information. In the letter, DMOS told recipients what they can do to protect their personal information — like placing fraud alerts and/or security freezes on their credit files. Affected individuals can also obtain a free credit report.

The President and CEO of DMOS said in the letter, “Please accept our apologies that this incident occurred,” and that since then incident was discovered, they have changed their technology vendors, upgraded security on all servers and workstations with outside monitoring, and implemented Multi Factor Authentication for network access.”

As of the letters’ release, DMOS said there is no evidence that any information has been used for fraud or identity theft.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds is urging legislators to advance her plan to overhaul the state’s Area Education Agencies. “To stick our head in the sand and say: ‘Everything is perfect. I don’t want to change anything! We need more time.’ That’s ridiculous. Businesses have to do this every day to survive. We need to start operating government in that manner because ultimately that is how the kids are going to get a quality education.”

Reynolds says test scores show students with disabilities aren’t being served well by the A-E-As. The governor spoke with reporters just before hour-long hearings yesterday (Wednesday) in the Iowa House and Senate on her bill. Key House Republicans say there’s still a need for more discussions before the bill is ready for a committee vote. The bill did clear a SENATE subcommittee, but Republican Senator Ken Rozenboom of Oskaloosa says legislators need to find answers to questions that have been raised. “I’m not going to dissect the bill today. We’ve had discussions about it. We’ve heard pros and cons,” Rozenboom says. “There are conceptual fundamental pieces of this that we need to address…and then we have to wrestle with the rollout and a timeline that, again, serves our children well.”

Okoboji Superintendent Todd Abrahamson says he supports giving school districts the federal, state and property tax money that’s currently being forwarded to the A-E-As, so his district can hire its own staff. “Change is good,” Abrahamson says. “We’ve already started to look at what we would do with the dollars — a special ed director, a speech therapist, a behavior psychologist so we could meet the needs every day in our district because those needs are not being met currently.”

Senate subcommittee hearing on governor’s AEA overhaul on Jan. 31, 2024.

Council Bluffs Superintendent Vicki Murrilo says the governor’s plan will transform an outdated system.”For the past seven years I have watched millions of flow through dollars from our district go directly to the AEA’s without having a voice for how those dollars will be used to support the needs of our district,” Murillo said. Waukee Superintendent Brad Buck, the former director of the Iowa Department of Education, says the bill will create winners and losers. “It’s far more likely that larger districts will come out in better shape in this bill than smaller and especially rural districts,” Buck said.

Dan Daughton, a former principal and superintendent, is a lobbyist for the School Administrators of Iowa and Rural School Advocates of Iowa — groups that oppose the bill. “Right now districts are sharing school social workers with AEA’s in order to provide mental health services for their children,” Daughton says. “That will go away with this bill as it is prohibited…Rural schools will be impacted, I think, more so than others….We couldn’t find mental health workers before we had this sharing agreement.”

Others who testified urged lawmakers to hit the pause button. Deb Davis, a member of the Johnston School Board, says if the bill is rushed through, there could be unintended consequences. “I recommend taking the time needed to do an audit and study on the AEA’s and invite superintendents and school districts to be a part of this process as this bill is formulated and tweaked,” Davis said.

Suzanne Costello of Kellogg is the parent of a child with learning disabilities including dyslexia who she says has been helped by the local A-E-A. She doubts small schools will be able to hire professional staff.  “You’re going to take the person with the most special needs and you’re going to put them with somebody with a high school diploma who has very little education and skill sets and that’s what my kid’s going to get?” Costello said. “No way!”

Representatives of Iowans for Tax Relief, Americans for Prosperity and the Iowa Manufactured Housing Association urged legislators to ratify the governor’s changes, which would reduce property taxes by 33 million dollars.

(Radio Iowa) – All three members of a House panel have voted against a bill that would have removed protections for gender identity from Iowa’s Civil Rights Act. Republican Representative John Wills of Spirit Lake says he has problems with the law in general, but he voted to block the bill from advancing.

“All people are created equal. The way I look at the civil rights code right now, it actually gives extra rights to people,” Wills said. “With that said, I don’t think that this bill is the right way to move this forward.” Hundreds of people came to the statehouse to oppose the bill, and chanted “trans rights are human rights” outside the committee room.

Critics of the bill said it would have lead to transgender Iowans being denied housing or service at restaurants. Jocelyn Krueger of Poweshiek County told lawmakers about living in Indiana and being denied service at a grocery store. “I regularly faced discrimination because of my gender identity,” Krueger said, “and I was told that I was hated and that people could get away with it because gender identity was not a protected class.”

Crowded meeting room for subcommittee hearing on Jan. 31, 2024. (RI photo)

Iowa’s Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination in employment, wages, bank loans, housing and education that’s based on a person’s race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, ancestry, disability or gender identity.

Representative Jeff Shipley, the bill’s sponsor, says the conversation about removing gender identity from that list will continue despite the bill’s defeat. Shipley’s bill would have declared gender dysphoria a disability under Iowa law.