(Radio Iowa) – A state law that goes into effect July 1st sets new parameters for what government agencies and officials may charge for access to public records. Senator Waylon Brown of Osage says the bill sets a reasonable standard of what the custodians of public records are to charge for copies. “The custodian shall make every reasonable effort to provide a record at no cost, other than copying, if the record takes less than 30 minutes to produce,” Brown says. “It permits a person to contest the reasonableness of the expenses and, lastly, it limits the costs for legal services only for redaction or review of legally protected confidential information.”

Representative Mary Mascher of Iowa City says it’s a consumer protection law. “Obviously we want to make sure people have access to copies. It allows anyone to visually look at public records at any time without any cost at all,” Mascher says.  And Mascher says for people who believe they’d been overcharged for copies of public records, the law sets up an appeal process. Representative Megan Jones of Sioux Rapids says the law strikes a balance between state and local governments and the requesters of public records, but it’s also an important check on some corporations that go on data mining expeditions through public records.

“They submit these really fradulent requests which can be very expensive to the taxpayer, ” Jones says, “so while government should be responsible to the people, we also cannot afford for the taxpayer to just be used a data center at taxpayer expense.” The Iowa Braodcasters Association and the Iowa Newspaper Association registered in favor of the proposal. The bill passed the Senate unanimously in February and cleared the House on a 93-to-zero vote in March. The governor approved it this week.

(Radio Iowa) – How would a decision from the United States Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade impact Iowa law on abortion? In 2018, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that Iowa women have a fundamental right to an abortion under the STATE constitution. It means THAT ruling would have to be overturned before any IOWA law could be enacted to restrict access to abortion. That’s exactly what Republican Governor Kim Reynolds has asked the Iowa Supreme Court to do in 2022. Reynolds has appointed a majority of the justices on the Iowa Supreme Court. The Iowa court is due to soon rule whether a law can take effect that would ban abortions in Iowa after the sixth week of a pregnancy.

Critics say that’s effectively a ban on all abortions, as few women know or have confirmed by week six that they’re pregnant. In a tweet late this (Tuesday) morning, Governor Reynolds said the mission remains as clear as it has ever been — to defend the most important freedom there is: the right to life. The Republican Party of Iowa released a written statement, saying the party is committed to defending the unborn. Iowa Democratic Party chairman Ross Wilburn says the majority of Iowans believe abortion should be legal and Iowans will have a chance this fall to elect candidates who will write the protection of Roe into law at the state and federal level.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening, is expected to receive an update from Housing Committee Chair Kathy Somers, with regard to progress that’s being made in addressing the critical shortage of single-family residential homes in the community. Along those lines, the Council – later on in their meeting – will act on passing the second reading of an Ordinance amending the City Code, with regard to changing the Zoning Classification of certain real property (the Redwood Subdivision) from R-4 (Multi-family use) to R-2 (Low Density/Single Family use), and changing the official Zoning Map to reflect the change.

They will also hold the second reading of an Ordinance that also amends the Code, with regard to changing the area at 705 W. 8th Street from R-3 (High Density/Single Family Residential District) to C-1 (Highway Commercial District), and making the change to the Zoning Map. In other business, the Council will act on an Order to approve the City’s application to the Iowa Economic Development Authority, for a Destination Iowa Grant associated with the Prairie Hill Development project in the area of 22nd and Olive Streets. The City of Atlantic’s Housing Committee hopes to receive up to 25% of the project cost through IEDA, or about $710,000. The total project price tag is expected to be around $2.8-million, and would help to create 34 lots for the development of single-family homes, the necessary infrastructure, and a trail.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council will act on a Resolution establishing an updated Credit Card Policy, replacing authorized users, new credit limits, and improved controls over use of the credit card. Mayor Grace Garrett is expected to announce a proclamation recognizing the week of May 1st through the 7th as the 53rd Professional Municipal Clerk’s Week, in Atlantic. Among their final items of business, is to set the date for a Public Hearing on Amending the FY 2022 Budget, as May 18, 2022. A full explanation of changes made to the FY22 Budget will be included in the Agenda notes for the 18th.

The Council’s meeting takes place in their Chambers at City Hall, beginning at 5:30-p.m. Wednesday (May 4th).

(Radio Iowa) – Senator Chuck Grassley says it’s no secret he has hoped Roe v Wade would be overturned. as a draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion seems to indicate is imminent. “I’ve let people know for 40 years where I stand on Roe,” Grassley said this morning. “I’ve had the same position for decades.” But during his weekly conference call with radio reporters from Iowa, Grassley said there’s no way to predict any of the Supreme Court nominees he’s supported recently would vote to overturn the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion. “It is possible that they would and that’s it,” Grassley said, “but there’s no way members of congress can control what people do once they get on the bench.”

Grassley led the Senate Judiciary Committee as it refused to consider President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court and then confirmed two of President Trump’s nominees. “You don’t aim for any outcome in choosing anybody to be on the Supreme Court,” Grassley said this morning. “I look for strict constructionists. People who are going to interpret law, not make law.” Last night, Politico published the leaked draft of an opinion indicating five justices had voted to overturn Roe v Wade. “The leak was surely a monumental breach of trust within our judicial system and hasn’t happened within my years in the Senate,” Grassley said.

Grassley would not “speculate” on what abortion-related restrictions Republican-led congress might pass if the leaked document matches up with the opinion the court releases. Grassley drew cheers a month ago in a speech to the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition when he discussed his influence in shaping the Supreme Court. “You know we might have an opportunity here before the end of June for the Supreme Court either by a 6-3 vote or a 5-4 vote to overturn Roe v Wade,” Grassley said April 9. “You probably my remember my role in not moving ahead with the Garland nomination, not holding a hearing on it because we were hoping we’d get a Republican president and we did get a Republican president…and overturning Roe v Wade is a real possibility now.”

Two of the Democrats who hope to run against Grassley in the General Election say the future of women’s rights is at stake. Mike Franken said the “pending” decision is not a “partial rollback,” but “one of the most disastrous decisions the court has ever made.” Abby Finkenauer said like “millions of women across the country,” the news Roe is likely to be overturned “makes me scared and sick” and “ready to defend reproductive rights.”

(Radio Iowa) – A doctoral student at Iowa State University is gathering signatures to challenge budget cuts that would cause the history department to end its graduate program. Michael Belding says the program has a unique focus on rural history as well as agriculture, technology and the environment. Belding says ending it would mean lost expertise on topics that are central to Iowa’s culture and economy. Belding says, “Based on the facts and based on the facts at other institutions, we know that ISU’s department becomes a lot more generic, a lot less focused on stuff that Iowans need.”

Kevin Mason, an I-S-U history alum and a professor at Waldorf University in Forest City, is one of more than 60 alumni who have signed the petition. Mason says cutting the program would be shortsighted because Iowa State is one of the top universities training experts in rural and agricultural history. “And a lot of that work has to do with being at one of the premier agricultural universities in the world,” Mason says, “and I think that’s an important piece of it that’s different than anywhere else.”

Iowa State is looking to make up for lower enrollment and increased costs by cutting 15-million dollars overall from the budget of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences by 2026. The cuts range from around 70-thousand dollars in computer science to nearly one-million in history.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, passed an ARPA Daycare Funding Resolution, using a portion of the more than $1.2-million the County received from the Federal Government, for COVID Relief. Board Chair Steve Baier read from the Resolution which listed daycare’s in the County and how much each would receive.

Funding for the Anita Daycare Center and a request for playground equipment funding, was tabled until the Board receives additional, necessary information. The Supervisors then discussed possibly providing funding for the Head Start school north of Atlantic, for hard surfacing so the children have space to ride bicycles and develop motor skills.

The Supervisors also signed a letter of support (with no financial commitment required), for the Land Committee, which is a subdivision of the City of Atlantic’s Housing Committee. Committee representative Christina Bateman the City has agreed to exercise its option to purchase land from Jim Comes family off of Olive and 22nd Street. The agreement will close on or before Oct. 3rd.

The letter of support she requested is so that it many be included with an application for a Destination Iowa Grant from IEDA for the Prairie Hill Development Project, which is estimated to cost over $2.8-million. That includes the cost of land acquisition ($830,000), infrastructure needs in the area ($1.8-million), and $200,000 for a trail. The application seeks to obtain up to 25% of the project cost from IEDA (The Iowa Economic Development Authority).

Bateman says they look to submit their grant application online, on May 9th. The Board also heard from Cass County Veteran’s Affairs Coordinator Mitch Holmes, with regard to funds flowing into the County from the Veterans Administration to assist local Veterans.

Holmes said also, there are other benefits, such as Veteran’s burial, that are one-time pay outs.