(Radio Iowa) – Lawmakers’ decisions on the state budget and other high profile issues are apparently on hold. Governor Kim Reynolds continues to lobby for state-funded scholarships for 10-thousand kids to enroll in private schools.   “That’s where I’m focusing all of my energy right now,” Reynolds says.

The Republican-led senate has passed the governor’s plan, but Reynolds does not yet have 51 Republican “yes” votes lined up in the Iowa House. The governor told reporters she’s fighting for every vote and isn’t interested in negotiating with legislators on other issues, like the bottle bill.

“I wish they’d focus on the kids. That’s what I’d wish they’d focus on. If I want to be honest, that’s what I’m talking to legislators about. It’s not the bottle bill,” Reynolds said. “I’m talking to legislators about the students and what I’m hearing from parents and what these kids are being subjected to. Let’s get back to the basics. Let’s teach math and reading and science.”

Reynolds says the National Assessment of Educational Progress shows public school students in Iowa are falling behind their peers in other states. Sixty-eight percent of fourth graders are reading at that grade level, which Reynolds says is unacceptable. “We need to do something different and, you know, this is a pilot program to see if it works and if it doesn’t, then we need to readjust, but we should not be afraid of trying something different,” Reynolds says. “It is not about the system. It’s about the kids!”

Members of the Iowa House and Senate get a daily allowance to cover expenses during the first 100 days of the legislative session. Those payments end next Tuesday. That yearly cut-off often triggers decision-making that leads to the conclusion of the legislature. Reynolds says state-funded scholarships for private school expenses will be at the top of her 2023 legislative agenda if they aren’t approved this year.  “I’m never going to give up on that,” Reynolds says.

Republicans who are reluctant to support the governor’s private school initiative say small public schools in rural Iowa have tight budgets now and could see another drop in state funding with a shift to more state support of private schools.

(Radio Iowa) – 2020 could wind up being the last time Iowa Democrats host the first event in their party’s presidential nominating process. The Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee has voted to have state parties apply to be among the first five contests in the 2024 presidential election. Applications for “early state” status are due June 3rd and Iowa Democratic Party chairman Ross Wilburn says Iowa Democrats look forward to enthusiastically making the case Iowa should host an early voting contest.

National party leaders have been encouraging states to hold primaries rather than caucuses. Having a set of early primaries in states that will be battleground or toss-up states in the General Election is a priority for key Democratic Party leaders, who say the diversity of a state’s population should also be a factor.

The Iowa Democratic Party’s chairman says there will be discussions about making the Iowa Caucuses more accessible and straightforward. A party panel assembled in 2016 to explore changes in how Iowa Democrats caucus ultimately kept the complicated system of calculating a winner in place.

Iowa Republicans essentially hold a Straw Poll on Caucus Night and Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann says Republican leaders at the national level are poised to affirm the Iowa Republican Party’s Caucuses as first-in-the-nation in 2024.

[Updated] (Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic School District Superintendent Steve Barber reported to the School Board during their meeting Wednesday evening, that throughout the school year, they lost a few days of instructional time, due to inclement weather, and the State Wrestling Tournament. Given all the instructional time lost, Mr. Barber said the District will still meet the required 1,080 hours.

To finish the year, he said they would make up the student day on May 26, 2022, which is one of the two days lost to weather. There would be an early dismissal time on that day. Staff, he said, will be required to make up two additional days on Friday, May 27, 2022 and Tuesday, May 31, 2022. Hopefully, he says, some of  that time can be used by Middle School Teachers to pack-up materials that will be transferred by the the Middle School.

Steve Barber said also, a former AHS graduate is donating 81, three-year old, high-quality work stations that his company, Integrated DNA Technologies, Inc., no longer has a need for.

Some of the tables will be used to replace older tables and other places, where collaboration is required. He mentioned also, that with the Federal Government ceasing to provide free breakfast and lunches to all school age students to reduce the financial burden on families over the past 18 months, the policy will go away beginning with the 2022-23 school year.

Mr. Barber said this will be a change for all of our families, and with everyone receiving free breakfast and lunches over time, some families have not taken the time to fill out the free and reduced application. Over the next few months, Barber said the District will continue to inform everyone of the changes that are coming, and the importance of filling out the paperwork, to see if you qualify to free or reduced lunches.

In other school board news…Following a public hearing, they Board approved a tax levy of $13.25 per one thousand dollars of valuation. The board agreed to lower the tax levy rate from $13.95 to $13.25 to offset the financial impact on property taxpayers due to the 7.09 percent increase in property valuations. The School Board also approved a $935,000.00 debt service payment, saving taxpayers money in interest payments.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Supreme Court justices are being asked to resolve a question that has sparked a legal challenge and has the potential to boot Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer from the June Primary ballot. “Does a signature on a nominating petition missing a date get to be counted?” Attorney Sam Langholz told the justices the list of disqualifying errors in one section of Iowa law does not mention the date on a petition’s signature line.

Langholz represents the State Objection Panel, which allowed three nominating signatures for Finkenauer that had a zip code instead of a date, had the wrong date and had no date listed at all. Alan Ostergren is the attorney representing two Republicans who challenged those three signatures, arguing there’s another section of state law which says a date is required on the signature line.

“Ordinarily these cases don’t reach this court because ordinarily candidates file more signatures than they need to and that’s why we’re here. You don’t come in right at the line,” Ostergren says. “Inevitably some signatures are not going to county.” During an hour-long hearing this (Wednesday) afternoon, Iowa Supreme Court justices quizzed the attorneys representing both sides in the dispute.

Gary Dickey, an attorney for Finkenauer’s campaign, was asked by a justice if the two Republicans who filed the challenge had legal standing to do so. “Before the district court, they didn’t allege any injury…They didn’t claim they’d register as a Democrat,” Dickey says. “What is their personal interest in the judicial review?” The court has not indicated when it might rule on the case.

State election officials say the printing deadline for the Primary ballot is Monday at 5 p.m., so absentee ballots can be mailed by April 23rd to overseas voters. If the Supreme Court’s decision doesn’t come before then, the district court ruling that knocked Finkenauer off the ballot will be in force.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department Director Bryant Rasmussen said Wednesday, the Parks Depart, in an effort to find and retain lifeguards for the Sunnyside Pool this season, the wage for those persons qualified to serve as a lifeguard, has increased to $11-per hour.

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CRESTON, Iowa – April 13, 2022 – A bridge deck overlay project on east- and westbound Interstate 80 between Iowa 173 (exit 54) three miles east of Marne, and Cass County Road N-16 (exit 57) five miles west of Brayton, will require reducing traffic to one lane in each direction controlled with temporary barrier rail beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday, April 20, until Aug. 6, weather permitting, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Creston construction office.

Work on this project will be completed in stages with the left lane closed first and then the right lane closed after work is completed in the left lane. A 13-foot-8-inch lane width limit will be in effect during this project.

The Iowa DOT reminds motorists to drive with caution, obey the posted speed limit and other signs in the work area, and be aware that traffic fines for moving violations are at least double in work zones. As in all work zones, drivers should stay alert, allow ample space between vehicles, and wear seat belts.

Algona, Iowa – Authorities in Iowa say an investigation into an April 9th shooting incident in Algona has resulted in the arrest of a man from Missouri. At around 10:25-a.m., Saturday (4/9/22), the Algona Police Department received a report of shots fired and a vehicle leaving the area of North Park Drive in Algona, at a high rate of speed.  Officers responded and located a male victim who had been shot at, but not hit, and identified other witnesses to the altercation.  Officers determined that the two men involved in the altercation knew each other.

An attempt to locate was broadcasted to area law enforcement agencies and the suspect vehicle was stopped by the Iowa State Patrol and Iowa Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Enforcement on Interstate 35 near Williams, Iowa.

Officers identified 20-year-old Michael Street, of Fredericktown, MO, as the subject who allegedly fired shots.  Street was arrested, charged with Attempted Murder, and is currently in custody at the Kossuth County jail.

The Algona Police Department was assisted by the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa State Patrol, the Iowa DOT Motor Vehicle Enforcement, the Clear Lake Police Department, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.