(Radio Iowa) – Republicans in the Iowa House are proposing a change in a state law passed just two weeks ago. Under that new law, private school students whose parents get state-funded savings accounts are required to take all required state and federal tests. The bill would keep the requirement for the annual Iowa Statewide Assessment of Students Progress, but it would be up to a private school parent to decide if their child takes other tests to track their literacy skills. Eric Goranson, a lobbyist for the Iowa Association of Christian Schools, says the proposed change in the new law is a pleasant surprise.

“Many parents come to our schools because they like the way we assess,” Goranson says, “because they like the way we instruct.” Opponents of the proposal say the literacy tests gauge a student’s progress in reading and comprehension and will give policymakers a chance to compare how public and private school students getting state support are progressing. Representative Molly Buck, a Democrat from Ankeny, says the testing is about making sure schools are being good stewards of taxpayer dollars.

“I think that this accountability measure that’s in the original bill is a way for us to make sure that the money that we are giving is doing what it’s intended to do,” Buck says, “and that kids are keeping up with the standards that we’ve set.” Republican Representative Taylor Collins of Mediapolis voted for the change as it was considered in a House subcommittee.

“I’ve said once and I’ll say it again — accountability is best left to parents,” Collins said. House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfst says the testing requirements led some reluctant Republicans to vote for the new law. “We’re also going to say: ‘I told you so…that private schools were not going to be held accountable,” Konfrst says.

Later today (Friday), Governor Reynolds is scheduled to be at the American Enterprise Institution in Washington, D.C. to discuss her “Students First” program. When fully implemented, it will let any family apply for state funds to cover private school expenses.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has joined a lawsuit that challenges a Biden Administration rule requiring registration of gun accessories known as pistol braces. Pistol braces were first marketed in 2012 as a way to help people with a disability stabilize a pistol by attaching it to their forearm, but people also use the device to brace a gun against their shoulder.

The Biden Administration has classified that configuration as a short-barreled rifle. It means pistol brace owners have to register the device and pay a 200 dollar registration fee. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird says since pistol braces have been legal for a decade, millions of Americans who bought one legally will become a felon if they don’t know about the new rule and fail to register the device by May 31st.

Iowa is joining two dozen other Republican-led states and the National Rifle Association in suing to try to block the Biden Administration policy on pistol braces. The rule is part of executive actions President Biden announced in early 2021 in response to mass shootings. The gunman who killed 10 people in a Colorado grocery store in 2019 used a pistol brace. The device was also used by a man who killed nine and wounded 17 others at a bar in Ohio in 2019.

The Council Bluffs Police Department and the family of a missing man are requesting your help in locating 33-year-old Nicholas James Erisman, of Council Bluffs. Erisman was last seen around noon on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023. He was wearing a red, white and black ice fishing jacket. Nicholas was also wearing a red and white helmet, brown overalls and boots.

Nicholas left his residence riding his red ATV. He was believed to be heading to the area of Lake Manawa.

Nicholas Erisman

Anyone who may have seen Nicholas Erisman after Noon on Thursday, or who may know his where, should call the Council Bluffs Police Department at 712-328-4761 or Pottawattamie County Disptach at 712-328-5737.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – The U-S Attorney’s Office reports 46-year-old Cindy Anne Ortiz, of Omaha, was sentenced in Council Bluffs U-S District Court on February 1, 2023, to serve 156 months (13-years) in prison. In September 2022, a jury rendered a guilty verdict convicting Ortiz of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Upon her release from prison, Ortiz was ordered to serve five years of supervised release.

On November 21, 2021, law enforcement officers were called to the Ameristar Casino Hotel in Council Bluffs regarding an unresponsive male in one of the hotel rooms. Ortiz rented the hotel room and reported the unresponsive male (an acquaintance) in her room to the front desk. The male was pronounced dead. Law enforcement searched the hotel room and bags Ortiz was seen carrying into the room on surveillance footage. Ortiz’s bag contained 643 grams of methamphetamine, empty baggies, a scale, and other paraphernalia.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Council Bluffs Police Department and Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force investigated the case.

(Radio Iowa) – Teenagers would be allowed to work longer hours and in a wider array of jobs under a bill that’s cleared an Iowa Senate subcommittee. Brad Epperly, a lobbyist for the Iowa Grocer Industry Association, said key parts of the bill would let 14 and 15 year olds with a driver’s permit drive to and from a job and all kids of high school age could work later at night. “Everybody has a worker need right now,” Epperly said during a senate subcommittee hearing today. “I think the latest statistics are young people from 16-24, the job participation rate is like 56%. It’s awful low.”

Seventeen year olds, with some exceptions, could work at any time if the bill becomes law. The work hour limitations for other teens would be adjusted, too. Jessica Dunker is president and CEO of the Iowa Restaurant Association and the Iowa Hotel and Lodging Association. She told lawmakers current law discriminates against kids who want to drive themselves to work.

“Privileged children who can afford to be in show choir and can be on the football team and can go to the prom and can go to the games they get to drive there as long as they’re on a path directly to and from the school and yet kids who want to work at Culver’s or anywhere else are not afforded the same privilege,” Dunker said. “And that is an equity issue that I hope, no matter what, you will take care of.”

Expanding work hours for teenagers is also a priority for the hospitality industry. Dunker said South Dakota, Nebraska and Minnesota have already extended the hours students can work. “Nine o’clock for a 15 year old sophomore in high school, you know, I’m sure they’re doing something already and probably it’s a school opportunity,” she siad, “but if it isn’t, having kids get the opportunity to work is important.”

Connie Ryan, executive director of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, said children shouldn’t be asked to solve the state’s workforce shortage. “Do you remember the images of children in manufacturing and other dangerous work situations from the early 1900s?” Ryan asked lawmakers. “There is a reason our society said that it is not appropriate for children to work in those conditions.”

The bill would let teenagers do light assembly work in manufacturing plants and give state officials authority to issue waivers so teens could work in other industries. Ryan suggested it will be children from minority and immigrant households who wind up getting hurt. “It will impact the ability of children to do well in school by the impact of longer days and nights outside of school,” Ryan said.

Senator Bill Dotzler, a Democrat from Waterloo, said kids should not work in manufacturing. “Iowa’s law for children at work exists for a reason,” Dotzler said. “I’m OK with updating parts of the law so its fits with today’s world, but we’ve got to be careful about what we’re doing for children.”

Senator Adrian Dickey, a Republican from Packwood, said some restrictions on teen workers do not make sense. “As an employer, I can tell you for many, many years how many times I’ve had youth coming in and wanting to apply for jobs and some of the restrictions and tne hours makes it very difficult,” Dickey said.

Dickey and another Republican senator have forwarded the bill to the Senate Workforce Committee for consideration.