(Radio Iowa) – Four police officers are being cleared of any wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of a central Iowa teenager the day after Christmas. Des Moines police were called to a southside apartment early on December 26th where a man said his stepson had pulled a gun on him. The 16-year-old, identified only as T-J, refused to comply with officers’ orders to lower the weapon. After five minutes of negotiation, the boy raised the gun at the four officers. He was shot 14 times.

Following a review of all statements and bodycam video, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office says the shooting was justified and no charges will be filed. The report says the officers were forced to act to protect themselves and others.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Senator Joni Ernst says now is not the time to cut the Pentagon’s budget. “We know that there are areas in our national defense where we are lagging behind,” Ernst says. “If you take a look at what we call our nuclear triad, we know that we need to modernize. We are very, very far behind in some of those efforts and areas.”

House Republicans say they will insist on cuts in federal spending in any deal to raise the government’s ability to borrow more money to pay its bills. Ernst says cuts to military spending would not be helpful. “To scale back tremendously on national defense, I think it’s the wrong thing to do when we live in an ever increasingly dangerous, dangerous world,” Ernst says.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says every single level of government should be looking at ways to spend less money. He says in an 800 BILLION dollar defense budget, there are areas that can be cut, like the money the Air Force is spending to research the use of biofuels in jets.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports the driver of an SUV escaped injury, Wednesday evening, after her vehicle went off of a snow covered road and into a ditch before crashing through a barber wire fence and coming to rest in a pasture. The accident happened at around 6:04-p.m, on southbound Highway 169. Officials say 49-year-old Shari Sue Farrell, of Chariton, was driving too fast for the snowy conditions. No citations were issued. The 2019 Jeep Compass Farrell was driving sustained $2,500 damage during the incident.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston say a woman was arrested Wednesday on Theft & drug charges. 47-year-old Misty Marie Matera, of Creston, was taken into custody a little before 12-p.m. at the Wal-Mart in Creston, for Theft in the 5th Degree, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She posted bond, and was released from the Union County Jail.

(Radio Iowa) – Veterans groups are urging lawmakers to find more money for a state fund that helps low income veterans cover unexpected expenses. Iowa Commission on Veterans Affairs chair Elizabeth Ledvina spoke at Wednesday’s Iowa Veterans Day ceremony at the Capitol. “Update the Veterans Trust Fund…to meet needs in the 2023 economy,” she said. Veterans with an annual income below 41-thousand dollars may apply for grants from the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund for things like medical equipment, counseling and emergency repairs to a home or vehicle.

The fund awarded half a million dollars worth of grants last fall and is out of money until the next state budgeting year starts July 1st. Senator Bill Dotzler of Waterloo served in the Army Security Agency in Germany during the Vietnam era. He’s proposing a half a million dollar emergency allotment for the next five months.

“And hopefully we can continue on to double the amount of money in that fund,” Dotzler said. That would ensure the fund has a million dollars every year. Other lawmakers are proposing a slightly lower 800-thousand dollar annual amount.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds’ new plan to let the parents of private school students apply for state funds to cover tuition and other expenses is speeding thru the legislature. It cleared Republican-led committees in the House AND Senate Wednesday and a bill is eligible for debate in the House as early as Monday. Republican Representative John Wills of Spirit Lake says the concept has been adequately discussed.

“It’s not quickly at all,” Wills says. “…For two solid year’s we’ve been talking about it.” During that time, the governor’s less expansive plans to give state money to low income parents who want to send their kids to private school never came up for a vote in the House. House Speaker Pat Grassley has used his power to change committee rules, so the bill may be debated on the House floor soon.

Grassley says while the plan is projected to spend over 900 million dollars on the education of private school students over the next four years, the state is likely to send over 15 BILLION dollars to public K-through-12 schools during that time period. “This is the most in-depth walk through of any major piece of policy I’ve been a part of during my time in the legislature, when it gets into the weeds,” Grassley said.

House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst says those numbers come from the governor’s staff and lawmakers should at least wait for a nonpartisan agency to review the plan and come up with a cost estimate. “There are 39 new members in the Iowa House of Representatives, so any argument that we’ve been talking about this for years is moot,” Konfrst says. Konfrst says debating the bill in the third week of the legislative session is irresponsible.

“I think we’re rushing this process for no good reason,” Konfrst says. Senate President Amy Sinclair of Allerton rejects the idea things are being rushed, since Republicans in the Senate have already voted for the governor’s previous plans. “I would suggest that maybe it’s long overdue,” Sinclair said.

The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to review the governor’s new plan at 10 a.m. today (Thursday) — and the bill would be eligible for debate in the Senate next week as well.