(Radio Iowa) -House Republicans have unveiled a list of 13 priority bills, including one that forbids classroom instruction of sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through the third grade. Another would require schools to notify a parent if a student asks to be identified by a different gender when they’re at school.

House Speaker Pat Grassley says the bill specifies that school employees cannot facilitate, encourage or coerce students to withhold that kind of information from parents. “Those are the kind of conversations that need to be happening amongst students and parents,” Grassley said on . “The public school system is not the place for this to be happening. It needs to be about empowering the parents and that’s what we’re doing with a lot of these policies.”

House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst says these bills are “mean-spirited attacks” on LGBTQ teenagers and adults. “No matter who you are in this state, no matter you love or how you live, we love you,” Konfrst said. ” We see you and we believe in you.”

Another bill on the House GOP agenda would require schools to provide parents with details about coursework, including what books and other materials will be used. It’s similar to legislation the House passed in 2022. Thirty-one of the 64 House Republicans have also filed a bill that would require social studies classes in all of Iowa’s public and private schools to teach that communism conflicts with freedom and democracy.

(Radio Iowa) – One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions is to lose weight, and Iowans who are now looking into health club memberships are warned to read everything carefully before signing a contract. Consumer protection advocate Mike Domke says it’s essential to do your research on the gym before signing anything.

“Look at the fine print on what their agreements are, what that particular promotion is, understand the cancellation policy,” Domke says, “so if you get to June, you find out you’re not going, do you have an opportunity to cancel it.” It’s important to give a gym a trial run for a week or two before signing the contract, Domke says, and that’s something most reliable gyms will offer you.

“You don’t want to pay and end up at a gym where you do a few exercises or workouts and realize this isn’t for me,” he says. “So understanding what your goals are and then finding a facility that matches that.” If you’re not careful, Domke says, you could be on the hook for an expensive, lengthy contract, so know what questions to ask first.

“Is there an initial signup fee? What is the monthly fee? What is the cancellation? What is the term?” he says. “All of these are going to be really important in case you find out that something happens that you don’t want to go anymore.” A recent study found about 80% of resolutions fail by the second week in February, while different research shows that on average, it takes about 66 days for a new habit to become automatic.

(Radio Iowa) – Where would you rather spend the winter, Iowa or Hawaii? For most people, it’s an easy call, but not if you plan to do much driving.  A survey by the credit reporting website Wallethub, says Iowa is the best state in the nation for driving, while Hawaii came in last. The study is based on 31 different criteria, things like rush hour traffic, road conditions, safety records, and the cost to maintain a car, including gas prices.

Iowa ranked seventh for ownership costs and ninth for its infrastructure. Full car insurance coverage in Iowa averages 12-hundred-60 dollars a year, more than 400-dollars below the national average. Commute times for Iowans average about 19 minutes, one of the lowest in the country, while New York’s commute is longest at more than 33 minutes.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports three arrests from the past week. On Wednesday (Jan. 11, 2023), 44-year-old Michael Ross Waddingham, of Orient, was arrested on a Department of Corrections warrant for Violation of Parole. He remains held without bond in the Adair County Jail.

On Jan. 10th, 29-year-old Matthew Ray Garcia, of Macksburg, was arrested in Red Oak on an Adair County warrant for Violation of Probation. He was released the following day on bond. And, on January 8th, 31-year-old Jon Rubin Stewart, of Waterloo, was arrested in Stuart, on a warrant out of Bremer County. He was released to Bremer County Deputies the same day.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill introduced in the Iowa House would set up a state licensing process for “rural emergency hospitals.” Federal rules now let small rural hospitals discontinue in-patient care and just provide an emergency room and outpatient services. Representative Martin Graber of Fort Madison says this could be a financial lifeline for more than 30 small Iowa hospitals where very few patients are being admitted for an overnight stay. “This is the first step in the process,” Graber says. “We’ve got to get the state to say: ‘It’s o.k. to license one.'”

Keokuk’s hospital closed in October and Graber says a stand-alone E-R would be a viable alternative in the community. “Blessing Hospital has said they’d be interested in it,” Graber says, “and they’re the logical ones.” Blessing Health, based in Quincy, Illinois, closed its 49-bed Keokuk hospital September 30th due to operating losses and low demand for in-patient care. The Rural Emergency Hospital license Graber and others are working on would increase the government’s reimbursement rates for Medicare and Medicaid patients treated in an emergency room.  “To make sure we have a place so that if one my constituents down in Keokuk shows up and they’ve had a stroke or they’re having a heart attack or some major problem, we can get them treated,” Graber says.

Once a critical patient is stabilized in a Rural Emergency Hospital’s E-R, Graber says they’d be transferred to in-patient care elsewhere, while patients with less acute emergencies could be quickly treated and discharged.

(Durant, Iowa) – A car traveling in the wrong direction crashed head-on into a semi tractor trailer, Saturday morning, resulting in the death of the car’s driver. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2020 Honda driven by 46-year-old Rebecca McClaine, of Bettendorf, was traveling east in the westbound lanes of Interstate 80 north of Durant, in Cedar County, when her vehicle struck a 2014 Kenworth semi head-on near mile marker 277.  The accident happened at around 3:08-a.m., Saturday.

McClaine died at the scene. She was not wearing a seat belt.

The driver of the semi was not injured. He was identified as 65-year-old Stuart Anderson, of Northwood, Iowa. Following the collision, both vehicles came to rest in the median. The crash remains under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – The Chickasaw County Sheriff says a man is facing multiple charges for a fatal accident in September. Thirty-eight-year-old Curtis Williams was charged with vehicular homicide, eluding, operating while under the influence, driving with a revoked license, reckless driving, operating a non-registered vehicle, failure to maintain control and speeding. Authorities say Williams led authorities on a chase in the early morning hours of September 26th, lost control of his vehicle, the vehicle rolled and the impact killed an 18-year-old passenger.

Williams is being held on a 32-thousand dollars bond.