(Radio Iowa) – The search committee for the next University of Iowa president met in a closed session, Wednesday, to discuss the four finalists. U-I Graduate College Dean, John Keller, is co-chairing the search committee and talked to members after they ended the closed session. “All of you have just been incredibly dedicated and devoted to this process….every day we have had there’s been 100 percent attendance. Everyone has been communicative, sharing their thoughts, their interactions with the candidates throughout the entire process,” Keller says.

He says they are scheduled to meet in another closed session today (Thursday) with the Board of Regents.”We’ll be sharing our thoughts, our committee’s comments that we heard today. Sandi and I will be sharing those. We’ll also be sharing the public feedback,” according to Keller.

The Board of Regents is scheduled to meet again on Friday to make a final selection from the four candidates. The finalists are Hari Osofsky, the Dean of the Penn State School of International Affairs; Barbara Wilson, an executive vice president at the University of Illinois, Wendy Hensel, senior vice president of academic affairs at Georgia State University, and Daniel Clay, dean of the University of Iowa College of Education. The new president will replace Bruce Harreld, who is retiring on May 16th.

(Radio Iowa) – A bipartisan coalition in the Iowa House has voted to ban any Iowa government, private business or venue open to the public from denying entry to people who have not had Covid shots. The debate, however, centered on an exemption in the bill for health care facilities, including hospitals. Representative Jeff Shipley, a Republican from Fairfield, objects to the idea of letting hospitals ask whether patients, staff or visitors have had the Covid vaccine.

“It’s incredibly clear this is meant to be coercive,” Shipley says. “This is meant to create a dragnet, to get more people vaccinated, to force it on people.” Shipley was among five Republicans who voted against the bill. Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison, says the health of frail Iowans could be jeopardized if facilities like nursing homes aren’t able to find out if visitors have had a Covid shot.

“I have done my best to listen to those who fear for their freedom legitimately and those in health care facilities who are just doing their damndest to figure this out, to navigate it, to take care of the people they are sworn to take care of,” Holt said.

A half dozen Democrats joined 52 Republicans to pass the bill to the Senate. The bill would forbid any Iowa government from issuing an I-D card with a person’s vaccination history. Governor Reynolds said earlier this month she wanted the legislature to pass a bill banning “vaccine passports.”

Members of the Atlantic School District’s Board of Education held a brief Special Session at 6-p.m. Wednesday. During their session, the Board received a Special Presentation on the Home School Assistance Program from Home School Coordinators Tina Olson and Linda Nichols.

Afterward, the Board approved five resignations. Among them was Rachel Larsen, Kindergarten Teacher. Superintendent Steve Barber said that since is under contract for next year, the District Policy is that the Board may accept her resignation contingent up the hiring of a suitable replacement. The Board did approve her resignation as stipulated, along with those of: Denise Sharp, Paraeducator; Shannon Hayden and Wynter Waltz, both with Food Service.

The also approved Contract Recommendations for: Michelle Fritz, MS Spec. Ed. Teacher; Cheryl Andersen, ESL Teacher/Coordinator; Terry Hinzmann, Summer School Supervisor, and Bob Gross, Volunteer Softball Coach.

And, the Atlantic School Board approved proposals to: accept a credit for NOT having Central Iowa Dirt replace the entire high school fence they took out as part of the project, and they approved lettering on the backstop pads for the baseball and softball fields. Those will have the Trojan Head symbol in the center and the words  “Atlantic Baseball” and “Atlantic Softball.”

After the Board adjourned their regular session, they entered a closed session for the Superintendent’s Annual Evaluation.

One person died during a single vehicle rollover accident today (Wednesday), in Fremont County. According to the Iowa State Patrol, 53-year-old Joseph McMullen, of Gravity, died when the 2017 Volvo truck he was driving drove off 310th Street just west of 265th Avenue at around 8:17-a.m., and entered a ditch. Authorities say McMullen was wearing a seat belt.

The vehicle rolled over and came to rest on its top, in water. The accident remains under investigation. The truck McMullen was driving is registered to DLA Farms, out of Shenandoah. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and Iowa Commercial Vehicle Enforcement personnel assisted at the scene.

(Radio Iowa) – Cancer patients and cancer survivors in Iowa are being asked to take a survey about their experiences in hopes of improving the difficult process for everyone. Jackie Cale, the Iowa grassroots manager of the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network, says the “Survivor Views” survey should only take ten minutes to fill out online and it can be a tremendous outlet.

“Some of the questions vary, like have they had access to clinical trials? Have they ever felt that there was a barrier to their cancer care?” Cale says. “We go into some of the demographics, where do they live, race, ethnicity. We’re just trying to get an overall view.” An estimated 20-thousand Iowans will be diagnosed with cancer this year. To take part in the survey, organizers are looking for Iowa survivors who have been diagnosed or received treatment for their cancer within the last seven years.

Information taken from the confidential surveys will be used in meetings with Iowa legislators and other policymakers. “This round of survey is very focused on health equity, what that looks like in your community,” Cale says. “We really want to focus on the fact that where you live and your race and ethnicity, those really shouldn’t play a factor in your cancer care.”

The survey project was launched in 2019 and Cale says it’s provided invaluable insight on issues including the cost of prescription drugs, access to health coverage, surprise medical bills and the effect of the pandemic on access to cancer care. To take part, go to: www.fightcancer.org/SurvivorViews45

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has set a goal of getting 65 percent of Iowans vaccinated against Covid by the end of May and hitting the 75 percent mark in June. “Those are kind of some metrics, benchmarks that we’re putting in place,” Reynolds says, “and we’re going to continue to do everything we can to drive those numbers.” State officials are considering sending mobile vaccination clinics at baseball games, farmers markets and other events.

“My team actually reached out with the chambers and the businesses in some of the communities to offer incentives…The colleges have taken a look at different ways that they could incentivize the students to get the vaccine,” Reynolds says. “so we’ll always be looking at different ways that we can really tie in and encourage people to get that done.”

West Virginia’s governor plans to issue 100-dollar savings bonds to each West Virginia resident under the age of 36 who gets vaccinated. That’s NOT among the options Iowa’s governor is considering. Reynolds says mobile clinics that can go to where Iowans are gathering is at the top of her list.

“And they’ll be able to receive a vaccine, but it’s also an opportunity to be educated, get some information if they have any questions,” she says. “It’ll be an all-of-the-above resource.” Demand for the shots has dropped and the public health departments in 80 of Iowa’s 99 counties declined all or part of their weekly allotment.

About a million Iowans have had the single Johnson and Johnson vaccine or taken both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. The governor says about 56 percent of Iowa’s adult population has had at least one dose of Covid vaccine and all but eight percent of Iowans above the age of 65 have been vaccinated.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Public Safety has revealed it is using 400-thousand dollars from its current budget to install a security fence around the governor’s mansion in Des Moines. Last Friday, the agency cited
repeated and alarming threats to Iowa officials, including the governor, in announcing that a fence would be installed around the perimeter of the property by this summer. Governor Kim Reynolds says many states took that step two decades ago, after the September 11th attacks.

“I respect the Department of Public Safety and their really encouragement to get that done and I think it’s probably the right thing to do,” Reynolds says. Reynolds and her husband, Kevin, are the current occupants of the third floor apartment in Terrace Hill. The Victorian-era mansion was restored in the 1970s and became the official residence of Iowa governors.

Nothing will change. It’s still the people’s house and we’ll continue to do tours and it will continue to be open,” Reynolds says. “But, you know, I’m not going to second guess their recommendation to have it done and obviously every other state but one or two have made that same decision.”

Public Safety officials cite the recently foiled attempt to kidnap Michigan’s governor as one of the reasons to enhance security at the governor’s mansion in Des Moines. A spokesman for the agency says the fence will be made of wrought iron, to match the architecture of Terrace Hill and construction will begin late this spring or early summer.

Sheriff’s deputies in Page County, Wednesday (today), arrested a woman following a traffic stop about three-miles south of Clarinda. Authorities say 49-year-old Frances Ann Baughman, of Braddyville, was arrested for Driving while license revoked. Baughman was transported to the Page County Jail where she is being held on $1,000 bond, pending future court proceeding