(Radio Iowa) – To avoid further litigation, the Marshalltown school district is agreeing to pay 25-thousand dollars the to family of a student who was allegedly injured by a school bus aide. Sandra Lurvey was fired from her position as a school bus aide for the district after an investigation was conducted into the incident. She faces a criminal trial, although an exact trial date involving the case has not yet been set. Lurvey faces charges of child endangerment – bodily injury, a class D felony; and assault causing bodily injury or mental illness; which is an aggravated misdemeanor. The case stems from an incident that occurred on January 30th, 2020 when a student on a special needs bus felt overly warm and took her coat off while aboard the bus.

According to records, at that point Lurvey allegedly became involved in a physical confrontation with the student in an effort to convince her to put the coat back on due to the cold temperatures. The student suffered undisclosed injuries during the incident, according to a police incident report. Marshalltown school superintendent Theron Schutte said the situation was unfortunate, but further added that offering a monetary settlement made the most sense from the district’s perspective.

(Radio Iowa) – Major party candidates for state and federal office have until 5 p.m. today (Friday) to deliver their nominating petitions to the Secretary of State’s office in Des Moines. In order to run in November’s General Election, Republicans and Democrats either have to win their party’s primary election in June or be nominated at party conventions in the following weeks. Most candidates haven’t procrastinated and have already dropped off binders full of petition sheets signed by eligible Iowa voters. The number of petition signatures varies based on the office a candidate seeks. Candidates for governor and the U.S. Senate have to submit at least 35-hundred petition signatures and have to show they’ve collected at least 100 signatures from 19 counties.

Under new rules, candidates from other political parties have to submit petition signatures by today’s deadline to qualify for the November ballot. By the close of business Thursday, the Libertarian Party has candidates running for governor and lieutenant governor and four legislative seats. Four other candidates who intend to run for state offices in November are listed as “no party” or independent candidates. Candidates for COUNTY offices have until NEXT Friday, March 25th, to deliver their nominating petitions to the auditor’s office in their county.

(Radio Iowa) – A project by the Bur Oak Land Trust to bring Pawpaws back in Iowa is entering its second year. Executive Director Jason Taylor says they planted seedlings in the first year and had people foster them. “They took care of them generally between April and October — then they would return them to us. So we were able to receive about 800 saplings that were grown over the summer,” Taylor says. Pawpaw trees were once common in Iowa as bison and giant sloths that would eat the fruit and disperse the seeds. Taylor says the Iowa City-based organization is hoping to expand on the number of trees they grow.

“This year we were actually able to get about four-thousand seeds…but we really just don’t have the capability to pot four-thousand seeds, it’s too big,” according to Taylor. “And so we are actually starting to sell seeds to the community for those who are interested in putting them in their own yards.
And then we also are potting around 600 this year so we will have another group of fosters working with us to grow them over the summer.” He says the Pawpaw trees like shady areas with wet soil.

“And so they are often found naturally growing near streams. But they definitely do work well in an urban environment. There are a number of locations in Iowa City where people have planted them in their yards. And sometimes when they are getting started you need to give them a little more water than you normally would,” Taylor says. Taylor says you need to have a least two trees to pollinate and create the fruit.

“It’s a very interesting fruit. Most people do like it. It’s about the size of a russet potato — they can be fairly large. It’s the largest native fruit to North America — so it’s a little bit unique there. It’s kind of a yellowish-green color, and then when it’s ripe, they will fall off the tree.” He says the Pawpaw tastes like a custard that is a mango-banana mix. Taylor says the Pawpaws can be planted in a patch. “They like to grow close together, and so you can actually grow a little colony of these if you have a ten-foot patch of land in your yard. You can grow five or six of these trees together and that allows the beetles that pollinate them a better chance of finding another tree,” Taylor says.

Taylor says you can go to their website at buroaklandtrust.org and buy Pawpaw seeds, or you can volunteer to help foster the seeds into saplings. He says the Pawpaw will grow well in all but the northern counties of Iowa where it would be too cold for them to properly grow.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston report the arrest at around 9:20-p.m. Wednesday, of 39-year-old Mathew Louis Scherer, from Creston. He was arrested at a residence in the 300 block of N. Pine Street, and charged with two-counts Domestic Abuse Assault, along with Criminal Mischief in the 4th Degree. Scherer was brought to the Union County Jail, and was later released on bond.

Authorities said also, 38-year-old Curtis Lee Lamasters, of Creston, was arrested for OWI/1st offense, Interference with Official Acts, Driving on a Revoked License, and Assault (without injury) on a person in a certain occupation. His bond was set at $3,300.

(Red Oak, Iowa) — Police in Red Oak report a man was arrested on a valid Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office warrant, Thursday evening. Authorities say 24-year-old Christopher Floyd Birdtail, of Red Oak, was taken into custody a little before 6:30 p.m., in the 2400 Block of North 8th Street. Birdtail was arrested on the warrant for Failure to Appear, on the original charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance/1st Offense.

He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 cash bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans on an Iowa Senate committee have approved making changes in Iowa’s Bottle Bill — tripling the amount of deposit fees that go to redemption centers that accept empties and pay back the nickel deposits on cans and bottles. Democrats say the entire package of changes will crush the Bottle Bill. Republican Senator Jason Schultz of Schleswig says it’s time to stop waiting for grocers and beverage distributors to come up with a compromise.

“Iowans, I think, are increasingly and justifiably enraged that we’ve let this go this far,” Schultz says. If the bill becomes law, beverage distributors would maintain mobile trailers that accept empties AND the state’s beer excise tax would be reduced next year. The bill also says grocery stores could quit taking back cans and bottles in 2023.

“This is a very real move to reinvigorate and modernize Iowa’s decades old Bottle Bill,” Schultz says. “Every poll shows, every forum that I go to shows…and my own family shows that they want to have it. Iowans love the Bottle Bill.” A survey conducted last month found the Bottle Bill remains popular with 84 percent of eligible Iowa voters. Senator Bill Dotzler, a Democrat from Waterloo, says it’s been one of the most popular laws on the books for years.

“This bill, the way it is written, is the de facto end of the Bottle Bill,” Dotzler says. “…You’re not going to be able to find a place to get rid of your bottles and cans.” Senator Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, says that’s already happened — with no consequences to retailers. “The Bottle Bill’s on life support and it’s on life support because HyVee and Fareway and convenience store chains have quit taking the containers that consumers buy,” Bolkcom says. Schultz says while there could be some tweaks, his overall reform plan is the only viable option that could pass the Senate and the House.

“This is the opportunity to make the Bottle Bill live for another 10 years,” Schultz says. “It’s the only way to look at it. It’s hard to imagine any other way you could look at this situation.” The bill passed the Senate Ways and Means Committee Thursday and is now eligible for debate in the full Senate.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Auditor’s Office reports Republican incumbent Cass County Treasurer Tracey J. Marshall, Thursday, filed her nomination papers for re-election, in advance of the March 25th deadline for the June 7th Primary Election.

Marshall is currently finishing her fifth term as County Treasurer.

(Radio Iowa) – Proposals Governor Kim Reynolds unveiled earlier this year have stalled in the legislature, including her call to reduce the number of weeks Iowans may receive unemployment benefits. Reynolds told reporters she’s working with lawmakers to come up with a compromise to get that “across the finish line.”

“Right now, people that qualify for unemployment benefits, they qualify for those for over six months and that is just too long,” Reynolds said during a news conference Wednesday. “And so the bill that we’ve proposed, it moves that down to four months which is still responsible, reasonable.”

A controversial part of her plan delayed payment of the first week of jobless benefits, but Reynolds said she’s willing to make accommodations for seasonal workers, especially in construction, who rely on unemployment benefits when the Iowa weather makes it impossible to work.

Her original workforce bill also included new liability protections for the trucking industry. The bill that dramatically stalled in the House Wednesday night when Republicans couldn’t muster 51 votes to start debate included those provisions. While Republican House Speaker Pat Grassley said he was surprised by some of that opposition, there’s still time to come up with a compromise.

“We want to continue to try and make progress and so I don’t think you’re going to see it all of a sudden just disappear from the conversation,” Grassley said, “whether it’s the rest of this session or moving forward into next.”

Democratic leaders say the proposed cut in unemployment benefits for laid off workers has stalled because a recent Des Moines Register Iowa Poll found 53% of likely voters oppose the idea.