(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has voted to let dentists administer Covid vaccines AND give the shots their dental offices if they choose — but there is some push back from the medical community on that last part. Dennis Tibben, of the Iowa Medical Society, says the staff in dentists’ offices may not be properly trained to accurately and quickly record every shot that’s been given into the required database.

“We could set ourselves up for the potential here where we would have phantom doses that it shows on our federal reports, that we have more doses on the shelf than we actually do,” he says. “…That could impact the weekly supply of Covid-19 vaccines that we’re receiving from the federal government.” Dr. William McBride, a dentist from Dubuque, is chair of the state Dental Board. The board supports the entire bill — including the idea of letting dentists deliver Covid shots in their offices.

“I would note that this is voluntary. Certainly some dentists will opt not to participate, but I would also like to note that it could be an additional access point for patients, particularly in rural communities,” McBride says. “…The board believes that dentists are more than qualified to provide this service and that it would be good public health policy.” Sara Allen, a lobbyist for the Iowa Dental Association, which represents the state’s dentists, says with such a short supply of vaccine doses, now is not the time to distribute doses to dentist’s offices.

“Upsetting the apple cart right now is not really conducive to public health,” Allen says. “However I will say that we would love and would be great partners with the state if there were these vaccine clinics throughout the state where, you know, we could show up on a Saturday and help administer the vaccines.” Charlotte Eby, a lobbyist for the Association of Dental Support Organizations, says the group strongly supports giving dentists authority to give Covid shots in their offices if they wish.

“State officials are ramping up the effort to vaccinate as many Iowans as quickly and as safely as possible,” Eby says, “and as we deal with the challenges of the pandemic, Iowa dentists have a unique opportunity to lend their health care expertise and skills.” The bill passed the House last month on an 89-to-four vote. This week, the bill cleared a subcommittee in the SENATE, after one lawmaker described the disagreement among dentists as a “turf war.” At least 23 states have passed laws that give dentists authority to administer Covid vaccines and many also let dentists do so in their own offices.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has voted to ensure about 86-hundred police and firefighters who’re part of a statewide pension and disability system are covered for work-related injuries that developed over time. Representative Bobby Kaufmann, of Wilton, says the bill also requires coverage for mental disorders.

“This bill is about equity and fairness for our cops and firefighters,” Kaufmann says. Kaufmann says the Iowa Public Employee Retirement System has the same benefits in place for state workers, teachers and other public employees. About four-thousand full-time police officers and firefighters are covered by the so-called 4-1-1 system. Nearly 46-hundred others who’ve retired or are no longer working as a firefighter or police officer get 4-1-1 benefits.

Representative Dave Williams is from Waterloo, one of the 49 Iowa cities where public safety employees would be covered for physical and mental conditions that develop over time.  “So many times our public safety people go into these situations and then years later suffer the consequences,” Williams says. Representative Mary Mascher, of Iowa City, says the benefit changes for these employees were approved by the House a year ago, but the bill was tabled when the legislature went on hiatus due to the pandemic.

“Our firefighters and police officers have been front-line workers throughout this pandemic,” Mascher says, “and I think we owe them a debt of gratitude in terms of their willingness to put their own lives at risk to save the lives of others.” Just before the House voted on the bill, Representative Kaufmann acknowledged several firefighters and police officers covered by the 4-1-1 system who were in the House gallery, watching the debate. “Those are our police officers and our firefighters that not only during the pandemic but also during the duration of their career have had our backs and are going to continue to have our backs,” Kaufmann said, “and so this is our way of saying, ‘Thank you, we’ve got yours.'”

The bill passed the House unanimously. It now goes to the Senate for consideration. Here are the area/western Iowa cities which have police and firefighters covered by the 411 system: Camanche, Carroll (police only), Council Bluffs, Creston, LeMars (police only), Sioux City, Spencer, and Storm Lake.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa prosecutor is defending his unsuccessful pursuit of charges against a journalist who was arrested while covering a protest in a case that critics say amounted to an attack on the press. Polk County Attorney John Sarcone told The Associated Press on Thursday that the evidence against Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri was “more than sufficient” to take the case to trial and that dismissing it would have amounted to special treatment. A Des Moines police officer pepper-sprayed and arrested Sahouri last May while she was covering a Black Lives Matter protest. Sahouri was charged with disobeying police orders to disperse and interfering with the officer who arrested her. A jury acquitted her on Wednesday.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A judge gave a suspended sentence to an Iowa City man who used a recording device hidden in a pen to film an employee while she pumped breast milk. Robert Charles Carlson was sentenced Thursday after he pleaded guilty in November to nine counts of invasion of privacy. He was sentenced to six years in prison but the sentence was suspended. Prosecutors said he filmed Jessica Clark pumping breast milk at work in a conference room 22 times in 2018. Carlson was Clark’s boss at the architecture firm Carlson Design Team. He must serve two years of supervised release and register as a sex offender.

NEOLA, Iowa (AP) — Environmental officials are considering what actions to take against a southwestern Iowa feedlot after finding animal parts and the contents of slaughtered cattle stomachs strewn across two open fields. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says its staff discovered the gore Monday upon responding to several complaints against Feedlot Service Company, located about 3 miles southeast of Neola. DNR staff reported finding cattle hides, tails, hooves, bellies, hearts and other part spread on two fields totaling about 160 acres. Improper animal disposal can spread disease and endanger human and animal health.

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman has been charged after officials say she kept three children locked in a blacked-out room in filthy conditions. Court records show 31-year-old Brittany Roozeboom, of Johnston, was charged last week with three counts of child endangerment and one count of child endangerment resulting in bodily injury. Police say the children were kept for extended periods in a room with black-painted cardboard covering the windows that locked from the outside and had no internal door knob. Police say the children in the room so long that they sometimes soiled their clothes. Police say there also was trash strewn across the kitchen with bugs crawling on the floor. Roozeboom is being held in the Polk County Jail.

(Radio Iowa) – The top Republican in the Iowa House says the latest federal pandemic relief package may prevent Iowa and other states from cutting taxes this year. Speaker Pat Grassley of New Hartford says House Republicans are waiting on next week’s report on state tax revenue, too. “There’s a lot of unanswered questions that exist right now,” Grassley says. “I think first and foremost, we need to get an answer on whether what the feds passed…if you even have the ability to pass tax cuts.”

The State of Iowa will receive one-point-three BILLION dollars from the American Rescue Plan passed by congress to cover unexpected expenses during the pandemic. The bill prevents states from using that money as an off-set to cut taxes.  “I think we need to have some clarity on what that would look like first,” Grassley says. Grassley says the other consideration for House Republicans is current state tax revenue and whether there is room to speed up income tax cuts and eliminate the inheritance tax. Senate Republicans voted to do that yesterday (Wednesday).

“With the inheritance tax piece, I know we have interest in that within our caucus, but I think it comes with a $90-$100 million price tag,” Grassley says. Senate Republicans have also voted to implement previously-approved income tax cuts without confirmation that total state tax revenue is growing by at least four percent. Grassley says House Republicans aren’t ready to vote for that plan.

“We’d like to work towards that,” Grassley says, “but theirs may be a little bit more aggressive than what we may be interested in at this point.” However, Grassley says these concerns could become moot, though, if a state panel that meets next week sets future tax projections high enough.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Transportation Commission has approved a plan to spend nearly 122 million dollars in federal pandemic relief funds. The D-O-T’s Stuart Anderson says the money is targeted at road repairs and related issues. “Five million of that will be set aside for a one-time application-based program for trails programs across the state,” Anderson says. “And that’s because this funding that was allocated to Iowa was intended to cover lost state revenue due to COVID-19. And trail funding was impacted by COVID-19.”

The loss in funding came from a drop in traffic on the roadways and taxes paid for fuel. Anderson says they will use the same formula for distributing the regular road-use tax funds to dole out the pandemic relief funds. There are some 945 cities that will get 20 percent of that funding. “For cities, it’s very straightforward — it’s in proportion to each city’s share of the total municipal population in the state. So, it’s strictly on a per capita basis on how it’s allocated to cities,” he explains.

The 99 counties will split up about 32 percent of the money for their Farm to Market Fund and Secondary Road Fund. )”Each of those funds has a formula for allocating revenue to each county that looks at each county’s area, each county’s rural population, their share of mileage, and their share of traffic. And it also looks at their share of bridges,” according to Anderson. The state will get the remaining 47-and-a-half percent of the money. Anderson says they are projecting the loss in funding for the state at about 50 million dollars.

“So actually this relief funding will more than cover the revenue that is lost in this fiscal year,” Anderson says. “We are expecting that there will be covid impacts in state road funding beyond this fiscal year.” The state saw a 40 percent reduction in travel last April at the height of the pandemic — but Anderson says it rebounded so January of this year was only about five percent below last January.

He says the changes brought on by the pandemic are expected to continue having an impact on road use tax revenue. “I think we expect there will be a longer-term reduction in travel — which is directly correlated then to a reduction in fuel tax revenue. Just as we think there will be some longer-term changes in telework patterns, even longer than the pandemic,” Anderson says. He says the state, counties, and cities are required to use the pandemic relief funds for road construction or maintenance projects.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa prosecutor is defending his unsuccessful pursuit of charges against a journalist who was arrested while covering a protest in a case that critics say amounted to an attack on the press. Polk County Attorney John Sarcone told The Associated Press on Thursday that the evidence against Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri was “more than sufficient” to take the case to trial and that dismissing it would have amounted to special treatment.

FILE – In this May 19, 2017, file photo, Polk County Attorney John Sarcone, speaks during a press conference at the Polk County Justice Center in Des Moines. Sarcone defended his unsuccessful pursuit of charges against a journalist who was arrested while covering a protest, saying Thursday, March 11, 2021, that he believed the evidence was strong and that dismissing the case would have amounted to special treatment. Polk County Attorney Sarcone, a Democrat who has held office since 1991, dismissed the outrage he has faced over his decision to prosecute Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri. (Brian Powers/The Des Moines Register via AP, File)

A Des Moines police officer pepper-sprayed and arrested Sahouri last May while she was covering a Black Lives Matter protest. Sahouri was charged with disobeying police orders to disperse and interfering with the officer who arrested her. A jury acquitted her on Wednesday.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – March 11, 2021 – A project to replace a bridge on Interstate 880 over Potato Creek will begin on Monday, Mar. 15, and end on Wednesday, Dec. 1, weather permitting. The Iowa Department of Transportation’s Council Bluffs construction office says initial work will include constructing a crossover.

Starting on Apr. 1, weather permitting, traffic in the north- and southbound lanes of I-880 will be placed in a head-to-head traffic pattern. Permitted oversize loads will be prohibited on this detour route.

The Mills County Sheriff’s office, Thursday, reported the arrest Wednesday afternoon, of 40-year old April Michelle Hinman, of Omaha. She was taken into custody following a traffic stop on I-29. Hinman was wanted on a warrant for Contempt of Court. She was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman has been charged after officials say she kept three children locked in a blacked-out room in filthy conditions. Court records show 31-year-old Brittany Roozeboom, of Johnston, was charged last week with three counts of child endangerment and one count of child endangerment resulting in bodily injury. Police say the children were kept for extended periods in a room with black-painted cardboard covering the windows that locked from the outside and had no internal door knob.

Police say the children in the room so long that they sometimes soiled their clothes. Police say there also was trash strewn across the kitchen with bugs crawling on the floor. Roozeboom is being held in the Polk County Jail.