(Radio Iowa) — Criminal penalties for intentionally or accidentally causing the death of a fetus without the consent of the mother would be increased under a bill advancing in the Iowa House. Iowa Catholic Conference lobbyist Tom Chapman says Iowa should treat the killing of a fetus without the consent of the woman as a form of homicide, as several other states do.  “It protects unborn human life in the criminal code in contexts other than abortion or medical procedures,” Chapman says, “so it deems an unborn baby to actually be a person when offenders attack or otherwise harm a pregnant woman.”

The bill would also declared that life starts at conception, something critics like Jamie Burch Elliott of Planned Parenthood say would insert “personhood” language into the state’s criminal code. Planned Parenthood lobbyist Jamie Burch Elliott opposes the bill.  “It sends Iowa down a dangerous path when you define a fertilized egg as a person,” she says. “These changes could have unintended far-reaching consequences including outlawing certain forms of birth control, outlawing in vitro fertilization.”

Supporters say the proposal isn’t intended to ban abortion or any other medical procedure. The Iowa Senate passed this bill last year, and the House failed to advance it in 2019 ahead of a legislative deadline. Abortion opponents held a rally at the state capitol Monday. Representative Steven Holt of Denison chairs the House Judiciary Committee. He told the group a law passed last year may someday shift the court’s position on the issue because it allows the governor to appoint a majority of the panel that nominates future justices.  “We will now have a court that will likely interpret the law by what is written on the page as opposed to rewriting it to match their agenda,” Holt says.

The Iowa Court of Appeals rejected a lawsuit from Democratic legislators claiming the judicial nominating law is unconstitutional. The group plans to appeal that decision to the Iowa Supreme Court.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Katarina Sostarik and Grant Gerlock)

The Cass County Board of Supervisors, today (Tuesday), passed a resolution setting the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Maximum Property Tax Dollars, as follows:

• General County Services at $4,886,788.
• Rural County Services at $2,802,340.

The Maximum Property Tax dollars requested for FY2021 represents an increase from FY 2020 of 2% in General County Services, and 1.98% in Rural County Services. A Public Hearing on the FY 2021 Budget will be held March 24th, during which the budget can be reduced, but not increased. The figures determined today (Tuesday), is the maximum levy, according to Auditor Dale Sunderman.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A man who beat to death and beheaded a rabbit at an animal shelter in Des Moines has been given a two-year sentence. Court records say Bobby Carothers pleaded guilty last month to animal torture and requested immediate sentencing. Staffers at the Animal Rescue League shelter identified Carothers as being the last visitor in the building on Dec. 15. The records say that as Carothers left he told one of the staffers that he was having rabbit stew that night. A short time later employees found the dead rabbit, Petunia.

A traffic stop on a pickup truck Monday night on Highway 48 in Page County, resulted in a rural Essex man being arrested for OWI/drug-related. 35-year old Travis Robert Mayer was taken into custody at around 8:45-p.m., about two-miles north of Shenandoah. Mayer was transported to the Page County Jail where he was being held on $1,000 bond.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Shenandoah Police Department.

Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Bailey Smith reports the Chamber has a new Program Director. Kelsey Beschorner, of Wiota, recently accepted the position previously held by Ashley Hayes, who left the Chamber in November 2019. Smith said she’s “Really excited to have Kelsey join the team.

Kelsey Beschorner

Smith said also, Kelsey “Moved to the Atlantic Area seven years ago and has a great grasp of what the Chamber does. I think her ideas and knowledge will be a great asset to the organization.” Beschorner joins Smith, who is celebrating her third year as Executive Director. Beschorner began her job Monday, March 2nd.

(Radio Iowa/KJAN records) — Rain and snow were much more scarce than usual in Iowa over the past month. State climatologist Justin Glisan says it was a far cry from what we usually see during February. “Typically, we expect about an inch of precipitation across the state. What we had on statewide average was about four-tenths of an inch, so six-tenths of an inch below average,” Glisan says. “The driest part of the state is across the southern part, anywhere from an inch to an inch-and-a-half below normal.”

Here in Atlantic, we received just under two-tenths of an inch of precipitation (rain/melted snow). When it comes to snowfall, this February was way off base with less than four inches statewide. That’s especially paltry when compared to all the snow a year ago. “Typically, we, across the state, have about seven inches of snow for February, we had about half that,” Glisan says. “Last February, the statewide average was about 26-inches of snow. That was the snowiest February in 133 years of records.”

Snowfall in Atlantic amounted to one-half inch for the month. Snowfall so far this winter in Atlantic, amounts to 13.2 inches. Temperatures across Iowa were very near normal for February. The average temp is 24-degrees and the statewide average came in at 24-point-three. Early indications are the winter overall will produce warmer-than-average temperatures and below-normal precipitation in Iowa. “We are seeing a higher probability of being warmer than average,” Glisan says. “If we look at the month of March, in general, the outlooks do also show us with higher probabilities of being warmer than average and not a really clear signal precipitation-wise.”

In Atlantic, our Average High for Feb. 2020 was 39.5-degrees (the norm is 35.4). The Average Low was 15 (right on par for the average of 15.2 degrees).  Spring arrives March 19th.

A Judge has sentenced a retired Council Bluffs Police Officer to two-years of probation, in connection with the 2019 hit-and-run death of a bicyclist. According to KETV in Omaha, 56-year old Bob Christensen received his sentence Monday, after pleading guilty in the death of 55-year old William Shepard, who died at a hospital after being struck by a vehicle at around 2:10-a.m. on Old Lincoln Highway, near Northline Drive. The accident happened May 11, 2019.

Prosecutors said Christensen left the scene then drove back in a different vehicle. His trial was scheduled to start today (Tuesday).

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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SPRINGVILLE, Iowa (The Gazette) — A deteriorating Revolutionary War monument will be restored this summer in eastern Iowa if the Daughters of the American Revolution can raise enough money. The 16.5-foot marble and granite monument honors a Revolutionary War soldier buried in Linn County. Beverly Franks with the Marion-Linn Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution told The Gazette the monument is something to be proud of and should be saved.

The monument was built in honor of Nathan Brown. The former soldier settled in Springville in the 1800s. Brown lived in Iowa for only 2 1/2 years before he died Nov. 25, 1842, at 81.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:05-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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