(Radio Iowa) — The State Board of Education now requires school districts to include seatbelts on all NEW buses they buy. Department of Education attorney Nicole Proesch (Presh) says they are also in the process of clarifying how districts can pay to add seatbelts to the buses they already own. Proesch says they are changing the language the governs the use of the physical plant and equipment levy fund known by the acronym PPEL (pronounced Pepp-el).

“It expands the terminology for the term repairing of transportation equipment for transporting students to include retrofitting — when such retrofitting is aligned with schoolbus construction standards,” Proesch says.

The PPEL is an amount up to 33 cents for each thousand dollars of assessed valuation that voters in each school district can approve. It is most often used for building and equipment needs. She says the language for using PPEL wasn’t clear when the schoolbus seatbelt issue came up.

“When we went back and we were saying ‘look we are going to put seatbelts on buses,’ then we started to go back and look at our language to say — you know can schools now add seatbelts onto their buses if they want to retrofit and then be able to pay for it out of PPEL or not,” Proesch says.

Proesch says the change should do away with any doubt on how the PEPEL funds can be used. “Right now you can use PPEL to buy a bus, but we weren’t quite sure if our language would allow you to use PPEL to retrofit a bus. Which just kind of seems like it doesn’t really fit,” according to Proesch.

The Board of Education approved the rules clarification in November, and there is a public hearing on the proposed changer January 7th at the Board of Education’s office in Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa) — Just ten percent of gas stations in Iowa have pumps that will dispense the higher blend of ethanol that’s now cleared nationally for sale year-round. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association is asking state officials for a 66 percent increase in the total amount of state “cost-share” grant money that’s available to stations that install E-15 pumps. Nathan Hohnstein, a lobbyist for the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, says those state grants over the past few years have had a dramatic impact.

“In 2012, we didn’t have a single station or location in Iowa that was selling E15, you’re now having just roughly 230 locations that do sell E15,” Hohnstein says. “We’re very proud of this progress, however there’s a still lot of uncertainty at the federal level with the RFS and with trade.”

The state’s Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program will hand out three MILLION dollars in grants this year. The industry is calling on state officials to set aside FIVE million dollars next year — to award to stations that install E-15 pumps. “With the new rule of year-round E15, this past summer you saw E15 sales grow 46% nationwide compared to 2018,” Hohnstein says.

Hohnstein says the biofuels industry is facing economic headwinds, so expanding the number of stations where consumers can buy E-15 is important. “Roughly about 50,000 jobs are supported by the biofuels industry here in Iowa,” Hohnstein says.

There are 43 ethanol plants and 11 biodiesel plants in Iowa. (The math here is the state program will hand out $3 million in grants this year for E15 pump installation. IRFA is asking for an additional $2 million next year, for a total of $5 million in grants. That would be a 66% increase.)

A call to a residence in Council Bluffs at around 4:40-a.m. Christmas Day (Wednesday), about a stabbing, resulted in an arrest. Authorities say 60-year old Dwight D. Poore, of Council Bluffs, was arrested after he left the scene and was taken into custody without further incident. He was being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail on two counts of Willful Injury.

Dwight D. Poore (CB PD Photo)

An investigation into the incident determined Poore was upset with 32-year old Jesse Poore, over allegations Jesse Poore had sexually abused a member of the family. During the confrontation,  Dwight Poore pulled out a knife and stabbed Jesse in the back. As Dwight attempted to leave the scene, he also assaulted his wife, by cutting her hand with the knife.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Public libraries in two eastern Iowa communities are joining a growing number across the nation in eliminating fines for overdue materials. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that the Waterloo and Cedar Falls libraries will eliminate the fines Jan. 1 and forgive outstanding overdue-material fines.

Cedar Falls Public Library Director Kelly Stern said fines are not the most effective way to manage borrowing and are not fair to low-income patrons. Fees for lost or damaged items will remain. Patrons with overdue items will be blocked from checking out further items until the overdue material is renewed or returned.

LEWISTOWN, Ill. (AP) — Bond is set at $250,000 for a driver charged in connection with a vehicle crash in western Illinois that left three Iowa residents dead. Twenty-year-old Pedro Orozco of Galesburg faces three counts of aggravated driving under the influence. He appeared earlier this week in Fulton County Circuit Court.

Authorities have said he was driving northbound last Friday on Illinois Route 97 when the vehicle he was driving collided with another headed west on Route 9. The crash happened outside Cuba. The (Peoria) Journal Star reports Orozco is being held at Fulton County Jail. His public defender couldn’t be reached Wednesday.

WASHINGTON, Iowa (AP) — A former bricklayer made a deal with an eastern Iowa retirement home when he became a resident to allow him to put up a display of model trains. Jim Bennett of Washington says the holiday season is his favorite time for the past 10 years because he gets to display his enthusiasm being a train engineer.

KCRG-TV reports that his train display is in the United Presbyterian Home’s lobby in the town of 7,400 people about 50 miles south of Cedar Rapids. He’s posted hours of operation for Monday, Wednesday and Friday and is likely leave the display up through February.

The Adair County Board of Supervisors will meet 9-a.m. Thursday in the Boardroom at the Courthouse in Greenfield. On their agenda, is a report from County Engineer Nick Kauffman, with regard to approval of a Plan of Operations for the “Force Account” (EWP – Emergency Watershed Protection – Projects), along with his regular maintenance & activities report. The Board will then hear from Conservation Director Dominic Johnson, with regard to a FY 2021 Budget Request.

Discussion will cover Taxable Mileage, and IMWCA recommendation responses.

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

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The National Weather Service in Johnston says record to near record highs are likely for this Christmas Day across much of central and southern Iowa, with highs in the 50’s to near 60. Temperatures will be a bit cooler over northern Iowa. A cold front will move through tonight and will drop highs into the 30’s and 40’s for Thursday and Friday.

(Click to enlarge the map)

A storm system will arrive this weekend with mainly rain Friday night and Saturday followed by a transition to snow Saturday night and Sunday. Some snow accumulations are possible, especially across northern Iowa. A large amount of variability remains for this system therefore, any snowfall predictions remain low confidence. Stay tuned for future updates regarding the weekend storm system.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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