(Radio Iowa) — Five members of the Iowa House have signed off on the IDEA of charging a new fee to the owners of electric vehicles AND a new, per-kilowatt-hour tax at public charging stations. Michael Triplett, a lobbyist for the Automobile Manufacturers Association, urged legislators not to set the fee higher than what electric car owners are paying in neighboring states.

“This is the future,” Triplett said. “These are drivers currently who are little bit wiser in their use of their car and its sound to some of our members like they’re being punished for choosing the most economical, environmentally-friendly option.”

The Iowa D-O-T has recommended a 130-dollar annual fee for electric vehicles. That’s
higher than what’s being charged in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri and Nebraska. Drivers of gas-powered vehicles pay the state fuel tax which finances the upkeep and construction of roads and bridges. Scott Newhard, a lobbyist for the Associated General Contractors of Iowa, says electric vehicles should pay into the Road Use Tax, too.

“One thing about electric vehicles — they do use the roadway,” Newhard said. “…Their presence on the roadway requires them to pay a user fee.” Representative Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Marion, says automobile makers are promising to produce more electric vehicles — displacing the gas-powered vehicles that are generating the tax revenue for roads now.  “We need to be making these decisions so the infrastructure is in place, so we’re ready for that,” Hinson says.

By late last year there were 800 battery-powered vehicles registered in Iowa. There were about 19-hundred plug-in hybrids that can switch to gas power when the charge runs out.

(Radio Iowa) — A bill that would re-establish the death penalty in Iowa has emerged in the Iowa SENATE, but it’s unlikely to become law. A key member of the Iowa HOUSE who supports the concept of capital punishment tabled a similar plan last year. He concluded it costs taxpayers less to put someone in prison for life than to pay for years of legal challenges to a death sentence.

Governor Kim Reynolds says SENATORS now have an opportunity to discuss the issue. “But there’s a lot of things that go into considering that and I haven’t seen any shift from where we were last year,” Reynolds says.  House Speaker Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake doesn’t sense a death penalty bill is a priority for her fellow Republicans in the House. “Sometimes I hear from people: ‘I want to do this.’ ‘I want to work on this,'” Upmeyer says. “I have not heard that, so I guess that would surprise me if that became an issue.”

Another wrinkle in this year’s debate is an announcement last August from the head of the Catholic Church. Pope Francis said the death penalty is “inadmissable” and it’s the goal of the church to abolish capital punishment worldwide. Tom Chapman of the Iowa Catholic Conference says priests are talking about the issue in their parishes. “We don’t want to commit violence to try to protect people from violence,” Chapman says.

Twenty Republicans in the Iowa SENATE are co-sponsoring a bill to impose the death penalty on those found guilty of kidnapping, raping and killing a child. It takes the support of 26 senators to pass a bill. Iowa abolished the death penalty 54 years ago.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The nation’s farmers are struggling to pay back their loans after years of low crop prices, with nearly one out of five loans in a government farm program now delinquent for the worst January default rate in at least nine years. The bulk of the nation’s agricultural loans typically come due around Jan. 1 for seasonal and tax planning purposes.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Twenty Senate Republicans have signed on to a bill that would reinstate a death penalty in Iowa, a state that hasn’t put anyone to death in more than 50 years. A Senate subcommittee on Wednesday approved the bill with only Republican support. It would make it a capital offense to kidnap, rape and murder a minor. A similar bill failed last year, and this year’s bill isn’t expected to be approved by the Legislature.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s cold and snowy winter has been especially difficult on livestock producers who’ve often struggled just to reach their animals. The Des Moines Register reports that Iowa has seen an average of 21 inches of snowfall so far in February, just short of a record set in 1962. One rancher says he had to ride a snowmobile 50 miles Sunday to check on his pigs, and that snow is causing an overwhelming amount of maintenance issues.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A 37-year-old western Iowa woman has been sentenced to three months in prison for Social Security fraud. Prosecutors say Jamie Opalia, of Council Bluffs, was sentenced last week and told to pay nearly $22,600 in restitution. Federal court records say she’d pleaded guilty, admitting that she used for herself Social Security benefits that were granted to support another person.

The increasing number of school cancellations and delays for the Atlantic School District will likely mean changes to the current school year calendar. Superintendent Steve Barber, Wednesday evening, said administrators determined students had missed six full school days due to the weather, and currently have put-in 1054.5-hours. There are 25.5-hours that need to be made-up for missed days and hours.

Barber said they talked with the Calendar Committee. He said there’s six teacher days included in the make-up time frame, and the tentative plan to make those days good won’t be finalized until the Board’s next meeting on March 13th, taking into consideration any necessary snow days between now and then.

Barber said the planned make-good days include the Friday before Memorial Day, along with the Tuesday and Wednesday after Memorial Day. In addition, they may consider using Good Friday – which is traditionally an “off” day – used as a make-good for missed days, which gets the district closer to the required Instructional Hours. Still to be determined is how to fit-in two teacher Professional Development (PD) days.  A contingent plan would be to take a couple of PD days (during which there is reduced hours), but Barber says he’s “Not ready to go there yet.” All plans are subject to change as we move through the winter.

In other news, Aaron Thomas, the son of slain Parkersburg High School Football and Hall of Fame Football Coach Ed Thomas, will speak 10-a.m. Friday, March 22nd, in the Atlantic High School Gym. His presentation is directed at Middle and High School Students, but is open to the public. The faith-based family forgave one of Ed Thomas’ former players who shot and killed him June 24th, 2009. Aaron Thomas will recount the story of Ed Thomas’ career and how the family and community dealt with the tragic event. The Ed Thomas Foundation, which was established by his wife and two sons, is based on his priorities of Faith, Family, Character and Integrity.

Superintendent Barber reminded the Board also, that: The bond referendum special election early voting begins March 4th; The end of the 3rd Quarter is March 8th; A Public Hearing on the School Calendar will take place during the Board’s regular meeting 5:30-p.m. March 13th; Parent Teacher Conferences are March 13th and 14th, and there is no school March 14th, 15th, 18th & 19th.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – A Nebraska man was sentenced last week in Council Bluffs, to serve 19-months in prison for Interstate Communication of a Threat. The sentence for 41-year old Andrew Simet, of Omaha, was handed down in U-S District Court.

Simet was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release to follow his prison term. He entered a guilty plea to using social media, sending voice messages, and e-mails to an Iowa District Court Judge and an Iowa Public Defender that contained language that would knowingly be perceived as legitimate threats.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) — It’s the snowiest February on record for several Iowa communities and it’s been a harsh winter, especially for wildlife. Todd Bogenschutz, an upland wildlife research biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says snowfall — just this month — equals what we often get from December through March. There were some warm-ups, he says, but not enough.

“We just melted the snow that was there but we didn’t melt it to the ground and then it got cold with the blizzard on top of it,” Bogenschutz says. “It turned it to ice and then we got the new snow on top, making it very difficult for the birds to dig through that now to get down to any waste grain on the ground.” Pheasant and quail populations will most certainly take a tumble this winter, he says, as it’s difficult for them to survive in these unforgiving conditions.

“The birds that have made it through now are relegated to eat what they can find above the frozen layer,” Bogenschutz says. “They’re probably out there searching but they’re having to go out there a long ways to find a meal.” Pheasant hunting seasons in Iowa run from late October through early January and this past season drew between 50- and 60-thousand hunters.  “Generally, getting the birds, even when they’re abundant, is challenging,” Bogenschutz says. “It seems like when we say the populations are better, we see an increase in hunter numbers and an increase in the harvest. Then, when we say bird numbers are down, it seems to make the hunting even tougher and we see even fewer hunters.”

As the birds scrounge for food farther from their nests, they’re facing longer exposure to the bitter cold, plus, the brown pheasants are against a white background, making them more obvious to predators. “A lot of folks are asking, ‘What can we do for the birds?’ and I say it’s really about providing good habitat. If you’ve got good winter cover and a good food plot, buy it. That’s where we’re going to see our best survival.”

While southwest Iowa has enjoyed a multi-year run of record quail populations, the heavy snow and ice will likely mark an end to that, he says. Bogenschutz predicts significant declines in the pheasant and quail populations this coming year, adding, this is easily the toughest winter in five years.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowans who attend United Methodist churches are concerned about how Tuesday’s vote may bring dissension and splits in the nation’s second-largest Protestant Church. U-M-C leaders voted to strengthen rules against homosexual clergy and same-sex marriages. Reverend Jeff Flagg, pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church in Webster City, says it’s a global denomination. “Many times, the United States is culturally different than places like the African nations who are 30% of the United Methodist Church,” Reverend Flagg says. “Their culture is quite different and usually votes quite traditional, so what that does is, it plays into the cultural differences of who we are here in the states as compared to the rest of the world.”

The decision passed by a margin of 53-to-47 at a conference in St. Louis attended by church officials and lay leaders. Flagg says he’s heard comments both for and against the ordaining of gay and lesbian ministers and whether or not to allow same-sex marriage services in the church. “As a whole, the United Methodist Church in the United States would like to move to be more progressive in this situation,” Flagg says, “but this last gathering in St. Louis has pushed us into staying more traditional.”

The United Methodist Church works to project itself as being inclusive to all, Flagg says, and he hopes people aren’t confused by the vote and its subject matter. There are fears this vote could cause some congregations to split off, but Flagg says there will be much discussion. “We’re going to talk about where we are and where we’re going,” Flagg says. “Everybody is invited inside the walls of the church. This has to do with marriage and being a pastor and things of that nature. It looks like at this point we’re continuing and going to stay on the traditional side.”

There are 12-million members of the United Methodist Church worldwide. In Iowa, there are more than 158,000 members of the church with 767 congregations statewide.

(Radio Iowa) — A resolution proposing a constitutional amendment to automatically restore voting rights to felons who have completed their sentences unanimously passed a three-member state senate panel today (Wednesday). Two felons spoke at the subcommittee’s hearing. Sixty-year-old Rick Sattler, of Iowa City was convicted of vehicular homicide in 2006 and is paying 150-thousand dollars in restitution.

“I’m not diminishing what I did. I feel terrible about what I did. I live with that every day,” Sattler said. “…That’s not what this is about.” Sattler — and others around the room — said giving felons the right to vote is about redemption and second chances. Sheila Corsbie was paroled in 2009 and is among the felons who applied to the governor to have their voting rights restored.

“Because of getting my rights back and becoming a productive member of society, now I am able to give back to people,” she said, “and I think if I wasn’t given my rights back, who knows where I would be.” Rick Admiraal is pastor of New Life Prison Community at the Newton prison. “As a prison pastor, I see guys wanting to change their lives and part of changing your life is reintegration into the society after a person is released,” Admiraal said. “I strongly believe that we don’t need to punish people excessively, that we need to give them a second chance.”

Pat Stalter of Adel, a pastor of the Christian Church Disciples of Christ Church in Woodward, says she believes in second chances “without strings attached.””I believe in redemption. I believe in wholeness,” Stalter said, “and this legislative body has a chance to move into that space.” Governor Kim Reynolds has made this issue a top priority. Kayla Lyon from her governor’s staff told legislators they were hearing “powerful” testimony today.

“She truly does believe in second chances and that’s why we’re talking about this today,” Lyon said. “She believes that the voting rights of a convicted felon should be forever stripped and further she does not believe the restoration should be in the hands of a single person.” Since Reynolds became governor, she has used her authority to restore voting rights to 122 paroled felons. The governor told reporters she’s granted two of those requests this week and she spoke to both applicants.

“I can’t even begin to describe to you their appreciation for that phone call and what it means to them to really get back their dignity and really become a better citizen in the state of Iowa,” Reynolds said. ” A month ago, a subcommittee in the Iowa HOUSE embraced the governor’s proposed constitutional amendment on felon voting rights.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports five recent arrests. On Tuesday, Feb, 26th, 25-year old Shawna Marie Watson, of Glenwood, was arrested on a probation violation warrant out of Pottawattamie County. Her bond was set at $5,000. And, 33-year old Brandon Scott Bryen, of Malvern, was arrested for Driving Under Suspension. Bond was set at $1,000.

Monday night, 33-year old Jeremy Wayne Jennings, of Little Sioux, was arrested in Glenwood, for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Bond set at $300. Last Saturday, 42-year old Michael Lee Butcher, of Red Oak, was arrested following a traffic stop. He was wanted on a warrant out of Pottawattamie County. Bond set at $5,000.

And, on Feb. 22nd, 38-year old David Charles Anderson, of Glenwood, was arrested on I-29 for OWI/1st offense. His bond was set at $1,000.

(Radio Iowa) — The top Republican in the legislature says Iowa schools struggling with the accumulation of “snow days” have the option of extending the hours of future school days to make up for lost time. A recent law change set the number of HOURS Iowa students are to spend in the classroom for an entire school year, not the number of DAYS. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, a Republican from Clear Lake, says at the beginning of the school year, many districts included extra hours to plan for EXPECTED snow days. “At least initially they were not too concerned because they had plenty of time built in,” Upmeyer syas. “I think now we’ve had weather experiences that perhaps have gone beyond that, but they can add some time to the day to get that work in. They could do a Saturday or something to accommodate.”

Extending the school year later into June is not a popular option, according to Upmeyer.  “It’s really hard to keep kids’ attentions out far beyond Memorial Day,” Upmeyer says. “…I think schools will hear from families and they will make a decision that’s right for their school.” Upmeyer says she’s intrigued by districts that are experimenting with “digital snow days.”

However, state regulations do NOT let schools count the hours students spend doing that kind of online homework as regular school hours.