(Radio Iowa) — Local school boards would be able to add 15 minutes to the maximum route time for students under a rule change given initial approval by the State Board of Education. Travel time is now limited to 75 minutes for high school students and 60 for elementary. Department of Education rule coordinator Nicole Proesch, says they had quite a bit of discussion with several groups about how to handle the travel time. She says they discussed getting rid of the mandatory ride times altogether, but some of the groups didn’t want that and wanted to make sure the students were not on the bused too long.

Proesch says this allows the school districts some room to make their own decisions based on the input of parents. “That can be approved by the local board, and beyond that if a district feels like the 15 minutes is not enough, they can still come the to department and apply for a waiver beyond that,” Proesch says. “So they are not hamstrung necessarily by the 15 minutes, but it gives them a little flexibility so they don’t have to come to us and ask for a waiver.”

Education Department Transportation director Max Christensen, says it has become more of an issue for smaller districts. “We get more requests all of the time simply because you got schools that are consolidating and whole grade sharing….and that just adds to the length of time that kids have to travel,” Christensen says. Another rule change would require that the two yearly inspections include ALL vehicles used for student transportation. Christensen says they are now limited to inspecting only vehicles used as school buses. “Which means that vehicles used for activities do not get inspected at all,” Christensen says.

He says the activity vehicles are often vans or suburbans. “Those vehicles maybe have a rust problem, bad tires, something like that and the vehicle is maybe such they don’t want to repair those vehicles and then they are used for activity vehicles. Which really to us does not make a lot of sense because these vehicles are being driven further and at a faster speed than what route vehicles are,”Christensen says.

They are also asking that the inspection fee be raised from 40 to 50 dollars on July 1st. The inspection fee has not been raised since 2013. The Board of Education will hold a public hearing on the proposed changes on June 25th.

(Radio Iowa) — A Cedar Rapids woman who gave a wanted man car ride to a hotel will spend three months in federal prison. Twenty-eight-year-old Saudia Raquel Watkins admitted to giving a car ride to a motel to federal fugitive felon Kelsey Beckett in August of 2016, U-S Marshals say Watkins put the motel room in her name after a Deputy U-S Marshal had warned Watkins that Beckett was a fugitive and that Watkins should contact the him if she learned of Beckett’s whereabouts. The Deputy U-S Marshal says Watkins smoked marijuana with Beckett in the motel room. She then became a fugitive herself.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials say a dog disease that can be passed to humans has been confirmed in Iowa. The state veterinarian, Dr. Jeff Kaisand, says several cases of canine brucellosis have been confirmed at a commercial breeding facility for small dogs in Marion County. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship says it is notifying people who have custody of the exposed dogs. Both the animals and the facilities are quarantined while the dogs undergo testing.

Signs of the disease in a dog include infertility, spontaneous abortions and stillbirths. State health officials say symptoms for humans include fever, sweats, headache, joint pain and weakness.
The department says the threat to most pet owners is very low. Dog breeders, veterinary staff and anyone who comes in contact with blood, tissues and fluids during the birthing process may be at higher risk.

(Radio Iowa) — More than one-hundred homes in southwest Iowa still can’t be reached due to flooding, so FEMA is extending the deadline by which residents have to register for federal aid. The deadline is being pushed back from May 22nd to July 1st. FEMA spokeswoman Deanna Frazier says she understands the agency is probably not the first thing on the minds of most people after they’ve been displaced. “They’re just trying to get through their lives day-to-day at this point,” Frazier says. “We want to extend that deadline to help them get every dollar that they’re eligible for from the federal government.”

Frazier says people need to register to be eligible for rental assistance and grant money to repair their homes and now, they have more time to do so.  Frazier says, “By extending this deadline to July 1st, that gives people a little bit more time to understand what kind of position they’re in and also to understand what may be available to them.” The U-S Small Business Administration has approved 13 disaster loans for flooded businesses in the region, totaling one-point-eight million dollars. State Representative Dave Sieck, of Glenwood, says leaders from Hamburg and other southwest Iowa towns have complained to him about dozens of local businesses being turned down by the S-B-A for federal aid. “A lot of times, it’s the way they apply,” Sieck says. “Either they don’t apply right or they don’t fill out the paperwork right, because they don’t know. They’ve never had to deal with the government before.”

Businesses that are denied can follow up with FEMA at a local flood disaster center to see what went wrong. They can also get help from the Small Business Development Center at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs.

(Thanks to Katie Peikes and Grant Gerlock, Iowa Public Radio)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CDT

SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. (AP) — Officials in northeastern Nebraska say a South Sioux City police officer and a suspect have been injured in a shootout outside a bar and liquor store. The Sioux City (Iowa) Journal reports that the shooting happened around 2 a.m. Saturday, when police were called to Los Amigos for a man holding a gun. Police say the first officer to arrive at the scene confronted the man, and the two exchanged gunfire. Neither the names nor medical conditions of the officer and suspect have been released.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Officials in western Iowa say a man has died after the bicycle he was riding was hit by a vehicle, and investigators are now searching for the driver. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office says in a news release that deputies were called to a section of the Old Lincoln Highway around 2:25 a.m. Saturday for a report of a bicycle that had been hit. Arriving deputies found a man with fatal injuries, but the vehicle that hit him had fled.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Career counselors and recruiters say 2019 college graduates will be hitting a hot job market if they’re ready to begin their careers. Bill Watts is the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s director of advising and career services, and he says this year’s graduates have the best chances to land good jobs that he’s seen in 20 years, calling the market “pretty phenomenal.”

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Davenport school officials say several students had to be treated after a school resource officer deployed pepper spray during an incident at Central High School. Television station KWQC reports that the incident happened Friday. The school district says the officer responded to a disturbance in a hallway by using pepper spray. Several people reported having trouble breathing and were treated by the school nurse. No serious injuries were reported.

Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports that on Sunday evening, the Fremont County K9 unit conducted a traffic stop at Vine and Jackson in Tabor,IA. During the course of the stop, 37 year old Robert Arnold Kissel III was found to be in possession of methamphetamine, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia. Kissel was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Fremont County Law Enforcement Center charged with 2 counts of Intent to Deliver Methamphetamine and held on a $50,000.00 bond.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Mills County K9 Unit.

Robert Kissel III (Fremont County S/O photo)