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Deadline day for filing nominating papers for June Primary

News

March 15th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – State and federal candidates who want to be included on the June Primary ballots for Republicans and for Democrats face a 5 p.m. deadline today (Friday) to deliver their nomination petitions to the Secretary of State’s office in Des Moines. Christina Bohannan, a Democrat who’s running in Iowa’s first congressional district, has submitted over a thousand more signatures on her nominating petitions than were required.

“We collected these at grocery stores, at soup suppers, at pancake breakfasts and we’ve been talking to people  where they are and so it’s really exciting to have this level of support and, in a lot of ways, it’s really the beginning of the campaign,” Bohannan says. “…What I can tell you is these signatures represent people who have really bought into this campaign.”

Bohannan ran against Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks in 2022 and lost by less than seven points, so this race is destined to be a rematch in the 2024 General Election. Miller-Meeks submitted her nominating petitions on February 26th, the first day in the filing period. Beyond the candidates running for seats in the U-S House of Representatives, candidates for seats in the state legislature must submit their nominating petitions by 5 p.m. today (Friday) as well. House Speaker Pat Grassley says most of the Republicans currently serving in the Iowa House are seeking reelection.

“As we look across the state, there are other opportunities that we continue to have,” Grassley says. “If you look at the last election results (from 2022), there are seats with just a little more time and resources, we could have had an even larger majority.” Republicans hold 64 of the 100 seats in the Iowa House. House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst says Democrats have a good chance of gaining seats because the G-O-P agenda is lacking. “There’s not a bill in there to defend reproductive freedom. There’s not a bill in there to make child care really, boldly different across this state,” Konfrst says. ” There’s not a bill to really address affordable housing.”

In the state senate, Republicans hold a 34-seat super majority. Senate G-O-P Leader Jack Whitver says Republican candidates have been recruited in four senate districts currently held by Democrats, but areas where Governor Kim Reynolds and Donald Trump have done well in the past. “It’s hard to believe when we’re sitting here with 34 that we have a chance in four seats, but depending on how the election goes, those are seats we’re watching very, very closely,” Whitver says.

Senate Democratic Leader Pam Jochum says Democrats can do well in the 2024 election because Republicans are ignoring what’s most important to Iowans. “They’ve asked us to fully fund education,” Jochum says. “They’ve asked us to stop stripping away local control from school boards and cities and counties.”

Jochum has developed a plan she says will help Democrats make progress over the next three elections and regain a majority of state senate seats in the 2030 election. Jochum is not seeking reelection this year after serving in the legislature since 1993.

Democrats call for extended jobless benefits for workers to be laid off once Tyson’s Perry plant closes

News

March 15th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Senate Democrats are proposing an extension of unemployment benefits for workers at a Perry pork plant who’ll be laid off at the end of June. Tyson announced earlier this week it will close the plant, which employs nearly 13-hundred people and is Perry’s largest employer. Senate Democratic Leader Pam Jochum of Dubuque says she has an inkling of what’s ahead for Perry.

“About 20 years ago Smithfield came in and bought out the Dubuque Packing Company and threw 2000 workers out of work and it took our community many, many years to recover from that plant closing,” Jochum says, “so I do know how difficult this is and how difficult it’s going to be for Perry to overcome the many challenges they’re going to be facing.”

In 2022, Governor Reynolds signed a law that reduced the number of weeks Iowans are eligible for unemployment benefits from 26 to 16 weeks. Jochum and other Senate Democrats are proposing that those who lose their jobs due to a plant closure — like the workers in Perry — should be eligible for up to 39 weeks of unemployment. “We, as Democrats, stand with Perry and the Iowans losing their jobs and their livelihoods because of Tyson’s decision,” Jochum says. “The effects of this closure are going to touch every corner of Dallas County, from schools to city services to Main Streets and beyond and it’s going to all of us working together to meet these challenges and keep Perry strong.”

The Senate’s Republican leader says he can’t comment on Jochum’s proposal because he hasn’t seen it and hasn’t had a chance to review its impact. Tyson is encouraging its employees in Perry to apply for job openings at its other meat packing plants in Iowa.

Casey’s on pace to hit goal for new stores

News

March 14th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The Ankeny-based Casey’s convenience store chain continues pushing toward its goal of adding 150 stores this fiscal year. Senior Vice President of business development, Brian Johnson, talked about it in an investor update on the third quarter. “In the third quarter we closed on a transaction to enter our 17th state in Texas and through the end of the quarter we have built or acquired over 125 stores,” he says.

Casey’s President and CEO, Darren Rebelez, says they like to have a mix of building new stores along with merging or acquiring existing stores. He says acquiring stores is more attractive now as the cost of construction has gone up, so installing or upgrading the kitchen in an existing store is less than the cost to replace the whole store.

“I think we’ve learned how to get our prepared foods into these acquisitions more quickly. Historically this has taken us a long time to do and to the extent that some of these stores that we acquire have some level of kitchen space available our team has gotten really effective at getting equipment in early and getting the food into the stores quicker,” Rebelez says. He says that allows them to gain the advantage from the prepared food sales much quicker than in the past. Rebelez says the acquisitions recently have mostly been competitors with under 100 stores.

“We’re also having discussions on larger potential deals but we just haven’t gotten anything over the finish line yet,” he says. Rebelez says even with the acquisitions, they will still end up building in the neighborhood of 50 new stores this year. Casey’s now has more than 26-hundred stores in 17 states.

1 dead, 4 injured in a crash south of Anamosa

News

March 14th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

[Update 3/16/24 – The victim of the crash was identified as Larry Nielson, of Anamosa]

(Anamosa, Iowa) – A collision between a car and a small SUV this (Thursday) afternoon in eastern Iowa Iowa, resulted in one person deceased and four others injured. The Iowa State Patrol reports the crash happened at U-S Highway 151 and Shaw Road, south of Anamosa, in Jones County.

The Patrol says a 1989 Oldsmobile Delta 88 was traveling east on Shaw Road at around 12:45-p.m., when the driver failed to yield to a 2015 Nissan Juke that was traveling south on Highway 151. The Nissan struck the car on the Highway. Two juveniles and two adults were injured and transported to area hospitals by Anamosa, Mt. Vernon and Monticello Ambulances.

Another adult was transported to St. Lukes Hospital where they died from their injuries. All of the crash victims were wearing seat belts. No names had been released as of the time of this report.

MC-EMA update on New Cooperative liquid nitrogen spill, re: Well Water Testing

News

March 14th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(3/14/23) – The Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency, today (Thursday) reported that “After careful examination and a thorough search of local records, IDNR records as well as rural water customer records, it’s determined that most residential properties south of Red Oak along the East Nishnabotna River to the county line, receive their water directly from the Southwest Regional Water District and are not directly impacted by the liquid nitrogen spill.
“We are aware that the City of Coburg is not on rural water and obtain their water directly from private wells. Montgomery County Public Health has been in contact with City of Coburg officials who will be contacting all their residents and providing them with information on how to contact and schedule a test with Public Health.
“There is no concern of water pollution within the City of Red Oak however the East Nishnabotna River should avoided for any fishing and/or recreational activities until contamination levels recede.
“It is recommended that any private non-registered well users near the East Nishnabotna River south of Red Oak to the Missouri River, contact their local Public Health Agency to schedule a well water test and keep any livestock away from the river until contamination levels recede.
“Additionally, Page and Fremont County officials will be going through the same information to determine who to contact for both residential and livestock operations to ensure they have the information provided by IDNR and given the opportunity to schedule a well test.”
Public Health Contact Information
Montgomery County Public Health – 712-623-4893
Page County Public Health – 712-850-1212
Fremont County Public Health – 712-374-3355 or 712-313-0200

Burlington Police Dept.: remains identified as a missing person

News

March 14th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Ankeny, Iowa) – Police in Burlington (IA) said Thursday (Today), that the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner has been able to positively identify the human remains that were located in Burlington, Iowa on March 7, 2024, as those of 54-year-old Burlington resident, Troy Daugherty.
The cause and manner of death are still being investigated by the Burlington Police Department, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner. Results of the autopsy and toxicology are still pending and may take weeks to finalize.
Troy Daugherty had been reported as a missing person to the Burlington Police Department on July 14, 2020.

Iowa schools await tardy state funding decision

News

March 14th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Republican leaders in the state legislature say they’re open to moving a key deadline for local school officials who are developing budgets for the next school year.

Those budget plans must be done by April 30, but the House and Senate have not agreed yet on how much state funding schools will get or whether to raise the mandatory minimum salary for teachers. The legislature’s unresolved debate over Area Education Agencies is also a factor.

“I understand their frustrations,” House Speaker Pat Grassley said earlier today during a news conference at the House press bench. “….We have frustrations as well that we haven’t been able to move the S.S.A., for example, that we haven’t been able to move that forward.”

S.S.A. is legislative lingo for the general level of state funding for schools that’s calculated on a per pupil basis. Four weeks ago, the House voted for a 3% boost in per pupil funding for students in public and private schools, but the Senate has not advanced its own bill. Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver has indicated some initial decisions may be made next week.

“There’s a lot of money in this budget for schools. It’s in different plaes. I’ts kind of complicated because they’re in different bills and so it’s not as streamlined as I’d hoped,” Whitver said during a news conference in his state capitol office, ” but hopefully we get that resolution soon.”

Senate Republicans may debate their combined plan to restructure Area Education Agencies and raise the minimum salary for first year teachers to around 46-thousand dollars a year. A week ago the House passed a bipartisan plan that addressed teacher pay. It would set a $50,000 minimum salary, give public schools money to raise pay for veteran teachers with salaries below $50,000 and raise hourly wages for other school staff to 15 dollars an hour.

Democrats say Republicans are again failing to follow the state law that requires the legislature to make its decision on general per pupil spending on schools over a month ago.

Tomorrow, March 15, if the deadline for schools to set property tax levies for the next school year. School districts have been holding public hearings about budget plans.

Study ranks Iowa as middle-performing for emergency prep

News

March 14th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A new report places Iowa in the middle of the pack in terms of the state’s preparedness for emergencies — from weather disasters to disease outbreaks to terrorist attacks.

Dr. Nadine Gracia, president and CEO of Trust for America’s Health, says the annual “Ready or Not” report placed 21 states and Washington, D.C. in the high-performance tier for emergency readiness, Iowa and 12 other states in the middle-performance tier, and 16 states in the bottom tier.

“Some areas of strong performance in Iowa include that the state has the capacity to expand its healthcare capacity, as well as public health laboratory capacity in times of emergency,” Gracia says. “The state also has accreditation for public health, and the state increased its public health funding.”

Iowa was also in the middle tier in last year’s report, as she says the state could do more to be better prepared for future challenges.

“Where there are opportunities for improvement are also seeking and gaining accreditation in emergency management as well as improvements with regards to flu vaccination,” Gracia says. “Flu vaccination is about 50% for the state, and our national goal and target is 70%.”

The nation’s emergency preparedness has improved in some areas, Gracia says, while public health officials and policymakers need to do more to strengthen health emergency preparedness — and Iowa could do better, too.

“Another area is in patient safety, and the patient safety and performance of hospital ratings,” Gracia says. “Only about 9% had an ‘A’ grade in terms of patient safety, so those are some areas and indicators for the state for opportunities for improvement.” Only about a quarter of all hospitals nationwide have that “A” rating.

Gracia says a majority of states have made preparations to expand healthcare and public health laboratory capacity during an emergency, but she says the report also found too few people are vaccinated against seasonal flu and too few workers have access to paid time off.

See the full report HERE.

Lawmakers seek more info on governor’s proposed business tax cut

News

March 14th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A bill to reduce the taxes Iowa businesses pay INTO the state fund that pays OUT unemployment benefits is advancing in the House, but Republican Representative Dave Deyoe of Nevada says they’re .waiting on a detailed analysis of the bill’s impact. “If the math doesn’t work, we’re not going to do it as is,” Deyoe says. Governor Kim Reynolds proposed this tax cut in January. Deyoe says lawmakers want a Legislative Service Agency analysis so they can be assured that when unemployment rises during a recession, business taxes won’t have to be raised to keep the Unemployment Trust Fund solvent.

Nick Lanning is a lobbyist for the trade union that represents electrical workers. He says with recent John Deere layoffs and the closure of the Tyson plant in Perry, now is not the time to make dramatic changes in the state’s Unemployment Trust Fund. “Let’s consider all the factors we have here before we do something that could have long term effects,'” Lanning says. Iowa Association of Business and Industry lobbyist J-D Davis says the association backs the bill AND the drive to get more information about its impact.

“We have some of the very same concerns that have expressed by labor about the solvency of the fund. We want to make sure that an economic downturn can be survived and the fund is there for the purpose it’s there,” Davis says. “…I think moving the bill is going to get you the information you need to know about next steps.”

The bill cleared a House subcommittee this (Thursday) morning and will be considered by the House Ways and Means Committee next week.

Cass County Engineer’s Office update on Highland Road over Indian Creek

News

March 14th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County (IA) Engineer’s Office reports construction will resume March 20th, on Highland Road (G-30), over Indian Creek. The bridge will be closed and a signed detour via Cass County Road M-56, U-S Highway 6, and County Road M-47 back to G-30, will be provided.

Engineering Technician Jason Mitchell says the project should be complete in approximately four to five (4-5) weeks.