(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association has released an economic study that says using carbon dioxide pipelines at ethanol plants will increase profits and keep most of the industry from leaving the state.

Dave Miller of Decision Innovation Solutions wrote the report which says taking advantage of federal tax credits for reducing carbon in ethanol would dramatically improve margins. “We built the industry on operating margins in the 20 to 30 cents a gallon range on gross operating margins. Our estimate is that with a 45-Z tax credit that gross operating margin basically doubles,” he says.

The carbon dioxide has to be taken out to make ethanol more carbon friendly to compete with other fuels. Miller says without carbon sequestration, the ethanol production in Iowa would move out to another state who would take advantage of the tax credits. “From about 2007 to 11, we built the Iowa ethanol industry, and in about that same period, that whole industry could move, probably not far beyond the borders of Iowa,” Miller says.

Monte Shaw. (IRFA photo)

Iowa Renewable Fuels Association president, Monte Shaw, says Iowa farmers could still sell their corn to ethanol plants but would have to pay to ship it. “When you are shipping corn instead of adding value to it where you are dropping it off — you are not going to get the same money — about ten billion dollars in lost revenues,” Shaw says. Miller says pipelines are the best way to ship the carbon dioxide to keep the costs down and allow the plants to expand.

Dave Miller. (IRFA photo)

“It is an additional $2.16 billion a year that would flow into the state. We have not done an economic impact study on what all the secondary and tertiary effects are of that,” Miller says. But he says the second impact would exist and stimulate substantial economic activity within the state.

Shaw says other carbon capture options for ethanol plants take time to develop and Iowa could lose 75% of its plants without the pipelines. “You know, we’re in a competition to produce low-carbon transportation options. And so this technology — this carbon capture and sequestration technology is the single biggest and best tool we have to keep liquid fuels like ethanol, competitive with electric vehicles going forward,” Shaw says.

Shaw says he understands the concerns about pipelines but says overall pipelines have an incredibly safe track record. And when it comes to payment for easements — Shaw says the pipeline companies are willing to negotiate. “I have yet to run into a landowner who has a pipeline, proposed to go across their land, who has engaged with one of the companies. And then who I’ve talked to, that said, ‘you know, they really just weren’t offering a fair price’.” Shaw says.

Shaw says he’s familiar with one negotiation near his hometown and wishes the pipeline was running across his land because it would have been about the best way for his farm to make money for the next five years. Shaw says landowners should see what they can get for their easements.”We’re not saying hey, ram these things through, we’re saying ‘fair and equitable’. So we urge landowners not to listen to some of the misinformation that’s definitely been put out there about these pipelines. But to sit down and talk, bring your list of questions, bring your list of concerns,” he says.

Shaw says if we can’t have low-carbon biofuels, we’re going to be stuck with no choice other than electronic vehicles, and he says there should be competition and options for consumers.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds is asking legislators to pass a bill that would forbid state agencies or pension funds from doing business with investment firms that boycott gun makers or the fossil fuel industry.

“An unfortunate trend has emerged in prominent investment firms that prioritize political agendas and woke ideology above their client’s returns,” Molly Severn, an aide to the governor, said during a Senate subcommittee hearing. “Environmental, Social and Governance or ESG practices are not only legally suspect, they are financially reckless.”

Richard Rogers of the Iowa Firearms Coalition said an international bank recently notified a prominent Iowa gun manufacturer and dealer it would no longer process its credit card sales because it was a gun business.

“If financial industries were to redline on the basis of race, creed, color (and) so on it would be both immoral and illegal,” Rogers said. “I don’t think they should be able to redline entire industries that are lawful and moral.”

A spokesman for the state universities as well as managers of the Iowa Public Employees Retirement System and a pension for fund peace officers said they have not invested in companies that are targeted by the governor’s bill.

Similar bills are being considered in other states as Republicans criticize firms making investment decisions based on the way a business approaches issues like climate change. However, Republican lawmakers in Mississippi recently rejected the plan. The Mississippi bill, just like the one Iowa’s governor has proposed, would require publication of a list of financial institutions the state is not to do business with because of their investment policies.

(Radio Iowa) – The University of Iowa will ask the Board of Regents to approve a housing master plan that includes building a new dorm and selling one that it currently owns.

The five-year plan includes building a new residence hall that would accommodate 250 to 400 students and is estimated to cost between 40 and 60 million dollars. The plan calls for funding some of the cost of the new dorm by selling the Mayflower Residence Hall.

Mayflower Residence Hall. (U-I graphic)

Mayflower was built in 1968 and at the time was a private apartment. It is one mile from campus and the U-I says it is the last chosen residence hall and the first one the students transfer from.

The plan the U-I will present to the Board next week also includes continued renovation of the current residence halls.

[Updated 6:10-a.m.] (Colwell, Iowa) – Six people were injured Tuesday afternoon, when the Amish buggy they were riding in was struck from behind by a pickup truck. The accident happened near Colwell in Floyd County, at around 3:40-p.m.  According to the Iowa State Patrol, a 1998 Chevy 1500 pickup driven by 66-year-old Jim Whitmarsh, of Charles City, was traveling east on 140th Street near 3160 140th, when it struck the eastbound buggy driven by 32-year-old Lavern Stauffer, of Charles City.

The impact caused the buggy’s occupants to be ejected. The injured, included Lavern and 27-year-old Teresa Stauffer, and the following children ranging in age from 0 to six-years of age: three females – ages 0, 2 & 6, and 1 male, age 4. All of the injured were transported by ambulance to the Floyd County Memorial Hospital in Charles City.

The accident remains under investigation. The Patrol was assisted by the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office, Colwell Fire, Floyd Fire, AMR Ambulance and Chickasaw EMS.

(Radio Iowa) – There’s a song lyric about “looking for love in all the wrong places” and on this Valentine’s Day, many Iowans are doing exactly that. Sonya Sellmeyer, a consumer advocate at the Iowa Insurance Division, says romance scams are on the rise, especially on this holiday. She says it’s important to take steps to protect yourself to make sure your dream of a new relationship doesn’t become a nightmare that’ll break your heart — and your bank account.

“We do want all Iowans to be aware of this problem,” Sellmeyer says. “We get a lot of complaints here at the Iowa Insurance Division from individuals who have been scammed in these romance scams by people usually that they meet online. We want to get the warning out to all Iowans so that no one else falls victim.”

While many millions of people use online dating apps, scammers use those same apps, pretending to be attracted to their targets. Sellmeyer says you have to be very wary and pay attention to warning signs. “Check them out. Know that if they’re refusing to meet you in person, they’re probably a scammer,” Sellmeyer says. “If they say that they live overseas, they could be a scammer. There’s always those excuses why they’re not meeting you in person. Those are big red flags.”

She says the rise of digital ecosystems is allowing romance scams to flourish in new ways, with scammers even using online games to try to develop fake romantic relationships and gain the victims’ trust. “Be careful what you’re putting on social media,” Sellmeyer says. “You’re putting information about yourself out there which opens the door to those scammers to walk right in when they’ve got that information about you.”

Scammers use the illusion of romance or intimacy to manipulate or steal from the victim and many of us know people who’ve been duped and dumped. “Anyone can be a victim. You can be smart, you can be a professional, it doesn’t matter,” Sellmeyer says. “These scammers, this is what they do for a living. We all like to think we’re good at our job, right? They’re good at their job. They know how to build the trust, and they know how to pull at those heartstrings and pull off that scam.”

If you or someone you know has been scammed, report it to the Iowa Insurance Division at 877-955-1212.

(Radio Iowa) – A Senate subcommittee has approved legislation that would change a legal standard for lawsuits involving employees who challenge workplace drug and alcohol testing at their worksite. J.D. Davis, a lobbyist for the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, said under current law, it’s up to businesses to prove they are innocent if a worker sues over drug testing protocols, “so what this does is flip it back to the way we normally do jurisprudence, that if you’re going to make an allegation, you have to prove your allegation.”

Nick Laning, a lobbyist for the Iowa Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, suggested that will make it very difficult for employees to challenge drug testing policies or the validity of results. “How is a low level employee able to make that argument against an employer?” Laning asked. “How do that make that argument when a lot of the evidence sits with the employer to start because they’re the one that did the drug test.”

Peter Hird, a lobbyist for the Iowa Federation of Labor, said it’s a big change. “It’s going to be really hard for an employee to even get to that point,” Hird said. “They’re going to have to hire an attorney, do some fact findings and discovery, where an employer actually has a lot of that information to begin with.”

Another part of the bill would let notices about drug testing be sent to employees electronically. Lisa Davis Cook, a lobbyist for the Iowa Association of Justice – the group that represents trial lawyers, said some employees might miss important notices about drug tests. “We see this happening in such a way that you’re checking all the boxes on a new employee form and you’re checking, ‘Yeah, I’ll get electronic notices,’ not realizing something as important as a drug test could be sent to you electronically,” Davis Cook said.

Republican Senator Adrian Dickey of Packwood, who owns a trucking company, said his employees are over-the-road drivers who may not be home to get their mail for a couple of weeks. “They’ve asked if I could just call them up and tell them or email them or whatever it may be, so I’ve heard that request for years,” Dickey said. “And for that issue alone, I’m happy to sign off on this.”

The bill also would let businesses designate which employees are in safety-sensitive positions, so they’re subject to drug testing. The proposal is a response to a 2021 Iowa Supreme Court ruling that Casey’s could not require random drug testing for all warehouse employees by classifying all of their jobs as safety sensitive.

ATLANTIC, IOWA – Cass Health CEO Brett Altman was recently recognized as one of nation’s “80 Rural Hospital CEOs to Know” by Becker’s Hospital Review.

According to Becker’s, “CEOs at the helm of these important community institutions have many responsibilities to make sure their hospitals thrive. The executives featured on this list have put their heart and soul into ensuring their communities have access to the best healthcare services possible. While rural hospitals across the country have faced closure in recent years, these leaders have developed a model for not only surviving but thriving.”

Altman said he was grateful to be recognized. “This is a great honor for Cass Health,” Altman said. “While I am honored to be a part of this list, I must give full credit to the entire team at Cass Health that delivers nationally recognized, award-winning health care every day of the year.

CCHS CEO Brett Altman

We see our staff continually rise to the occasion and go above and beyond to exceed patient expectations and our goals. The things we have achieved in the last few years were all major team initiatives. Without the amazing, hardworking team at Cass Health, as well as committed board members and dedicated volunteers, we would not be where we are today.”

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans in the legislature are proposing a variety of ideas to simplify and reduce property taxes. Republican Dan Dawson of Council Bluffs is chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, the panel that drafts tax policy. “We didn’t get here overnight and we’re not going to be able to change this overnight, but at least we are going to start us on the process,” Dawson says. Dawson has introduced a bill that would double a property tax credit homeowners may claim for the house they occupy. “We double the homestead benefit to $10,000,” Dawson says. “We double the military benefit to $4000. We increase the senior property tax freeze that we did two years ago up to 300% of poverty level.”

Increasing those property tax credits reduces revenue for local governments, so Dawson also is proposing a change in the one percent local option sales taxes being collected around the state. It would become a statewide tax and his bill then would send one-and-a-quarter percent of all state sales tax revenue to cities and counties. “We have to diversify local government spending away from property taxes,” Dawson says. Dawson has another bill that gradually consolidates property tax levies that fund local government operations. He says the goal is to get rid of most special levies. Then all city and county governments would operate under the general levy rate on property tax assessments set in 1975. However, Dawson says there would be some exceptions, plus a yearly growth rate would be allowed to account for inflation.

“Here’s what it means for the average property owner out there: better restrictions on how their local entities spend those monies,” Dawson says. “…They should be able to see long term wise at least some stabilization of their property taxes, if not relief, potentially.” A senate subcommittee is scheduled for late this (Tuesday) afternoon to review part of Dawson’s property tax relief plans. House Republicans have proposed different ways to reduce property taxes. Governor Kim Reynolds has made a very specific proposal, to reduce taxes for child care centers by taxing them as residential rather than commercial property. The governor says she’s anxious to sign a wider property tax reduction plan from the Republican led legislature.

“I’m a heck yes. I’m just kind of letting them take the lead and then we’ll see where it goes and then that would be probably part of my package next year if we don’t go far enough or we’re not able to get done what we need to get done,” Reynolds says. “It is the most hated tax.” Governor Reynolds has been saying getting rid of the state income tax is a priority, but she says reducing how much local governments collect in property taxes is also a goal. “We have to figure out something different. The hard part is people want the services. We have a lot of government across the state when you think about city, county, school, state — so we’ve got to figure that out and just figure out how we can still provide services, but we have to streamline the way we do it and we’ve got to reduce the property tax burden, especially on our seniors,” Reynolds says. “It’s just too much.”

Reynolds made her comments during a recent interview with Radio Iowa.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reports one of his officers, 40-year-old Charles Leroy Dailey, was arrested on Monday, February 13, 2023,  in Monroe County, Florida on two, misdemeanor counts of domestic battery causing bodily harm. Authorities say he allegedly punched his girlfriend outside of a bar. Dailey is currently being held in the Key West, Florida jail facility.

Chief Brothers said Dailey has been an officer with the Clarinda Police Department since November 2020. He will be placed on administrative leave when he returns to Iowa and that there will also be an internal investigation.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, authorized a participation agreement to receive additional National Opiod Settlement funds in the amount of $1,800. Board Chair Steve Baier explained..

By signing the agreement, the County continues to be eligible for any future, Opiod Settlement funds that are released. The Board also approved a Class-C Retail Alcohol License for the Griswold Golf and Country Club, and, they heard from County Engineer Trent Wolken, who mentioned they are trying to keep up with the changing road conditions.

He said right now they’re just trying to repair the “bad spots.” In the Spring they will conduct a more concentrated effort to lay down heavy rock where needed. In other Secondary Roads Department news…

The Supervisors spent a considerable amount of time discussing the Compensation Board’s recommendation for a 10-percent increase in salary for County Employees, but they took no action, while awaiting additional details and/or options to the recommendations. The Board will continue with discussion on the matter during their meeting next week.