(Radio Iowa) – The League of Women Voters of Iowa says removing the media from the press benches on the Iowa Senate floor prevent the public from having first-hand knowledge of what’s happening in the Senate. Terese Grant, the organization’s president, led a rally inside the state Capitol today (Wednesday).

“The League of Women Voters wants the press to be able to have direct access to legislators so that all Iowans have the most accurate information about the actions and decisions that are made on a daily basis in the Iowa Senate,” Grant said. Linda Serra Hagedorn, past president of the League of Women Voters of Ames and Story County, says the decision by Senate Republicans to restrict the media’s access to the legislative process could escalate into larger attacks on the First Amendment.

“Open and transparent is the only way for the government to proceed to be legitimate,” she said. “…The journalists are our ears and our eyes to know what is taking place in this beautiful building. We must know, we deserve to know and we demand to know. We ask for a system where access to our lawmakers is restored.” Representatives of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa and the Iowa Capitol Press Association also spoke at the rally. House G-O-P leaders allow reporters and photographers who cover the legislature daily into areas called “press benches” on the House floor.

A spokesman for Senate Republicans says the proliferation of non-traditional media and First Amendment concerns make it difficult for the Senate to define media access, so journalists are no longer allowed in workspaces on the Senate floor. One speaker at today’s (Wednesday’s) rally says reporters are being sequestered in the rafters of the Senate — in the upper level of a third floor seating gallery.

(Radio Iowa) – Advocates in Iowa are stunned over the decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or C-M-S, to deny coverage for an entire class of drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Lauren Livingston, spokeswoman for the Iowa Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, says the blanket decision has tremendous implications beyond the initial drug, Aduhelm (AD-jew-helm).

“They will require people who want to try out these treatments in the future to have to go through a clinical trial in order to receive the treatment,” Livingston says, “and the main problem is, this really restricts access to the majority of people.” The draft decision says all future F-D-A-approved treatments in this class of drugs, regardless of clinical trial results and what the F-D-A recommends, will -not- be covered except in another clinical trial.

“They’ve never made a decision to cover an entire class of drugs based on just one drug,” Livingston says, “and many people aren’t even near an institution that does clinical trials, so it makes it really hard for people to get access to these treatments.” Aduhelm is showing promise in the treatment of early-stage Alzheimer’s and for others with mild cognitive impairment. For C-M-S to deny coverage, Livingston says, is putting concerns about money over the lives of patients.

“Biogen, the drug maker, originally had it priced at $56,000,” Livingston says. “They did get a lot of pushback from the Alzheimer’s Association and many others and they did cut the price to $28,000 a year, but that’s still far too expensive for the majority of people to be able to afford out-of-pocket without coverage.” Many other drugs used in treating other afflictions are quite expensive and -are- covered by C-M-S, she notes.

A statement from the national association’s CEO says: “People living with Alzheimer’s disease deserve the same access to therapies given to those living with other conditions like cancer, heart disease and HIV/AIDS. For those in the Administration to treat those with Alzheimer’s disease differently than those with other diseases is simply unacceptable.” About six-million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s, including some 66-thousand Iowans.

(Radio Iowa) – The latest data from the Iowa Department of Public Health shows 61 percent of the patients in Iowa hospitals were admitted for treatment of Covid. All Iowa hospital patients are screened for Covid and about a thousand patients have tested positive for the virus. Governor Kim Reynolds says a New York Times map shows the entire state of Iowa — like the rest of the country — is a Covid hot spot. “No matter what you do, no matter what’s happening, omicron is very contagious and it is spreading,” Reynolds says. “…We continue to talk about the importance of getting the vaccine and the booster. You know, it’s not as effective with omicron, but it prevents serious illness and it’s keeping them out of the hospital.”

Reynolds stayed home because she was sick last Thursday and Friday and had no public events Monday either. The governor says it appears she’s recovering from a bad cold that she probably picked up from the nursing home where her mother is being cared for.  “It’s not Covid,” Reynolds says. “I tested again this morning, so we’ll continue to monitor that.” Reynolds took a Covid test last Thursday that came back negative as well.  “You can tell in my voice that I still have a little bit of the cold,” Reynolds says. “…I talk to people that it lasts for three weeks. I talk to people that it lasts for a month and then the next day they wake up and it’s gone.”

Reynolds says a lot of her symptoms have been similar to Covid, so that’s why she’s taking the tests. “We want to make sure that we’re safe and it’s not that,” Reynolds says, “and so I have a lot of grandkids and I have a mom that has the flu at the nursing home where I was helping, so I think that’s probably the source of where I got what I got.” A spokesman for Reynolds says no one else in the governor’s office has caught whatever bug Reynolds got. Reynolds says as a public figure, it’s hard to cancel events like she did last Thursday and Friday. “I spend a lot of time telling people when they’re sick, stay home, and so I decided I’d maybe better take my own advice and just stay home,” Reynolds says. “So that’s probably the best thing you can do is, if you’re sick, stay home.”

Reynolds spoke with reporters after attending an hour-long event in the statehouse rotunda this (Wednesday) morning.

(Radio Iowa) -Forest City-based Winnebago Industries has unveiled a concept motor-home that is electrically powered. Winnebago’s director of advanced technology, Jaime Sorenson, says the battery configuration will meet the needs of a majority of new R-V buyers who prefer to make trips under 200 miles.  “At the core of the e-R-V is an innovative all-electric power system built around an 86 kilowatt-hour high-voltage battery package that delivers power to the drivetrain and supplies electricity for all the onboard systems. The e-R-V can readily be charged almost anywhere – home, campgrounds, dedicated charging stations – in as little as 45 minutes,” Sorenson says.

He says a user will notice several differences right away when compared to the traditional motorhome. “There’s no LP on the vehicle, there’s no generator on the vehicle. It’s very vibration-free, very quiet. It’s very easy to maintain and very easy to drive,” he says. Winnebago’s vice president of advanced technology, Shailendra Singh says this is a brand new design, and the electric vehicle is built on a van chassis.  “It’s built on a chassis that is called a Ford Transit.

Winnebago E-RV

But what we’ve done with the Ford Transit is working with an outside company — not with Ford — we’ve put in an all-electric drive train. So this is a vehicle that is a battery electric vehicle. It has no fossil fuels, no generator, no fossil fuels whatsoever on board,” Singh says.

He says the experience will be better with all the appliances because the high voltage makes them more efficient, and all of the system controls are integrated. Singh says it is a concept vehicle and they have several things to work on before it will be available to customers. “I would see this as being a while before it is ready — it’s definitely not this year that we are going to do it — but working with our business unit partners in the company, we are going to be ready when we are ready,” Singh says. “So, we are in no hurry to launch it before we are ready to.”

Sorenson says they aren’t sure yet what the electric R-V will cost. “The best way we can answer this is that this is a concept. We’re very early in the stages of bringing this product to the market. I think what we need to focus on more is building that compelling value for the customer more than discussing the cost at this point,” according to Sorenson.

Winnebago made the announcement at the Florida R-V Super Show currently going on in Tampa.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Public Health today (Wednesday) reported 116 additional COVID-19 deaths. That brings the total to 8,317 since the start of the pandemic. IDPH reports 36,823 positive tests in the last seven days, up slightly from 36,731 on Monday. The state’s 14-day positivity climbed from 24.3% to 24.8%.

The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 increased from 953 to 991. Of those hospitalized with the virus, 64% are unvaccinated, while 72% of those listed in intensive care with the virus are unvaccinated. The number of Iowa long-term care facilities reporting a COVID-19 outbreak continues to rise. There are now 63 facilities reporting an outbreak, up from 56 on Monday.

(*UPDATED at 6:45-p.m. w/a statement from Tyson Foods) STORM LAKE—Early this (Wednesday) morning, wastewater flowed into the city of Storm Lake’s storm sewers for less than an hour. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources said the incident originated at Tyson Foods, 1009 Richland Drive, wastewater began flowing into a storm sewer about 2:25 a.m. The discharge ended about half an hour later at 2:58 a.m. The likely cause was a pump failure in the plant at 1009 Richland Drive.

The storm sewer empties into a storm water detention basin about a block north of Storm Lake, where Tyson staff began pumping it up. Of the estimated 16,500 gallons released, some of it reached the lake. Tyson staff are working to estimate how much. Tyson and the city of Storm Lake collected water samples for testing. DNR staff indicated they do not expect environmental issues given the small amount that reached the lake.

DNR will monitor the cleanup and consider appropriate enforcement actions. Wednesday evening, Kelly Hellbusch, with Tyson Corporate Communications issued a statement to KJAN, saying “We took immediate action to contain the accidental release of water from the plant and are working cooperatively with city and state officials as we continue to implement our containment and cleanup measures and further evaluate the matter.”

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A preliminary hearing in the OWI/1st offense case against Cass County (Iowa) Attorney, 46-year old Vanessa E. Strazdas, will be held in Atlantic on February 4th, at 9-a.m.  Strazdas was arrested on the serious misdemeanor charge early Sunday morning. She was booked into the Cass County jail and released a few hours later on her Own Recognizance. Online court records show her case assignment will be handled by Judge James Heckerman.

Strazdas has held the job of Cass County Attorney since Feb. 2019.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says there are a few bad actors in any industry, but she disagrees with a general assessment that the media and Iowa teachers are pursuing a sinister agenda. Senate President Jake Chapman, a fellow Republican, used the phrase “sinister agenda” during a speech in the senate last week. “It has become increasingly evident that we live in a world in which many, including our media, wish to confuse, misguide and deceive us, calling good evil and evil good,” Chapman said. “…The attack on our children is no longer hidden…We have some teachers who are disguising sexually obscene material as desired subject matter and profess it as artistic and literary in value.”

Reynolds says when parents raise concerns about X-rated books, her focus is to ensure administrators and school boards respond and, if they don’t, the state Board of Education will. The governor’s also distancing herself from Chapman’s remarks.  “I’m not going to take any ownership of that. I hope he just misspoke and he’ll correct that,” Reynolds says. “But I think everything that I say, that I’ve said and done — not just said, but done — should let teachers know how much I appreciate (them) and especially appreciate them being in the classroom when so many other teachers across this country did not.” Reynolds says there are individuals who hurt the reputation of many industries.  “There’s bad politicians. There’s bad cops — every sector,” she says. “There’s bad media people.”

But Reynolds says she isn’t accusing teachers of having a sinister agenda and points to her support of teacher leadership and compensation program and the thousand dollar retention bonus for teachers she just announced last week. “I’m the governor of the state of Iowa,” Reynolds says. “…I don’t hear anything in any of that that says I’m not grateful to the teachers.”

Reynolds made her remarks during an interview with Radio Iowa. Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls say Chapman’s hateful words should be disavowed by all Republicans. Wahls says the governor should pledge to veto Chapman’s proposal to charge teachers and teacher librarians with a felony if certain books are used in class or are in the school library.

(Villisca, Iowa) – No injuries were reported following a house fire early this (Wednesday) morning, in Villisca. According to reports, the Villisca fire fighters dispatched to the scene at 407 E. 6th Street at 12:10-a.m., arrived about five-minutes later, to find the home’s occupants had been evacuated, and smoke was emitting from the front door. The flames apparently began in the basement, where a space heater was located next to a bed.

The blaze spread within the walls into the first floor kitchen and living room. Crews quickly knocked down the basement flames and contained the remaining hot spots to the kitchen/living room walls. The flames were extinguished and clean-up operations wrapped-up by around 2-a.m.

The Red Cross was called to assist with four adults and one child of the home. Authorities say while a dollar amount of the damage was not immediately available, the house was still livable, with necessary repairs conducted. Assisting Villisca Fire were crews from Villisca Public Works, Villisca Power, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Villisca Ambulance, Red Oak Rescue, Alliant Energy, and the American Red Cross.

IOWA CITY – The Iowa Department of Corrections, today (Wednesday) said 84-year-old Donald Edward Lanphier was pronounced deceased due to natural causes at 4:46 pm on Sunday, January 16, 2022 at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. He was originally an inmate at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville. Lanphier had been serving a 10 year Special Supervision Sentence 903B.2 (2005) from Mahaska County. His supervision began on December 10, 2020.

Another inmate, 65-year-old Charles Earl Thompson was pronounced deceased due to natural causes at 9:29 pm on Sunday, January 16, 2022 in a hospice room of the Iowa Medical and Classification Center where he had been housed due to chronic illness.  Thompson had been serving a 10-year maximum term for the crimes of Lascivious Acts with Child from Floyd County. His sentence began on February 22, 2021