DES MOINES- The Department of Management, Office of the Chief Information Officer is excited to announce more than 50 public town hall style meetings to get feedback from everyday Iowans on digital services, including broadband, in their area. We want to hear  from Iowans of all walks of life on how they use the internet and digital services in general. If you ever felt like the digital world is passing you by, for whatever reason, this is your chance to speak up and help Iowa identify ways to help you and your community.

Attendees will hear a short presentation on digital services followed by a discussion with the audience on the barriers and potential solutions for full participation in the digital aspects of society. All meetings will start at 6 pm at the designated locations and are anticipated to last about 90 minutes.

In this area, the town hall-style meetings will be held in:

• Atlantic, April 11, Iowa Western Community College, 705 Walnut St, Atlantic, IA 50022
• Carroll, May 9, DMACC 906 N. Grant Road Knott Commons, Carroll, IA 51401
• Clarinda, April 3, Lied Public Library, 100 E Garfield St, Clarinda, IA 51632
• Council Bluffs, March 29, Council Bluffs Public Library, Meeting Room B, 400 Willow Ave Council Bluffs, IA 51503
• Creston, April 12, Creston Public Library, 200 W Howard St, Creston, IA 50801
• Denison, May 8, Denison Public Library, 1403 1st Ave S, Denison, IA 51442
• Guthrie Center, May 10, Guthrie Center Public Library, 400 Grand St, Guthrie Center, IA 50115
• Red Oak, April 10, Red Oak Public Library, 400 N 2nd St, Red Oak, IA 51566
• Shenandoah, May 11, Shenandoah Public Library, 201 S Elm St, Shenandoah, IA 51601
• Winterset, March 29, Winterset Public Library, 123 N 2nd St, Winterset, IA 50273

For more information, please contact broadband@iowa.gov.

If you need to request a reasonable accommodation, please contact Maria Guevara at maria.guevara@iowa.gov by no later than at least 7 days before the event you will attend.

(Creston, Iowa) – One person suffered possible/unknown injuries during a partial, single-vehicle rollover accident this (Thursday) morning, in Union County. The Sheriff’s Office reports a 2008 Chevy Tahoe driven by 55-year-old Sandra Sue Sickels, of Creston, was traveling east on Highway 34 at around 8:14-a.m., when her SUV struck the guard rail of a bridge. The vehicle then went out of control. It left the road and ended-up on the driver’s side in the ditch, with air bag deployment.

Sickels complained of head pain but denied medical treatment from EMS. She said she would travel to the Greater Regional Medical Center in Creston to be checked out. Damage from the crash amounted to $3,000.

March 9, 2023 (Des Moines) — The spring/summer edition of the Iowa Travel Guide is now available to inspire travelers who want to plan their Iowa road trip. The free 140-page guide can be ordered online at traveliowa.com, by phone at 800.345.IOWA or picked up at any of Iowa’s Welcome Centers. An online version is also available.

The publication includes features on new events and attractions for 2023, RAGBRAI’s 50th anniversary, the Iowa State Fair, the Loess Hills, stops along the Lincoln Highway, golf courses and adventures on wheels. The guide also contains suggested attractions, restaurants, lodging properties, events and an itinerary for each of the five travel areas as well as campground listings. The cover features Rail Explorers in Boone.

“Demand for travel continues to be strong,” said Amy Zeigler, state tourism manager for the Iowa Tourism Office. “According to the US Travel Association, nearly half of Americans with travel plans agree that taking time off is more important than ever and more than half say travel is a priority in their budget. The redesigned Iowa Travel Guide is a great inspiration piece to encourage people to visit our state.”

The Iowa Tourism Office, part of the Iowa Economic Development Authority, works closely with community partners, attractions and events, to promote the state’s beautifully vast scenery and unique history. Tourism in Iowa generated $1.8 billion in tax revenues in 2021, with more than $1 billion supporting state and local governments, while employing a total of 65,000 people statewide. For more information on everything Iowa has to offer tourists, visit traveliowa.com.

(Radio Iowa) – The University of Iowa’s Athletics Department will be covering the entire cost of this week’s legal settlement with ex-football players. The announcement came at an early (Thursday) morning House subcommittee meeting on a bill to force the university to make that move, rather than use two million dollars in taxpayer money to cover nearly half of the payout. Keith Saunders is chief government relations officer for the board that oversees the university. He read legislators a statement from University of Iowa president Barbara Wilson.

Wilson expressed appreciation to Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird for negotiating the settlement and to the State Appeal Board for approving the agreement on Tuesday. These were Wilson’s first public comments on the settlement. Saunders read all three sentences aloud, including this final sentence from Wilson.

An statement from the university emphasized that the Athletics Department “is a self-sustaining unit that does not receive tuition revenue or taxpayer support. Representative Carter Nordman, a Republican from Adel, says taxpayers should never have been required to cover this.

Nordman said also…

Attorneys for a dozen former University of Iowa players who alleged the Hawkeye football program was a racially hostile environment will be paid about half of the settlement and the 12 players will split the rest equally.

(Radio Iowa) – Books with obscene or graphic sexual content would have to be removed from the libraries in Iowa schools if a bill that’s cleared the Iowa House becomes law. Republican Representative Brook Boden of Indianola says the bill makes it clear sexually explicit content is not age appropriate for students. “I honestly cannot believe that this is a bill that we need to pass, but unfortunately the books that contain images and passages exactly with these sex acts…have been found in Iowa schools,” Boden says. Sixty House Republicans voted for the bill. Three Republicans and all Democrats in the House voted against it. Representative Elinor Levin, a Democrat from Iowa City, says she’s part of the first generation who started learning about sex from the internet.

“Our kids are going to ask questions,” Levin said. “Let’s ensure they have access to good models, as selected by educators, not just the uncurated internet world they have in their pockets.” Representative Sue Cahill, a Democrat from Marshalltown, is a licensed teacher librarian.  “I know the process that we as teacher librarians use to vet our books,” Cahill says. “Yes, there may be some passages that, taken out of context, may seem inappropriate.” Cahill says it’s the literary value of the book as a whole that puts it on the school library shelf. Boden says the bill provides new guardrails for school library books.

“Parents may still read the books of their choice to their own children,” she said. “We are simply setting age appropriate guidelines for K-12 settings, making sure that we protect our children.” Governor Kim Reynolds has a proposal of her own on school library book policies and the Senate has not yet debated the issue.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Washington Elementary School Playground Project in Atlantic, is moving forward, thanks to action taken during Wednesday evening’s meeting of the Atlantic School Board. A public hearing was first held on the proposed contract documents (Plans, specifications, and form of contract) and estimated cost for the playground improvements, during which there were no objections or comments.

The project consists of limited pavement demolition, removal and disposal of existing play equipment and tile surfacing, installation of new equipment, installation and repair of the concrete base, installation of new play surfacing, and site restoration. Snyder and Associates are the engineers for the project. Snyder’s Dave Sturm mentioned bids were received and opened Tuesday. The engineer’s estimated project cost was just under $700,000. Sturm said there were two bids. Both came in well under the estimate. The Board approved a bid from Caliber Concrete of Adair, for $579,442.

Construction will start in mid-July. The goal is to have it finished before the start of the 2023-24 school year.

In other news, the Atlantic School Board passed a Resolution to consider continued participation in the Instructional Support Levy (ISL), which expires June 30, 2024. A renewal of the Levy would allow it to continue until June 30, 2029. The Levy is used to help support classroom curriculum. The District will receive $748,572 from the ISL during the 2023 Fiscal Year.

A Public Hearing on the ISL renewal will be held March 29, 5:30-p.m. The School Board Wednesday, approved a 33-cent PPEL (Physical Plant and Equipment Levy), the funds for which are used for building repairs, vehicles and technology.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic School District received good news, Wednesday afternoon, with regard to a potential Welding Apprenticeship Program. Superintendent Steve Barber said they received an e-mail from the Department of Labor….

In December, Mr. Barber reported the District has an internal team that has worked extensively to get a registered apprenticeship in the area of welding.

The team tasked with bringing the program to AHS is planning to travel to Pella to learn more about their program.

The Welding Program would be the District’s first apprenticeship program. Once students complete the program, they will receive national credentials.

In other business, Mr. Barber said he’s learned also the new greenhouse should be ready to get growing soon.

In 2021, the Board approved the financial support of up to $100,000 to fund the construction of a new 30 x 48′ Greenhouse on a space south of the Ag room.

(Near Cumberland-Massena, Iowa) – Rescue crews in Cass County were dispatched to a three vehicle accident this morning. The collision occurred at around 8-a.m. near 76686 Richland Road. Dispatch reports indicated one-person had an arm injury. Cumberland and Massena Fire/Rescue were called to the scene. Additional details are not available,

(Radio Iowa) An Iowa company that plans to make boards out of the leftover stalks and leaves from corn known as stover, finally plans to open. Cornboard founder and C-E-O Lane Segestrom, says the original start up was delayed by the supply chain and other issues.

He says they will make pallets out of the corn-based boards.

Segestrom says it is great to finally see things move forward.

Segestrom talked about the plant’s start up Wednesday at a U-S-D-A forum on bio-based products.

(Radio Iowa) Governor Kim Reynolds has named an eastern Iowa native who’s been a leader in the national school choice movement to be the next director of the Iowa Department of Education.

Chad Aldis is a 1990 graduate of Clinton High School. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he worked for Florida legislators, then as an administrator in the Florida Department of Education. Aldis then moved to Ohio and was executive director of School Choice Ohio for nearly four years. For the past nine-and-a-half years, he’s been with a national think tank that advocates for charter schools and the kind of state funded savings accounts for private school expenses that Iowa’s governor recently signed into law.

Governor Reynolds says this is a pivotal time for Iowa’s education system and Aldis will help lead reform efforts. Aldis says he shares the governor’s vision and will focus on ensuring all students leave high school with the knowledge and skills to prepare them for college or a career.

Aldis earned a degree in economics from the University of Mississippi and a law degree from Florida State University. Aldis is replacing Ann Lebo who announced recently she was resigning as Iowa Department of Education director after nearly three years in the position. His first day on the job is March 15th.