(Avoca, IA) – Officials with the AHSTW Community School District report the District will host a “Sudden Cardiac Arrest” response drill, next month. The drill on April 17th at 11-a.m. is part of the District’s certification process through Project ADAM. During the drill, the district will collaborate with local first responders and a LifeFlight helicopter team to simulate an emergency response on the AHSTW campus. A certification team from the University of Iowa will be onsite to observe and evaluate the drill. Upon successful completion, AHSTW will be awarded Project ADAM certification.

According to Project ADAM, “Project ADAM was launched to help communities build the systems that give people their best chance of surviving Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Through this program, schools, sporting programs, and community sites can strengthen their readiness with the equipment, training, and response plans needed to act quickly in those first critical minutes.” The program has already contributed to saving lives across the country.

Currently, only 56 individual schools in Iowa hold this certification, representing approximately 3% of schools statewide. At this time, no school districts in Southwest Iowa are Project ADAM certified, making this a significant milestone for the region. AHSTW Director of Technology and School Safety Coordinator Ryan Smith, says “AHSTW believes this certification demonstrates the district’s commitment to preparedness, safety, and the ability to respond effectively in a life-threatening emergency.”

More information about Project ADAM can be found here: https://projectadam.com/About-Adam

(Atlantic,IA) – A Parenting/Caregiver seminar will be held each Monday, in Atlantic, beginning April 6th, at the Ann W. Wickman Child Development Center (703 Linn St.). The P.R.I.C.E seminars are sponsored by Child Care Resource and Referral, Thrivent Financial, and I Care About Kids. PRICE stands for Positivity, Responsibility, Influences, Consequences and Encouragement. The seminars continue each Monday, from April 6th through the 27th, and begin with a light meal from 5:30-until 6-p.m.  The classes will run from 6-until 8-p.m.

Organizers say the seminar is a unique, four-session parenting course designed to teach the basics of positive parenting. The seminar addresses issues of assertive communication, limit setting and follow through, logical consequences, and building self-esteem. Parent/Caregivers have reported feeling better about themselves after finishing the classes, and PRICE enables good parents to become better parents. It also give new, unsure parents support and confidence.

Each of the four session include a set of handouts, lectures and activities. Child Development Home providers, Child Care Center and Foster parents who complete the class, earn eight credit hours of credit. To register, or for more information, call the Ann W. Wickman Child Development Center, at 712-243-2553.

(Radio Iowa) – Insurance companies and other opponents of a temporary state tax increase on H-M-O premiums are urging House members to abandon the idea. Governor Reynolds and Republican lawmakers say the tax increase will qualify Iowa for a matching amount of federal funds that will be used to cover higher costs in Iowa’s Medicaid program. Iowa Taxpayers Association President Nate Ristow says lawmakers would be able to cover the 90 MILLION dollar hole in the Iowa Medicaid budget if the entire state budget hadn’t increased more than five percent this year. “The diversion from responsible budgeting has led us to a point where making up less than 1% of our overall budget in order to cover additional costs in Medicaid apparently requires a tax increase on Iowans and Iowa businesses.”

Scott Sundstrom, a lobbyist for Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, says it’s a tax increase of just over 24 million dollars for Wellmark — and that’s a 115-dollar premium increase for every Iowan covered by the company’s H-M-O. “As we all know health care is incredibly expensive. It it too expensive,” Sundstrom said. “It is a system with lots of problems and costs and this is going to make it worse.” The tax is proposed for Wellmark, as well as the three private insurance companies that manage Iowa Medicaid claims. Matt Chapman of Waukee, an advocate for residents of mobile home parks, says many vulnerable Iowans depend on Medicaid, but those private Managed Care Organizations or M-C-Os aren’t serving their needs.

“I would have no issue with taxing the MCOs at 3.5% if we held them accountable for the rampant denial of services,” Chapman said. Logan Shine, state director for the National Federation of Independent Businesses, says surveys of the group’s members show those that still offer health insurance as an employee benefit believe it’ll soon become unaffordable. “Obviously this legislation does not help that and adds to the growing concern,” Shine said.

The Republican who leads the House Appropriations Committee says Iowa taxpayers shouldn’t have to cover the shortfall in Iowa’s Medicaid program when insurance companies make profits running the program.

DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – Home insurance rates in Iowa increased 28% in the past year – making Iowa the state with the third-highest average rate increase in the nation, a report released Wednesday from Insurify shows.

Insurify predicts rates across the country will continue to increase in 2026, and it pins the increasing frequency of severe weather events as a key contributor to insurance price increases, which on average have risen nearly three times as fast as inflation since 2021.

The average cost of home insurance in Iowa, at $2,802 per year in 2025, remains below the national average. But the report predicts that could change considering the average cost of home insurance in Iowa has gone up by 54% in the past two years. The virtual insurance agency projects the average annual premium for a single-family home in Iowa will increase 4% by the end of 2026.

The report said because of the increase in severe weather across the country, insurers are changing their structures to “shift more financial risk to homeowners” with provisions like hurricane deductibles in certain areas or insuring roofs at cash value, rather than replacement value, in areas prone to hail storms.

The U.S. had $23 billion weather and climate related disasters in 2025, according to a data dashboard at Climate Central, including drought, flooding, wildfires in California and many severe storm cells, some of which hit central states like Iowa with tornadoes, hail and strong winds.

The National Weather Service reported Iowa had 32 tornadoes in 2025, which is below the state’s average of around 50 per year and far below the 125 tornadoes that touched down in 2024.  Premiums across much of the Midwest and Great Plains have risen in recent years, according to the report, because the states are “highly exposed” to convective storms that bring hail, tornadoes and high winds. Because there were no hurricanes that hit the U.S. in 2025, Insurify found that severe convective storms – or thunderstorms – surpassed hurricanes in 2025 as the “costliest driver of global insurer losses” since 2000.

Scientists from across Iowa called on the state in November with their 2025 Iowa Climate Statement, to shift to more renewable energy sources and to update building standards to better cope with mounting insurance premiums. The scientists attributed the rise in insurance premiums to hotter temperatures and more destructive weather events caused by climate change. More storm events mean more home insurance claims are filed and, according to the Insurify report, the cost of repairs has also increased. This translates to insurers charging higher premiums.

Iowa was one of six states that had premiums increase by more than 20% in 2025. Average home insurance premiums increased by 34% in Minnesota, 33% in Colorado, 28% in Iowa, 25% in Nebraska, 24% in Oklahoma and 20% in South Carolina, according to the report. Iowa, however, is not in the top 10 list of states Insurify anticipates will have the highest rate increases in 2026. Those states include California, due to the 2025 wildfires, Nebraska, New Mexico, Georgia, South Carolina, Missouri, Arkansas, Oregon, Illinois and Oklahoma.

Mallory Mooney, the director of sales and service at Insurify, said homeowners and insurers are “getting creative” and looking into products like premium-locking programs, because of the mounting cost. Insurify also suggests homeowners can manage their home insurance premiums by comparing quotes annually and exploring discounts through bundling, customer loyalty programs or for paying premiums in whole. Additionally, an improved credit score can help to lower premium rates.

DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – An Iowa Senate subcommittee advanced a bill Wednesday that would allow for the legal, medical use of psilocybin, the psychoactive compound in “magic mushrooms,” in state-approved psychiatric treatment programs.

House File 978 was passed by the Iowa House in 2025. The measure as passed by the House proposes establishing a Psilocybin Production Establishment Licensing Board within the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. But Rep. John Wills, R-Spirit Lake, who floor managed the measure in the House, said at the Senate subcommittee meeting Wednesday he planned to introduce an amendment to the bill that would add oversight of psilocybin to the existing Medical Cannabidiol Advisory Board, changing the body’s name and adding four additional experts on the substance to the panel.

Wills said he referenced laws establishing similar boards in Utah and Arizona while writing the legislation, in addition to using the framework created by the state’s Medical Cannabidiol Advisory Board while drafting the legislation.

The measure would also grant licenses for both production and administration of psilocybin products for individuals with certain mental health needs, alongside setting new restrictions on accessing the substance,  including an age restriction of 21 and limit of 5,000 patients who can be recommended psilocybin treatment.

Though it was not taken up by the Senate last year, it has remained eligible for consideration as a bill discussed during the two-year window of the 91st General Assembly.

Advocates speaking in favor of the bill said psilocybin has been found effective — when used in clinical environments with psychiatric support — to help people dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder. During House debate on the bill in 2025, Wills said he believed this treatment could provide an avenue for veterans and others dealing with PTSD who have not found success with currently available treatments.

Wills told senators Wednesday that from speaking with veterans and experts, his understanding is that psilocybin taken in a medical setting can help people form new reactions to stimulus and events that are PTSD triggers. Lobbyists with national veterans organizations including Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions and the ALEC Veterans and Military Affairs Task Force spoke in favor of the bill, saying similar programs have been implemented successfully in other states and recent studies show that these treatments are effective.

Wills said he and other supporters were concerned that waiting for federal approval could prevent veterans with PTSD, at higher risk of suicide in comparison to the average population, from accessing care that could help resolve mental health problems.

The amended legislation would also allow the board to consider expansion in future years to allow psilocybin use for other mental health disorders that the drug has proved effective in treating, given sufficient research and medical support. These expansions would require legislative approval, Wills said.

Though the measure moved forward, senators on the subcommittee said they still had questions about the bill — and about psilocybin as a substance.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says more people need to learn how to find common ground with their political opponents.

“This is how America works,” Ernst said, “where we’re able to take differences and come together and not just shout at one another, but come together and figure out a way forward.” Ernst, a Republican from Red Oak, made her remarks yesterday (Wednesday), during the confirmation hearing for Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin. He’s President Trump’s nominee to be the next U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security.

“One of the things that I want to focus on right now is the bipartisanship that you have had with so many members in the House, in the Senate,” Ernst said. “…Bipartisanship is not very sexy, but I think we need a lot more of it.” Ernst suggests there’s more bipartisan cooperation in the Senate between Republicans and Democrats than the public might expect.

“I wish more people would see that we have those relationships. We carry them in our hearts,” Ernst said. “It means we are better people because we open our minds to listen.”

Ernst, who is not seeking re-election, has served in the U.S. Senate since 2015.

(Radio Iowa) – A revised version of the property tax reform bill House Republicans are proposing has cleared a House committee. It would still limit city and county tax revenue growth to two percent and create a new tax break for home owners. Representative Carter Nordman, a Republican from Dallas Center, is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

“I believe this bill provides significant future savings for Iowa property taxpayers,” Nordman said, “and gives them the peace of mind that Iowa property tax growth is not outpacing what Iowa families can afford.” A proposal from Governor Reynolds was added to the bill — a 20 year limit on tax increment financing districts that local government use to spur business development.

The package is significantly different from the plan Senate Republicans have developed. Democrats like Aime Wichtendahl  of Hiawatha say there are glaring blind spots in the bill. “Rather than just having a bill to say we did something on property taxes, I think Iowans deserve better,” Wicktendahl said. “They’ve been asking for property tax reform for over a decade.”

The bill is eligible for consideration by the 100-member Iowa House, but no date has been set for debate and a vote.

(Radio Iowa) – A Senate committee is expanding a House bill that would curb the emergency powers of Iowa governors, adding a plan that would keep state spending at the same rate if Iowa governors and the legislature don’t agree on a new state budget. Lawmakers face a July 1st deadline to enact a new 12-year spending plan for state government. Republican Senator Ken Rozenboom of Pella says it’s to avoid a government shutdown in Iowa.

“As we witness what goes on in D.C. with, what, three government shutdowns in the last few months and one currently underway — a partial shutdown, I think we’ve all remarked, we’ve all recognized that’s not what we do in Iowa,” Rozenboom said. “That’s not the place we want to be in.” One Republican on the panel criticized the concept. Democrats say the four states that have similar legislation on the books have Democrat governors and legislatures that are controlled by Republicans.

Senator Matt Blake, a Democrat from Johnston, says Republican legislators are hedging their bets that Democrat Rob Sand will be elected governor. “We have never failed at passing a budget. We have never had that happen, yet we are worried it’s going to happen now,” Black said. “The timing is very, very suspicious.”

Senator Sandy Salmon, a Republican from Janesville, says she supports the House-passed bill that forbid governors from ordering Iowans to take vaccines or ordering churches and businesses to close, but she voted no after the budget-related language was added to it.

(Atlantic, IA) – The Atlantic City Council, during their regular meeting this (Wednesday) evening (March 18th), approved the appointment of Maggie Robinson as the City’s new Parks and Recreation Department Director. Councilman Sean Sarsfield said Robinson should begin her new position on or about April 13th. As previously mentioned, the City’s Personnel and Finance Committee recommended her appointment to the position, which had been eliminated in the Summer of 2023. The City Council authorized the reinstatement of the Parks and Recreation Director position on February 18, 2026, during discussion of the FY2027 Budget.

Atlantic Mayor Rob Clausen expressed his appreciation of all the agencies, local businesses and countless individual volunteers, who stepped-up to help those who were left injured and/or stranded during Sunday’s blizzard that shut-down the interstate, and clogged some streets in Atlantic with vehicles stuck on some roads.

The agencies included the Cass County Communications Center, Iowa State Patrol, Cass County Sheriff’s Department, EMS/Fire personnel, Cass County Emergency Management, Cass Health, SWITA, Red Cross, the local veterinary clinic, DOT crews, Richter and Sons Towing,  and so many more. Clausen said when the storm victims began to stream into Atlantic, the hotels quickly filled-up and it became readily apparent more needed to be done to provide motorists and in some case their pets, with shelter.

Police and fire department personnel assisted at the Nishna Valley YMCA in setting-up cots and beds for those persons. Mayor Clausen said he “couldn’t be prouder of the way this community responded. I believe we truly do live in one of the best places in Iowa.”

In other business, the Atlantic City Council passed a resolution Adopting an updated 28-E agreement between the Atlantic Volunteer Fire Department, the City of Atlantic, and Grove Township in Cass County. The updated 28E agreement with Grove Township establishes an annual contribution of $14,500, an increase from $7,468.74 under the prior agreement.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Through the Safe Haven Law, a baby girl, born March 6 is now in the care and custody of the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and will be placed with a foster family until permanent placement is determined. This brings the overall total to 80 infants since the law went into effect more than two decades ago.

Iowa’s Safe Haven Act is an option for parents in crisis who determine they cannot care for an infant up to 90 days old. Designated safe havens are locations like hospitals and police and fire stations. Iowa HHS then works to place infants in an approved foster home while awaiting permanent adoption.

If you are interested in becoming a foster parent or adopting a child, visit https://iowafosterandadoption.org/ to learn more about becoming an approved foster or adoptive family. For more information on Iowa’s Safe Haven, visit https://hhs.iowa.gov/programs/CPS/safe-haven.