(Des Moines, Iowa) – Lambda Legal and American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa have filed a new request for the courts to block Iowa’s law that bars certain books from school libraries. The two organizations are again challenging Senate File 496, the 2023 Iowa law that prohibits school libraries from having books containing sexually explicit material and limits instruction and materials involving gender and sexuality for K-6 students. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports the organizations also filed suit last year against a law that requires schools to inform parents or guardians if a student requests the use of a different name or pronouns than what they were assigned at birth.

In January 2024, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Locher blocked the law from enforcement. But that injunction was lifted in August, when a three-person panel of federal appeals court judges ruled that the previous decision was made using a “flawed analysis of the law.” The new court filing made Friday requests that the law be once again blocked from enforcement through a new, separate preliminary injunction. The basis for the renewed request cites a new U.S. Supreme Court case challenging the law using the “overbreadth doctrine.”

Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” was among more than two dozen books removed last month from a school library at Goddard, Kansas, following a challenge by a parent. The books have since been returned to the shelves. Max McCoy/Kansas Reflector (via the Iowa Capital Dispatch)

According to an analysis from the Des Moines Register, more than 1,000 books have been taken off of school shelves due to the law. However, there is ambiguity about whether some of the pulled books could remain at schools. Iowa Department of Education did not grant requests from educators in 2023 to clarify which materials would be considered “age-appropriate” under the law, saying instead the department would address allegations of noncompliance on a case-by-case basis. Classic literature including “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut and “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee have been removed from some Iowa school districts.

There were also changes made to the plaintiffs as part of the new injunction request. Two Iowa teachers affected by the bans were added to the lawsuit, while two students — one who graduated from high school, and another who transferred to a private school, left the case as they were no longer impacted by the law. Iowa Safe Schools remains a plaintiff in the case.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird made an appearance at the Cass County Republican Party Headquarters, Monday evening. Bird spoke about some of the issues she and her team have been working on, that she says concern Iowans. One of the topics was with regard to immigration and human trafficking. Bird claimed the Biden-Harris Administration lost track of about 300,000 children that came across the border.

Bird spoke also about Title 9 in the schools.

Many of the nation’s Attorney’s General, she said, took the Administration to court and won, enabling those provisions of Title 9 to be stopped. She spoke also of the lawsuit against the EPA with regard to E-15 ethanol, and, regulation against pork producers in states like California and Massachusetts

Brenna Bird said she was “Glad to do [her] job,” and “uphold the ‘Heartbeat Law’ in [the[ Supreme Court.” She said her office also supports law enforcement and victims of crime, and prison time for persons who deal in illegal drugs that leads to a death. Bird said some of the candidates running for office claim to “Back the Blue,” but don’t, in reality.

She also touched on EV’s (electric vehicles). Bird said she’s one of several Attorney’s General who are suing the EPA’s mandated purchase of electric vehicles. The mandate, Energy and Commerce Republicans claim, effectively requires at least two-thirds of all new cars in the United States to be electric by 2032.

Bird formerly served as the Guthrie County Attorney before being elected to the Iowa Attorney General’s Office in Nov., 2022. She assumed the post January 1^st, 2023.

(Radio Iowa) – Farmers could be in their last week for harvesting beans. The U-S-D-A crop report now shows 91 percent of the beans are in the bin, That is a jump ahead of ten percent compared to last week. The west central and east central areas are leading the way with 94 percent or more of their soybeans done. The corn harvest increased by 23 percent last week — so 68 percent is done.

Farmers in south-central Iowa are lagging behind– with just 50 percent of their corn harvested.

(Radio Iowa) – We’re now in one of the peak times of the year for deer-vehicle collisions. Trooper Paul Gardner, with the Iowa State Patrol in Fort Dodge, reminds Iowans to stay especially vigilant for the creatures that may try to dash in front of your car. “We have a lot of deer on the move because farmers are out harvesting and that leads to deer wandering around a lot more,” Gardner says. “Typically, they’re very active between sunset and sunrise, during the night, but they can still be observed during daytime hours as well.” Deer can appear on practically any Iowa road, even in densely populated metro areas, and Gardner says motorists should be especially wary in certain environments.

“They’re usually going to be maintaining habitat in wooded and grassy areas, so when you’re driving through those areas, making sure that you’re driving the speed limit, keeping an eye out for any deer that may be crossing,” Gardner says “Just keep in mind, too, that if you see one, there’s likely going to be more, because they tend to travel in packs.” If you hit a deer, pull over, assess the damage, and if necessary, call law enforcement, as he says insurance companies may not cover the repairs without a police report. Gardner repeats the mantra “Don’t veer for deer,” as doing so could have deadly results.

“If you do encounter a deer crossing the roadway, it’s best not to try to take evasive action where you’re going to swerve the steering wheel, because if you go to the right, you can go into the ditch,” Gardner says. “Definitely risk rolling your vehicle or hitting something else, or if you swerve to the left, you can take on oncoming traffic, so there’s definitely some dangers in that.”

A recent State Farm study found Iowa is one of the top states for deer collisions. It shows Iowa drivers have a 1-in-69 chance of hitting a deer, based on insurance claims. Each year, around 7,000 crashes between vehicles and deer are reported to Iowa law enforcement.

(Radio Iowa) – Watching the leaves turn color and carving pumpkins are fall traditions in Iowa and fishing for trout has become one as well. D-N-R Regional Fisheries Supervisor, Mike Siepker says they get a lot of positive feedback. “Anglers love the community trout stocking program. It provides a great close to home fishing opportunity for a lot of Iowans that might not otherwise have a chance to catch trout. They have started stocking trout in 18 community ponds and lakes. “Trout need cold water, and that’s one of the reasons that we wait until late fall to stock those fish, because if the ponds are too warm when we stock them, the fish don’t bite and the anglers are unhappy,” he says “So we wait long enough for the water to cool down, and that way, when we stock the trout, they’re happy and and are ready to bite.”

Siepker says they have a couple of different sizes of trout. “All these ponds and lakes receive catchable size rainbow trout, and those are about ten to 12 inch trout, and those are the same size that we stock in the streams in northeast Iowa,” Siepker says. They also stock some bigger fish. “Those are the trout that we used in the hatchery the last couple years to produce eggs. And then once we’re finished with those trout, and we’re finished spawning those, then we add those to the mix and stock those out so anglers have an opportunity to catch them,” he says. Siepker says they’ll release around one to two-thousand trout in each lake.

You will need a valid fishing license and have to pay the trout fee to keep the trout you catch. Children age 15 or younger can fish for trout with a properly licensed adult, but they must limit their catch to one daily. The child can purchase a trout fee which will allow them to catch their own limit. Trout were stocked Friday in , Moorland Pond Fort Dodge and Sand Lake in Marshalltown.

Here are the remaining stocking dates:
Oct. 24, Ottumwa Park Pond; Prairie Park Fishery, Cedar Rapids; Liberty Centre Pond North Liberty
Oct. 26, Emma Young Pond, Clinton; Industrial Park Pond, Fairfield; Discovery Park Pond, Muscatine,
Oct. 28, Terra Lake , Johnston; Triumph Park East & West , Waukee
Oct. 31, Ada Hayden Heritage Park Lake, Ames; Lake Petocka , Bondurant
Nov. 5, Scharnberg Pond, Spencer; Bacon Creek, Sioux City
Nov. 8, Heritage Pond, Dubuque; North Prairie Lake , Cedar Falls

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak, Monday night, arrested 44-year-old Luke Rinehart, on a charge of Assault – Displaying a Dangerous Weapon. Rinehart was taken into custody at around 9:20-p.m., and transported to the Montgomery County Jail. His bond was set at $2,000.

(Radio Iowa) – First district Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a Republican, and Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan met in an Iowa P-B-S debate last (Monday) night and each accused the other of modifying their views on key issues to win votes. Bohannan, who supports the Roe v Wade decision that legalized abortion, pointed to a bill Miller-Meeks co-sponsored that declares human life should be protected at the moment of conception.

“She has now tried to backtrack from that, saying she supports exceptions and things,” Bohannan says. “It’s election time, so she’s trying to moderate that position.” Miller-Meeks accused Bohannan of distortions. “You want to confuse people, you want to divide people,” Miller-Meeks. “That’s a tactic you’ve used all throughout the campaign when you started attacking me.”

During a discussion of immigration, Miller-Meeks said the situation at the southern border is out of control. “My opponent didn’t mention the border, didn’t say anything about the border, didn’t say the border should be secure until it became a political liability for her and her party.” Bohannan says both political parties in congress have kicked the can down the road rather than address flaws the immigration system. “And I have stood up to the Biden Administration multiple times,” Bohannan says. “I did it in 2022 and I’m doing it now and I’ve said President Biden was too slow to act on the border.”

Both candidates expressed concerns for homeowners who are finding it difficult to afford or even acquire insurance. Miller-Meeks says natural disasters in Iowa are leading to increased insurance rates and some insurance companies are not longer insuring residential property in Iowa. “There is talk about if there should be more federal government involvement in the insurance marketplace and how to do that in the best way that doesn’t create undue pressure and doesn’t create increased costs,” Miller-Meeks said.

Bohannan says Iowa homeowners are struggling with the price of insurance. “We are seeing now the economic effects of climate,” Bohannan says. “We are not going to have an economy if we have to spend half of our GDP cleaning up from natural disasters that we could have prevented in the first place.”

Last (Monday) night’s debate on Iowa P-B-S was the only debate between the two first congressional district candidates.

(Anita, Iowa) – The CAM Debate team is continuing to have a strong showing this fall with tournaments at Novice Night at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Des Moines on October 15th and Tournavelt at Theodore Roosevelt- a NIETOC bid tournament October 18th and 19th.

At Roosevelt’s novice night, Sophie Herzberg participated in the Lincoln Douglas Debate and was 2-0. Creighton Kinzie and Declan Cambage participated in Mixed Exempt. Creighton finished 3rd and Declan finished 4th for the evening.  Macy Burg participated in Informative and finished in 3rd place.

On Friday and Saturday, October 18th and 19th, Sophie Herzberg, Megan Gerlock, Macy Burg, Jakob Petersen, and Creighton Kinzie traveled to Theodore Roosevelt High School in Des Moines to participate in the Tournavelt Tournament- a NIETOC (National Individual Events Tournament of Champions) bid tournament.

Sophie Herzberg

Sophie participated in Novice Lincoln Douglas Debate. Despite going against some tough West Des Moines Valley and Bettendorf students, Sophie went 5-2.  Sophie finished 2nd in Novice Lincoln Douglas and 2nd in Speaker points for the tournament.

Macy Burg participated in Informative Speaking on Saturday.  She broke to finals and placed 3rd overall with her piece on Natural Disaster Preparedness. Creighton Kinzie and Megan Gerlock participated in Varsity Public Forum Debate and finished 2-3. Jakob Petersen was CAM’s lone Congressional Debate student.  He served as Presiding officer in his chamber and ended up breaking through to the final round. He finished the tournament 13th overall in Congressional Debate.

Debate Coach Mr. Kelloway had this to say about the start of the season, “CAM is off to one of its best seasons ever. In the first two big tournaments of the fall: In Lincoln-Douglas debate, Megan Gerlock placed 1st at the IFL season opener and Sophie Herzberg placed 2nd at the Roosevelt Tournament. This is the first time a CAM Debater has even made the semi-finals, let alone make the championship round. Jakob Peterson is the first CAM debater to make finals for Student Congress. Macy Burg in an Individual speech event, is just the second student to place at Roosevelt.  Kudos to all the CAM coaches, Manda Thomas, Kathleen Fleming and Sophie Hackbarth for the work they’ve put into making this a strong year for our students .”

(Story and photos submitted by Manda Thomas: CAM High School Jr/Sr High Science Teacher; CAM Speech & Debate Head Coach; CAM Student Council Advisor & CAM Yearbook Advisor)

Macy Burg

(Southwest Iowa) – The Community Foundation for Western Iowa announced today (Monday) that the Women’s Fund of Southwest Iowa’s latest grant cycle has awarded $100,000 in project funding to nine organizations. Grants to the organizations will support programming and projects that are focused on improving the quality of life and well-being of women and children in southwest Iowa.

“The Women’s Fund of Southwest Iowa continues to create impact that will benefit the lives of women in our region for generations to come,” said Donna Dostal, President and CEO of the Community Foundation for Western Iowa. “These opportunities for impact are only possible because of the generosity of our community members. Folks know that when we invest in women and their families, our communities thrive. We are so honored to be able to support and execute this important work.”

• East Mills Child Care Solutions received a $10,000 grant to support their Building Fund for the Lakin Foundation Child Development Center of East Mills. The Lakin Foundation Child Development Center of East Mills will be a state-of-the-art facility with optimal teacher-to- child ratios and the highest level of care possible. The current design includes 12 standard classrooms, outdoor classrooms, and a multipurpose play area which will serve up to 150 children.

• Family Crisis Centers received a $10,000 grant to support Family Crisis Centers Homicide and Other Violent Crimes Program. Family Crisis Centers Homicide and Other Violent Crimes (HOVC) advocates offer emotional support and comprehensive wrap-around services. They attend law enforcement interviews, court hearings, trials, and parole hearings with victims and their families, preparing them by explaining what to expect and providing emotional support through their physical presence. Advocates also act as liaisons between victims, law enforcement, and prosecution, easing communication for everyone involved. Believing in the power of a supportive network, HOVC advocates refer victims to additional supportive services such as housing assistance, counseling, and legal services. Without HOVC advocates, the program would not be able to effectively assist families impacted by violence in the community. In fiscal year 2023, the HOVC program served 172 individuals in nine southwest Iowa counties.

• Kids Place Community Childcare received a $20,000 grant to support construction costs of their Kids Place Child Care Champions project. Glenwood Community School District, in partnership with Kids Place Childcare Champions, will utilize the funds raised for the construction of a dedicated childcare space within the District Offices building, with completion scheduled for 2025. The construction of this new facility is a proactive response to the pressing childcare shortage in Mills County. By securing the necessary funding and leveraging community partnerships, Glenwood Community School District and Kids Place Childcare Champions are working to ensure that families have access to reliable, high-quality childcare,  which is essential for the economic stability and well-being of the region.

• MICAH House Corporation received a $10,000 grant to support Childcare for Women in Shelter. The Child Development Center opened on July 8th, 2024. Two-thirds of the 70 spaces are set aside for children of families within our Emergency Shelter. The other one-third will be available for residents as space allows. The need for a local childcare center is intertwined with MICAH House’s mission of providing a safe and nurturing environment for families and individuals experiencing the crisis of homelessness. The opening of the Child Development Center will not only offer quality childcare for kids experiencing homelessness but also essential peace of mind for parents and caregivers as they work to obtain stable
housing.

• New Visions Homeless Services received a $10,000 grant to support their Women First Initiative. The goal of all New Visions Homeless Services programming is to move individuals into stable and sustainable housing while working to reduce or prevent incidents of homelessness in our community. Funds from this grant offer financial assistance to women who are currently homeless or are working toward stable housing. The New Visions Homeless Services Street Outreach Program will provide Housing-Based Case Management and supportive services that help break down barriers for women, providing avenues for safe and positive housing outcomes.

• Southwest Iowa Technical Career Hub (SWITCH) received a $10,000 grant for their SWITCH and Soulful Synergy STEM Women’s Project. SWITCH is partnering with Soulful Synergy to design and deliver a unique STEM program created  specifically for Southwest Iowa community members and students. Utilizing Soulful Synergy’s experience recruiting, designing, and delivering clean energy programs, they will create a STEM program focusing on the technology that will be used today and in the future – including solar, wind, energy storage (batteries), HVAC, and electric vehicles. These topics all focus on decarbonization and electrification, preparing individuals for immediate and future opportunities. Training
will involve classroom lessons paired with interactive, hands-on ‘Learning Labs’ that allow participants to demonstrate the material they just learned.

• Stanton Child Resource Center received a $10,000 grant for their Educational/Developmental Play project. To elevate the standard of classrooms and toys, Stanton Child Resource Center aims to offer options that actively foster cognitive development, social-emotional awareness, and motor skill advancement. These educational spects hold immense significance for the center, as they have a lasting impact on the children even after they’ve left their care. Equipping staff with higher-quality toys and supplies will enable teachers to ensure these crucial developmental milestones are being
achieved effectively.

• Vision Atlantic received a $10,000 grant for the Lakin Foundation Child Development Center of Atlantic. The goal for the Vision Atlantic childcare initiative is to build a new child development center that will accommodate up to three hundred children and address the shortfall of childcare in the area. The new childcare facility will be co-located with the Jack
and Jill Preschool and situated adjacent to the new Camblin Hills Housing Development currently under development in Atlantic, IA.

• YMCA of Greater Omaha was awarded a $10,000 grant for their Healthy Living Center:

Preventative Health and Social Connections for Women Aging in Place. Loneliness and social isolation in older adults are gaining greater recognition for the serious public health risks they pose, affecting a significant number of people in our community and putting them at risk for serious medical conditions. Due to differences in life expectancy, women are more likely to experience widowhood and the accompanying isolation and financial hardships. The YMCA Healthy Living Center serves primarily seniors over age 55, many of whom are retired, veterans, living with physical limitations or mental acuity challenges that come with age, or are living on a fixed income in Pottawattamie County, IA.

(Atlantic, Iowa – The Atlantic Elks Lodge and Atlantic Police Department are teaming up this year for “Drug Take Back Day.” The effort is part of the DEA’s Red Ribbon Week, recognized October 23 through October 31 every year and honors the life of Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena who was tortured and brutally murdered by drug traffickers in Mexico in 1985.

The BPO Elks have a long history of supporting and being instrumental is assisting the Drug Enforcement Agency efforts to stop drug use and abuse in the U.S. Atlantic Elks member Kent Gade spent decades leading the ELKS national drug prevention programs to national acclaim.

Lodge member Mark McNees said, “we are proud to continue the effort in partnership with the APD to help eliminate misuse and abuse by conducting the Drug Take Back Day. It’s important to properly dispose of these materials and not dump them down the toilet or drain, which then gets into the water system.”

The day is designed to allow residents to drop off their outdated over the counter medicines, old or unused prescription drugs, and unknown drugs. This helps keep them out of the hands of children and adults who could ingest them and overdose and to clear out medicines that are no longer needed.

Atlantic Police Chief Devin Hogue says the department has a drop off year around in the office, but this gives the community the opportunity to focus on a day to clear out the medicine cupboards and cabinets. Hogue states, “it is fine to bring in all types of medicine in their original containers, or in ziploc plastic bags. There are two items we cannot accept and those are liquids or sharps. Sharps need to be disposed of properly in sharps containers.”

The event will take place Saturday, Oct 26th from 9 am to 11 am at the Atlantic Elks Lodge where members and officers will collect the unwanted materials from residents. McNees says if the weather cooperates, they will do a drive through drop off in front of the Elks lodge at 411 Walnut St next to the police station. If there is inclement weather the items may be dropped off inside the lodge.