(Radio Iowa) – Mitigation efforts are underway in Algona to try and save as many ash trees as possible from the destruction of the emerald ash borer, which was first discovered in Kossuth County in 2022. Deputy City Administrator Barb Smith says the city hired a local tree care company to examine every ash tree on city property. “They measured and ranked each tree on a zero to five scale — zero meaning worst, five meaning the best, so then we sorted that listing…We knew that we could budget for so many trees,” Smith says. “We went out to bid to take down approximately 75 ash trees.”

Smith says the bids for the tree removal came in lower than anticipated, so they will be able to remove more ash trees. “All of the trees that are coming down needed to come down because they either already have the emerald ash borer or they’re in very bad shape,” Smith says. The trees that will be taken down this year are in what’s called the “right of way” — it’s the area between a sidewalk and a city street. Smith says replacing trees in the exact same spot could be difficult.

“There are very few places in right of ways that you can plant trees any more due to all the utility lines, but the city does have a program,” Smith says. “A property owner may plant a tree either on the right of way or their personal property and the city will reimburse half of the cost of the tree, up to $150.” That funding for new trees is a joint effort between the city and Algona Municipal Utilities.

The city will provide financial assistance for trees that are replanted within the right of way, while the utility will provide assistance for trees replanted on private property. A total of 788 Ash trees are currently on city property and those destined for removal have been marked with a white X on the trunk.

(Radio Iowa) – Most Republicans in the Iowa House have voted to block the state auditor’s access to some types of personal or confidential information — and the bill forbids the state auditor from going to court to get access to state government records. The bill would set up a three-member arbitration panel to decide whether state agencies or state officials must turn over material for an audit or investigation. Representative Michael Bergan, a Republican from Dorchester, is the bill’s floor manager.

“The Auditor of State, a member of the executive branch, should not sue another member of the executive branch,” Sand says. “The cost and time involved in such an endeavor is a poor use of public funds.” House Speaker Pat Grassley says Republicans believe State Auditor Rob Sand has sought information that’s out of bounds. “The bill is not intended to go after the ability to perform audits,” Grassley says. “The bill is intended to protect things like personal health statuses and other things…we consider outside of what the scope of an audit should look like.”

Iowa Auditor of State Rob Sand

Sand, the only Democrat in statewide office, says the bill would let any agency or state official hide records. “This is the greatest perversion of checks and balances in Iowa history,” Sand says. Sand says the bill follows Republican efforts in other states to limit the authority of elected Democrats. “Let’s be clear about this. This is the destruction of democratic norms. It’s continuing in Des Moines. That’s what this is,” Sand said. “The people of Iowa elected me and now they’re changing the rules for how this office operates because they didn’t like what I did in my first term and they didn’t like the fact that the public did like it.”

Sand was first elected state auditor in 2018 and re-elected last November. Sand thanked the six House Republicans who voted against the bill. In March, the 34 Republicans in the Iowa Senate voted to make some types of documents, like tax returns, off limits to the state auditor’s office.

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans in the House and Senate have agreed on a final version of legislation originally proposed by Governor Kim Reynolds. It bans instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation in elementary schools and parents must be notified if their child asks to be known by a different name or pronoun at school. Republican Representative Skyler Wheeler of Hull led debate as House members considered the G-O-P compromise.

“Parents are going to be informed if something drastic is happening with their child at school,” Wheeler says. “The school does not have a right to keep secrets from them.” Representative Heather Matson, a Democrat from Ankeny, voted against the bill. “The idea of penalizing teachers for who affirm a student for who they are could not be more hurtful or dangerous,” Matson said.

The bill passed the House Thursday with the support of 57 Republicans. Four Republicans and 34 Democrats opposed it. The Senate passed the plan Wednesday on a party line vote. Senator Ken Rozenboom, a Republican from Oskaloosa, says the bill provides reasonable guardrails. “This bill just matches up with what most schools are doing right now and with what parents expect their school to be doing,” Rozenboom said.

Representative Skyler Wheeler

The bill calls for removing books that describe or depict sex acts, however the Bible, the Quran and the Torah could stay on the shelves. Senator Janice Weiner, a Democrat from Iowa City, says it means literary classics must be removed. “Dracula, Lady Chatterley’s Lover…they’re out,” Weiner said. “That’s not education. That’s censorship.”

The bill outlines sanctions for educators who do not follow the policies in the bill.