(Radio Iowa) – As part of Severe Weather Awareness Week, Iowans are urged to take part in this (Wednesday) morning’s statewide tornado drill. Meteorologist Alex Krull, at the National Weather Service in metro Des Moines, says with the number of deadly tornadoes that have already hit Iowa in recent weeks, he hopes people will take this drill very seriously, wherever they are at 10 A-M today. “Get your plan into action and practice executing your plan in the event severe weather strikes — which will likely be happening at some point this spring and summer,” Krull says. “Keep in mind, where are the best places to go in your own home, in your businesses or your school.”

We’ve heard stories from survivors of the March 5th tornadoes that tore through the Winterset area who rode out the powerful storm in their basements, but that’s not always an option for everyone. “If you don’t have a basement available to you, get to the lowest level floor of the building that is available and try to get to the center of it, particularly any room that has multiple interior walls,” Krull says. “A lot of times, it’s going to end up being a bathroom or a closet, something that puts as many walls between you and the outdoors as possible.” The annual statewide tornado drill will take place at the traditional time of 10 o’clock this morning, but the methods for issuing the alert have shifted.

“We will no longer be doing the test tornado warning like we’ve done in years past,” Krull says. “Rather, we’ll use things like social media to get the warning out and other various communications methods that we have with law enforcement and other core partners.” The derecho that hit Iowa on December 15th spawned a record 61 tornadoes, the highest number ever recorded in a single day in Iowa. The storms on March 5th spun off ten tornadoes across the state which claimed seven lives and destroyed or damaged dozens of homes.

“The tornado drill is always an important drill for Iowans and anyone in the Midwest to go through every year, just given the frequency of severe weather,” Krull says. “Given the notable tornado outbreaks we’ve had in the past six months here in the state of Iowa, definitely will have a little more attention to it than it may have had in past years.”

Learn more about today’s drill and this awareness week at www.weather.gov/dmx.

(Radio Iowa) – The chairman of the Iowa Senate’s tax-writing committee is proposing a constitutional amendment that would require a super majority vote in the legislature to raise the state income tax or the sales tax. Senator Dan Dawson, a Republican from Council Bluffs, helped develop the package of tax cuts the governor signed into law this month. Dawson says this proposed constitutional amendment would provide stability in tax policy.

“Politics change over time. How do Iowans make sure that their tax rates aren’t subject to the whims of the populace? So the premise is simple here: it should be a majority to lower the taxes,” Dawson says, “but there should be some type of higher threshold to raise them here in the state of Iowa.” The proposed amendment would require a two-thirds vote in the House AND the Senate to raise the two major taxes collected by the State of Iowa.

Pam Mackey Taylor, a lobbyist for the Sierra Club’s Iowa chapter, says that would make it almost impossible to raise taxes. “We’re making significant changes to the tax rates with the flat tax bill and it could be that we have made too significant of cuts and we may need to roll some of this back,” Mackey Taylor says. “And it should be easy to roll some of this back, not really difficult with a really high threshold.”

Victoria Sinclair is a lobbyist Iowans for Tax Relief, a group that’s been seeking constitutional limits on state SPENDING for decades. The group also supports this proposal to require a larger majority of legislators to support raising taxes. “We expect Iowa’s hardworking families to live within their means,” Sinclair says. “If the legislature can’t live within their means and decides they need to take more from Iowa taxpayers, then the threshold should be higher.”

Mike Owen, deputy director of Common Good Iowa, says the proposed 66 percent super majority for approving future tax increases gives the minority veto power. “One no vote is worth two yes votes,” Owen says. “Try explaining that in social studies class.”

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a two-fifths or two-thirds majority is required in the legislatures in 15 states to raise taxes or impose new taxes. If Dawson’s proposal clears every legislative hurdle, the earliest Iowa voters would see a similar proposal for Iowa’s constitution would be in 2024 General Election ballot.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A hearing in the case of an Anita woman facing 1st Degree Murder and Child Endangerment resulting in Death, charges, will now be held in April. The hearing in the case of Iowa vs. Alison Dorsey is was to have taken place Tuesday (March 22nd) in Atlantic, but it won’t take place now, until 10-a.m. April 19th.

Dorsey’s trial remains set for 9:30-a.m. June 20^th. A continuance in the hearing means uncertainty as to if her trial will be held once again in Atlantic, or in another county. A motion requesting a change of venue was filed by Cass County Attorney Vanessa Strazdus on Nov. 11, 2021.

Dorsey’s first trial ending in a mistrial on Nov. 4, 2021, after the jury deadlocked and failed to reach a verdict. The trial was with regard to the death of an infant that was in her care, in October of 2019.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Montgomery County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections, Stephanie Burke, announced Tuesday, that HF2466 (002) (Iowa House File 2466) was enacted on Tuesday afternoon concerning signature requirements for County Supervisor candidate nominations.

According to Burke, “Signature requirements for the offices of Montgomery County Supervisor District 1, District 2 and District 4 shall include at least twenty-one signatures. This is considerably less than the one hundred signatures that the Iowa Secretary of State recommended.”

Only voters living in the supervisor candidate’s respective district are allowed to sign the nomination papers. Nomination papers and any accompanying affidavit of candidacy for the June 7, 2022 Primary Election must be filed with the Montgomery County Auditor’s Office before 5:00 p.m. on March 25.

Supervisor Districts and precincts have changed slightly due to the recent census. Maps can be located on the county’s website www.montgomerycountyia.gov or at the Auditor’s office.

Please contact the Auditor’s office at 623-5127 for more information. Democratic and Republican candidates must run in the June 7 Primary Election, with the winners moving on to the November 8 General Election ballot.

There are no changes to the signature requirements for the offices of County Attorney, County Treasurer and County Recorder.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says he is concerned about the number of cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza — or Bird Flu — that have already been detected and confirmed in Iowa.  “We didn’t start dealing with High Path in Iowa until the middle of April in 2015 and here we’ve already got five cases in the middle of March,” Naig says. “And so it is concerning that as we look at the migration north of wild birds that we still have quite a ways to go this spring before we see the completion of that.”

Naig says they are pretty confident the bird flu is linked to the migration of birds. He says the earlier discovery does not mean we are in for a repeat of the 2015 outbreak. “We are certainly hopeful that we do not see the kind of spread that we did see in ’15. Fifteen was and still is the largest animal disease outbreak in U-S history. And so, we are watching very closely,” he says.

Naig says believes government agencies and the industry are better prepared now than in 2015 to handle the spread of the bird flu. “We’ve been training for this, we know what to do, and we know that we need to act quicker to detect cases of High Path — and then act quickly to detain it. We’ve been working on it hard over the last couple of years,” Naig says.

Naig made his comments during stops in Sioux and Plymouth Counties.

(Radio Iowa) – Five years after Kim Reynolds took over as governor, the Iowa legislature is proposing an amendment to the Iowa Constitution to clarify the line of succession at the top of state government. In 2017, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller issued an opinion saying his reading of the constitution indicated Reynolds, who was lieutenant governor at the time, would become acting governor after Terry Branstad resigned — and would continue serving as lieutenant governor, too.

Branstad and Reynolds disagreed and Reynolds named Adam Gregg as her lieutenant governor. Republican Representative Brooke Boden of Indianola says the proposed amendment to Iowa’s Constitution aligns with that decision. “The governor is qualified to select someone to serve as lieutenant governor,” Boden says. Representative Mary Wolfe, a Democrat from Clinton, voted against the proposed amendment.

“I don’t know how I even feel about it,” Wolfe says. “I mean, we do need to do something, I agree. That mess we went through last time this happened was not good, did not reflect well on anyone.” Wolfe unsuccessfully argued there should be a confirmation vote in the legislature for any newly designated lieutenant governor.

Two-thirds of the House and Senate members have now approved the language for the proposed constitutional amendment. The legislature must o-k the draft again in 2023 or 2024 before Iowans could vote on the proposed amendment in the 2024 General Election.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – March 22, 2022 – Construction of box culverts on Interstate 29 in Pottawattamie County will require lane closures and changing traffic patterns beginning on Monday, April 4, until mid-August, weather permitting, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Council Bluffs construction office.

Stage 1

North- and southbound traffic on I-29 will be placed into a head-to-head traffic pattern in the southbound lanes while the contractor works on the northbound lanes. The I-880 westbound/southbound ramp will be temporarily closed, and motorists will follow a marked detour route.

Stage 2

Both directions of traffic on I-29 will be placed into a head-to-head traffic pattern in the northbound lanes while construction takes place in the southbound lanes. The I-880 westbound/southbound ramp will be temporarily closed, and motorists will follow a marked detour route.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Auditor’s Office reports additional filings have taken place in advance of the 5-p.m. Friday, March 25th deadline for County offices.

For Primary Election:

Jay W Mez –  Republican  – Cass County Attorney

Vanessa E Strazdas – Republican – Cass County Attorney

Wendy Richter – Republican – District 3 Board of Supervisor

There are still have no candidates for the following offices:

(Hospital Trustees, Soil & Water and Ag Extension have until August 31, 2022 at 5:00 p.m. to file)

For the General Election:

 Agricultural Extension – 5 positions

Soil & Water Conservation – 2 positions

Hospital Trustee – 4 positions

Township Trustees only have until this Friday to file:

Edna Township Trustee – 2 positions

Union Township Trustee – 1 position

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department, Tuesday (today), said a 9-1-1 call reporting an “Active shooter” alarm and hearing gun shots at the Early Childhood Center, in Creston, turned out to due to a mechanical error with the alarm. Creston Police, Union County Sheriff’s Deputies and Iowa Department of Natural Resources Officers responded to the scene.

They immediately entered the school and began clearing the building, within minutes of receiving the 9-1-1 call. All Creston Community School District building went into lockdown. There was no indication of an active shooter, however. Once the building was thoroughly searched, the schools were given the “all clear” to release from lockdown status.