(Radio Iowa) – A legislator who’s worked to pass state laws to crack down on the sexual exploitation of students by school employees is proposing more protections. Educators are “mandatory reporters” that are to let law enforcement know when they suspect an adult in a school is abusing a student, but Representative Megan Jones of Sioux Rapids says if a student is over the age of 12, reporting of such cases is discretionary — meaning it’s not required.) “That just mind-boggling, I think, to a lot of people because if this student has experienced sexual abuse, sexual exploitation in a school district one would only assume their age is irrelevant,” Jones says. “This is inappropriate behavior.”

Jones says state law should require educators to report suspected sexual exploitation of students of any age, including all of the students in high school. “I mean, it’s a black eye on the school district when you have to make these reports, but at the same time I think one problem we have is this ‘dance of the lemons,’ where a teacher or school employee becomes disassociated with a school district and then they just go on to a different school district and then we have the same problems happening again, so let’s clean this up,” Jones says. “Let’s get rid of the lemons and move on.”

Jones says two House committees have been working on legislation to address the issue.

(Radio Iowa) – Des Moines police say a brother and sister are now jailed in a fatal shooting from last summer. Twenty-year-old Jasmin Bautista and her 18-year-old brother, Jonathan, are charged in the murder of 43-year-old Javier Wilson-Moncada. His body was found along the banks of the Des Moines River back in August. Police are still seeking a third unidentified suspect. The siblings were identified as persons of interest in the case in September, but were picked up by West Des Moines police over the weekend during a traffic stop.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Monsignor Kane Knights of Columbus Council have earned a prestigious award. The organization received its 6th consecutive Star Council Achievement Award. Only 5% of all 242 Knights of Columbus councils in Iowa earned this award for the past year.

District Deputy, Dan Fowler, left, presented the Star Council award to Grand Knight, Gary Richter, right. (Photo submitted)

Leader say “Congratulations to all Knights of Columbus members that made this award possible!”

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Shelby County Board of Supervisors are set to meet 9-a.m.  Tuesday, Feb. 1st, in their Boardroom at the courthouse, in  Harlan. The board is expected to discuss/act on:

• Wage Publication for Calendar 2021
• Discuss/Approve/change the Compensation Board recommendation(s).
• Act on a Resolution appointing a new Sheriff’s Deputy
• Act on a Resolution Adopting and Approving Tax Compliance Procedures relating to Tax-Exempt Bonds.

Their final order of business is possibly move into a Closed/Exempt Session for contract negotiations.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council will act on approving a number of matters during their meeting 5:30-p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2nd. at City Hall. The first is an Order to Approve [a] Sub-recipient Agreement for [a] Federally Funded Project related to the Food Pantry’s CDBG-CV (Covid relief) grant application. The agreement secures the City’s role as a “fiscal agent,” (pass-through funding agency) for the federal grant dollars, as well as the responsibility for filing the required reports, etc.

The Council will then act on approving an Order to Approve [an] Administrative Agreement for the aforementioned project, and on a Resolution approving the adoption of IEDA (Iowa Economic Development Authority) “duplication of benefits, policies and procedures,” which are designed to ensure the City and Food Pantry are not “Double-dipping” into multiple programs for the same project. SWIPCO will be the oversight agency to ensure procedures are followed correctly.

In other business, the City Council is expected to approve the job description and FY 2022 compensation, along with authorizing the posting for, the Sunnyside Pool Manager’s position. The proposed compensation is $14 per hour ($4,200 per year). The City’s Personnel & Finance Committee met on Jan. 20th and have recommended the job description & compensation proposal be adopted and the position posted.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports a man and a woman from Clearfield were arrested on drug charges Friday evening. Authorities say 31-year-old Tonya Elizabeth Tindle and 36-year-old Michael Scott Walton, were arrested at Highway 34 and Cromwell Road at around 6:30-p.m., in Creston. Both were charged with Possession of Controlled Substance/3rd Offense-Marijuana and Possession of Controlled Substance/3rd Offense-Methamphetamine. Creston Police K-9 Baxo assisted in the arrests.

Tindle and Walton were taken to the Union County Jail. Each was later released on a $10,000 cash or Surety bond.

And, Sunday afternoon, 69-year-old James Fred Goodman, of Diagonal, was arrested in the 200 block of N. Sycamore, in Creston. Goodman was charged with Domestic Abuse Assault/1st Offense. He was taken to the Union County Jail and later released on his own recognizance.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston say a 69-year-old Sharpsburg man appeared to be confused and was apparently unable to answer questions, following a minor property damage accident Sunday morning. Authorities say Bradley Wayne Riley was driving a 2018 Chevy Silverado pickup a little after 10-a.m., when his vehicle turned and struck a pole. The incident happened while he was traveling north through the Creston Wal-Mart parking lot. Riley was not injured. Damage to the pole was estimated at $30. The damage to Riley’s pickup was estimated at $3,000. No citations were issued.

(Shenandoah, Iowa) – Police in Shenandoah report a man was arrested early Sunday afternoon, after authorities received a complaint at around 1:30-p.m., about allegedly threatening messages. Following an investigation, officers arrested 33-year-old Coy Wylie Adams, of Essex, on a charge of Harassment (by communication) in the 1st Degree – an aggravated misdemeanor.

Adams was transported to the Page County Jail and held on a $2,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson is joining a group of House Republicans who’re questioning why some key federal agencies do not have all employees working in-person. The group says federal employees had early access to Covid vaccines and there’s been time to reconfigure work spaces to accommodate social distancing.  “All of our government agencies need to be operating at full capacity,” Hinson says, “and they’re not.”

Hinson has signed onto a letter asking President Biden for a list of which federal agencies are fully staffed and in person — and which agencies have more than half the staff working remotely. Hinson points to staffing at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis which has the documents veterans need to secure their benefits and the medals they’ve earned. “It’s currently operating at about only 25% of its normal capacity,” according to Hinson, “and since the majority of the records are in the physical, in-person format, the limited in-person staff has been unable to manage the volume of incoming requests and, as a result of that, thousands upon thousands of records requests are unanswered and that leaves veterans, of course, without the critical assistance they’ve earned to support themselves and their families.”

Hinson says the number one complaint from her constituents, though, is about the Internal Revenue Service and getting I-R-S staff on the phone to answer questions. “They do need to be more efficient with the resources that we have given them and, much like many of these other agencies, they are not operating at full capacity right now,” Hinson says. The I-R-S reports it received 119 million calls last year — a 70 percent increase from a typical tax filing season. The total I-R-S budget, when adjusted for inflation, is 20 percent lower than it was 12 years ago and staffing has fallen to levels the agency had in the 1970s.  “I’m happy to listen to what needs there may be. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I obviously want to make sure that our constituent services are top notch,” Hinson says. “but at the same time I don’t want to super charge the IRS when they need to be efficient with the resources that they have.”

This past September, ten OTHER House Republicans called for a congressional investigation of in-person staffing levels at federal agencies during the pandemic.

(Radio Iowa) – A Senate committee may soon debate the concept of leaving the county name off the bottom of SOME Iowa license plates. Iowa is one of five states that have county names listed on the standard state license plate. Brad Epperly, a lobbyist for the Iowa Automobile Dealers Association, says the proposal would create the OPTION for a generic plate that doesn’t list the county where the vehicle’s owner lives.

“We have a number of plates already, specialty plates that don’t have county names on them,” Epperly says. Iowa offers 63 “specialty” license plates and only three list county names at the bottom. The Iowa State Sheriffs and Deputies Association is opposed to the bill. Susan Daeman is the association’s statehouse lobbyist. “The concern from law enforcement at the local level is that it is an investigational tool. A lot of times people won’t get or remember the number on a license plate in a situation, but they might remember the county,” Daeman says.

“…The other issue is these names on the plates are just highly popular with the people.” Daeman says a survey of county sheriffs in Iowa found 77 percent were opposed to the idea. Epperly says the proposal doesn’t remove county names from ALL Iowa license plates. “I realize that it could be useful on occasion, but I don’t think that those 45 states have a bunch of cold case files simply because they don’t have county names on plates,” Epperly says. “…We know what the fight is to remove county names…We just want a generic option.”

The Iowa D-O-T estimates it could save nearly a quarter of a million dollars over a 10 year period if ALL the standard-issue license plates were generic and county names were not imprinted on the bottom. The Automobile Dealers Association says a generic option could help with supply chain issues, as some counties don’t have an adequate supply of license plates stamped with the county name. The generic license plate concept has cleared a subcommittee and the bill is now eligible for debate in the Senate Transportation Committee.