(Radio Iowa) – The latest tally shows the State of Iowa collected 10-point-six BILLION dollars in taxes and fees during the fiscal year that ended June 30th. That’s 619-million dollars ABOVE the estimate officials made in March. One reason the CURRENT surplus is so much higher than predicted is because officials had expected the state would pay out considerably more in tax refunds, but Jeff Robinson of the Legislative Services Agency warns the state is still due to send some local option sales tax money to local school districts and other calculations are still being made. “While Fiscal Year 2021 ended June 30 and refunds processed and charged to ’21 ended August 31, some transactions related to Fiscal Year 2021 will continue to be processed into the second half of September,” Robinson says.

In July and August — the first two months of the current state fiscal year — net tax revenue fell more than 11 percent compared to the same two months last year. “The decrease was concentrated in individual and corporate income tax deposits,” he says. “This situation was expected and is not a cause for concern as July and August corporate and individual income tax receipts last year were unusually high due to tax due dates that were delayed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.”

State officials moved the traditional April 30th deadline for filing Iowa income taxes to July 31st last year.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on Sunday, Sept. 5th, of 49-year-old Dana Kolette Johnson. She was arrested on a Valid Page County Warrant for Violation of Probation, on the original charge of OWI/1st Offense. Johnson was being held in the Page County Jail on a $2,000 cash-only bond.

A rollover accident in northeastern Iowa’s Jones County, Sunday, resulted one death and one person injured. The accident happened at around 2-a.m. in Monticello. According to the State Patrol, a 2004 Ford Explorer was traveling south on River Road, when it entered the west ditch and rolled several times before coming to rest on its top. The 44-year-old driver from Anamosa, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected and died from his injuries at the scene.

A 42-year-old passenger in the SUV was wearing their seat belt. They suffered minor injuries and were transported to their residence by the Jones County Sheriff. No names have been released.

The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Jones County Sheriff’s Office, Monticello Police, Fire and Ambulance, and the Jones County Medical Examiner.

An investigation into an accident Saturday night in Montgomery County resulted in an arrest. Sheriff’s officials say at around 9:50-p.m., the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office took a report of an accident on Highway 34 at G Avenue. At the scene, deputies found probable cause to arrest the driver of the vehicle, Benjamin E. Maxwell, of Nebraska, for OWI/1st offense. Maxwell was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and held on $1,000 bond.

And, Police in Red Oak arrested a man on an OWI charge, Saturday night. 31-year-old Robert Dale Filloon, of Sioux City, was arrested at around 10:34-p.m. in the 1800 block of N. 4th Street, for OWI/2nd offense, and Driving WHhle Suspended. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

(UPDATED 5:45-a.m.,9/5/21) – Two people were injured during a early this (Sunday) morning, in Atlantic. The crash involving a white, Buick Rendezvous crossover SUV happened at around 4-a.m. on the southwest side of town, near 29th Street and Nishna Road. Atlantic Police Officer Christian Holzapfel explains what happened….

The injured were transported to Cass Health, in Atlantic. The driver – whose name was not officially released – was thrown from the vehicle and suffered a collapsed lung and other, unknown injuries, according to his family. He was transported later in the morning from Cass Health to the UNMC in Omaha. We will withhold his name until his family gives us permission to use it, or until Police released the name. Three of the four occupants of the SUV were not wearing their seat belts.

No charges were immediately filed. Atlantic Police, Atlantic Fire and Rescue, Cass EMS and the Cass County Sheriff’s Office all responded to the scene. Richter’s Towing removed the vehicle from the scene.

Two-days into the Labor Day weekend in Iowa, and there have already been three fatalities. The Iowa State Patrol reports the first accident happened just before 8-a.m. Friday near Tiffin, in eastern Iowa’s Johnson County. Authorities say a 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander was traveling northbound on Half Moon Avenue, when it failed to stop at the stop sign posted at Highway 6.

The vehicle went through the intersection and left the road before hitting a tree.  The driver, 64-year-old Chou-Long Huang was injured, and transported to the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics in Iowa City. His passenger, 65-year-old Ychen Huang died at the hospital from injuries suffered in the crash. Both were from Coralville. The accident remains under investigation.

The second accident resulted in two dead and two injured. The crash occurred a little after 2-p.m. Saturday near Colwell, in northern Iowa’s Floyd County. The Patrol says a 2012 Ford Edge was southbound on Underwood Avenue near 140th Street, when the SUV crossed the center line of the road and struck a 2019 Ford Flex, head-on.

The occupants of the southbound SUV suffered minor injuries. They were identified as 28-year-old Casey Lindahl, the driver, and a three-year-old passenger child, both of Charles City. They were transported to the Floyd Medical Center by ambulance. The driver of the Ford Flex, 77-year-old Chris Andersen and his passenger, 76-year-old Anita Andersen, both of Mason City, died at the scene.

All of the victims in the crash were wearing their seat belts. The accident remains under investigation.

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer reports that on Saturday, September 4th, Page County deputies arrested Caleb Jordan Ennen.  He was arrested after he turned himself in on a valid Page County warrant. Ennen’s cash-only bond was set at $500.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa A-C-L-U announced today (Friday) that 11 Iowa parents of students with disabilities and a disability rights group are filing a federal lawsuit against the state over the law that bans mask mandates in schools. A-L-C-U attorney Rita Bettis Austen says the students can’t get the same education through online learning. “This violates federal civil rights laws that are meant to protect kids with disabilities in education from discrimination,” she says. Bettis Austen says they are asking the court to immediately block the part of the law that prohibits mask mandates from schools.

“Because this law put vulnerable kids in a dangerous situation. Schools need to be able to require everyone to wear a mask in order to meet their obligations to these children,” Bettis Austen says. The U-S Department of Education says it is investigating whether laws against mask mandates in Iowa and four other states violate federal anti-discrimination laws. Bettis Austen says this lawsuit follows along with that investigation. “It’s unusual for the Department of Education to act this quickly in opening an investigation. I credit it to just how urgent this situation is for our students with disabilities,” she says.

A-L-C-U attorney Rita Bettis Austen

Bettis Austen says this case is not connected to a case brought in state court by a parent from Council Bluffs. Heather Preston of Des Moines is one of the parents in the suit. “For my son, going to school when not everyone is wearing masks puts him at a huge risk. Meanwhile, because of his needs, he needs to be learning in person,” Preston says. “It is terrifying for a parent to have to worry every day about the physical safety of their child.” Governor Kim Reynolds signed the bill into law in May and says it allows parents to decided if their child should wear a mask to school.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer and we celebrate with barbecues and road trips. But be aware as you hit the highways, the Labor Day holiday weekend is one of the deadliest times of the year in terms of drunk-driving fatalities.  During the 2019 Labor Day holiday period (August 31 – September 3), there were 451 traffic fatalities nationwide.  Forty-five percent of those fatalities involved drivers who had been drinking and more than one-third (38%) of the fatalities involved drivers who were over the legal limit.  Ultimately, drinking and driving is a choice, and it is a choice that puts all road users at risk.

In Iowa in 2019, there were six fatalities over the three-day Labor Day weekend.  Three of these fatalities involved a drunk driver. To help keep people safe on our roadways and put an end to drunk driving, extra law enforcement will be out, both locally and nationally, in support of the 2021 Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign from August 20 through September 6, 2021.

One of the deadliest and most often committed – yet preventable – crimes (impaired driving), has become a serious safety epidemic in our country.  We can all do our part to put the brakes on drunk and drugged driving.  Remember that it is never okay to drink/drug and drive.  Even if you plan to have only one alcoholic beverage, designate a sober driver or use a ride serve to get home safely.  If you see a drunk driver on the road, contact your local law enforcement.  Do you have a friend who is about to drink and drive?  Take the keys away and make arrangements to get your friend home safely.  These are small tasks that can make a BIG difference to save lives.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau reminds you:
Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.

(Oakland, Iowa) – The Southwest Iowa Art Tour is gearing up for its eighth year connecting rural communities through art. Mark your calendars for Friday, September 17th, Saturday, September 18th and Sunday, September 19th this year. In 2014, a group of southwest Iowa artists came together to pull off a regional event to connect their rural communities – a self-guided ‘Art Tour’ that would showcase their artworks, studios, galleries, and hometowns. The first year included nine participating communities and thirty artists. The success of the Southwest Iowa Art Tour has grown the eighth annual event to twelve communities, fifteen Gathering Places, and more than seventy local artists.

This self-guided tour allows participants to begin and end where they would like, come and go from location to location at their leisure, and explore diverse art forms – including fiber art, sculpture, pottery, painting, metal works, jewelry, glassware and much more from over seventy artists. The fifteen unique stops, some familiar and others new this year, will be located in the following Southwest Iowa towns: Avoca, Clarinda, Council Bluffs, Essex, Glenwood, Harlan, Macedonia, Malvern, Neola, Red Oak and Villisca.

The event is traditionally held the third Saturday and Sunday in September. In 2019, an additional Friday “Sneak Peek” was added at select locations. Last year the tour was modified due to COVID-19 and featured less locations and hours only on Saturday. For 2021 the Southwest Iowa Art Tour has returned as a three-day event, which will allow the public time to hit all 15 Gathering Places over the weekend! This year’s Friday “Sneak Peek” hours are from 4 to 7 PM on September 17th at 10 of the 15 locations.

This will provide attendees with the additional opportunity to explore the Gathering Places in Clarinda, Essex, Macedonia, Malvern, Neola, Red Oak and Villisca a little early – whether you can’t make it the other days or just need additional time to visit all locations over the weekend. The Five One 8 in Red Oak will also be having an ‘after hours’ with live music by Tica Perri from 7 to 9 PM. The hours for all locations are from 10 AM to 5 PM on Saturday, September 18th and from Noon to 4 PM on Sunday, September 19th.

The Southwest Iowa Art Tour is coordinated by Golden Hills RC&D of Oakland and the collaborative efforts of local participating artists. Because of ongoing COVID-19 concerns, Gathering Places will be exercising precautions that may include outdoor displays, social distancing measures and extra sanitizing to ensure the health and safety of our artists and participants. Please be respectful of individual Gathering Place guidelines, and of course please stay home if you are not feeling well.

For more information be sure to check the “Southwest Iowa Art” Tour Facebook page (with individual Facebook Events for each Gathering Place) and visit the website: www.swiarttour.com, or contact Becca at rebecca.castle@goldenhillsrcd.org. Come support our artists in Southwest Iowa, and be a part of “connecting rural communities through art.”