The 7:06-a.m. broadcast News w/Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa/KJAN) – The ability to use fireworks in Iowa is controlled by local jurisdictions and varies widely — but the concern about safely handling them is the same anywhere you go. On May 5^th, the Atlantic City Council set today (July 2nd), Saturday, July 3^rd and Sunday July 4th, from Noon until 11-p.m. each day, as the OFFICIAL dates and times for fireworks celebrations in advance of and on, Independence Day.

File photo

Lieutenant Nick Hutchinson of the Johnston-Grimes Fire Department says you can avoid problems overall by taking some time before lighting things up. “Follow the directions on them, stay a safe distance back if you are going to use them, and be careful,” he says. Hutchinson says you shouldn’t leave kids alone with sparklers or anything else. “If you are going to use fireworks, have an adult be the one who is lighting them off, not a kid,” Hutchinson says. The safety concerns continue after the fireworks are used. “Be cautious of disposal of them. That’s probably the biggest issue that we have as a fire department. Putting hot fireworks in a garbage can — which catches the garage on fire, the house on fire — that kind of thing,” Hutchinson says.

Sparklers are considered to be safer than things that shoot off and go boom. But Hutchinson says they can be dangerous because they get very hot and stay that way after the sparkle goes away. He says they tell people to make a pile of sparklers and thrown some water on them and then it is okay to put them in the trash can. Hutchinson says you should check with your local government to find the times when fireworks are legal to use.

(Radio Iowa) – The governor’s latest public health emergency proclamation makes clear the end is near on most pandemic-related regulatory relief. Last year, Governor Kim Reynolds temporarily suspended many of the deadlines for renewing state licenses and many of those suspensions already have ended. Her latest public health proclamation says Iowans should not expect the few that remain to last beyond July 25th. It means no more delays in license renewals for restaurants and bars, pesticide applicators and temporary teachers.

Tattoo artists and tattoo shops also have a tight deadline for renewing their licenses. They have until Tuesday to renew their 2020 license without a penalty In addition, next Wednesday, tattoo businesses or artists with permits that expired in 2020 will no longer be able to work until they have renewed for the 2021 permit year.

The governor has signaled that pandemic-related limitations on accessing public records and conducting public meetings in Iowa will end July 25th as well.

(Radio Iowa) – One-point-four billion dollars. That’s how much MORE in taxes was paid to the state in the last 12-months compared to the previous fiscal year. The state fiscal year ended June 30th. According to the Legislative Services Agency, there was an 18-point-six percent increase in state tax revenue during that 12-month period compared to the previous fiscal year. As you’ll recall, the final four months of THAT year were March, April, May and June of 2020 when the bottom dropped out of the economy due to the pandemic.

The state ended the fiscal year on June 30th with a surplus of about half a billion dollars. Last month, as she signed a series of tax cuts into law, Republican Governor Kim Reynolds announced she’ll be proposing more cuts to personal income taxes next year.

In this just-concluded fiscal year, Iowans paid nearly 17 percent more in personal income taxes to the state. Corporate taxes grew nearly 52 percent. Sales and use tax payments grew by 10-point-six percent.

WASHINGTON — Iowa Third District Democrat RepresentativeCindy Axne and a bipartisan majority of the U.S. House of Representatives, Thursday, voted to approve $21,901,000 in direct funding for Iowa infrastructure improvements included in the House’s surface transportation authorization legislation.

The projects receiving direct funding through Rep. Axne’s advocacy include a bridge replacement in Red Oak, a Traffic Incident Management Center at Camp Dodge, and bus facility improvements for transit agencies which cover all sixteen counties of Iowa’s Third District. All six projects are included the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation (INVEST) in America Act, legislation that authorizes spending highway and transit projects that advanced out of the House earlier today.

Rep. Axne’s office says she successfully pushed to include six projects for Iowa’s Third Congressional District in the INVEST in America Act:

• $7,000,000 for upgrades to the Southeast Connector connecting SE 30th Street to US Route 65 near Des Moines and Pleasant Hill
• $5,000,000 for bus and bus facility upgrades at the Southwest Transit Agency, Western Iowa Transit, Heart of Iowa Regional Transit Agency, Southwest Iowa Trolley, and the Des Moines Regional Transit Authority
• $4,880,000 for Phase 1 of construction on a Traffic Incident Management Center at Camp Dodge in Johnston
• $2,321,000 for construction of a new Regional Transit Facility for the Heart of Iowa Regional Transit Agency in Waukee
• $2,000,000 for improvements to the Mills Civic Parkway at S. 91st Street and S. Grand Parkway in West Des Moines
• $700,000 for the replacement of the Red Oak Creek Bridge in Red Oak

The Stop Swaps, Protect Local Jobs Act bill aimed at ensuring federal roadway funding isn’t used to undermine competitive wages for local workers, was also included in the final bill. The measure would protect local workers from having their wages undercut by “fund swapping,” a practice where city and county governments move federal dollars out of a roadway project in exchange for state funds.

While the Senate and House will continue to deliberate on securing investments in infrastructure beyond the investments made in this bill, the current authorization for surface transportation funding expires later this year – making this bill the likely foundation for any final agreements on infrastructure.

The INVEST in America Act provides $715 billion to repair our nation’s roads, bridges, transit facilities, rail, and water infrastructure. The legislation, a five-year reauthorization of surface transportation programs and investment in water infrastructure, would provide over $3.5 billion directly to Iowa for transportation projects.

The package of legislation passed today also includes $32 billion to repair deficient bridges, including a new $1 billion grant program called Rebuild Rural Bridges. Iowa currently has the highest number of structurally deficient bridges in the country with nearly 4,500 bridges rated “poor” by the Iowa Department of Transportation. The bill also provides $37 billion in the Surface Transportation Program, a federal program for state and local transportation projects, including new allocations based on population to ensure smaller communities receive the funding they need.

DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate has announced survivors of assault are now eligible to enroll in the Safe at Home address confidentiality program overseen by his office. Previously, participants included survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, trafficking, and stalking. The expansion of the program is part of a new law signed by Governor Reynolds on June 17.

Secretary Pates says “We want all Iowans to be safe and feel protected in their own homes, especially those who have already endured a violent crime. By having their address hidden, survivors don’t have to worry about constantly looking over their shoulder. It makes it a lot harder for their abuser to find them.”

Iowa’s Safe at Home program began in January of 2016 and currently includes more than 675 participants across more than 60 counties. Someone enrolled in Safe at Home receives a legal-substitute address that can be utilized on public and private records, in place of their actual address. Additionally, their mail is forwarded by Safe at Home. Confidential voter registration and absentee balloting is provided. The program provides an extra layer of security for survivors at no cost to them.

Statistics show violent crimes in Iowa occur 266.6 times per every 100,000 residents of the state. Iowa has the 13th lowest rate in the country. Nationally, the average is 366.7 incidents per 100,000 residents. To learn more about Iowa’s Safe at Home program or for an application, visit SafeatHome.Iowa.gov or email SafeatHome@iowa.gov.

The Glenwood Police Department reports 36-year-old Robyn Salmons, of Glenwood, was arrested Thursday. Salmons was taken into custody on a Mills County warrant for probation violation. Her bond was set at $25,000.

GREENFIELD, Iowa – Division of Criminal Investigation agents and deputies with the Adair County Sheriff’s Office are conducting a death investigation in the southeast corner of Adair County. Earlier this (Thursday) afternoon, the body of an adult was discovered alongside a rural road. Law enforcement is treating this death as suspicious.

There is no known threat to the public associated with this discovery. No additional information is being released at this time.

(Radio Iowa) – Tyson Foods held a grand opening today (Thursday) for its company-owned health clinic in Storm Lake. The Bright Blue Health Center is providing primary and preventative care to the 33-hundred employees who work at the two Tyson plants in Storm Lake, as well as their families. Russ Dierenfield, the manufacturing director for Tyson’s turkey plant in Storm Lake, says the clinic opened May 26th.

“Over the last month, our team members have been introduced to the services,” he says. “We’re excited to see more and more team members utilizing the center.” Tyson also operates a pork plant in Storm Lake. Dr. Claudia Coplein, chief medical officer for Tyson Foods, says they’ve found some front-line workers aren’t using their health plan benefits, don’t have a primary care physician or don’t seek care until there’s a crisis. “There are a variety of reasons for this,” she says. “It could be due to cultural barriers, concerns about cost as well as fear of what can sometimes be seen as a complex health care system. We’re trying to change that by providing easy access to high quality health care that helps detect health conditions early and also promotes healthy habits.”

In most cases, employees and their families will not be charged for services at the clinic. Tyson Foods is opening seven Bright Blue Health Centers near company production facilities this year and Storm Lake’s is the only one in Iowa. All seven are being run by Marathon Health, a Vermont-based company that manages worksite clinics in a number of different industries.

(Radio Iowa) – A new law that goes into effect today (Thursday) lets the parents of teenagers certify they’ve taught their child to drive, so the teen can take the tests to get a driver’s license. Homeschooling parents like Republican Representative Joel Fry of Osceola have had this authority for the past decade and this extends it to all Iowa parents.
“I, for one, have had the privilege of teaching now four children driver’s ed in my own family,” Fry says, “and I can tell you the amount of time that I spent with that child in driver’s education far outweighs the amount of time I went through driver’s education in the school system.”

Under previous law, teenagers in public and private schools had to pass a driver’s ed class in their school or a commercial driving school — or complete the D-O-T’s online course before taking the written and driving tests for a driver’s license. Any Iowa parent with a valid driver’s license can now certify they’ve covered that material AND completed behind-the-wheel training with their child. Many Democrats raised concerns.

Senator Claire Celsi, a Democrat from Des Moines, says a similar law has been in place in Oregon and a four-year study found 91 percent of young Oregon drivers in accidents were teenagers who had not completed a standard driver’s ed class. “There are some parents who are completely qualified to teach their children to drive and there frankly are some that are not,” Celsi said.

Republicans Governor Kim Reynolds signed the bill in May, but did not issue a public statement about the new law. Iowa now joins Nebraska and seven other states in having a parent-led driver’s ed law.