DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A new task force in Des Moines will promote urban agriculture and other measures in hopes of bolstering resources for residents with limited access to healthy diets. The Des Moines Register reports that City Council members unanimously approved the food security task force Monday. The seven-member group will work on a volunteer basis with city officials to promote urban farming, research and recommend potential policies and create an online resource guide.

The guide will offer information about where to find tools, compost, seeds, laying hens, honey bees and other supplies.

(Updated by Dar Danielson, Radio Iowa) The Iowa Supreme Court has ordered a review for a possible new trial in a Cass County case.  The ruling says the district court applied too strict a standard in determining whether 29-year-old Patrick Barrett Junior should get a new trial after being convicted of second-degree sexual abuse. Barrett had appealed his conviction, saying he should have been allowed to use the victim’s mental-health and counseling records in his defense. The Supreme Court reversed the district court’s denial – and ordered the lower court to review the use of the mental health evidence based on standards the Supreme Court says are appropriate.

(read the full court decision here)

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.1MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(Radio Iowa) – Leaders in Sioux City have passed the first reading of an ordinance that will increase fines for fireworks violations. Under the new ordinance, property owners would be held responsible and fined for the illegal use of fireworks at their home or property. The city council voted 4-1 Monday for the measure — with Pete Groetken, a retired police captain, voting no. He questioned how the ordinance could be enforced. “I am not sure what this ordinance is doing except raising fines. I don’t know how we enforce it. I guess it can be done or we wouldn’t have recommended it,” Groetken said. “We are increasing the fine — but it’s not really solving the problem.”

Groetken says many people have told him the city should just ban fireworks.He says nine of out ten calls he gets from the public say they should get rid of fireworks. Councilwoman Julie Schoenherr says she has more people tell her they want to be able to celebrate the New Year and 4th of July with fireworks. And she thinks they need to continue with the education campaign.”I haven’t heard as many negative to turn them off and to make them illegal as I have the other way around. So, I want to continue and I want to really, really hit the P-S-A’s after the first of the year,” Schoener said.

The proposal would fine property owners 250 dollars for a first offense violation of the fireworks ordinance, 500 dollars for a second offense, and one thousand dollars for third or more violations. The proposal must pass two more times before being enacted. Fireworks may be legally used from 1:00 P-M December 31st until 12:30 A-M. on January 1st, and July 3rd through July 4th from the hours of 1:00 P-M until 11:00 P-M.

(Radio Iowa) – A study being released by the United Ways of Iowa shows how the pandemic is impacting the state’s households and finds low-income families are suffering disproportionately in trying to pay for essentials. Deann Cook, the agency’s executive director, says the report finds more than half of Iowa households are reporting a loss of income or increased expenses due to COVID-19. “Iowans who are still in a position to give have been very, very generous, particularly with disaster funds. That has been really heartwarming to see,” Cook says. “But there’s just simply more need out there than the non-profit sector is able to provide.”

Charities of all sorts are being stretched to the limit, especially food banks and agencies that help Iowans in need to pay their utilities or rent. “Probably the biggest resource that United Ways have is the Iowa 211 Hotline,” Cook says. “When residents of Iowa find themselves with a challenge that they need help navigating, pick up the phone, call 211 and those call agents can walk you through and help direct you to the best resources.”

Before the pandemic, Cook says 37-percent of Iowans were having a difficult time paying all of their bills. Those are people who are living above the federal poverty level who are working, but simply don’t make enough to pay for the basics. The report shows even more Iowans are now financially fragile. “Eighteen percent of Iowans told us they couldn’t cover one month’s bills prior to the pandemic. That is now well into 30-percent,” Cook says. “We have a third of Iowans, at least, who are now struggling to even come up with one month’s reserve should they have a problem, should they lose income, that kind of thing.”

Beyond money worries, the three primary concerns Iowans expressed are: a second wave of virus activity and closures, a household member contracting COVID-19, and mental health issues. Cook says families with household incomes below $50,000 reported significantly higher concerns about paying for food, utilities and rent.”Going back to what it was like before the pandemic is not exactly going back to a great place,” Cook says. “There were Iowans struggling going into this and this has only exacerbated all of those problems.”

For Iowans who want to help, Cook says there are United Way chapters across the state, in addition to food pantries and local community disaster funds, all of which would welcome donations. (On the web at https://www.uwiowa.org/)

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.9MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The Red Oak Police Department reports 30-year-old Eric Alan Vannausdale, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 9:35-p.m. Tuesday, for Assault with the intent to commit serious injury. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – The start of the 2021 Iowa legislative session is less than three weeks away, but Governor Kim Reynolds says it may be far longer before officials sort out how much more the state will get in federal pandemic relief — and whether some of the billion dollar state surplus and cash reserve will be tapped. “While the State of Iowa really is in great fiscal health when you consider the year that we just went through whether it’s Covid-19 or it’s a drought or it’s the derecho that hit a large majority of our state,” Reynolds says, “we’re not through Covid-19 and so we have to continue to monitor it very carefully and continue to see what the impact is to revenues.”

A panel of experts predicts state tax revenue will grow by more than three-and-a-half percent in the NEXT state fiscal year. The bill that cleared CONGRESS this week will send Iowa and other states millions to distribute Covid vaccines, pay for more testing and perform other local public health functions. There’s more money for child care and Head Start programs as well as food assistance. It also gives states another year to spend money from the first CARES Act that passed last spring.

“This will allow us to put Iowa’s remaining balanced of about $47 million to work in programs that will continue to make a positive difference for Iowans,” Reynolds says. If congress hadn’t taken action this week, Reynolds says she was prepared to distribute that 47 million dollars before the end of the year. About 45 percent of what’s left is the 21 million Reynolds had intended to spend on new state computer software, but the U.S. Treasury’s inspector general ruled that wasn’t a pandemic-related expense.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department has found that an Iowa state-run care center for people with intellectual disabilities likely violated the constitutional rights of residents by subjecting them to human experiments, some of which were deemed dangerous. A report released Tuesday identified broad failures at the Glenwood Resource Center, including poor treatment of residents and failure of the Iowa Department of Human Services to respond. The DOJ began investigating in November 2019 after reports of a high rate of deaths. The DOJ outlined detailed steps for improvement. Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Iowa DHS say they have cooperated with the investigation and will work with DOJ to resolve the problems

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) — The vaccination of Iowa’s nursing home residents is set to begin next week, after a error in the distribution of vaccines threatened to delay the process. State officials said Tuesday that to be able to begin vaccinating people at long-term care facilities on Dec. 28, as planned, the state had to have at least 50% of the vaccine needed for its nursing home population held in reserve, according to a federal rule. The government, however, eased that regulation since the state was shorted on its initial vaccine shipment. Meanwhile, Iowa posted another 64 COVID-19 deaths and 1,276 new confirmed cases of the disease Tuesday.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Democrat Rita Hart is asking the U.S. House to investigate and overturn the race that Iowa says she lost by six votes, arguing that 22 ballots were wrongly excluded and others weren’t examined during the recount. The campaign provided the notice of contest to The Associated Press and announced its filing Tuesday morning. In the document, Hart argues that she would have netted 15 votes and defeated Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks had the 22 ballots been counted in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District. Hart is asking the Democratic-led House to count those votes and conduct a uniform recount throughout the district’s 24 counties. She says she is confident she will be ahead after that process and declared the winner.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A bicyclist died in Davenport when he crashed into a car. Police say the crashed happened about 10 p.m. when a motorized bicycle traveling against traffic on a one-way street crashed into the car. The Quad-City Times reported a 46-year-old man from Davenport was riding the bike. He was taken to a hospital, where he died. Police didn’t immediately identify the bicyclist.