(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he does -not- oppose the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U-S Supreme Court, but Grassley says the timeline Democrats propose to confirm her by Easter isn’t “realistic.” Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, says Democrats want to start Jackson’s hearings on March 21st. “That probably would allow them to get done by Easter,” Grassley says. “It wouldn’t have to be done by Easter because the ninth seat on the court that she will fill won’t be vacant until the first of July, around that period of time, so there’s no hurry from the standpoint of the court only having eight members.”

Comparisons are being made to how swiftly Republicans confirmed now-Justice Amy Coney Barrett in 2020, but Grassley says it’s not apples-to-apples. “Barrett didn’t have any federal government relationship whatsoever when she was picked to be on the Supreme Court,” Grassley says, “whereas there’s just 500 cases by Judge Jackson at the district court level, only two at the D.C. circuit court level.”

Grassley says senators are going through all of those cases but also need time to review Jackson’s years of service on the sentencing commission. Jackson and Grassley met one-one-one earlier this month, shortly after President Biden announced she was his choice to replace Justice Stephen Breyer, who’s stepping down at the end of June. Grassley says it would be tough to schedule one-on-ones with everyone who might want one before March 21st. “It’s a short period of time if 100 senators want to see her and probably not 100 senators do want to see her face-to-face,” Grassley says. “I only took 40 minutes with her when she was in my office but some senators might want to take a longer period of time.”

Certainly, he says, all 11 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee will want to meet with Jackson, but Grassley says there are 39 other G-O-P senators who deserve an opportunity to question her before they cast a vote. Grassley makes the following prediction about the confirmation process for the potential first black woman on the nation’s high court. “It’s going to be fair and thorough, both the vetting as well as the questions before the committee,” Grassley says, “and Republicans are not going to get down in the gutter like the Democrats did with Kavanaugh.”

Grassley is referring to now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was nominated for the Supreme Court by President Trump in 2018. Shortly after being nominated, Kavanaugh was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in the 1980s when they were in high school, and two other women accused him of sexual misconduct, all allegations he denied. After fiery hearings, Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate on a 50-to-48 vote.

(Radio Iowa) – A Mason City man who was reported missing has been found dead. Mason City police late last month had said they were looking for 38-year-old Travis Kummer, who had been reported missing to police on February 18th. Family members at the time reported that he had last been seen in Mason City on February 11th. Police on Monday say that officers were called to a wooded area near in the southeastern part of town on Sunday after a citizen reported finding a body.

Officers believed that the deceased was Kummer. The police department says an autopsy will be performed at the State Medical Examiner’s Office.

(Radio Iowa) – This will be the Sunday to “spring ahead” for Daylight Saving Time and a legislator who’s a vocal critic of flipping the clock twice a year has won another round of voting in the Iowa House. For this year’s effort, Representative Mike Sexton of Rockwell City started out by reading passages from a medical journal. “An abundance of accumulated medical evidence indicates that the acute transition from Standard Time to Daylight Savings Time incurs significant public health and safety risks,'” Sexton read, “‘including increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events, mood disorders, motor vehicle crashes.'”

Sexton’s bill to stay on Daylight Saving Time passed the House 82-13, but the move can only happen if congress votes to allow it. Nineteen other states have passed similar bills. Sexton has been trying for the past few years to get a bill on the topic through the Iowa legislature.  “The week that follows the time we change in the clock, we have accidents at work,” Sexton says, “teachers have student problems in their classrooms.”

Time in the United States was generally measured by the position of the sun or a prominent clock in a community until 1883. That’s when the railroads introduced “Standard Time” to keep time consistent in zones of the country. Daylight Saving Time was implemented during World War I as a way to conserve fuel.

(Radio Iowa) – The State of Iowa is paying eight men a million dollars in total to settle a case connected to a state employee who pleaded guilty to secretly taking photos them in the bathroom. Kenneth Kerr was fired from the Iowa Department of Revenue in 2015 and he pleaded guilty to invasion of privacy and sexually-motivated stalking of male co-workers. In 2019, the state paid out 900-thousand dollars to settle a federal lawsuit filed by three men who accused supervisors of not talking complaints about Kerr seriously.

The state’s solicitor general says an investigation discovered more victims, including the eight men who’re receiving settlements now, and these payouts resolve all remaining complaints about Kerr. Supervisors who failed to intervene are no longer working in the agency.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop in Red Oak Monday evening, resulted in the arrest of a woman on drug charges. According to Red Oak Police, 51-year-old Sarah Wohlt, of Council Bluffs,  faces charges that include: possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), possession of a controlled substance (marijuana), 1^st offense, and unlawful possession of a prescription drug.

Montgomery County Deputies and the Montgomery County K9 assisted the Red Oak Police Department.

(Creston, Iowa) – Two people were arrested this (Tuesday) morning, in Creston. According to the Police Department, 58-year-old Jack E Snyder, of Diagonal, was arrested around 1:14-a.m. following a traffic stop at Highway 34 and Smith Street. Snyder was charged with Driving while Barred. He was transported to the Union County Jail and later released on a $2,000 cash or surety bond. And, at around 5:41-a.m., Creston Police arrested 35-year-old Nicholas Bryan Crenshaw, of Afton. He was taken into custody at the Creston McDonald’s restaurant, on a Probation Violation Warrant. Crenshaw was transported to the Union County Jail was being held on a $10,000 cash only bond.

Monday afternoon, 32-year-old Rachel Marie Colburn, of Creston, was arrested at her residence, on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault/1st Offense. Colburn was transported to Adams Co Jail and later released after seeing the Magistrate.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Speech and Debate Team Co-Coach Patricia Nicewanger, Monday evening, reported that the Atlantic Speech and Debate Team brought home the Sweepstakes Trophy at last Saturday’s 51st Annual Walnut Hills Invitational held at CAM High School.

Niceswanger said with regard to District Results,  “We took 33 entries, more than I have ever had participate. 28 of those received a Division 1 rating and advance to State at ADM on March 12th. We had a great showing by Freshmen and I’m very excited to see the potential for the future of our program! These results show the outcome of many hours of rehearsal. Some students took pieces and cut them together, some wrote their own pieces. They take critiques very well to learn and grow as performers.

Walnut Hill awards a traveling Sweepstakes trophy to the school with the highest number of total points. Niceswanger said “Atlantic was thrilled to be notified today that we won the Sweepstakes trophy as well! What a great honor to celebrate our kids’ success!”

Back row L to R: Josie Handlos, Faith Nath, Alexiya Moore, Keira Olson, Charlotte Saluk
Front row L to R: Alex Garcia, Nolan Perez, Nick Bennett

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater, Monday evening, released a report on recent arrests. Saturday night, March 5th, 44-year-old Lisa Marie Overton, of Menlo, was pulled-over in Stuart by Stuart Police, for having an expired registration plate. Overton admitted to not having a driver’s license or insurance. She was arrested for Driving While Barred, and then released from the scene with a citation.

At around 2:25-a.m., Saturday, 35-year-old Jonathan Paul Calhoun, of Adair, was pulled over by Adair Police for running a stop sign, in Adair. He was subsequently arrested for OWI, with a BAC of .140.  Calhoun was cited for OWI/1st offense and later released with the citation.

Friday morning (March 4th), 38-year-old Christopher Anthony Ford, of Greenfield, was arrested by Greenfield Police, for Violation of a No Contact/Protective Order – Contempt of Court. Ford was released that same afternoon on a $300 cash/surety bond.

And, on March 1st, 35-year-old David Spencer Reeves, of Des Moines, was arrested in Greenfield on Adair County warrants charging him with Tampering with a Witness/Juror, and Domestic Abuse Assault/2nd offense. Reeves was being held without bond in the Adair County Jail, pending an appearance in District Court.

(Radio Iowa) – A 15-year-old boy has died and two young women — a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old — were critically injured in a shooting outside a Des Moines high school. Des Moines Police say potential suspects have been detained for questioning. The shooting happened just before 3 p.m. Monday and investigators say the gunshots came from a vehicle passing by the East High School campus. The Iowa Capitol is less than a mile to the southwest of the school.

Representative Ruth Ann Gaines led the Iowa House in a moment of silence shortly after the shooting. “Not only was East High School my home for 40 years, I look at school students as all of our students,” Gaines said. Gaines, a Des Moines native, was a drama teacher at the school. “I would like this moment of silence for all of those students,” Gaines said. “Even though you may not know them and they may not be related to you, they are all God’s children.”

In a written statement, Gaines said the shooting has to be a wake up call for every single lawmaker and the governor. The president of the state teachers’ union said violence of any kind against our precious children is unacceptable. The high school will be closed today (Tuesday), and grief counselors will be available to students and staff all week.

Des Moines Police say the 15-year-old boy who was killed was not a student at the high school, but the two other shooting victims were students at Des Moines East. Governor Reynolds issued a statement, saying she is praying for the victims of this senseless act of violence and is heartbroken for the families and the pain felt across the entire community.”

(Radio Iowa) – Thirty-seven states license midwives and, if a bill that cleared the Iowa House becomes law, Iowa would join that group. Bethany Gates of Vinton is a certified professional midwife, one of about a dozen working in Iowa. “Midwives are leaving the state because there are a lot more states that offer licensure, which allows us to practice within our full scope, which makes births safer,” she says. The maternal mortality rate in Iowa has nearly doubled in the past 20 years and Gates says the time has come for Iowa to start licensing midwives.

“We rank 49th in the nation in terms of the number of maternity care providers to the number of women in the state,” she says. A recent study found mothers and babies in states which have integrated midwives into the health care system had better outcomes compared to the states that have the most restrictions on midwives. Without a state license, Gates and other midwives cannot administer certain medications while assisting in a birth, and in most instances midwives cannot order an ultrasound or lab work for a client.

“There’s about five that I can send those orders into without a license,” Gates says, “so this will allow our clients access to those screening procedures that are standard of care in Iowa.” Representative Ras Smith, a Democrat from Waterloo, says the bill responds to the need for access to health care. “Iowa is ranked as the third worst state for people of color, specifically African American people, in the nation. One of the reasons is there’s a six-to-one ratio for black women who die in childbirth compared to their white counterparts,” Smith said. “I think this bill goes a long way in solving those problems.”

Representative Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican from Wilton, says the bill helps bring an established profession out of the shadows. “This bill does serve as the single-most diverse bill in terms of the levels of support — from the far left to the far right — that I have personally worked on,” Kaufmann says.

The bill passed with 93 yes votes and only two House members voted against it. The bill to license midwives now goes to the Senate for consideration. Iowa’s major medical groups have opposed similar legislation in the past.