(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s working on legislation that would set parameters for local school officials to follow when parents object to books in the school library. “If a parent has a concern about what’s in there, there should be a process where they get answers and they should have options,” Reynolds said. “…I’m telling you what some of the parents brought forth to me is concerning.”

This fall, two Republicans in the state senate proposed charging teachers and school librarians with a crime if students have access at school to certain books. Reynolds instead suggests that parents be given easy access to a list of books in the school library and the books are being used in the classroom as well as a process to follow in their local district if they object to certain books.

“I don’t want to paint this as a big, broad problem,” Reynolds says, “because we’ve got educators out there that are doing their best every single day and I’m proud of what they do — my daughter is a public school teacher — and they’ve been there through some really tough times.” Senator Amy Sinclair of Allerton is chair of the Senate Education Committee. Sinclair says there’s a difference between a public library and the library inside a public school and, while she’s not one to support banning books, Sinclair says parental consent could be required for certain titles.

“You know, if parents don’t want their 12 year old child checking out a book that might have inappropriate, not age appropriate, potentially obscene material, they should have an opportunity to reject that prior to their student getting their hands on it,” Sinclair says. Sinclair is drafting a “Parents Bill of Rights” and she says its passage is her highest priority in the 2022 legislative session.

“Parents have the right to know what their kids are being taught,” Sinclair says. “Parents have the right to access curriculum materials.” Sinclair says those are the kind of tools parents need to be actively engaged in their child’s education. “Parents should know the results of student assessment data or scores or grades,” Sinclair says. “Parents should have immediate and open understanding of what their kids are learning. how they’re learning it and what is actually being graded and measured.”

Senate Democratic Leader Zach Wahls says he’s thrilled the discussion has moved away from putting teachers in jail, as that likely discouraged teachers from taking or staying in jobs in Iowa schools. The governor and lawmakers made their remarks Tuesday during a statehouse forum sponsored by the Iowa Capitol Press Association.

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa man has pleaded guilty to civil disorder for his actions at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. A federal prosecutor says 51-year-old Daryl Johnson, of St. Ansgar and his 26-year-old son Daniel, who’s from Austin, Minnesota, climbed through a broken window to get into the Capitol. They were near the front of a crowd that rushed a line of Capitol Police, allowing more rioters into the Capitol Rotunda.

Each of the Johnsons has pleaded guilty to one count of civil disorder. It’s a felony that carries a maximum sentence of five years, but several media outlets report it’s expected they’ll be sentenced to six months or less.

The elder Johnson is one of six Iowans who’ve been charged with participating the Capitol riot.

DES MOINES – Governor Reynolds and the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), Tuesday, announced the latest recipients of the Empower Rural Iowa Broadband Grants Program.  Funding of more than $210M for new broadband infrastructure has been awarded to 160 applicants as part of the latest investment in expanding broadband across the state, announced in October 2021.

In our area  (Applicant name/Application Title/Award Amount):

• Casey Mutual Telephone Company was awarded over $5.9-million for fiber projects in Fontanelle, Bayard and Audubon.
• Coon Rapids Municipal Utilities was awarded $584,239 for their Broadband Grant Application.
• Coon Valley Cooperative Telephone Assoc., Inc., received a $2.729-million grant for the rural Stuart area.
• Cumberland Telephone Company received over $2.445-million for the “Cumberland NOFA7” project.
• Manning Municipal Utilities received a grant amounting to over $144,059 for the rural Gray area.
• METC (Marne Elk Horn Tele. Company) received a total of $634,867 for the projects in Exira and rural Audubon, as well as expansion in the Avoca area.
• Midwest Data Center received a $299,727 grant for the Fremont County Fiber Project.
• and Panora Communications Cooperative received more than $5.58-million for four Raccon River Build projects.

(Complete Award announcements can be found online here.)

Projects awarded under this grant opportunity will bring more than $526 million of new broadband infrastructure investment to Iowa, serving over 39,000 homes, schools, and businesses. To date, the Empower Rural Iowa Broadband Grant Program has awarded grant funding that will result in over $880 million in new broadband investment, reaching approximately 115,000 homes, schools, and businesses upon the completion of grant-funded projects.

The OCIO will expedite an additional federally-funded grant opportunity in the first half of 2022 to continue expanding access to broadband in unserved and rural areas across Iowa which have not been built out in the previous grant opportunities.   

(Radio Iowa) – Two former executives of a Cedar Rapids non-profit are facing charges. Forty-six-year-old Aaron McCreight, and 54-year-old Doug Hargrave are each charged with one count of bank fraud. The charges alleged that McCreight, who was then C-E-O of Go Cedar Rapids (“Go-C-R”), and Hargrave, who was the organization’s finance director, executed a scheme to get thousands of dollars in loans to finance the Newbo Evolve music and cultural event in August of 2018.

The information alleges the two made misrepresentations about the event’s ticket sales, projected revenue, projected expenses, and the true amount of loss expected to get the bank to loan them the money.

The two are awaiting their first court appearance on the charges.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican legislative leaders and Governor Kim Reynolds say the state should wait for a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on federal Covid-19 vaccination mandates before considering state action on the issue. The governor, though, predicts the Supreme Court will rule quickly on whether businesses with 100 or more employees will have to ensure their workers are vaccinated or tested regularly for Covid.

“I’ve had a lot of businesses that are very concerned and anxious reach out to me,” Reynolds says. “The Supreme Court will be hearing the OSHA (case) on January 7 and so I look for them and would anticipate that they would put forward their ruling in a timely manner.” Some G-O-P legislators are proposing a statewide ban on Covid-19 mandates in the workplace. Republican House Speaker Pat Grassley says the legislature took strong action last fall by extending unemployment benefits to Iowans denied religious or medical exemptions from Covid vaccination requirements at their workplace.

“But if we need to step, I think the legislature should stand ready,”Grassley says. “…Look at the 100 person mandate. You go talk to employers and talk to employees. That’s just one more reason not to enter the workforce.” House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst says raising Iowa’s vaccination rate will reduce absences in the workplace.

“We need to spend our energy focusing on getting Iowans to get the vaccine that has been proven safe and effective and we need to make sure we can get out of the pandemic,” Konfrst says, “and science has proven that the best way to do that is to get as many people vaccinated as possible.” Federal Covid vaccination mandates for health care workers and government contractors are also on hold due to court challenges. The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld state vaccine mandates, but has not yet ruled on any issued by the Biden Administration.

(Radio Iowa) – Public health officials are urging Iowans who test positive for COVID-19 using an at-home rapid test to report those results to their local health department. The demand for at-home testing is rising as the highly-transmissible Omicron variant drives a spike in new infections. Nola Aigner-Davis is spokeswoman for the Polk County Public Health Department in Des Moines.

Aigner-Davis says, “If you have a positive test, we would love for you to report it so we kind of have more of an accurate picture on what we’re seeing in the community.” Figures released by the Iowa Department of Public Health on Monday show the number of Iowans testing positive for COVID-19 has taken a sharp upturn. More than 17-thousand positive tests were reported in the last week, that’s up 37-percent from the previous week. Aigner-Davis says it’s important for people who test positive at home to report it.

“It’s great that everyone is doing self at home tests,” she says, “but if we don’t have that data, it doesn’t accurately reflect what we’re actually seeing in the community.” Aigner-Davis says Iowans should continue to take precautions against COVID-19, like wearing masks and getting vaccinated, as the number of new infections is expected to further increase in coming weeks.

(by Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

The Glenwood Police Department reports the arrest on Monday, of 47-year-old Heather Young, from Pacific Junction. She was taken into custody for OWI/1st offense, the bond for which is $1,000.

(Radio Iowa) – The Republican who challenged Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller in 2010 aims to run against the Democratic incumbent again.  Brenna Bird told The Cedar Rapids Gazette she’s running for attorney general this year. Bird is a former chief of staff for Congressman Steve King. She also served as legal counsel in Governor Terry Branstad’s office for four years. Bird served two years as Fremont County Attorney and is currently serving as Guthrie County Attorney.

Brenna Bird

Democrat Tom Miller was first elected in 1978 and is seeking an 11th term. He’s the country’s longest serving attorney general.

(Battle Creek, Iowa) – A man whose vehicle was being pursued by an Ida County Sheriff’s Deputy is dead, after his vehicle missed a curve, struck a tree and then rolled several times in northwest Iowa, Monday night. The Iowa State Patrol says the accident happened at around 11:22-p.m. in the Crawford Creek Recreation Area, south of Battle Creek, in Ida County. 47-year-old David Downing, of Oto, was driving a 2000 Oldsmobile Alero and attempting to elude the deputy, when the crash occurred.

Downing was wearing a seat belt, but died at the scene.

Des Moines, Iowa – Iowa 3rd District Democrat Congresswoman Cindy Axne will host her 73rd “Connect With Your Congresswoman” Town Hall, this Friday, Jan. 7th, in Red Oak. The event takes place at 4 p.m., at the Montgomery County Family YMCA at 101 E. Cherry St., in Red Oak.

Rep. Axne will provide attendees an update on her legislative work in Congress and hear concerns directly from her constituents. Members from the Congresswoman’s staff will also be in attendance to assist with casework concerns. This will be Rep. Axne’s first Connect With Your Congresswoman Town Hall event in 2022, and her 73rd town hall event as the Representative of Iowa’s Third Congressional District.  In addition, Axne will be hosting two roundtables this week, in Des Moines and Council Bluffs. The focus of the meetings is to discuss the priorities that Iowa localities have for the $5 billion the state is projected to receive from the bipartisan infrastructure law that was signed into law last fall.

• On Wednesday, January 5, Rep. Axne will host a roundtable in Des Moines with mayors and city officials from Altoona, Clive, Des Moines, Greenfield, Griswold, Johnston, Runnells, Urbandale, and Waukee, beginning at 10:30 a.m.
• On Friday, January 7, Rep. Axne will host her roundtable in Council Bluffs with mayors and city officials from Council Bluffs, Red Oak, Stanton, Shenandoah, Sidney, Hamburg, Farragut, Pacific Junction, and more, beginning at 10:00 a.m.