(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa legislature has voted to set up a state funding source for an automated system that lets law enforcement AND victims track the evidence kits used to prosecute rapists. Senator Julian Garrett of Indianola says “These are horrendous crimes and we certainly do need to do what we can to address them.”  The Iowa Attorney General’s office is currently using a nearly 800-thousand dollar FEDERAL grant for the system that records information about rape kits when evidence is collected at a hospital to when the evidence is processed at the state crime lab and, finally, when the evidence is turned over to a police or sheriff’s department. The federal money for the system runs out in 2023.

Garrett says the bill would keep the system operating by using a combination of criminal fines paid in Iowa courts and a percentage of what Iowa prison inmates earn by working at private sector jobs.  “This will allow victims, county attorneys and any entity with custody of a test kit to track it,” Garrett says. “Victims must be notified before a kit is disposed of.” Senator Janet Petersen of Des Moines cites the recent processing of more than 11-thousand untested rape kits in the Detroit area that identified more than 800 potential serial rapists.  “I do think we need to do a better job of tracking our rape kits,” Petersen says.

A state audit in 2017 revealed Iowa law enforcement agencies had 42-hundred untested evidence kits for alleged sexual assaults. By 2020, about 62 percent of those kits had been processed and the state crime lab’s average testing period for a rape kit had been reduced to 46 days.

(Radio Iowa) A woman was rescued from a railroad bridge early this (Thursday) morning in Ames. The Union Pacific Railroad reported a distraught woman hanging off the bridge at Dayton Avenue just before 1:30 this morning. Ames Police Sergeant Joel Congdon says officers held the woman to keep her from falling. “The first thing was they wanted to kind of contain it to be able to make sure they could hang on to the woman that was in distress. Once they had that secured, they quickly formulated plans and figured out what they needed,” Congdon says.

He says a fire department ladder truck was used to reach the woman and put her in a harness, and then she was lowered down. Congdon noted the officers didn’t have a lot of room to work with at the scene. “The area that the officers had to work with, they basically had to stick their arms underneath the railing to grab onto her, so they were dealing with a couple of different variables,” Congdon says. “You had to have your arm be able to fit through a tight spot and I’m sure it was quite the exciting ordeal.”

The woman was taken to Mary Greeley Medical Center for evaluation. Her name was not released.

An investigation into what caused damage to homes in Cedar Rapids Wednesday night is underway, and officials think it may have been a tornado. KCRG TV reports the damage occurred at around 8:30-p.m., and resulted in injuries to a child. The weather phenomenon affected the Summit View Mobile Home Park. Residents say the roof of one mobile home was partially torn off, and windows in another home were blown out.

According to KGAN TV, one resident called 911 to report that their daughter had been cut by flying glass.

(Radio Iowa) – Drivers education courses are required by state law to include topics like railroad crossing safety as well as four hours of instruction about the dangers of driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. The Iowa Legislature has sent the governor a bill that would divide that four hour period between the topics of substance abuse and distracted driving.

“I think it’s a good bill that could very well prevent accidental deaths from auto accidents,” Representative Thomas Gerhold of Atkins said when the bill unanimously passed the House in February. The Senate approved the bill yesterday without debate. An Iowa DOT report shows that in 2019, nearly 1,100 traffic accidents were caused by a driver who was distracted by a cell phone or other electronic device.

Three people were killed and 538 people were injured in those wrecks linked to distracted drivers.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State University Extension is beginning a three-year project to study the challenges and opportunities for women landowners. Madeline Schultz is leading the study she says will look at several things facing women. “What some of the barriers are to making good decisions for greater economic profitability as well as conservation decisions, as well as land succession or generational transition decisions,” Schultz says.

Schultz is the program manager for the farm management team’s women in ag program. An I-S-U survey found 47 percent of all acres and 55 percent of all leased acres in Iowa were owned by women. She says there has already been some good research on the issues — including a 2014 U-S-D-A study. “And in that particular study, it revealed that decisions on land owned by women landowners are more likely to be made by the tenants,” she says. Schultz says they want to dig deeper into some of the previous findings. “We’re hoping to build on that and find out how we can support women in making decisions for their land,” Schultz says.

She says another I-S-U survey found that 76 percent of the women landowners are 65 or older. “So what this means for us is that women’s succession decisions are of considerable importance really to the whole farming community — and to the future of our agricultural system,” according to Schultz. She says the survey is the start of their work. Schultz says the next step is to engage women in focus groups and advisory committees to talk with them in small groups — and then they can do some pilot programming to provide them some education.

A survey will be sent to known women landowners in June, and those interested in participating can contact Madeline Schultz at 515-294-0588 or schultz@iastate.edu. The U-S-D-A has provided 300-thousand dollars for the study.

(Radio Iowa) – Leaders of one of Iowa’s largest commodities groups are optimistic their main priority bill before the state legislature will pass and be sent on to the governor after clearing a recent “funnel” deadline. Mindy Larsen Poldberg, government relations director of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, says the biofuels bill promises a big boost for ethanol and biodiesel producers and retailers. “It will reduce the amount of E-0 sales that will be sold in the state of Iowa, replacing that with E-10,” Poldberg says. “It will increase the amount substantially for money that’s put into infrastructure for E-15 to E-85 and also biodiesel.”

She says an important component of the bill would offer grants to retailers to upgrade their pumps, though it wouldn’t go into effect for several years. “As we move toward that 2028 deadline, that’s why we want to put a significant amount of resources into the infrastructure program,” Poldberg says, “so that retailers can get those grants, up to 70% of a grant, in order to make those higher blends of ethanol and biodiesel available.”

She says the measure has passed the Iowa House Ways and Means Committee, and the full House is its next stop.

Officials with the Cass County Health System (CCHS) need your input as the Public Health Department makes a five-year plan for improving health and well-being in Cass County. The online survey should take only five-minutes of your time, and your answers will remain anonymous. The Community Health Needs Assessment is open until April 12.

Officials say the assessment is part of a statewide process that takes place every five years in which each county in Iowa conducts their own assessment and develops a five-year Health Improvement Plan. To take the assessment, click HERE.

With Ric Hanson.

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• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• freshly ground black pepper
• 4 large croissants (the wider the better), halved horizontally
• 1/3 pound sliced deli ham
• 1/3 pound sliced provolone cheese

Preheat a waffle iron to medium heat.

In a small bowl, mix the mayo and mustard.  Add a grind of pepper.

Spread the mayo-mustard mix on both cut sides of each croissant.  Next, roll up a piece or two of ham and bend it into a curve.  Set it in the bottom of a croissant, then top with provolone.  Make sure that the top croissant covers all the cheese; if it doesn’t, snuggle the cheese a little further inside the bread or cut it a bit smaller.  Otherwise it’ll leak out (and waffle irons are tough to clean).  Now that the sandwich is built, place it on a microwave-safe plate and microwave it for 30 seconds, to get the cheese melting inside.  Meanwhile, fill the rest of the croissants.

Place the sandwich on the waffle iron and lower the lid.  Push the lid down a bit to squash it a little, then release and let sandwich cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the croissant is crispy and the filling is hot (if your waffle iron has an alarm, it should go off).  Remove the sandwich and let it cool for 3 to 5 minutes.  Repeat to cook the rest of the sandwiches.