DES MOINES – Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation today for seven counties in response to severe weather beginning May 17 and continuing. The governor’s proclamation allows state resources to be utilized to respond to and recover from the effects of this severe weather and activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program for qualifying residents, along with the Disaster Case Management Program, for: Appanoose, Cedar, Davis, Johnson, Lucas, Monroe, and Pottawattamie counties.

The Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program provides grants of up to $5,000 for households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level or a maximum annual income of $41,560 for a family of three. Grants are available for home or car repairs, replacement of clothing or food and temporary housing expenses. Original receipts are required for those seeking reimbursement for actual expenses related to storm recovery. The grant application and instructions are available on the Iowa Department of Human Services website. Potential applicants have 45 days from the date of the proclamation to submit a claim.

Disaster Case Management is a program to address serious needs to overcome a disaster-related hardship, injury or adverse condition. Disaster case managers work with clients to create a disaster recovery plan and provide guidance, advice and referral to obtain a service or resource. There are no income eligibility requirements for this program; it closes 180 days from the date of the governor’s proclamation. For information on the Disaster Case Management Program, contact your local community action association or visit www.iowacommunityaction.org.

Iowa residents of counties impacted by the recent severe weather are asked to report damage to help local and state officials better understand the damage sustained. Damage to property, roads, utilities and other storm-related information may be reported. This information will be collected by the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and shared with local emergency management agencies.

For more information on Iowa flooding, visit floods2019.iowa.gov or contact 2-1-1.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa has filed a lawsuit challenging a new state law that prohibits the use of Medicaid funding for gender reassignment surgery.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill on May 3 that included language amending the state’s Civil Rights Act so that government officials are not required to pay for gender reassignment surgery.

The ACLU has sued in state court to block enforcement of the law on behalf of One Iowa, a group that advocates for transgender rights, and two transgender Iowans who qualify for Medicaid and whose doctors say they need the surgery.

ACLU of Iowa Legal Director Rita Bettis Austen says the measure is discriminatory and “has no basis in medicine or science.” Conservative Republicans passed the measure after the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in March that the state cannot block Medicaid from paying for gender reassignment surgery for two transgender women.

A man from Adair County and a woman from Union County were injured during a collision this (Friday) morning, in Madison County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2019 Nissan driven by 27-year old Amber Dawn Clements, of Lorimor, was traveling north on Highway 169 at around 6:45-a.m., when a 2005 Chevy Tahoe driven by 50-year old Neena Marie Honnold, of Lorimor, pulled out of her residential driveway. As the SUV was getting up to highway speed, Clements’ vehicle struck the rear bumper of the Tahoe, causing the SUV to veer into the southbound lanes of Highway 169. The Tahoe ending up on the east shoulder of the road.

A 2017 Ford Explorer, driven by 41-year old Ryan Michael Devault, of Greenfield, was traveling south on 169. Devault tried to avoid the Tahoe when it swerved into his lane by driving onto the west shoulder and ditch, but his SUV collided head-on with the Nissan. Clements and Devault, who wear wearing their seat belts, were injured and transported by Madison County Ambulance to the Madison County Hospital in Winterset. Authorities say Honnold was not injured during the collision.

The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports a Sioux City man was sentenced Wednesday in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, to nearly 16 years in prison on drug charges. 35-year old Jose Valentin Carrillo was sentenced to prison terms of 190 months each on counts of Conspiracy, and Possession with Intent to Distribute, Methamphetamine. The  twp sentences will run concurrently. The prison term will be followed by a term of supervised release of five years on each count, also to run concurrently.

According to court documents, Valentin Carrillo organized and arranged the transportation of approximately eight kilograms of methamphetamine from Kansas City, Missouri to Nebraska City, Nebraska. On August 13, 2017, the vehicle transporting the methamphetamine was stopped by law enforcement in Fremont County, Iowa. The case was investigated by Fremont County Sheriff’s Department, Iowa State Patrol, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

A pickup truck rear-ended a stopped school bus in Union County, Thursday afternoon, but no injuries were reported. According to the Union County Sheriff’s Office, the accident happened at around 3:50-p.m. at 1626 Highway 25. A westbound school bus driven by 23-year old Cody Dean Hagle, of Orient, was stopped to unload students when it was rear-ended by a 1996 Chevrolet K1500 pickup, driven by 75-year old William Arthur Raasch, of Greenfield. There were five occupants in the bus at the time of the crash.

Authorities say Raasch was following too closely, and his brakes failed, which caused the pickup to collide with the rear of the school bus. The bus sustained $500 damage. Damage to the pickup was estimated at $3,000.

STANWOOD, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa man accused of shooting up his neighbor’s house has pleaded guilty in federal court to being a felon in possession of ammunition. Prosecutors say 62-year-old Randolph High, of Stanwood, faces up to 10 years in prison when he’s sentenced later. He remains in federal custody. High was arrested in January after police say High’s neighbor heard more than a dozen gunshots and discovered bullet holes in his vehicle, camper and home. Investigators say that while the victim was on the phone with police, High threatening to kill him.

Prosecutors say a search of High’s home turned up magazines for firearms, numerous .22 caliber rounds and 71 expended shell casings. State charges of attempted murder and other counts were dropped in lieu of the federal case.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors this (Friday) morning, approved the recommended re-appointment of Roger Barbero to the County Veterans Affairs Commission. His three-year term will expires June 30, 2022. Barbero has served on the Commission for the past two terms. The Board also approved nominations and resignations for the Cass County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC). The Committee meets twice each year. Four names are coming off the list provided to the State Homeland Security/LEPC, including some members who have passed away or moved away, and four names are coming on the list. Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman read the list of names nominated for the Committee…Ryan Archibald, Virginia Coughlin, Dave Erickson, and Mark O’Brien.

Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon explained the role of the Committee. He said they maintain physical copies of hazardous materials sites in the County in the event someone needs to know. The LEPC is made-up of a cross-section the community in Cass County, including media, law enforcement, elected officials and site facility members, to name a few.

In other business, the Cass County Supervisors rejected bids for a bridge project because of a lack of competitive bidders at this time, and because it was over the engineer’s estimate. Contractors, it was noted, are very busy this year with flood damaged road and other projects. County Engineer Charles Bechtold said if no new competitive bids are received by July 16th, in a worst case scenario, they would try again next year. Bechtold said crews are blading the roads when and where possible, but since they do more damage than good right now, they are staying off the most sloppy roads due to flooding and heavy rain. Supervisor John O’Brien told Bechtold he’s received complaints about the rural, unpaved roads being rough and rutted, in-part caused by semi’s hauling grain.

He said it’s not just the semi’s. It’s the manure and feed haulers. Bechtold said it would be nice if they could stay-off the roads a little longer, but he understands the need to get feed to the animals and fertilizer laid. Bechtold said they could order a 90-day embargo on those roads, but he doesn’t want to have to do that, because they want to help the farmers out as much as possible. The Supervisors today (Friday) approved a 2.8% increase in the Secondary Roads Employee wages as part of a bargaining agreement, which amounts to 60-cents per hour per employee. They also approved renewing the lease agreement for Willow Heights for one-year (June 30 2019-June 30, 2020), and a Cass County Procurement Policy, which is a formality associated with FEMA funds.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Trump administration is following through on a plan to allow year-round sales of gasoline mixed with 15% ethanol. The Environmental Protection Agency announced the change Friday, ending a summertime ban imposed out of concerns for increased smog from the higher ethanol blend. The agency had proposed the change in March. The change also fulfills a pledge that President Donald Trump made to U.S. corn farmers, who see ethanol as an important driver of demand for their crops. Oil refineries have been seeking exemptions from government requirements to include ethanol in their fuel mixes.

Environmental groups contend the U.S. Clean Air Act prohibits year-round sales of E15, and court challenges are expected. Bill Wehrum, assistant administrator of the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, said today (Friday), the agency is prepared to win a court fight. Wehrum said in a conference call with reporters, that if the agency believed the change ran afoul of the Clean Air Act, “we wouldn’t have done it.”

Federal law for more than a decade has mandated that oil refineries mix ethanol into their fuel. The Trump administration’s former EPA chief, Scott Pruitt, had angered lawmakers, growers and ethanol processors in Iowa and other key election states by granting a spate of exemptions sparing refineries from that mandate. The dispute sparked a billboard campaign and at least one tractor rally by angry farmers in the Midwest last year, threatening to erode what has been a base of support for Trump.

According to Weddum, the change removes a barrier to wider sales of E15 and is expected to expand the market for ethanol — although immediate effects on the market are expected to be minimal. Only about 1,000 to 1,500 of more than 150,000 U.S. gas stations currently sell the higher-ethanol blend. “It’ll take some time” to see an overall jump in E15 sales, he said. Today’s (Friday’s) announcement was widely lauded by Midwest lawmakers, farm groups and the biofuel industry.

The EPA move also implements a regulatory change in the ethanol program intended to curb what the oil industry believes in price manipulation in the ethanol program. Wehrum said the regulatory change makes more transparent how ethanol tax credits are applied by ethanol blenders.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court says a crude oil pipeline running across Iowa was legally permitted to be built dashing the hopes of a group of farmer landowners who wanted the pipeline moved off their land and an environmental group that wanted it shut down. The farmers and the environmental group Sierra Club of Iowa claim the Iowa Utilities Board illegally issued a permit for the Dakota Access pipeline which has been carrying oil since 2017.

A majority of the court concludes the use of eminent domain for an oil pipeline is not unconstitutional simply because it passes through without taking on or letting off oil. The court says the pipeline permit was lawfully issued. The landowners claim the pipeline carrying oil from North Dakota to Illinois provides no benefit to Iowans so forced taking of land to build it is unlawful.

Glenwood Police report the arrest today (Friday), of a Papillion, NE., man.  53-year old Clyde Perkins was arrested on a Pottawattamie County warrant for Assault. Perkins was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail until seen by a magistrate judge.