(Elk Horn, Iowa) – The Exira-EHK School District’s Board of Education met Tuesday evening, in a regular monthly session. According to the meeting minutes provided by Exira-EHK Business Manager & Board Secretary/Treasurer Mallory Meyer, the Board appointed board member Kevin Petersen to the Shelby County Conference Board, and Tamie Fahn to the Audubon County Conference Board as representatives of the School Board.

The Board approved setting the following dates for upcoming Public Hearings:

• March 19, 2024 at 5:30-p.m. (Prior to the regular meeting) for the 2024-25 Calendar Year Public Hearing
• FY 25 Budget – Public Hearing #1: 5:30-p.m. March 26, 2024
• FY25 Budget – Public Hearing #2: 5:30-p.m. April 16, 2024 (prior to the regular meeting)

In other business, the Exira-EHK School Board approved Early Retirement Incentive applications from 3rd Grade Teacher Page Halbur, and Special Education Teacher/Asst. Track Coach, Cassidy Nerland. They also approved the resignations of both individuals. And, they approved the hiring of Kourtney Hollingsworth as Food Service worker.

The Board’s next regular meeting is at 6-p.m. on February 20th, in the Elk Horn Building Conference Room.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Public Safety is proposing that someone caught making a so-called “swatting” call that prompts a massive law enforcement response to a FAKE threat be charged with a felony. Josie Wagler of the Department of Pubic Safety says in 2021, there were four reports of swatting calls in Iowa. Last year, there were 39. “Our purpose really is to just try and deter bad actors from tying up emergency resources and trying to k p the public and emergency response agencies safe,” she says. Under the proposal, a person who makes a fake call about a violent attack, an armed intruder or a bomb threat could be charged with a felony, rather than a misdemeanor.

Representative Brian Meyer, a Democrat from Des Moines, says a call intended to prompt SWAT teams to show up somewhere isn’t like a prank call to 9-1-1.  “And I just want to make sure we don’t get people caught up in the bow wave of doing something stupid versus being very malicious and intentional about it, which I think this bill addresses,” Meyer says.

Public Safety Communications – APCO Int’l. (photo)

Earlier this week, the White House was the target of a fake “swatting” call after someone called 9-1-1 to falsely claim the White House was on fire and someone was trapped inside. Several elected officials around the country have been subjected to these kind of incidents in recent weeks. The mayor of Boston has been targeted with several fake calls to 9-1-1 about shootings at her home.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Board of Supervisors in Shelby County, during their regular weekly meeting Tuesday morning, passed two resolutions. The first was to claim lost revenue from the ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds. Shelby County Auditor/Board Secretary Mark Maxwell reports the Board approved allocating $18,582  as lost revenue to spend on government services to residents. Along that same line, they passed a motion to claim unused sewer repair grant monies to the general fund and the conservation fund, to make repairs on a building at Manteno Park.

The Board discussed and passed a motion with regard to authorizing a grant to cover the costs associated with Medical Examiner training. Shelby County Jail Administrator Kyle Lindberg requested and received approval for, an expenditure of dollars from the Jail Room and Board Fund, to purchase a new camera system. Interim Shelby County EMS Director Jordon Sanders presented to the Board of Supervisors, a new wage scale for EMS employees for addition to the countywide handbook. The matter will be considered during the Board’s meeting on February 6th.

Shelby County Engineer Brandon Burmeister, Tuesday, presented his weekly report to the Supervisors, including fuel bid results for the rest of calendar year 2024. The Board accepted a low bid of Agriland FS in the amount of $637,979. The Board then considered and approved a five-year law enforcement contract with the City of Shelby.

And, they passed a Livestock Master Matrix Construction Evaluation Resolution, with regard to potential (new) livestock confinements in Shelby County. The State of Iowa says “only counties that have adopted a (Master Matrix) and submitted an adopted resolution, may contest the DNR’s decision regarding a specific application,” received from Feb. 1, 2024 through Jan. 1, 2025.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – The Iowa Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of a Grundy County man who shot and killed an Iowa State Trooper in 2021. Michael Lang is serving a life sentence. A jury convicted him of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and assault on an officer. Lang shot and killed Sergeant Jim Smith during a standoff. Smith was a 27-year veteran of the force.

Police say Lang led officers on a chase, assaulted an officer who pulled him over, then barricaded himself inside his home in Grundy Center. Officers then entered when Lang refused to surrender. That’s when Lang shot Smith.

Lang argued he should’ve been able to claim self-defense because officers used excessive force, but the Iowa Court of Appeals says he can’t make this argument since it was not made in district court.

(DENISON, Iowa) — Police in Denison, Wednesday evening, issued a statement with regard to an investigation into a bomb threat at the Denison High School earlier in the day, Wednesday.   According to a news release, at about 1:50 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 17, the school got a call from an unknown phone number. The caller allegedly said that they would “blow up the whole school” and was on the way there. They then hung up when asked who they were, the release states. Officers arrived at the school, and the entire building was put on lockdown, with all routes into the area blocked.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations used location tracking and found out that the phone number had been used to call other Iowa schools that same day. When officers received information that this may have been a swatting call, they stayed at the high school for security purposes as students were dismissed. No threats were found when officers and administration staff did a full search of the building.

Read the entire press release below:

DES MOINES, Iowa [KETV] –  Iowa joined 37 other states in suing TikTok. Attorney General Brenna Bird said the Chinese-owned app deceives parents by exposing young children to graphic materials, including sexual content, self-harm and illegal drug use. “TikTok has kept parents in the dark,” said Attorney General Bird. “As a mom and prosecutor, I am committed to equipping parents with information to keep their kids safe and to holding TikTok accountable.”

The lawsuit claims there are workarounds for parental controls, so the app’s 12+ rating is inaccurate and therefore violates the App Store guidelines. TikTok maintains it has safeguards to protect children.

You can read the lawsuit here.

DES MOINES, Iowa —(KCCI) – Willie Nelson is coming back to Water Works Park in Des Moines. The country music legend announced this week that the Willie Nelson and Family tour will return to Lauridsen Amphitheater for a show on May 25, just about a month after he turns 91. Nelson and Family drew thousands to Water Works Park last summer, as well. Tickets go on sale Friday.

Rock band Cake is also playing at Lauridsen Amphitheater this year. Tickets are on sale now for their show on May 11.