(Radio Iowa) — A Democrat in the Iowa Senate has drafted legislation that would direct Iowa schools AND colleges to keep the calendar clear on Caucus night. Senator Rob Hogg, of Cedar Rapids, says “We shouldn’t have classes and extracurricular activities and practices conflict with Caucuses.”  Hogg says it’s time to ensure students, staff and parents don’t have to choose between participating in the Iowa Caucuses or attending school activities.  “This is important because Iowa is first-in-the-nation because we do it best,” Hogg says. “If we want to do it best, we need to make sure that students and people associated with our schools can participate that in the caucus process.”

Hogg says as a side benefit to his proposal, school facilities would then be available as sites for the precinct-level meetings.  “We are really challenging the capacity of some of our facilities, so we need to have as many facilities available as we can for Caucus Night,” Hogg says. Hogg has posted his idea on social media and discovered some schools have already scheduled events on February 3rd, 2020. Hogg says that’s why the legislature should address the issue THIS year, to give schools and colleges in Iowa time to adjust their schedules.

Officials with The Healthiest State Initiative report Cass County is among the finalists for the 2019 Healthiest State Annual Awards. Individuals, communities, schools and workplaces will be recognized for their efforts to improve the physical, social and emotional well-being of Iowans in their respective sectors. In the Community Category, Cass County joins eight cities for the title.

Each finalist will be recognized and winners from each category will be announced at the Healthiest State Annual Awards on Feb. 7th, from 5-until 7-p.m., at the Ron Pearson Center in West Des Moines. Each winner will receive a monetary gift to continue their work focused on improving the health and well-being of their employers, students or citizens. Tickets for the Healthiest State Annual Awards are on sale at IowaHealthiestState.com/Awards.

The tickets cost $25 per person, or $190 for a table of eight, and includes hors d’oeuvres. The Healthiest State Annual Awards are sponsored by Hy-Vee, Inc., Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and the Iowa Medical Society.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Republicans have removed rules that require some state legislative committees to give 24-hour notice about meetings. They say the move will improve efficiency, but Democrats say it’s an abuse of power. The Des Moines Register reports the change applies to Senate subcommittee meetings, which are often where the public and lobbyists can formally express their opinions on legislation.
Republican Sen. Amy Sinclair says the change allows for more flexibility because the 24-hour rule could sometimes limit the ability to advance legislation.

Democratic Sen. Herman Quirmbach says the move diminishes the public’s ability to directly give input. Democratic Sen. Pam Jochum calls it “an abuse of power.” Several Republican-controlled Senate committees this week also removed transparency language from their meeting rules. Sinclair says the language was redundant because the Senate has separate rules regarding open meetings.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police say a man who built a bomb in a Des Moines restaurant told officers he did it to prove a point about safety. Police Sgt. Paul Parizek said Wednesday that 40-year-old Ivory Washington constructed the device Tuesday at Akebono 515 to see whether anyone would stop him. Parizek says Washington told officers his motive “was frustration that people in our society don’t care about safety.”

Nam Tran owns the restaurant, and he says he saw the man plugging an unknown device into outlets Tuesday. Tran says he thought the man later identified as Washington was charging his phone. Court records say Washington bought items necessary for his bomb and then assembled them at the restaurant. A bomb squad took the device away. Parizek says it was tested to see whether it would explode. It did.

Court records say Washington is charged with possession of an explosive device.

With the chance of an accumulating snowfall to occur in Clarinda on Friday and Saturday the Clarinda Police Department would like to remind the citizens of Clarinda about the snow ordinance. The ordinance states that; no person shall park any motor vehicle or other apparatus upon any street of the city that will obstruct the removal of snow when there has been an accumulation of two (2) inches or more. Any vehicle left parked on any street in violation of this ordinance may be impounded, and the registered owner of the vehicle will be subject to a $15.00 parking fine, and payment of all applicable towing and storage fees in order for the vehicle to be released.

The parking ban remains in effect until the snow ceases to fall and the streets have been plowed from curb to curb. Your cooperation in complying with this ordinance assists our snow plow drivers tremendously.

With the forecast of upcoming snow, the City of Harlan is asking its citizens for assistance in clearing of the streets. Public Works crews, depending on the timing of the snowfall, will be out Friday and Saturday to get all streets accessible for travel. Please have vehicles off the streets until they are plowed all the way to the curbs. For those citizens that live above the uptown square, please use the city parking lots until streets are cleared. The City of Harlan appreciates your help in this matter, as it makes the streets in better shape for citizens, Fire, Ambulances, and Law Enforcement. This will also reduce the number of parking tickets issued.

Members of the Griswold School Board and Lewis City Council held a joint meeting Wednesday evening, with regard to the sale of the Lewis Elementary Building. Griswold Superintendent Dave Henrichs told KJAN News the Board, Council, and about 10-members of the public listened to two, hour-long presentations for use of the facility by prospective buyers Chris Jahnke, with 3HO, LLC in Atlantic, and Alan Kennedy, also of Atlantic. The first proposal was from Alan Kennedy.

The second proposal, from Chris Jahnke, garnered a more favorable response.

Kennedy estimated he would be able to pay the school about $85,000 for the property, whereas Jahnke would pay $40,000. But the offers weren’t the only thing to be considered.

The Board and Council selected Jahnke’s proposal to move forward with the sale process.

Henrichs said both proposals were well received, but the funding issue was the overriding factor in selecting his proposal. There are still some negotiations to proceed forward with before a public hearing is held on the sale. He said also, everyone’s goal for the building is the same, to repurpose it for the long-term, to make sure it’s not an eyesore or detriment to the community.

ELDRIDGE, Iowa (AP) — A judge has reversed his decision barring news media from naming or photographing a 12-year-old boy accused of trying to shoot a teacher in an eastern Iowa school. The Quad-City Times reports that Judge Patrick McElyea also said Wednesday that minors who could testify at the boy’s trial may also be named or photographed. Court records say the boy’s pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and related crimes. Police say the boy’s gun jammed when he tried to shoot the teacher at North Scott Junior High in Eldridge on Aug. 31.

Press freedom and public records complaints were raised after McElyea first barred use of the boy’s name. State law says a criminal complaint that alleges a child 10 or older has committed that would be a forcible felony if committed by an adult is a public record and shall not be confidential.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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SERGEANT BLUFF, Iowa (AP) — A former building inspector says in his lawsuit that he was fired for reporting code violations that the mayor and other officials in Sergeant Bluff told him to ignore. David Christensen says in his lawsuit that Mayor Jon Winkel and others conspired to fire him for reporting code violations that endangered public safety. He is seeking a jury trial and an award of damages for back pay, loss of salary and benefits and additional punitive damages. The lawsuit was filed last week in Woodbury County District Court.

Winkel told the Sioux City Journal that the city does not comment on pending litigation, but he did say, “Our story will be quite a bit different from what you’ve heard from the other side.”