(Radio Iowa) — Iowa’s governor appoints the judges who preside in Iowa courtrooms, but judges as well as the justices on the Iowa Supreme Court periodically face what are called “retention” elections.  Iowa judges are not elected. Instead, a Judicial Nominating Commission interviews applicants.

The commission submits three candidates to the governor for each opening and the governor makes the final call on which of the three get the job. The newly-appointed judge or justice faces a retention election after serving on the bench for at least a year, then every eight years after that. Three members of the Iowa Court of Appeals are up for retention votes this year, along with 63 district court judges.

Go to https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.iowabar.org/resource/resmgr/judicial_performance_review/2018/2018_Judicial_Performance_Re.pdf to find a biography for each judge on the ballot and how each judge has been rated by the Iowa State Bar Association.

It is extremely rare for judges to be voted off the bench. However, in 2010 three Iowa Supreme Court Justices lost their retention elections after joining in the court’s 2009 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage. In 2016, the justice who wrote that opinion as well as two other members of the Iowa Supreme Court who had joined the unanimous ruling on same-sex marriage won their retention elections.

The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office reports 31-year old Brad Larson, of Bedford was arrested on this (Thursday) morning in the 1300 block of State Highway 2. Larson was arrested on a warrant for 1st degree burglary and was being held at the Taylor County Jail without bond, pending an appearance before the magistrate. Additional charges are pending.

(Radio Iowa) — A group of high school students in a northeast Iowa county have developed a new “app” to manage tips about threats to school safety in the area. Seven students from Osage, Saint Ansgar and Riceville worked with the Mitchell County Sheriff’s office to design and publish the app. Jenna Plotzke is a senior at Osage.

“Messages can get mis-communicated and we have problems where you think there’s a kid with a gun or anything like that, so we wanted an easier way to communicate and a more efficient way to communicate if there was a threat and let administration know,” she says.

The Mitchell County Threat Reporter app lets students anonymously report threats like bullying or an active shooter directly to law enforcement. Mitchell County Sheriff Greg Beaver wanted an easier way for students to report potential threats after 17 people were killed in the Valentine’s Day shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school.

“Go back and look at the history of active shooters in our schools and school violence — so many of our young people say, ‘Well, we knew he was going to do it or she was going to do it,’ but they don’t pick up 911 and call,” he says. “We find out afterwards and it’s too late. If we can get these young people to report confidentially, through an app, what better way to get the information ahead of time.”

The app is available at the Google Play Store right now. The app asks six general questions, from what the threat is to who’s involved and where it could happen. Plotzke says she and the six other students who worked on the app hope it can be used nationwide. “I think it would be really beneficial if we’d be able to get it to other counties in Iowa or even nationwide, if other people could use our interface to then create an app that can then help their county,” she says.

“I know Mitchell County is pretty small and if you had a bigger county, how much more beneficial it could be and how many more reports they could have and help diffuse situations before they get out of hand.” The Mitchell County Threat Reporter app will be released for the iPhone and other Apple devices later this week.

The City Council in Walnut will hold a regularly scheduled meeting 5-p.m. today, at the Walnut City Hall. Among the items on their agenda, is discussion with regard to the Walnut Community Center, including: A lease agreement with the AHSTW School District; Painting of the old gym ceiling; and WCC Foundation topics. The Council will also discuss Building Inspections and the Minimum Maintenance Ordinance, followed by the setting of a date for a public hearing for the possible adoption of the Ordinance.

In other business, the Council will review an annual update of the Walnut Municipal Utility Identity Theft Prevention Program, and act on the possible adoption of a Resolution approving the update. Fire Department discussion will cover Operation E.D.I.T.H, the parade and community dinner. City Maintenance discussion will cover cameras at the park and fire station, and the Council is expected to announce the Visiting Nurses Association (VNA) Flu shot clinic will be held from 10-until 11-a.m. Monday, Oct. 15th. They are also expected to set the date for Halloween Trick-or-Treating.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Heavy rain is expected across most of Iowa and parts of Nebraska over the next week, so forecasters are warning that flooding will be a concern. The National Weather Service says 4-to-5 inches of rain is expected to fall across most of Iowa between Thursday evening and next week. In eastern Nebraska, 1.5 inches of rain is likely, but the southeast corner of the state could receive 3-to-6 inches.

Meteorologist Brooke Hagenhoff told the Des Moines Register the ground is saturated in many areas, making flooding more likely. Flood warnings have already been issued for the Cedar River in Cedar Falls and Waterloo and the Des Moines River in Estherville and the Missouri River near southeast Nebraska.

Hagenhoff says the rain may continue with few breaks into next week.

(Radio Iowa) — The Boone-based Fareway grocery store chain has made a change to its iconic employee uniform — going away from the white shirt and black tie with the Fareway logo on it. Company spokesperson Emily Toribio says the uniform change is part of their 80th anniversary refresh that saw an updated logo. “Making sure that our employees feel comfortable, yet professional, and then even as a recruitment tool as well, we are going for general staff to the red polos,” Toribio. The red polos will feature the company logo. “The shirts are the only piece of the uniform that’s changing, we’ll still have black pants, black shoes. So that piece of the uniform will still stay consistent,” according to Toribio.

She believes the white shirts and black ties have been worn since the company began right decades ago. Toribio says they old look isn’t completely going away.”Our management personnel will still be in white shirts and ties,” Toribio says. “Not necessarily the black Fareway ties in all circumstances, but they’ll be able to do a tie of choice.” She says the employees like the change to the polo shirts. “The ties were nice in the sense that they were consistent ties — so you didn’t have to worry about knotting your tie perfect and having at the right lengths and what not,” according to Toribio. “But I think that loosening up that top button with something like a polo will allow employees added comfort. Especially as they do the heavy lifting in the stores and stocking and those sorts of things. Those white shirts, they get dirty pretty quickly.”

Toribio says they will probably have some other changes moving forward. But she says don’t expect a change in their long-standing policy of closing on Sundays.”No Sunday change at this point,” Toribio says with a laugh. Fareway is one of the few stores that is not open on Sundays. The company now operates 121 store in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:00 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a lawsuit filed by an Iowa woman who carried a baby for another couple as a surrogate mother but changed her mind and wanted to keep the baby. The Muscatine woman identified only as T.B. wanted the court to strike down surrogacy contracts as unconstitutional.

JEWELL, Iowa (AP) — Iowa road officials have closed a section of highway in central Iowa’s Hamilton County after several drivers hit a massive sinkhole. Iowa Patrol Sgt. Nathan Ludwig said the 9-by-8 foot hole in Highway 69 north of Jewell was reported sometime between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. Wednesday, after five vehicles had hit it. Ludwig says only one minor injury was reported, when one driver’s head hit his steering wheel.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Mason City man convicted of sex abuse counts involving dependent adults he was hired to care for has been jailed for violating pre-sentencing rules. The Globe Gazette reports that 19-year-old Wasfie Ahmed Alshara is behind bars after court documents say had alcohol on Sept. 29, which he was not supposed to have under the rules. Alshara pleaded guilty in August to two counts of misdemeanor assault with intent to commit sexual abuse.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge’s ruling could mean more Iowa students with learning disabilities will qualify for special education programs. The Des Moines Register reports an administrative law judge ruled last year that Iowa education agencies violated the Disabilities Education Act by denying an Urbandale student’s access to special education classes because she was performing well in her classes. Another judge affirmed the decision. An attorney says students throughout Iowa could benefit from the ruling.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a lawsuit filed by an Iowa woman who carried a baby for another couple as a surrogate mother but changed her mind and wanted to keep the baby. The Muscatine woman identified only as T.B. wanted the court to strike down surrogacy contracts as unconstitutional.

She filed an appeal in May of an Iowa Supreme Court ruling that concluded for the first time in Iowa that gestational surrogacy agreements are legal and enforceable.
The ruling allowed Paul and Chantele Montover to keep the girl, now 2 years old.
The Montovers had decided at age 50 that they wanted to raise a child together and agreed to pay the woman to have a baby using an egg from an unknown donor and Paul Montover’s sperm.

The Iowa court said banning surrogate contracts would deprive infertile couples of a way to raise their own biological children. The nation’s highest court denied the woman’s petition to hear the case on Monday without comment.

Members of the Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening, agreed to sign a letter of support for keeping the Iowa Department of Transportation’s District 4 Construction Office in Atlantic, instead of moving it to Council Bluffs. The letter will be sent to numerous State officials and legislative representatives. Cass-Atlantic Development Executive Director Russell Joyce spoke to the Council before asking for their signatures.

Joyce said he learned this past January from a retired DOT employee, that the District Engineer and Director of the IA DOT plans to transition the office to Council Bluffs over a period of time. The move would mean all new hires at the Omni-Center in Council Bluffs, and a request from the legislature to appropriate millions of dollars for the structure. Joyce said several area legislators, the Governor’s Office and DOT Commissioners were unaware of the plan. He said he eventually heard from the Director of the DOT, Mark Lowe, who said in a lengthy e-mail, that the change was an administrative decision made in Ames. The Director said he felt “There was a greater depth of talent in the metropolitan area than there was out here in rural Iowa.”

Joyce said “I take a little bit of offense by that because the last number of years, a number of young professionals have moved to the Atlantic area, regarding career opportunities, and [while] they might make a little more money somewhere else, the fact of the matter is they enjoy the lifestyle here and want to be part of the community here.” Joyce said the Director’s reasoning is not legitimate enough to warrant the move. He said most of the District Engineers, and area governmental organizations, including County Boards of Supervisors, Regional Council of Governments and others have written similar letters of support, requesting the offices be kept in Atlantic because of its centralized location to the 13-county district served by the District 4 Office.

In other business, the Council approved, by a vote of 6-0 (with Councilman Dick Casady absent), the third and final reading of an ordinance pertaining to zoning regulations, with regard to fencing in Light Industrial and Commercial Zones, and by a vote of 5-to1, approved the first reading of an amended ordinance with regard to Speed Regulations on Sunnyside Lane, from 10th to 22nd Streets. The current version stipulates a speed limit of 25-miles per hour on Sunnyside from 10th Street south, two-thousand feet, before it becomes 35-mph for the remaining 1,650-feet to 22nd Street. Councilperson Hayes was opposed to the amendment as written.

The Council approved the first reading of an amended ordinance that repeals and replaces a Chapter pertaining to trees and responsibilities within the Right-of-Way, and the approved the first reading of an amended ordinance with regard to Urban Deer Population control. The change reflects the Police Chief’s sole authority to determine the limits on the number of deer harvested within the City Limits of Atlantic, and the number of hunters authorized to hunt, during specified dates and times. The Council waived both the second and third readings and passed the Ordinance as written.

(Radio Iowa) — Farm Bureau officials have announced the organization’s new “Health Benefit Plans” will go on sale November 1st. A state law approved this past spring authorized Farm Bureau to sell what some call “skinny insurance plans.” The plans are NOT insurance. Premiums are lower because the plans do not comply with all the requirements of the Affordable Care Act.

Advocates say the “Farm Bureau Health Plans” will help Iowans who are not getting health care coverage through an employer, but make too much money to qualify for federal subsidies to buy individual insurance policies. Farm Bureau Health Benefit Plans will be managed by Wellmark, but sold by the Farm Bureau to Farm Bureau members who live in Iowa.

The Iowa Insurance Commissioner is advising Iowans who have questions about the plans to “contact Farm Bureau directly” and talk to a licensed insurance agent to discuss what options may be available. There is a three-million dollar cap on the total amount that will paid out during the lifetime of someone who is covered by one of these Health Benefit Plans. In addition, applicants will have to answer questions about their health and underwriters may deny coverage based on factors like pre-existing conditions.