IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds received approval from an ethics regulator to fly with her family to Iowa State’s bowl game free of charge on the jet of a state vendor, despite a law barring public officials and their relatives from accepting gifts, a review by The Associated Press shows.

Reynolds flew to Tennessee to watch the Cyclones play in the Liberty Bowl on Dec. 30 on a plane owned by Sedgwick, a Memphis-based company that administers workers’ compensation claims filed by injured state employees. Reynolds’ office received approval from the state ethics board director to accept the flight for herself and three family members as a campaign donation from Sedgwick’s CEO, who says he reimbursed his company for the plane’s use. Her office said “bona fide campaign events” would take place during the brief, half-day trip, records show.

The previously unreported flight and others that the Republican governor has taken on corporate-owned airplanes are coming under scrutiny before the Nov. 6 election, in which Reynolds is seeking a four-year term against Democrat Fred Hubbell. The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board will consider complaints next week alleging that board staff has allowed Reynolds and prior governors to improperly disclose the flights in a way that masks the role of the corporation lending the plane.

Board director Megan Tooker advised on Dec. 9 that Reynolds and her family could accept the flight, although Tooker now says she was unaware the airplane was owned by Sedgwick. Tooker also says she doesn’t know what campaign activity Reynolds engaged in during the trip, which would be required for the flight to be considered an allowable campaign contribution instead of an illegal gift to a public official.

Reynolds campaign spokesman Pat Garrett said the trip included “campaign donor meetings” and that the governor paid for game tickets personally. He said the campaign reported the flight as a personal in-kind contribution as required.

Longtime Sedgwick CEO Dave North said he and his wife reimbursed Sedgwick for the fair market value of the flight as determined by the company’s general counsel — costs Reynolds’ campaign reported as $2,880. The Norths live in Bellevue and are among Reynolds’ biggest campaign donors, having given $110,000 since December 2016. He’s also a trustee for the University of Memphis, whose team lost 21-20 to the Cyclones in the bowl game.

Iowa resident Nancy Dugan argues in complaints to the ethics board that there is no proof that all donors have actually repaid their corporations for campaign flights. If they don’t, the flights would be illegal corporate campaign contributions under Iowa law. If they do, Dugan argues that campaigns should have to disclose the corporation as a lender who is repaid.

Sedgwick has administered workers’ compensation claims filed by injured Iowa executive branch employees since 2001. The company received $1.4 million from the state last year for its work, data show, and is among the largest third-party administrators of workers’ compensation benefits nationwide. The company routinely faces allegations from lawyers for injured workers that it is unreasonably delaying or denying benefits.

“Somebody who has that much business in front of the state should not be that close to the governor. I think it’s a conflict of interest,” said personal injury attorney Sara Riley, who called Sedgwick the most despised claims administrator in the industry.
Riley and other workers’ compensation lawyers said Sedgwick also stands to benefit from a 2017 law change backed by Reynolds that reduced benefits for some injured workers.

Sedgwick has also been awarded more than $1 million in funding and tax breaks since 2006 for office projects that added jobs in Coralville, Dubuque and Bellevue, Iowa Economic Development Authority records show. The most recent assistance was approved in 2012 when Reynolds was lieutenant governor.

Colin Smith, a lawyer in the governor’s office, sought guidance from Tooker in a Dec. 8 email on whether Reynolds could accept a flight to the bowl game paid for by an unnamed donor. Tooker responded that Reynolds and her husband could accept the flight in order “to campaign” and agreed that the other family members weren’t covered by ethics laws.

In an invitation to the game, Iowa State President Wendy Wintersteen had warned Reynolds: “The Iowa Gift Law stipulates that you must be responsible for all costs associated with the game and bowl events.” That law says officials and their immediate family members cannot accept anything of value from people who have state business, but it doesn’t apply to political donations.

The flight marks the second that Reynolds has taken that raised questions about her relationship with someone involved in state business. After becoming governor in May 2017, she traveled the state on a plane owned by casino magnate Gary Kirke, who was seeking the license to open a Cedar Rapids casino.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court has heard arguments in a lawsuit filed by a group of landowners who claim construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline on their property violated the Iowa Constitution.

Their land was taken through eminent domain approved by the Iowa Utilities Board, which concluded the pipeline carrying crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois provides a public convenience and necessity, something required under Iowa law to justify taking private land.

An Iowa court judge in February 2017 agreed. The landowners claim it was illegal to take their land when the pipeline provides no public service to Iowans and they appealed, arguing their case before the high court on Wednesday.

Some landowners and the environmental group Sierra Club want the pipeline carrying oil since June 2017 removed.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — President Donald Trump has declared a major disaster exists in Iowa following severe storms and tornadoes in July. Trump issued the declaration Wednesday, making federal funding available to state and eligible local governments as well as certain private nonprofit groups on a cost-sharing basis.

The declaration applies to damage from storms and tornadoes on July 19 in the counties of Lee, Marion, Marshall, and Van Buren. The storms included tornadoes that damaged or destroyed buildings in Marshalltown and Pella.

The declaration also makes federal money available to hazard mitigation efforts on a cost-sharing basis. Gov. Kim Reynolds’ request for funding under the federal Individual Assistance Program for homeowners, renters and businesses in Marshall and Polk counties for the July 19 is still under review by the White House.

Two men from Council Bluffs were arrested today (Wednesday), on Burglary charges. Council Bluffs Police report 20-year old Matthew Figueroa, and 39-year old William Hall, each face a charge of Burglary in the 3rd Degree, associated with an incident at a residence in the 700 block of Lindberg Drive, in Council Bluffs.

Officers were dispatched to the scene at around 11:40-a.m. for a reported burglary in progress. The caller said two males had entered the residence and were removing items. Prior to officers arrival the caller notified police the suspects fled in a silver car.

The caller was able to get the license plate from the suspect vehicle. A Pottawattamie County Deputy located the suspect vehicle in the area of Veterans Highway and I-29. The suspect vehicle was traveling west on Veterans Highway. Officers were heading in the direction when a second Pottawattamie deputy was able to block the vehicle in at S. 24th St. and Veterans Highway.

Council Bluffs officers arrived and a felony stop was conducted. The two suspects were taken into custody. The Council Bluffs Police department would like to thank the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department for their assistance, and the public for calling in the information that lead to the arrest of the suspects.

(Radio Iowa) — A boater in northern Iowa got a little more lake than he bargained for yesterday (Tuesday) morning in Rudd. The Floyd County Sheriff’s Office says a truck sank to the bottom of the lake at Rudd Park shortly before 11:30-a.m., Tuesday. The incident happened when a 2015 Dodge Ram, along with a boat on a trailer, lost traction while being backed down a boat ramp, causing both the truck and boat to start floating. The driver, James Lines of Marble Rock, was able to get out of the truck before it sank to the bottom of the lake.

No injuries were reported. Damage to the truck is estimated at $20,000.

New federal data indicates there was a four-tenths of a percent (0.4%) DROP in the number of Iowans who had health insurance last year. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, four-point-seven percent of Iowans did not have health insurance at any point last year. Iowa was among 14 states that saw an increase in the number of uninsured residents. It’s the first time since 2013 any state recorded an increase.

The Census Bureau’s NATIONAL estimate for 2017 indicates eight-point-eight percent of all Americans were uninsured last year. That’s roughly equal to the number of uninsured Americans in 2016.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa’s Medicaid director says he can’t fully explain recent increases in what the state is paying for each Iowan enrolled in the government insurance program for poor, disabled and elderly Iowans. Iowa Medicaid director Mike Randol presented a 36-page budget report to the Iowa Council on Human Services yesterday (Tuesday). A member of the council asked why a chart in the report shows costs went up more than six-and-a-half percent last year and are projected to increase 11 percent this year.

“I didn’t create that chart, so I need to go back and understand the background, understand the numbers behind the chart and understand the factors that could potentially be driving the increase,” Randol said.
Governor Kim Reynolds’ Administration recently agreed to pay the private companies that manage Medicaid seven-and-a-half percent more, so that may account for part of the increased costs. Fred Hubbell, the Democrat who challenging Reynolds’ bid for a four-year term as governor, says it’s time for answers. “Every time the governor or the governor’s office comes out with a number for what we’re spending on Medicaid, it’s a different number,” Hubbell says. “…There’s hardly any real disclosure about what’s going on in calculating the costs, the savings, the expenses.”

Hubbell has promised that if he’s elected, he will begin ending contracts with the private companies managing Medicaid patients’ care and bring the program back under state management. Reynolds says the administrators she hired after becoming governor in May of last year have assured her that to control costs, private companies should continue to managed Medicaid.
“With the contract negotiations, we hold the managed care providers accountable,” Reynolds says. “I’m not going to continue to hear the stories I hear as I travel across the state.”
Patients have complained about denied care. Providers say they aren’t being paid by the private companies and some have taken out loans to meet payroll. More than 680-thousand Iowans are enrolled in Medicaid.

A man who pled guilty to arson for his role in burning the Cedar Bridge in Madison County has died. KCCI reports that 19-year-old Joel Nathan Davis, of Norwalk, died after suffering a gunshot wound. The Madison County Sheriff’s Office says Davis was found last Thursday in a vehicle off of Cumming Road. They say it is unclear what happened to Davis.

An obituary by O’Leary Funeral Services in Norwalk says Davis died Tuesday night at Unity Point – Iowa Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. Earlier this year Davis pled guity to second-degree arson for his role in burning the Cedar Bridge in April 2017.

ACKLEY, Iowa (AP) — Separate trials in new locations have been ordered for a central Iowa man and woman accused in the torture and basement confinement of the man’s 8-year-old son. Hardin County court records say a judge granted a request Monday from 30-year-old Alex Shadlow, who’s pleaded not guilty to a kidnapping charge. Shadlow had requested separate trials, citing the likelihood that his defense would conflict with that of Traci Tyler, who’s also pleaded not guilty to kidnapping.

The judge tentatively set Tyler’s trial to begin Nov. 5 in Cerro Gordo County and Shadlow’s to begin Oct. 15 in Dickinson County. The new locations were sought because of pretrial publicity in Hardin County.
Authorities say the boy was locked up for at least 9 hours a day last summer in a space under the basement stairs at the couple’s Ackley home. He slept on concrete and had no access to a bathroom.

A Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputy dispatched to a disturbance northwest of Oakland, Tuesday evening, arrested an Oakland man. 41-year old Nathaniel Niles Sorensen was arrested on two felony counts of Child Endangerment, one with bodily injury, and two counts of Domestic Assault, also one with injury. Alcohol was listed as a factor in the altercation. According to the report, the incident involved his 15-year old son, 12-yeare old daughter, and 39-year old common-law spouse. The 15-year old suffered apparent, minor injuries during the incident. Sorensen was being held in the Pott. County Jail on a $5,000 bond.

The Sheriff’s Office said also, 42-year old Alan Levern Walter, of Grant, was arrested Tuesday evening, following a traffic stop. Walter was taken into custody for Driving While Revoked.