(Radio Iowa) – A House committee has unanimously voted to create a state income tax credit for Iowans who install a radon mitigation system in their homes. Radon is a colorless, odorless gas that is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers. It’s the second leading cause of cancer in smokers and, according to the E-P-A, the entire state of Iowa is at highest risk for elevated levels of radon. Representative Austin Baeth of Des Moines says a radon mitigation system can cost up to two-thousand dollars — and this state tax break of up to a thousand dollars may prompt more Iowans take action.

“This is a bill that’s going to save lives,” Baeth says. “…It’s estimated that 70% of our homes have an elevated radon level, yet only 1 in 15 homes have been checked in the last decade.” Baeth says the tax break could make Iowa’s housing stock safer.  “And it comes at one of the most important times in state history here when we’re in the middle of a cancer crisis, and we know that radon is responsible for about 400 Iowa deaths per year from lung cancer.” Iowans can order a low-cost radon testing kit by calling the Iowa Radon Hotline.

Find the hotline number here, along with more information about radon and the state’s Cancer Control Plan.

(Radio Iowa) – Bills ready for debate in the Iowa House would implement tax breaks on tips and overtime pay at the state level similar to those President Trump has proposed at the federal level. One bill would eliminate the state income tax on up to 25-thousand dollars worth of tips for Iowans with an annual income under 155-thousand dollars. Representative David Young of Van Meter says it removes the paperwork burden for workers who earn tips and their employers — and would be an income boost for Iowans who depend on tips for their income.

“It means we are showing our appreciation and commitment to these valued service workers who are a part of not just our economy and workforce, but they’re a part of our community,” Young said. Another bill would eliminate the state income tax on overtime pay. Representative Mike Sexton of Rockwell City says he heard about this issue from voters during the fall campaign. “Our citizens are being asked to do more because we have a shortage of workers,” Sexton said, “and so they asked to work overtime to keep our ethanol plants and our factories and our construction projects going.”

The tax break on overtime pay would be for employees asked to work more than 40 hours in a week — and earn higher pay during overtime hours that’s at least one and a half times their regular hourly rate. These bills on tips and overtime pay got “yes” votes from all the Republicans and Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee yesterday (Wednesday). There’s no analysis on how much these tax breaks would be worth to Iowa workers — and no estimate of how much state revenue would dip if tipped workers and employees paid to work overtime get these tax breaks.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council, this (Wednesday) evening took less time than expected to get through their agenda. City Administrator John Lund had anticipated it would take longer, considering the FY26 Budget was the main feature, but it took only 40 minutes to wrap-up business.

The Council passed a resolution designating the distribution of Sales Tax Revenues to various funds, for specific purposes. John Lund said the resolution included minor changes and additions to a previous version presented to the Council on Feb. 19th, and the new, long-term plan for the YMCA expansion and how the City intends to support the project.

Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett issued the Oath of Office to Atlantic Police Department SRO (School Resource Officer) Ben Sandy. The Council received a presentation from local Trees Forever representative Dolly Bergmann, and they acted to re-appoint Judd Meneely to the AMU Board of Trustees.

The Council, after hearing no public comment, moved to adopt the Final Fiscal Year 2026 Budget, which includes $21,787,586 in expenditures (an increase of 15.94% (or nearly $3-million) from the FY2025 budget). With the budget having been passed, the City’s combined property tax levy will increase from $17.25/$1,000 assessed valuation to $17.85/$1,000. The Budget includes a 3% increase in compensation to all non-union City employees and Public Works Union Employees, and a 3.75% increase for Police Union employees.

The Atlantic City Council adopted the FY2026 10-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), which calls for more than $25.8-million in total improvements to the City’s physical assets (such as streets, major equipment, parks, storm water/sewer system and sewage/wastewater treatment plant).

Speaking of improvements, Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett, Wednesday, updated the Council on the “Re-imagining Bull Creek” project. Students from the ISU College of Design and College of Engineering will present their collaborative work on Bull Creek, at the Cass County Community Center, on May 7^th, from 4-until 6-p.m.

The Bull Creek Project features several facets, include: Bank stabilization; Watershed strategies, and more. The Mayor mentioned also, the City continues to work with the ISU Art Project for murals and artwork through the City.

The Mayor also thanked officials with Vision Atlantic, with regard to their project, funding and moving forward. She specifically mentioned a letter that was presented to the Council during their last meeting.

(Radio Iowa) – The Dallas County Sheriff has released more details on a man killed in a shootout with officers Tuesday on Interstate 80 near Earlham. The Sheriff identifies the man as 51-year-old Vonderrick Rayford of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Sheriff says Rayford was stopped for speeding, and during the stop, he got out of his vehicle and opened fire on a deputy. More deputies, Stuart Police, and the Iowa State Patrol responded to help.

The Sheriff says Rayford fired on officers again, and they returned fire, and he was killed. The investigation revealed Rayford was wanted on an outstanding warrant in Wisconsin, was driving a car stolen in Colorado, and the gun he used was stolen.

The Sheriff says the D-C-I is still reviewing the shooting, and no other details are anticipated until that investigation is complete.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa legislature has unanimously voted to set deadlines for insurance companies being asked to authorize treatment, prescriptions or other health care services. Senator Mike Klimesh of Spillville was the only lawmaker to speak before the bill passed the senate today (Tuesday). “This bill actually starts to move the needle when it comes to prior authorization requests,” Klimesh says. “All too often myself and all my colleagues in this chamber hear from our local hospitals that say prior authorization consumes far too much time and money in our institutions.

“This starts to rectify those concerns from those local hospitals and ensures the review committees or review companies handle it in a timely fashion without keeping our hospitals waiting for extended periods of time.” The bill was approved in the Iowa House last year and it won unanimous House approval again two months ago. Under the bill, urgent prior authorization requests would have to be acknowledged within 24 hours and resolved within 48 hours. The bill would also set up a pilot project to exempt some Iowa health care providers from being forced to seek prior authorization.

The national trade association for health care companies is opposed to the bill, while Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield — the dominant health insurance company in Iowa — is registered in favor of it.

(Radio Iowa) – Davenport police officers are increasing foot patrols downtown as part of a partnership with local mental health and housing agencies. Working with Vera French Mental Health Center and Humility Homes and Services, a task force of off-duty police officers is checking in on local businesses and engaging in what are called “harm reduction practices.” Megan Brown-Saldan is the chief development officer with Humility Homes and Services.

“People don’t have to know everything, and we cannot expect our police officers to also know every single thing about every social service agency and every risk factor,” Brown-Saldana says. “This is how we partner together, to make sure that when we can do something to help someone, that we absolutely are.” The program was created in response to a variety of factors, including reports of people feeling less safe downtown and a housing shortage.

Kyle Carter is executive director of the Downtown Davenport Partnership, the city’s downtown management organization. He says a similar program exists across the river, in Rock Island, Illinois.  “We’re not reinventing the wheel. This model has been done all over the country,” Carter says. “It’s new to us, but certainly something that other downtown organizations like ours are very engaged in all over the country.”

The pilot program is scheduled to run for one year and has been given $65,000. Carter says it may scale up in the future, and that the early response from businesses and people on the street has been positive.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House Oversight Committee has launched an investigation of the mis-allocation of 23 million dollars in court fines. Court officials first noticed the problem in late 2020 and the computer programming to distribute court fines wasn’t fixed until late last year. It meant money was incorrectly deposited in the state’s General Fund — and victim services programs, the Iowa D-O-T, county sheriffs and others got less than they were due for five years. Republican Representative Steven Holt of Denison faults court officials for waiting until late last year to notify lawmakers. “I hate to say it, but it absolutely feels like you were attempting to conceal from the legislature the fact that this was going on,” Holt said.

State Court Administrator Bob Gast says they brought in a national consulting group to diagnose the problem — and didn’t anticipate it would take so long to figure out the extent of the errors. “We wanted to have the full scope and breadth before we came to you,” Gast said, “and not come in as ‘The sky is falling!’ and not have some idea of what we were looking at.”Gast, who testified at an Oversight Committee hearing in the statehouse today (Wednesday), says there was no “malfeasance” behind the long-term computer programming errors in the court system. “The Judicial Branch takes full responsibility for these errors,” Gast said. “We have fixed the errors…and the new programming has been audited and verified through an independent audit that was recently completed by Zirous, a West Des Moines I.T. firm.”

The state Judicial Building.

Gast says the court system plans to arrange for an independent audit of its I-T department, too. Representative Judd Lawler, a Republican from Tiffin, says he doubts the computer programming was that difficult to correct — and he asked court officials why they haven’t presented lawmakers with a plan to make up for the 23 million dollars worth of funding errors. “We have never seen a bill introduced, we have never been lobbied to fix this mess,” Lawler said.

Court officials say they are developing a plan and will present it to legislators for the 2026 session. Democrats on the Oversight Committee say the focus should be on fixing the problem — and simplifying the distribution list for court fines.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Police Department, today (Wed., April 16th), released a report on arrests that occurred from March 1st through April 13th. Beginning with the most recent:

On April 13th, 27-year-old Jayme Simina, of Atlantic, was arrested for Public Intoxication & Disorderly Conduct.

There were 3 arrests April 12th in Atlantic: 46-year-old Janece Schwarte, of Atlantic, was cited and released for 2nd Offense Compulsory Education Violation; 20-year-old Dakota Allmer, of Lewis, was arrested for Operating a vehicle without the owners consent, Trespass/1st offense, and Possession of Tobacco; and, 20-year-old Tate Conyers, of Lewis, was arrested for: Burglary in the 3rd Degree; Operating a vehicle without the owners consent; Criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree; No Valid Driver’s License; Trespass/1st offense; Abandonment of a vehicle; Driving or towing an unsafe vehicle; Failure to Provide proof of financial liability, and for being a Minor In Possession of Tobacco/1st offense.

On April 6th, Atlantic Police arrested 45-year-old Daphne Doyle, of Bridgewater, for OWI/1st offense, and Interference with Official Acts.

On March 29th, 40-year-old Curtis Thomas, of Griswold, and 64-year-old Jennifer Schwartz, of Atlantic, were both cited into court for Theft in the 5th Degree (Shoplifting).

On the 28th of March: 40-year-old Royeisha Hightower, of Atlantic, and 37-year-old Kaci Perkins,of Hancock, were cited into court for Theft in the 5th Degree (Shoplifting); and, 40-year-old Kyle Wilson, of Hanock, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance/2nd offense (Meth), and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

On March 26th, 45-year-old Nathan Johnson, of Atlantic, was cited cited and released for Theft in the 5th Degree (Shoplifting); and, 47-year-old Richard Smith, of Atlantic, was cited and released for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Atlantic Police say on March 25th, 33-year-old Cheyenne Register, of Atlantic, was cited into court (and released) for Theft in the 5th Degree (Shoplifting). On March 24th, 47-year-old Robert Loving, and 33-year-old Tiffany Rice, both of Atlantic, were arrested for: Burglary in the 3rd Degree (two counts for Loving), Theft in the 4th Degree, Poss. of a Controlled Substance (Meth), and Poss. of Drug Paraphernalia. Loving was additionally charged with Possession of Burglary Tools.  On March 20th, the A-PD arrested 45-year-old Melissa Wheeler, of Atlantic, for Driving While Barred.

Officials say on March 16th, 56-year-old Tawny Grote, of Atlantic, was cited and released for Theft in the 5th Degree (Shoplifting); and, 27-year-old Tk Narios, of Atlantic, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault w/Bodily Injury, False Imprisonment, Obstruction of Emergency Communications, Unauthorized use of a credit card, and Criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree.

Two people were arrested March 9th, in Atlantic: 58-year-old Mickey Miller, of Atlantic, was arrested for Harassment in the 1st Degree, and, 43-year-old Brian Phillipson, of Atlantic, was arrested for Assault causing bodily injury. 40-year-old Alan Palm, of Atlantic, was arrested March 6th, for a Controlled Substance Violation and Poss. of Drug Paraphernalia. On the 5th of March, 70-year-old Steven Cottrell, of Atlantic, was cited and released for Theft in the 5th (Shoplifting).

Others arrested during the month of March, in Atlantic, include: 41-year-old Jesse, and 39-year-old Sierra Caudill, both of Atlantic, were cited into court (and released) March 4th, for Compulsory Education Violations/1st offense; 52-year-old Richard Seela, of Atlantic, was cited and released for Theft in the 5th Degree (Shoplifting). And, on March 1st, 23-year-old Jr Bedon, of Atlantic, was arrested for Public Intoxication.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors held their regular weekly meeting, this (Wednesday) morning. The Board approved:

• Publishing of W-2 Wages
• A taxable mileage claim
• Wages for three Township Clerks
• a 5-day Liquor License Application for Lucky Wife Wine Slushies, in advance of an event in June.

They also acknowledged the receipt of a Manure Management Plan from Todd VanEaton with regard to the Washington Township, and the resignation of a township Trustee Vicky Wright and the related appointment of Eldon Lee Lundy to fill the position. The Adair County Supervisors also agreed to a Memorandum Of Understanding with Taylor County, pertaining to Mental Health Advocate cost sharing.

In other business, the Board approved the purchase for FY 2026, of: A dump truck/snowplow in the amount of $289, 244 altogether (Chassis & dump boxes); 2 CAT compact track/skid loaders, for a total of $189,709, and the purchase of a water truck for FY 2025, in the amount of $60,000. The other water truck was lost in last year’s devastating tornado that hit Greenfield.

Adair County Engineer Nick Kauffman discussed with the Board the top project for the Secondary Roads Department.

He also updated the Supervisors on his department’s maintenance and activities.

(Radio Iowa) – U-S Senator Chuck Grassley says American citizens deserve due process and he says President Trump should explain why a Maryland man remains imprisoned in El Salvador. The U-S Justice Department admits it mistakenly deported Abrego Garcia, and the U-S Supreme Court ruled the U-S must “facilitate” his return. Grassley acknowledges several of his Democratic colleagues in the Senate may fly to El Salvador as soon as today (Wednesday) to plead for Garcia’s release. “That’s one way of doing it,” Grassley says. “The other way is telling the administration that you think they ought to follow through, or just be quiet because you think maybe when the president of El Salvador is president of an independent country and he’s not subject to the Supreme Court decision.” Grassley says President Trump should be working with the courts by offering his point of view.

“Now that doesn’t go as far as Chuck Grassley saying that our president can override the president of El Salvador,” Grassley says, “but he ought to at least be cooperating with the court on giving the explanations and the information that the court’s entitled to.” During a White House meeting with President Trump on Monday, the president of El Salvador said it would be “preposterous” to release Garcia from prison. In the same Oval Office meeting, President Trump suggested U-S citizens could be deported, but Grassley disagrees. “If you’re legally in the country, you’re entitled to due process and people that are illegally in the country are entitled to some due process,” Grassley says. “Obviously, U.S. citizens should not be deported.”

Senator Grassley (file)

During a town hall meeting in Fort Madison on Tuesday, Grassley said he’s trying to correct decades of Democratic leadership in the 20th century that are to blame for executive overreach.