SHENANDOAH, Iowa [KCCI] — A western Iowa priest is accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the church he served. According to KCCI, The Rev. Thomas Thakadipuram, of Shenandoah, is charged with six counts of first-degree theft and one count of second-degree theft.

Court records say that on Jan. 2, Thakadipuram went to three different banks, where he allegedly removed seven certificates of deposits, or CDs, belonging to St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Shenandoah in cash funds and deposited the money into a bank account for a fake missionary group. He’s then accused of transferring the money from the fake missionary group account to his personal account.

In total, law enforcement alleges Thakadipuram swiped $164,000. Court documents say Thakadipuram told church trustees that he had been defrauded and refused to speak to law enforcement. The criminal complaints say that on the same day law enforcement attempted to talk to him, Thakadipuram attempted to close the accounts and move the money again.

Thakadipuram has pleaded not guilty.

The Diocese of Des Moines told KCCI that Thakadipuram resigned from his position at St. Mary’s in Shenandoah and Hamburg, adding that the diocese has “arranged for the pastoral care of the parishioners” until a new priest is placed.

(Des Moines, Iowa/Iowa Capital Dispatch) – The Republican leaders of the Iowa Legislature’s tax committees released their property tax proposal Thursday. Rep. Bobby Kaufman, R-Wilton and Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, chairs of the House and Senate Ways and Means committees, respectively, introduced legislation that they said in a news release would be “the biggest property tax system overhaul since the 1970s.”

The measure, introduced as House Study Bill 313 and Senate Study Bill 1208, makes multiple changes to Iowa’s system of property taxes that the lawmakers said would provide an estimated $426 million in property tax cuts. The bill would move Iowa’s local property tax system away from assessing properties using rollbacks — a method where the taxes based on the assessed market value of a property is limited based on the statewide aggregate property values. Instead, Iowa would use a “revenue-restricted system,” Dawson told reporters Thursday.

The bill would create a new schedule of assessment limitations and a 2% growth factor restriction, based on the fiscal year’s actual property tax dollars that have been certified for a local property tax levy. While the change would mean property owners pay more taxes based on the value of their property, Dawson said the revenue restriction “buys down that rate.” The system change would be phased in over five years. Kaufmann said the change would help address problems local governments have with the rollback system and would provide more certainty for local jurisdictions as they plan budgets over the long term.

Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs and Rep. Bobby Kaufman, R-Wilton talk to reporters March 6, 2025, about their proposal to make changes to Iowa’s property tax system. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

The system also shifts funding from Iowa’s system of tax credits back to the state, which Kaufmann said would go toward about $400 million in school funding coverage through the state that is currently allocated through local property taxes. Other components in the legislation include a $25,000 property tax exemption for homesteads and a property tax freeze for seniors over age 70 who have incomes at 250% or less than the federal poverty level.

The legislation has been anticipated as Republican leaders at the Statehouse have repeatedly stated that property tax changes will be a top priority in the 2025 session. The lawmakers said the new measure builds off of the 2023 property tax law that capped levy rates for cities and counties. Rep. Dave Jacoby, D-Coralville, said Iowans should be “extremely skeptical” about the property tax proposal.

“Over the last decade, every attempt by GOP lawmakers to fix Iowa’s property tax system has failed,” Jacoby said in a statement. “Property taxes just keep going up every year, especially for homeowners. House Democrats believe we need to put money back in the pockets of homeowners and renters immediately.”

While the measure was introduced Thursday, there will likely not be movement on the bill through the committee process for several weeks. Kaufmann said the bill was introduced this week in order to give time to local governments, schools and other impacted entities to review the legislation and give feedback to lawmakers on how best to proceed with potential changes.

(Des Moines, Iowa/Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Iowa lawmakers approved bills on elections, firearms and immigration law enforcement Thursday just ahead of the Legislature’s first “funnel” deadline of the 2025 session. Most bills needed approval by a committee in one chamber this week to remain eligible for consideration. There are exceptions to this deadline, such as bills that involve taxes, government spending or oversight components, or legislation that is sponsored by leaders. However, much of the legislation that failed to gain approval in committee this week is considered “dead” and will not be up for consideration for the rest of the session. Several high-profile measures cleared the “funnel” deadline Thursday:

Elections

House Study Bill 294 would create protections and penalties relating to election materials produced with artificial intelligence, or “algorithmic discrimination” caused by AI. The House Economic Growth and Technology Committee advanced the bill, with its floor manager Rep. Ray Sorensen noting the bill was a “work in progress.”  Rep. Austin Baeth, D-Des Moines, cautioned the committee on moving too quickly on the issue, noting a similar law had passed in Colorado and “is not going well.”

Another bill on elections, House Study Bill 281, advanced through the House State Government Committee Thursday. The legislation would allow the Iowa Secretary of State’s office to work with federal and state agencies, as well as private companies, to confirm the citizenship status of voters registered in Iowa. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate proposed the bill after his office issued controversial guidance leading into the 2024 general election. Pate directed county auditors to challenge the ballots of more than 2,000 registered voters whose citizenship status was in question.

The Senate State Government committee also passed a measure with this provision Wednesday, but the House bill tackles several other subjects, including a ban on ranked choice voting. The legislation also includes increasing the threshold for political party recognition from 2% to 10% of the total votes cast for a candidate in the previous general election.

The measure was passed 14-7 through the House committee with no debate.

Air quality

House File 191, which advanced from committee, would prohibit airborne emissions of contaminants that would affect “temperature, weather, or the intensity of sunlight.” Some House Environmental Protection Committee members tied the legislation to the chemtrails conspiracy theory, which holds that certain aircraft are involved in a scheme to spray chemicals affecting health, fertility or weather patterns.  Rep. Ken Croken, D-Davenport, who was part of the subcommittee on the bill, said it “would ban a practice that there’s no evidence is actually occurring.”

The bill references “geoengineering” which, according to the Harvard Solar Geoengineering Research Program, is an emerging practice that could manipulate the environment and partially offset the effects of climate change by releasing particles into the atmosphere that would reflect more sunlight back into space, or remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. One of the bill’s authors, Rep. Sam Wengryn, R-Pleasanton, said he has seen several reports from different states and companies that this practice is already happening.

Firearm age limits

House Study Bill 262, which would lower the age limit to carry a firearm from 21 to 18, will head to the House floor. Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, said there will likely be an amendment stipulating that permits will not be allowed for 18-21 year-olds to satisfy the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, requirements. Under current law, Iowa is a permitless carry state for anyone over the age of 21. The bill was approved 17-4.

Immigration enforcement

The House Judiciary Committee approved legislation that would establish a Class D felony charge for law enforcement officials, including elected sheriffs, who do not comply with immigration law enforcement requirements in Iowa Code. House Study Bill 285, passed by a subcommittee Wednesday, would create this criminal penalty for law enforcement officers who “knowingly and intentionally” defy state law on immigration enforcement. The bill would place the punishment on the individual directly.

While the legislation was passed as-is, Holt said he would likely advance an amendment during floor debate to lower the penalty from a felony to a serious misdemeanor charge.

(Harlan, Iowa) – Authorities in Shelby County are investigating shooting incident that left two people dead in Harlan. The full press release can be read below

(Clarinda, Iowa) – The Page County Attorney’s Office today (Thursday), released reports on cases heard in Page County District Court, and the outcomes of those cases.

For the week of February 10th:

Carl Ray Daniel, age 39, Bedford, Iowa, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Operating While Under the Influence, First Offense. The Defendant was sentenced to 30 days in jail, with all but 2 days suspended, and placed on probation for 9 months. As a condition of probation, the Defendant must obtain a drug/alcohol evaluation and attend and successfully complete the Drinking Driver’s School. The Defendant was ordered to pay a fine of $1,250, plus court costs, surcharges and court-appointed attorney fees.

Samir Hamulic, age 38, Clarinda, Iowa, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Operating While Under the Influence, First Offense. The Defendant was sentenced to 30 days in jail, with all but 2 days suspended, and placed on probation for 9 months. As a condition of probation, the Defendant must obtain a drug/alcohol evaluation and attend and successfully complete the Drinking Driver’s School. The Defendant was ordered to pay a fine of $1,250, plus court costs, surcharges and court-appointed attorney fees.

Spencer Ryan Moore, age 25, Essex, Iowa, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Operating While Under the Influence, Second Offense. The Defendant was sentenced to 60 days in jail, with all but 7 days suspended and placed on probation for 9 months. As a condition of probation, the Defendant must obtain a drug/alcohol evaluation and follow through with any recommendations. The Defendant was ordered to pay court costs, surcharges, court-appointed attorney fees, and a fine of $1,875.

Jeremy Leslie Williams, age 50, Clarinda, Iowa, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Operating Without Owner’s Consent. The Defendant was sentenced to 7 days in jail and fined $855. The fine was suspended, and the Defendant was ordered to pay court costs, surcharges and court-appointed attorney fees.

 For the week of February 24th:

William Joseph Corson, age 30, Burbon, Missouri, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Operating While Under the Influence, First Offense. The Defendant was sentenced to 30 days in jail, with all but 2 days suspended, and placed on probation for 9 months. As a condition of probation, the Defendant must obtain a drug/alcohol evaluation and attend and successfully complete the Drinking Driver’s School. The Defendant was authorized to participate in the Second Chances Program in lieu of the 2 days in jail sentencing. The Defendant was ordered to pay a fine of $1,250, plus court costs, surcharges and court-appointed attorney fees.

Michael Scott Morton, age 48, Clarinda, Iowa, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Possession of a Controlled Substance, Methamphetamine, 2nd Offense. The Defendant was sentenced to 48 hours of incarceration and fined $855. Defendant was placed on probation for 9 months and must obtain a drug/alcohol evaluation as a condition of probation. The Defendant was ordered to pay court costs, surcharges and court-appointed attorney fees.

“All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”

(Des Moines, Iowa/Iowa Capital Dispatch) – The Iowa House Judiciary Committee advanced bills Thursday to block hazardous liquid pipelines carrying carbon dioxide from the use of eminent domain.  Two bills also advanced granting rights to intervene in Iowa Utilities Commission proceedings, which GOP lawmakers have done against the case of the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline project.

House Study Bill 287 specifies that the “construction of hazardous liquid pipelines for the transportation or transmission of liquefied carbon dioxide” does not constitute a public use for the purpose of condemning agricultural land.  The bill would apply to any condemnation proceedings made on or after its enactment. Committee members voted to advance HSB 287. A companion bill in the Senate, Senate File 92, has not had any scheduled hearings and will likely be “dead” at the end of the funnel week.

South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden signed a similar bill into law Thursday morning, that effectively bans the use of eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipelines. South Dakota is also on the proposed route for the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline project, which would transport sequestered carbon dioxide from biofuel refineries to underground storage in North Dakota. Rhoden said the new law is not meant to “kill” the project in South Dakota, but should be taken as “an opportunity for a needed reset.”

Summit Carbon Solutions said in a statement the news is “very unfortunate” but “the project moves forward in states that support investment and innovation.” House File 491 would also restrict hazardous liquid pipelines from the right of eminent domain, by adjusting the definition of a common carrier.

Under the bill, a hazardous liquid pipeline would have to establish “clear and convincing evidence” that it transports a commodity used by an individual consumer, or a commodity for one or more shippers not affiliated with the carrier who will also not sell the hazardous liquid to the carrier.

Rep. Charley Thomson, said the bill “corrects a problem that emerged because of the Summit pipeline docket hearings in front of the Iowa Utilities Commission.”  Summit’s status as a common carrier has been a subject in several lawsuits, including one in which the Iowa Supreme Court reiterated that the company meets the requirements of a pipeline under Iowa Code.

The bill advanced 20-1, and Thomson said there will be an amendment on the floor to clarify that the bill does not apply to railroads.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill that would have established state fines for unauthorized camping on public property, including sidewalks, has stalled at the statehouse. Republican Representative Steven Holt of Denison is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. “The so-called ‘homeless bill’ — that bill is not running,” Holt said. “There is a lot of work on that legislation that would need to be done, so that legislation is not running today.” That means the bill is likely ineligible for consideration for the remainder of the 2025 legislative session.

Policy bills must be approved by a committee by tomorrow (Friday) to remain eligible for debate. The bill called for police to issue warnings to homeless Iowans using public property as a long-term sleeping space. Refusing to leave would be a crime, with a fine of up to 855 dollars. Dennis Tibben is with the Cicero Institute, a Texas based group that helped draft the bill. It would let cities and counties designate drug-free zones where homeless Iowans could camp for up to a year — if a list of their names and assigned spaces were maintained — and there could be access to substance abuse and mental health counseling.

“The bill is intended to help with these efforts by ensuring consistent statewide policies, including basic minimum services and supports greater transparency in how our public homelessness dollars are being utilized, and most importantly, creating a pathway to stability and self sustainability for more Iowans,” he said. Sydney Uhlman of Iowa City urged legislators to reject the bill. Uhlman says after aging out of the foster care system when she turned 18, she became homeless for a time.

“I could tell you about living and sleeping in four different places over the course of one week while I was full time employed and trying to support myself on my own,” she said. “Those in favor of this bill have tried to frame this as a humane response, beneficial to people like me. It’s not.”

The bill was considered, but rejected by a SENATE subcommittee earlier this week.

(Radio Iowa) -South Dakota’s governor signed a bill banning the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines today (Thursday). Sierra Club of Iowa Attorney Wally Taylor says that should stop Summit Carbon from building its carbon pipeline in Iowa.  I think as a practical matter, it does. I mean legally, summit could still get a permit in South Dakota, and if they did, that would allow them to go ahead and construct in Iowa,” Taylor says.

The Iowa Utilities Commission approved a permit for the Iowa portion of the Summit pipeline on the condition they get permits in the Dakotas before they start construction. Taylor says eminent domain is needed to build in South Dakota. “Because, as I understand it, they have a lot of people there who have not assigned easements, and they would have to get eminent domain, and now they can’t do that. So I think, as a practical matter, it may very well stop the project,” he says.

Taylor says their focus continues to be on getting Iowa lawmakers to block the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines here. “There have been several eminent domain bills that have come out of the Iowa House, but they get stopped by Senate leadership. This may change the dynamics a little bit in the Senate, and hopefully we could get a bill through the Senate this year,” Taylor says. Taylor can’t says how likely it is Iowa lawmakers will pass such a bill. “It’s hard to know, but it certainly looks like we’ve got a better shot this year,” Taylor says.

Landowners opposed to carbon pipelines and the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter are holding a Carbon Pipeline Opposition Rally at the Capitol on Tuesday to call on the Iowa Senate to pass a pipeline bill. A spokesperson for Summit Carbon Solutions issued this statement:

“It’s very unfortunate that, despite our approvals in Iowa, North Dakota, and Minnesota, South Dakota changed the rules in the middle of the game. This kind of regulatory uncertainty creates real challenges-not just for our project, but for the ethanol plants in South Dakota that now face a competitive disadvantage compared to their counterparts in neighboring states. While this presents obstacles, our project moves forward in states that support investment and innovation, and we will have more news on that soon.”

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans will need to switch all of their clocks ahead an hour this weekend as we shift back to Daylight Saving Time, and a pediatrician says if you have kids, start getting them prepared for the change tonight. Pediatrician Dr. Casy Freymiller says one thing to try is something called bedtime fading. “It’s the process of doing just short little 15-minute increments of going to bed earlier those few days before Daylight Saving,” Freymiller says, “so those little, small changes aren’t as the big of a change as the hour clock moving forward.”

While an hour may not seem like much, he says getting kids ready for the change in routine is crucial. “Preparing for it and doing that in advance can go a long way,” Freymiller says. “Letting your child know that this is happening in advance, especially during the daylight, goes a long way. They don’t like surprises about bedtime at bedtime, and so definitely doing that earlier can be helpful.” Studies find kids — and teens especially — are prone to the health impacts of getting less sleep.

Radio Iowa photo

“Sleep is very important. It has really quite a lot of benefits that we talk about. The things that I think about are improved mood and improved emotions and how to regulate them,” he says. “It helps us form our memories and learn things during our day-to-day school routine and helps us concentrate, helps us stay on task.”

New data from the C-D-C shows only 23% of high schoolers averaged at least eight hours of sleep per night in 2023. A decade earlier, that number was 32%.

(Corning, Iowa) – [updated] – The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports three arrests. On Feb. 13th, 37-year-old Daniel Travis Gresham was arrested for Felony Burglary in the 3rd Degree. He was booked into the Adams County Jail, posted a $5,000 bond, and later plead not guilty. Gresham’s jury trial was set for 9:30-a.m. on June 4th.

On February 14th, Adams County Sheriff’s Deputies conducting a traffic stop arrested the driver, 54-year-old Rhonda Jane Thompson, for: OWI/1st offense; Possession of a Controlled Substance/1st offense; Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drugs/1st offense, and Speeding. Thompson was transported to the Adams County Jail and processed without incident.

On February 21st, Adams County Deputies arrested 55-year-old Howard Gene Herring, for Felony Burglary in the 3rd Degree. Herring posted a $5,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned on April 1st.