(Radio Iowa) — A bill designed to eventually establish more mental health services for Iowa children has cleared the Iowa Senate. The bill was approved last month by the House, so it goes to Governor Kim Reynolds for her approval. “We’ve talked about a childrens’ mental health system for a long time and it’s time to finally put the structure in place,” Reynolds says, “to talk about what the governance looks like, to align it with the adult mental health system.”

The bill is one of the governor’s top priorities this year. It establishes a new state board to oversee development of a childrens’ “behavioral health” system. It also calls on two state agencies to set up a 24-hour “crisis” hotline for parents seeking mental health treatment for their child. “People don’t know where to start,” Reynolds says, “and so little things like that can help start to get kids the services that they need.”

Advocates say the bill is a good start, but policymakers need to find a stable source of funding for the system. The mental health system for Iowa ADULTS who cannot afford care is managed on a regional basis, by county officials, and financed with property taxes.

(Radio Iowa) — The 2019 Iowa legislature may be poised to increase the number working Iowans who can claim a tax credit for child care expenses. Parents with an annual income above 45-thousand dollars are NOT currently eligible. A bill that’s cleared a senate subcommittee would make Iowa parents who earn up to 57-thousand dollars a year eligible for child care tax credits. Senator Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull, has been working on the proposal. “It’s important that parents have dollars that they can spend on child care and so forth,” Feenstra says, “and that’s what this does.”

Senator Pam Jochum, a Democrat from Dubuque, says it’s a significant move. “I think that really helps working families a great deal by raising their eligibility limit to get into that credit,” Jochum says. The bill also would set up indexing for these child care tax credits. It means there would be annual, incremental increases in the income level at which a parent is eligible to receive a tax credit for child care expenses.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A suburban Des Moines school has dropped the song “Pick a Bale of Cotton” from its concert list after a parent complained that the song’s lyrics are racist.
Bernice Thompson told The Des Moines Register that she contacted West Des Moines Community Schools officials two weeks ago after her seventh-grade daughter, Taishon Graham, told her she didn’t want to sing it at the Indian Hills Junior High School spring concert.

Taishon, who is black, says the song saddened her “because you want to sing happy songs at a spring concert, not songs about picking cotton.”
The song’s edited lyrics include the line, “Gonna jump down/ Turn around/ Pick a bale of cotton/ Gonna jump down/ Turn around/ Pick a bale a day.” The original lyrics included a racial epithet.

School district spokesman Aaron Young says the school principal and choir director decided to pull the song from the concert selections. In 2005 the song was pulled from a high school music program in a Detroit suburb after similar complaints.

(Radio Iowa) — One estimate says it could be 2021 before all of the flood-damaged roads in southwest Iowa are repaired. Fixing the roads is a major hurdle preventing displaced people from returning home. Baseline Road, J-34 south of Percival in Fremont County, is missing about a foot of shoulder. Assistant county engineer Robbie Kromminga explained what would happen if a truck were to drive off of it. “It’s just going to flip the truck and probably kill somebody.”

Just north of the town of Percival, 200th Street is full of holes that are full of water. “This is two weeks worth of work to just make it usable,” Kromminga says. “We’re literally going to have to start at the first hole, start filling that hole and just go hole to hole to hole as we fill the road as we go.” Outside of Bartlett, a bridge is missing and there’s a hole full of water that’s some 60 feet deep. “We’ve got to fill that hole before we can put a bridge in here,” he says.

Other roads are covered in mud while full slabs of concrete are cracked beyond repair, up-ended or completely missing. “Pretty much everything’s gone, the base is gone, all the rock is gone, shoulders are non-existent,” Kromminga says. “The ditch is full of the rock that’s supposed to be on the road. So, a lot of work here.” The county roads department says all repairs collectively could take several months or up to two years and could cost at least six-million dollars.

(Thanks to Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)

A man from Pottawattamie County died Tuesday evening in Fremont County, as the result of a collision in a construction zone on Interstate 29 just north of the Bartlett exit (mile marker 25). Authorities say a northbound 2001 Kenworth semi driven by 63-year old Boelio Orihuela, of Bennett, Colorado, was northbound in the southbound lanes of I-29 in a construction area. A 2014 Dodge pickup driven by 24-year old Vincent Flanagan, of Council Bluffs, was northbound in the northbound lanes.

When the semi attempted to crossover into the northbound lanes at the crossover point, it struck the pickup, causing the pickup to rollover. It came to rest on its roof. Flanagan died at the scene. The semi driver was not injured. The accident happened at around 5:45-p.m.

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich welcomed hard-throwing prospect Ryan Helsley to the big leagues with a three-run homer, his eighth against St. Louis this season, to help send the Milwaukee Brewers to an 8-4 victory over the Cardinals. Lorenzo Cain and Yasmani Grandal each homered in a five-run third against Jack Flaherty (1-1), when the Brewers went up 5-0.

CHICAGO (AP) — Yoan Moncada hit a pair of solo shots for his first multihomer game and Leury Garcia added a two-run drive to power the Chicago White Sox past the Kansas City Royals 5-1. Yonder Alonso also homered and went 4 for 4 as the White Sox won for the fourth time in five games. Reynaldo Lopez allowed one run and five hits in six innings to rebound from a poor start to his season.

CHICAGO (AP) — Major League Baseball is investigating racist messages sent to Chicago Cubs reliever Carl Edwards Jr. on Instagram this month. Theo Epstein, the president of baseball operations for the Cubs, calls the language “reprehensible” and says it “cannot be tolerated in our game or society.” Edwards was optioned to Triple-A Iowa after he got off to a tough start this season.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Two of the best tight ends in Iowa history have left for the NFL. The Hawkeyes might finally have the wide receivers it needs to revamp its offense. Brandon Smith and fellow junior Ihmir Smith-Marsette will likely be the major benefactors.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:55 a.m. CDT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — This spring’s massive flooding along the Missouri River unearthed bitter criticism of the federal agency that manages the river while causing more than $3 billion in damage. The flooding and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ actions will be the focus of a U.S. Senate hearing in western Iowa on Wednesday and critics will demand the agency make flood control its top priority. But Congress would have to act to change the Corps’ priorities.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg says President Donald Trump is “kind of like a Chinese finger trap _ you know, the harder you pull, the more you get stuck.” The mayor of South Bend, Indiana, warns that Democrats shouldn’t get bogged down in trying to knock Trump flat with a zinger. Buttigieg drew a surprisingly large crowd of 1,600 for a Tuesday night rally in Des Moines, Iowa.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds has issued a disaster proclamation for Muscatine County in response to severe weather and flooding beginning March 13. Reynolds’ proclamation Tuesday allows state resources to be used in response to the flooding. It also activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program for qualifying residents, along with the Disaster Case Management Program.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Prosecutors in Iowa are fighting to keep the trial of a man accused of killing am Iowa State University golfer in Story County. The Des Moines Register reports that Collin Richards, who is charged with first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing last September of Celia Barquín Arozamena, is seeking to have his trial moved to another county.