DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s governor has signed a bill backed by conservative groups that requires public universities and community colleges to implement policies protecting free speech on campus. The Des Moines Register reports that Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the legislation Wednesday mandating that the schools consider what changes they need to make to maintain the “fullest degree of intellectual freedom and free expression.”

President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week that ordered colleges to protect free speech or risk losing federal funding. Conservative students and groups nationwide complain that their free speech rights have been restricted on liberal campuses in recent years, triggering a series of proposals from state legislators.

Cass County Treasurer Tracey J. Marshall is reminding property owners, that the second-half of real estate and mobile home taxes are now due. You can pay your property taxes online at www.iowatreasurers.org, or in-person at the courthouse in Atlantic. The Treasurer’s Office accepts credit and debit cards, with a convenience fee. The deadline for payments without penalty, is Monday, April 1st.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports that at about 10:20-a.m. today (Thursday), they received word of an accident on Main Street in Anita. In their report Thursday afternoon, officials said a 1986 Chevy S-10 pickup owned and driven by 86-year old Merlin Joseph Kraus, was parked on Main Street when Kraus drove forward over a curb and struck a light pole.

Ric Hanson photo

He then put the pickup in reverse and struck a 2015 Chevy Impala owned by FNB Bank which was parked on the opposite side of Main Street. Kraus’ pickup then went forward once again, and struck a building at 764 Main Street, in Anita. One passenger in the Chevy, who hit their head on the windshield, was transported to Cass County Memorial Hospital by Anita Fire and Rescue for treatment of minor injuries. Damage to the parked vehicle is estimated at $3,000; damage to the building was estimated at $800; and damage to Kraus’ vehicle is estimated at $1,500. The incident remains under investigation.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office report six arrests took place from March 17th through the 24th. On March 17th deputies arrested 36-year old Dustin Ray Bozwell, of Emerson, on charges of OWI 3rd or Subsequent Offense (D Felony) and Driving While Revoked (Serious). Bozwell was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on $6,000 bond. On March 20th,  the Cass County Sheriff’s Office served a District Court warrant for Probation Violation on 27-year old Mark Allen Fredericksen, of Atlantic. Fredericksen was already held at the Cass County Jail on Atlantic Police Department charges and remains held on $11,000 bond.

On March 21st, deputies arrested 31-year old Melanie Margaret Mary Padilla, of Cedar Rapids, on a District Court warrant for Violation of Probation. Padilla was taken to the Cass County Jail and released upon serving time owed. On March 22nd, deputies arrested 25-year old Tyler Mathew Harrington, of Lincoln, NE, on a charge of OWI 1st Offense (Serious). Harrington was taken to the Cass County Jail and released later that day on his own recognizance. That same day, deputies arrested 56-year old Craig Allen Lang, of Atlantic, on a charge of OWI 2nd Offense (Aggravated). Lang was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on his own recognizance.

And, on March 24th, 47-year old Kevin Eugene Funke, of Massena, was arrested on a charge of Disorderly Conduct (Simple). Funke was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on his own recognizance.

WASHINGTON – On Friday, March 29, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa will be in Hamburg, Glenwood and Malvern for meetings with community leaders, emergency managers, small business owners, farmers, and other Iowans affected by flooding in the region. The topic of the meetings will be the devastating floods impacting southwest Iowa.

Details for each individual stop are below:

• Meeting with community leaders, emergency managers, business owners, residents: 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. George C. Grape Community Hospital (Hamburg)
• Meeting with community leaders, emergency managers, business owners, residents: Noon – 1 p.m. Mills County Courthouse Second Floor Courtroom (Glenwood)
• U.S. Department of Agriculture Town Meeting with USDA Undersecretary Bill Northey and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig: 1:30 p.m. Mills County Fairgrounds Lakin Building (Malvern).

Prior to the meetings, Grassley will tour flood-impacted areas in Southwest Iowa during a fly-over with USDA Undersecretary Bill Northey and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig.

Police in Glenwood report the arrest on Wednesday, of a woman on a Mills County warrant. 31-year old Corey Madsen, of Glenwood, was later released on a $5,000 cash or surety bond.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The University of Iowa has expelled a student from China for repeated academic misconduct for a second time after the first effort collapsed in court. Court records show that business student Pengzhen Yin was notified of his expulsion earlier this month, just weeks before he is expected to graduate. Yin has asked a judge to put the expulsion on hold, arguing that it is based on the same cheating incidents for which he was already expelled and reinstated .

Judge Karen Romano ruled in December that the university lacked proof that Yin plagiarized a paper. That allegation had prompted his expulsion because it was his third alleged violation of the business school’s honor code. After that ruling, the lawyer for the Board of Regents asked Romano to reconsider newly obtained emails to university officials in which Yin admitted he didn’t write the paper in question.

Romano refused, saying the board was asking for a “do-over” after failing to bring forward critical evidence.