(Radio Iowa) — Republican Governor Kim Reynolds supports an attempt by G-O-P legislators to change Iowa’s constitution after the Iowa Supreme Court ruled last year that the document provides women with a fundamental right to an abortion. “I’ve made it very clear that I’m pro-life. I’m proud to be pro-life,” Reynolds told reporters late this morning. “I’m never going to stop fighting on behalf of the unborn.”

A resolution from Senate Republicans proposes an amendment saying Iowa’s Constitution “does not secure or protect a right to an abortion.” That exact language would have to be approved by the Republican-led legislature this year or next year — and then AGAIN by lawmakers 2021 or 2022 before Iowa VOTERS could decide whether to add the amendment to the state’s constitution. Reynolds is critical of conversations Democrats in other states are having on abortion-related issues. “How horrified and appalled I am with what I see taking place in Virginia, the conversation in New York and other states that are contemplating abortion-on-demand, late-term abortion.”

A district court judge last month overturned an abortion restriction Reynolds signed into law last May. The law sought to ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat may be detected, around the sixth week of a pregnancy. The governor says the legal team reviewing THAT ruling hasn’t yet decided whether to ask the Iowa Supreme Court to review the lower court’s decision. The Iowa Supreme Court last May overturned a state law that would have imposed a three-day waiting period for women seeking an abortion.

(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds is asking Iowa’s attorney general about the state’s options now that two women who accused a state agency director of sexual harassment are being awarded settlements worth more than four-million dollars. “We heard from one of the victims that said, ‘I’m ready to move on with my life and to put this in the past,'” Reynolds says, “and that’s what this has done.”

One of the women issued a written statement Monday, calling former Iowa Finance Authority director Dave Jamison’s conduct “horrific and appalling.” An investigation found one former and one current Iowa Finance Authority employee had been subjected to verbal and physical harassment. Reynolds isn’t ruling out the idea the state may take some sort of legal action against Jamison to try to offset the four million dollars taxpayers are paying. “We’re consulting with the AG’s office to consider what our state’s options are once the settlements are finalized,” Reynolds says.

Reynolds has repeatedly said she has “zero tolerance” for sexual harassment in state government. “We’re never going to stop doing everything that we can to change the culture and really raise what the expectations are for administrators and employees that come to work here every single day,” Reynolds says. The state’s solicitor general says awarding cash settlements to the two women avoids what could be more costly legal action against the state.

HARLAN, Iowa – Representatives of nonprofits, local government, schools and other organizations are encouraged to register for Grant Writing 101, which will be presented from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 12 at the Shelby County Extension office, 906 6th Street, Harlan. Grant Writing 101 will provide hands-on training in seeking and writing successful grant applications. To register, call ISU Extension and Outreach – Shelby County at 712-755-3104. There is a $15 registration fee which covers the training, materials, and a light meal that will be served at the start of the program.

Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop, iPad or tablet device to the workshop, if they have one available. Grant Writing 101 will be presented by Jane Nolan Goeken and Steve Adams, Community and Economic Development program specialists with ISU Extension and Outreach. Goeken and Adams will assist workshop participants in exploring various public and private funding sources, and provide instruction and tips on planning projects and writing successful grant applications.

For more information about the workshops, contact Goeken at jngoeken@iastate.edu or 712-240-2504.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A judge has granted another trial delay for a Nebraska resident accused of stabbing to death a woman in northwest Iowa. The trial of 21-year-old Melissa Camargo-Flores was scheduled to begin Feb. 19, but attorneys sought a delay because of the case’s extensive pretrial process. Woodbury County District Court records say the judge Monday set a status conference for March 29, when a new trial date likely will be ordered. In addition to this coming Feb. 19 , her trial was scheduled to start Sept. 18 and July 10 last year.

Camargo-Flores has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the Sioux City slaying of 24-year-old Kenia Alvarez-Flores on April 8, 2018. Court documents say Camargo-Flores admitted stabbing Alvarez-Flores. Camargo-Flores told investigators she’d been involved in a relationship with the victim’s boyfriend. Authorities say the two women were not related.

(Radio Iowa) — Advocates, Tuesday, asked state legislators to pass a law requiring hospitals to give clear instructions to caregivers at home when Alzheimer’s patients are discharged. “I am here wearing purple on behalf of the Alzheimer’s Association.” That’s Becky Orr Montgomery, daughter of the late Johnny Orr — the former Iowa State basketball coach. “I’m involved in this because my mother had it. Her grandfather had it. All of her cousins died of it,” Orr Montgomery says. “My mother had it for 15 years.”

Romie Orr was 72 years old when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.  “I included my children in caring for my mother so that they would understand how I want to be treated because I’m pretty sure I’m getting it,” she says, with a laugh. “You never know. My didn’t have it, so I might have gotten that side, but planning, nonetheless, for the future.” The Alzheimer’s Association is also asking legislators to set aside a million dollars to help low-income Iowans make modifications to their homes, so Alzheimer’s patients can avoid more expensive nursing home care as long as possible. Sandra Robertson of Des Moines is among the crowd lobbying legislators. Her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at age 48. “My brother, Jay Allen, is a singer/songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee, and he wrote a song called ‘Blank Stares’ for our mother,” she says. “This last year he toured across the U.S., singing that song at different events and has brought just a huge awareness to what people are dealing with.”

Three weeks ago, Robertson’s mother was transferred to a care facility because the family could no longer care for her at home. “It’s stressful at times, but we’re adjusting o.k. and we’re very thankful for the opportunity to be here today and be the voice for my dad and for my mother,” Robertson says. There are about 64-thousand Iowa Alzheimer’s patients in Iowa today.

POLK CITY, Iowa (AP) — A city administrator in central Iowa has been accused of domestic abuse. Polk County court records say 65-year-old Gary Mahannah is charged with domestic abuse assault, first offense. The records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him. Mahannah is scheduled for a pretrial conference on March 5.

Mahannah is city administrator for Polk City. A criminal complaint says an officer was sent around 5:45 a.m. Monday to Mahannah’s Polk City home. The officer says in the complaint that Mahannah acknowledged slapping his wife twice during a physical confrontation in their garage after they argued about destruction of something his children had given him. The officer also says Mahannah’s wife was upset, crying and appeared intoxicated.

(Radio Iowa) — The state’s Workforce Development agency is proposing a six-month delay in paying the first week of unemployment benefits. Unions are sharply critical of the move, but the plan got initial approval from Republicans on a House subcommittee yesterday (Tuesday). Republican Representative Phil Thompson of Jefferson is a contractor. “I think there are valid concerns on both sides and I just want to see the conversation continue,” Thompson said.

Workforce Development proposes that the first week of jobless benefits be paid only after an employee uses up his or her yearly allowance of up to 26 weeks of unemployment. Three-quarters of Iowans who file for unemployment never reach that 26-week limit, so they would never get that first week of benefits. John Lowrey, an apprentice with the Carpenters Union Local 106 in Altoona, says he lives paycheck-to-paycheck and wouldn’t be able to pay child support if his first week of unemployment benefits is never be paid. “I wish I did have $50,000 in the bank, but I don’t and that’s important to me, that one week,” Lowrey said. “…Through no fault of my own, I’m at the mercy of so many other people…I couldn’t get in to do my job because guess what? The electricians didn’t get their job done or my employer didn’t get the right materials.”

Critics say some construction firms use Iowa’s unemployment system as a “wage subsidy”– workers claim a week of unemployment benefits while they’re off the job-site, undergoing training. Repreentative Gary Worthan, a Republican from Storm Lake, says that’s a problem.  “When we’ve got an industry that you say is $106 million in the red as far as their contributions to the unemployment fund, that means every other employer in the state outside of the construction trades has to make up that $106 million,” Worthan said.

Representative Kirsten Running-Marquardt, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, says the bill sends the wrong message.  “We are trying to attract talent to the state of Iowa. We are trying to keep talent in the state of Iowa,” Running-Marquardt said. “…We should not penalize Iowans who are just working hard every day to put food on their table.” The State of Iowa issued about 360 million dollars worth of unemployment checks last year. About half of that was paid to employees who were out of work for one to four weeks.