It appears the state’s 40-year-old “bottle bill” will remain intact for another year. There was a hearing Tuesday morning on a House bill that would have repealed the law, but Republican Representative Guy Vander Linden of Oskaloosa made it clear the bill was going nowhere. “This bill is dead, but it was dead before we came in the room and I just wanted to make that absolutely clear, because even the proponents have what they think is a better idea,” Vander Linden said. “The purpose of the meeting was to get everybody in the room and, hopefully, clear the air a little bit and come to a better understanding.”

Consumers pay a nickel deposit on bottles and cans of beer, soft drinks and wine and they can get the deposits back by returning the empties. Grocery stores object to being forced to redeem the cans and bottles, arguing the empties are filthy and pose a health hazard. A bill to repeal the state’s bottle deposit law and expand recycling programs across the state is still pending in the Iowa Senate.

(Radio Iowa)

NEW HAMPTON, Iowa (AP) — A trial has been delayed again for a northeast Iowa man whose dead 4-month-old son was found in an infant swing, his body infested with maggots. The delay in the trial of Zachary Koehn was granted Tuesday. Lawyers for both sides wanted more time to prepare. The trial in New Hampton had been scheduled to begin March 28 after being delayed from a Jan. 3 start. The new date is June 11.

Koehn and the baby’s mother, Cheyanne Harris, have pleaded not guilty to murder and related charges in the death of their son, Sterling Koehn. Her trial starting date also is June 11. They’re having separate trials. Authorities say deputies and medics called to the couple’s Alta Vista apartment on Aug. 30 found Sterling dead in the swing.

Republicans in the Iowa House have approved a plan to address an expected deficit in the current year’s state budget. Cuts are necessary because of lower-than-expected state tax collections. Representative Pat Grassley, a Republican from New Hartford, guided the plan through House debate.”We’re not Washington, D.C. We don’t print money,” said Grassley, whose grandfather is U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley. “We have to have a balanced budget at the end of each year, so we have to go in and make decisions, which they’re tough decisions. There’s a lot of decisions in here that are extremely tough. We have to try to do the best we can with our priorities.”

More than 40 percent of the cuts will fall on the state university campuses in Ames and Iowa City. Administrators will be asked to cut nearly 11 million dollars from the University of Iowa and Iowa State University budgets. “Yes, our universities take it on the chin and they deal with it, but at what cost to the students?” That’s Representative Vicki Lensing, a Democrat from Iowa City. Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, a Democrat from Ames, calls the cuts to the two public universities “simply irresponsible.” “We’re not going to stay top-of-the-line unless we invest in the universities,” she said. “Our students, our faculty and our staff can’t live on the bare bones.”

The University of Northern Iowa — the other state-supported university — will NOT be forced to make mid-year budget cuts. There are a little more than three months left in the current state budgeting year. Administrators in the Department of Human Services, the state’s prison system and the state’s court system also are being asked to make significant spending cuts. Senate Republican leaders have signaled they’ll support the plan House Republicans approved late Tuesday afternoon.

(Radio Iowa)