DES MOINES, Iowa — Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Department of Education have announced an investment of over $3.5 million to provide first graders with books at home. According to a press release, every first-grade student will be provided with decodable book packs to take home and keep, reinforcing classroom instructions to support reading development at home. The decodable books are written for beginning readers and use simple words to help students connect letters and sounds. The books are sequential in nature and will progressively introduce more complex skills.

Kindergarten through second-grade students in need of support who attended a department-funded high-quality summer reading program or a Learning Beyond the Bell out-of-school program this year will also receive decodable book packs to further advance their reading gains. The book packs are customizable and available at multiple reading levels so students can practice reading outside the classroom, according to the release. Each decodable book includes a QR code with access to video lessons for active family engagement.

In total, more than 100,000 book packs will be sent to all public and accredited nonpublic schools across the state this winter. Schools and families do not need to apply as books will be sent directly to them.

For more information on literacy instruction in Iowa visit the Department’s Literacy Instruction webpage and for more information on the Just Right Reader, click here.

(Radio Iowa) – A survey finds Iowa’s economy further slumped during November following a “weak” showing in October, with little optimism for improvement. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says the monthly survey of business leaders and supply managers in Iowa and eight other Midwestern states found the state and regional economies sputtering. Goss says they were asked about the biggest challenges to business and manufacturing in the months ahead.

“Supply chain disruptions, by far, was the largest challenge that the manufacturers see going forward with 38.7% indicating that that was likely to be the greatest threat to their business,” Goss says. “Higher inflation was number two at 27.8%.” Other predicted challenges on the list include labor shortages and cyber threats. Goss says the leaders of many Midwestern manufacturing businesses are concerned about next month’s potential longshoremen’s strike for the 17 ports on the East and Gulf coasts.

Ernie Goss (Creighton University photo)

“And of course, with President Trump’s call for tariffs, that scares manufacturers and scares agricultural interests, and that’s a big concern,” Goss says. “That’s what this part of the country depends upon, and that’s a big issue going forward.” The report grades the economy on a zero-to-100 scale with a score of 50 being “growth neutral.” For the sixth time this year, the overall score fell below growth neutral during November, and for a second straight month, the wholesale price inflation gauge rose. Goss says hiring was also stagnant during the month.

“When you look at the overall reading for manufacturing this year alone, down about 90,000 jobs,” Goss says. “That’s about seven-tenths of 1%. The U.S. economy has lost jobs, manufacturing jobs, six of the last 10 months. The region’s only down slightly, 2,000 jobs or about two-tenths of 1% but the region’s lost jobs in four of the last five months.” The survey finds the Midwest’s employment index slumped below growth neutral for an 11th straight month during November. According to the latest U.S. International Trade Administration data, Goss says Iowa’s manufacturing sector experienced a $1.1 billion drop in 2024 year-to-date exports, compared to the same period in 2023, for an 8.5% decline.

The Iowa State Board of Canvass certified results from the 2024 general election Monday, finalizing results in races across the state. The Iowa Capital Dispatch says the board, consisting of Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate,  Gov. Kim Reynolds, Treasurer Roby Smith, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig and Auditor Rob Sand, met virtually Monday. For all results outside of the presidential election, the board’s certification is the final step to make results from the Nov. 5 contests official as county boards of supervisors certified election results and the requested recounts in the weeks following the election.

Iowa’s six electors will meet Dec. 17 at the Iowa State Capitol to cast their votes for President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, and results from the presidential race will be certified by Congress Jan. 6, 2025.

Pate told reporters Monday that 74.1% of registered Iowa voters cast their ballots in the 2024 election — a total of 1,674,011 ballots cast. This turnout was roughly in line with previous presidential election cycles, he said, but noted that there was a change in party absentee and early voting participation in 2024 compared to previous years.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate spoke with reporters in his office at the Iowa State Capitol Dec. 2, 2024 after he met virtually with other members of the Iowa State Board of Canvass to certify the results of the 2024 general election. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

According to Pate, a total of 268,629 registered Republicans voted early this year, more than the 257,634 Democrats who voted early. While Democrats historically have an edge in early and absentee voting, Pate said part of the shift to higher GOP participation this year was part of a deliberate push by GOP leadership to encourage voting prior to Election Day.

Pate called the high participation on and before Election Day “very impressive and significant,” thanking county auditors, election workers and volunteers for their work. He also thanked state lawmakers for recent changes to election law that helped make recount processes run more smoothly than previous years.

The recount process in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, where U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks won by 798 votes against Democrat Christina Bohannan, was conducted more quickly than previous recounts in the 1st Congressional District, he said. He said that was due in part to changes to Iowa Code and because of new guidance issued by his office calling for county auditors to avoid “hybrid” recounts, and either recount ballots either fully by hand or by tabulator machine.

The secretary of state said he plans to make requests to the state Legislature in 2025 that would require counties follow a uniform process, which Pate said would further speed up results. Additionally, Pate said he is in talks with lawmakers to take action on non-citizen voting in the upcoming legislative session. Pate’s guidance to county auditors in late October to challenge the ballots of more than 2,000 Iowans listed as potential non-citizens was upheld by a federal judge days before the general election.

Groups including the ACLU and the League of United Latin American Citizens said the measure intimidated immigrants who were legally able to participate in elections as naturalized citizens. But Pate argued that the measure was necessary because the federal U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office would not share access to the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database for the Iowa Secretary of State’s office to confirm the citizenship status of the individuals listed. The 2,000 people identified as potential noncitizens were people who identified themselves to the Iowa Department of Transportation or other government entities as noncitizens in the past 12 years, who later registered to vote or voted.

(Iowa Capital Dispatch) –  For the second time in two years, a Pottawattamie County nurse is facing disciplinary charges and is accused of prescribing or dispensing drugs in an unsafe manner. According to the Iowa Capital Dispatch, the Iowa Board of Nursing alleges advanced registered nurse practitioner James D. Dickerson of Neola is guilty of professional incompetence for a willful or repeated failure to practice within the scope his license or ability; professional incompetence for failure to meet the telehealth standards defined by Iowa law; behavior that constitutes unethical conduct or practicing in a manner that’s harmful to the public; and behavior that constitutes unethical conduct related to prescribing or dispensing drugs.

According to the board, Dickerson is certified as a family nurse practitioner who has practiced in Omaha, Nebraska, and provided telehealth services in Iowa during the period in which he allegedly violated state regulations.

As is customary with Iowa’s licensing boards, the Board of Nursing has not publicly disclosed when the alleged violations occurred, where they took place, or whether any patients were harmed. Some of that information may be publicly disclosed after the case is resolved through a settlement or board order. A hearing in the matter is scheduled for Jan. 16, 2025.

In 2021, the Board of Nursing charged Dickerson with performing services beyond his scope of practice and prescribing or dispensing drugs to people who either weren’t patients or were outside his area of specialty. In 2022, the board resolved that case by ordering Dickerson to immediately stop providing any treatment to patients with a complex mental health diagnosis until he received certification as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. The board also fined Dickerson $1,000 and ordered him to undergo five hours of consultation with a nurse practitioner.

Other Iowa nurses recently charged by the board with wrongdoing include:

— Dawn O’Neil, a registered nurse was charged with failing to document patients’ status and misappropriating patient medications. The board has not disclosed where O’Neil lives, where the alleged violations took place, or when they occurred. The board has, however, agreed to settle the case by ordering O’Neil to participate in the Iowa Nursing Assistance Program, which assist nurses with substance abuse issues.

— Linda Jay of Clarinda, a licensed practical nurse who was charged in July with failing to assess or evaluate the status of a patient and committing an act that might adversely affect a patient. According to the board, the violations occurred when Jay was working at an unspecified long-term care facility in November 2023 and a resident under her care experienced a change in condition that she failed to report to a physician.

In February of this year, she allegedly failed to properly document a patient’s condition and, 10 days later, she allegedly administered medication to a resident “outside of the notified blood pressure parameters.” Jay agreed to settle the case by paying a $300 civil penalty and completing 30 hours of educational training.

— Brandy Wicks, a registered nurse who is charged with misappropriating or attempting to misappropriate medications; failing to properly document or perform the disposal of medications; and failing to properly secure medications. The violations are alleged to have taken place when Wicks was working in an acute care hospital. The board has not disclosed where Wicks lives or when the alleged violations took place. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Jan. 17, 2025.

— Cassie Forde of Mechanicsville, a licensed practical nurse who is charged with misappropriating medications or supplies belonging to a patient or clinic; failing to properly document or perform the disposal of medications; performing nursing services beyond the authorized scope of practice; falsifying records related to nursing practice; and committing an act that might adversely affect the welfare of a patient. No other details in the case have been made public. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Jan. 15, 2025.

(Corning, Iowa) – The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports one person was injured during an accident today (Monday). The Adams County Communications Center took a report about a semi-tractor trailer in the ditch between Highway 34 and Prescott. An investigation determined the semi, driven by Sydney Damewood, of Prescott, was traveling south in a 1999 Kenworth semi, when for reasons unknown, the vehicle left the road and entered the east ditch before it came to rest. Damewood was transported to a local hospital by Prescott Fire and Rescue. The semi sustained about $20,000 worth of damage.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports also, four-people were arrested recently.

• 19-year-old Mya Squibbs, of Corning, was arrested today (Dec. 2nd) for Driving While License Suspended, No SR-22 Insurance, and Possession of a Controlled Substance in a Correctional Facility. Squibbs was being held on $5,600 cash only bond.
• 61-year-old Dennis Nekuda, of Corning, was arrested Sunday for Violation of a Protection Order. Nekuda was later released after posting $300 bond; Adams County Deputies also arrested 50-year-old Cherokie Davis, of Corning, on Sunday for Violation of a Protection Order/Aiding and Abetting. Davis was released from the Adams County Jail on a promise to appear in court.
• And, 21-year-old Brianna Long, of Anita, was arrested Monday on an active Ringgold County warrant for Driving While Suspended. Long posted the $300 cash only bond and was released.

(McClelland, Iowa) – The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office today (Monday), released information with regard to a fatality accident that occurred Sunday night, near McClelland. Authorities say deputies were dispatched at around 7-p.m. to the area of 22834 265th Street, along with the Underwood and McClelland Fire Departments.

A vehicle occupied by four juveniles had crashed. First responders administered aid to the juveniles, one of whom was transported to Mercy Hospital, where they succumbed to their injuries. Due to the seriousness of the crash, Pott. County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Accident Investigators responded to the scene. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

The names of the juveniles were not officially released while the accident remains under investigation, but officials with the Underwood Community Schools posted on social media they were “Saddened by the news regarding [the] accident,” and to “please keep the Jastoroff family in your thoughts and prayers as they navigate this difficult time.” The family identified the accident victim who died, as 14-year-old Liam Jastorff.

The school announced also that tonight’s (Monday night’s) home basketball games (JH and HS) have been postponed. Make-up dates will be communicated once they are set.

(Radio Iowa) – Wolf Carbon Solutions has withdrawn its application for a state permit to build a carbon pipeline in eastern Iowa. Developers had plans for a 95-mile pipeline to capture carbon emissions from A-D-M plants in Cedar Rapids and Clinton — and ship the liquefied carbon to underground storage in Illinois. The company withdrew its permit request in Illinois last year. Emma Schmit is director of Pipeline Fighters, which is part of a group called BOLD Alliance which works on land and water use issues in rural states.

“Talking with landowners, it’s been months and months since they’ve even heard from Wolf, so they’ve seen the writing on the wall,” Schmit says. “…We tend to see these companies withdraw their applications and then never resubmit, so as far as I’m concerned, things are basically kaput.” The company’s withdrawal notice did not say whether it would revise its plans and submit a new permit request to the Iowa Utilities Commission. A spokesperson for Wolf Carbon Solutions has not replied to Radio Iowa’s request for comment.

Wolf had been seeking voluntary access to land along its proposed pipeline route. In early 2023, the company announced it would not ask Iowa utility regulators for eminent domain authority to seize land from unwilling property owners.  “That’s what they said in Illinois as well and I think that was one of their major problems both in terms of finding space for storage and the support from the community wasn’t there,” Scmit said. “…If they’re not going to basically, in my opinion, abuse eminent domain powers, they’re kind of stuck with no other option but to cancel the project.”

By early 2022, three pipeline companies — Wolf, Navigator and Summit Carbon Solutions — had announced plans to build carbon pipelines in Iowa. A year ago, Navigator cancelled its project. Summit hopes to extend its proposed pipeline route to ethanol plants that had signed up for Navigator’s pipeline. Schmit doubts the A-D-M plants involved in Wolf’s project will try to connect to Summit’s proposed pipeline. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if a different corporation came along,” Schmit says, “or if they even tried exploring carbon sequestration on site.”

The University of Iowa is leading a more than 11 MILLION dollar project to see if carbon can be successfully stored underground in Iowa, in what’s called basalt rock. The Iowa Utilities Commission has voted to give Summit authority to seize land along its Iowa pipeline route from owners who have refused to sign easements to their properties — but only if regulators in two neighboring states approve the pipeline project. Last month, North Dakota’s Public Service Commission granted Summit’s permit and Summit resubmitted its request form a permit in South Dakota.

(Creston, Iowa) – One person complained of pain/possible injury, following an accident Friday afternoon in Union County. The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports a 2017 Dodge pickup driven by 39-year-old Jeremiah Swietlik, of Kellerton, was traveling south on Highway 169 near Nuthatch Avenue at around 1:55-p.m., when, according to Swietlik, he looked down for something. As he did so, his pickup crossed the center line of the road and sideswiped a northbound 2006 GMC pickup that was pulling a car trailer, and driven by 43-year-old Ryan Still, of Mount Ayr.

The Dodge pickup went out of control after it contacted the GMC pickup, and entered the east ditch before rolling over twice and coming to rest on its wheels. The car trailer became detached from Still’s pickup after being hit as well. The trailer came to rest in the east ditch. Authorities say the trailer was destroyed by the collision with the Dodge pickup. The total amount of damage was estimated at $13,500.

No citations were issued, but the report stated Swietlik failed to maintain the proper lane.

(Radio Iowa) – Dubuque is unveiling a first-in-Iowa initiative aimed at reducing fines and fees for low-income residents. The Equitable Fines and Fees Program will meet those residents where they live and connect them with area networks and resources to alleviate utility fines for missed payments. Antonio Mouzon heads Dubuque’s Office of Community Impact and he created the program. He’s hopeful residents will be more likely to ask for help where they’re comfortable, instead of at a city office.

“We really hope to find success in building relationships between our local government and our residents, meeting people at their homes, having them see our smiling faces, us see theirs,” Mouzon says. “We’re learning their names and building that trust so residents are more likely to invest in these programs.” Mouzon says the initiative is rooted in trying to correct inequity in the criminal justice system.

“Residents who are standing in front of that judge can only serve in our community at a rate of $7.25 an hour. That is not equitable,” he says. “If you have a $1,500 or even a $1,000 fine, you’re going to have to serve for quite some time.”

The program is scheduled to launch on New Year’s Day and could eventually be expanded to include legal fees.