DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Legislature is reviving a bill that would limit the public’s access to many 911 calls. The Republican-controlled Iowa Senate put the measure on hold last year after concerns were raised about its far-reaching implications for accessing records. More than eight weeks into the session, a three-person panel is scheduled Tuesday to review it.

The legislation would declare that audio, video and transcripts of 911 calls involving injured people are confidential medical records and exempt from Iowa’s open records law. If enacted, authorities’ initial response to shootings, stabbings and many other incidents could face less public scrutiny. Another provision would make calls involving minors automatically confidential.

The GOP-controlled Iowa House passed the bill last year with unanimous bipartisan support and no debate. Some Democrats in the House later acknowledged they didn’t realize the scope of the legislation, in part because it was framed as a measure about protecting children’s privacy.

Sen. Dan Dawson, a Council Bluffs Republican who will oversee the upcoming subcommittee meeting on the bill, said the proposal needs changes, though he didn’t specify how it should be altered. He sees room for records exemptions, particularly in cases where information becomes available quickly in the aftermath of a homicide case. He worries that could taint a jury pool tied to an eventual trial.

The legislation was introduced last year in response to the release of 911 calls to The Associated Press, which exposed a string of gun accidents in an Iowa county that killed two teens and injured a third. Rep. Mary Wolfe, a Democrat from Clinton who voted for the bill last spring, said she now opposes the measure. Wolfe said she sees a need to clarify current exemptions in Iowa’s open records law, though not through this legislation.

The proposal would need to advance out of a full Senate committee in the next two weeks to survive a legislative deadline. If the bill is amended and makes it out of the full Senate, it would need to be approved again in the House. Randy Evans, director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, emphasized the unintended consequences of lawmakers deciding some 911 records should be private based on a medical condition or age. The AP’s access to 911 records involving children shed light on gun violence in Iowa, he said.

Separately, high-profile child abuse cases in the state have received more attention in part because news organizations accessed critical 911 records. All this information is in the public interest, Evans said. He warned if lawmakers decide to add exemptions to public records, they need more time than the dwindling weeks of the current session.
“The Legislature needs to proceed cautiously,” he said.

Sheriff’s officials in northern Iowa’s Kossuth County say a former Atlantic resident was murdered early Saturday morning and a man was arrested in connection with her death. An investigation resulted in the arrest of 45-year-old Chad David Dietrick of Lakota for 1st degree murder. The victim in the case was identified as 38-year-old Krista Lynn Hesebeck, of Lakota.

According to the report, the Sheriff’s Office received a 9-1-1 call at around 12:47-a.m. Saturday, from 517 Smith Street in Lakota. The caller asked for medical assistance. The reporting party also said that a domestic assault with weapons occurred at the residence located at 202 2nd Street, Lakota.

Kossuth County Deputies as well as ambulance services from Lakota, Swea City and Algona responded to the call. Upon arrival at the scene deputies found Chad Dietrick with lacerations to his left arm at 517 Smith Street and a Krista Hesebeck deceased at 202 2nd Street. The cause of her death will be determined by an autopsy.

Chad Dietrick is being held at the Kossuth County Jail awaiting his initial appearance.

Chad Dietrick

The Audubon School District’s Board of Education will meet in a Special Session Monday evening, in their Board Room at the High School. During their 6:15-p.m. meeting, the Board will present and discuss their Initial Bargaining Proposal, and discuss and/or act on Personnel matters.

A man from Pottawattamie County was arrested at around 10:35-p.m. Saturday, in Red Oak. According to Red Oak Police, 25-year old Nathan Allen Aldrich, of Council Bluffs, was arrested following a traffic stop. Alrich was taken into custody for Driving While Revoked, and failure to have SR-22 (High risk) Insurance on File. He was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $1,000 cash bond.

Iowa has a higher-than-average rate of new lung cancer cases, according to a report from the American Lung Association. Alyssa DePhillips of the American Lung Association in Iowa says 65 out of every 100-thousand Iowans are diagnosed with lung cancer each year.

The report really recommends radon testing and mitigation, healthy air protections and reducing the smoking rate through tobacco tax increases, smoke-free air laws and access to comprehensive quit-smoking services,” she says.

Iowa also ranks low nationally for early detection of lung cancer and in the five-year survival rates for Iowans who’ve been diagnosed with lung cancer.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa high school students would have to pass the U.S. citizenship test in order to graduate if a bill that cleared the Iowa Senate this week becomes law. Senator Jerry Behn, a Republican from Boone, says students would be able to take the exam once a year, starting in 7th grade, giving them plenty of time to pass it. “We already have to have a lot of tests in high school,” Behn says, “and tt was felt this particular test would help teach a little bit more civics.”

Senator Tod Bowman, a Democrat from Maquoketa, is a high school teacher who says the questions in the exam are too easy.  “Right now this bill focuses on rote-memory questions,” Bowman says. “There’s not one question in this exam that Alexa couldn’t answer. ‘Hey, Alexa. What are the first three words to the constitution?’ “We, the People.'”

Bowman says exam has nothing to do with showing a student knows how American government works or is inspired to fulfill their civic duty. Democratic Senator Rob Hogg, of Cedar Rapids says test anxiety may prevent some kids from graduating from high school. “The really dark, nasty underside of this bill is invariably there are going to be some kids who fail,” Hogg said, “and you relegate them to a lifetime of economic distress.”

The bill passed the Senate on a 38-to-12 vote this week, but may not pass the House. In January, Representative Walt Rogers, a Republican from Cedar Falls, introduced a similar bill. “I just think it’s common sense that kids should know a little bit of basic civics when they come out of high school. I remember, when I had to graduate from UNI, I had to take just a basic writing class and so this is just something that I think is the right thing to do,” Rogers says. “…Honestly I think Iowa does a pretty good job, but this is just kind of a statement that says they have to pass this test. By doing that they have to focus a little bit on what our history is, what our government is and maybe get a little more excited about becoming a Senator or a Representative someday.”

Rogers made his comments during a recent appearance on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press” program. However, Rogers announced in mid-February that his bill did not have enough votes to pass the House Education Committee.

(Radio Iowa)