STORM LAKE, Iowa (AP) — A trial is scheduled to begin May 15 for a woman accused of stealing more than $7,000 while working at a Storm Lake store. Court records say 19-year-old Abigail Clark, of Early, entered a written plea of not guilty Saturday in Buena Vista County District Court. She’s charged with forgery, theft and ongoing criminal conduct.

Storm Lake police say Clark forged customer names and completed fraudulent returns for cash within the Bomgaars store where she worked, and then kept the money. Police say that during the investigation, officers recovered more than $400 in merchandise bought with the stolen money from Bomgaars.

It’s currently illegal to buy wine or beer in another country or EVEN another STATE and bring it into Iowa. Senator Roby Smith of Davenport is sponsoring a bill that, essentially, would let Iowans transport 48 cans of beer or six bottles of wine across the state line. “This would bring common sense regulations to Iowa,” Smith says. Smith’s proposal also would deal with wine collectors who live out of state and want to move to Iowa — with more than just six bottles of wine. Under current law, bringing just one bottle of wine into the state is against the law. Smith says he’s personally heard from people living in Illinois who say they can’t move to Iowa because of the current law. “This is something that just makes it common sense to welcome servicemen and welcome anybody to Iowa on this and that’s what we’re getting at with this bill,” Smith says.

Smith’s bill would have a state official issue permits for out-of-staters to move themselves and their wine collections into an Iowa home. Senator Jim Carlin of Sioux City was part of a three-member subcommittee that reviewed the bill and he signed off on all the changes. “This just recognizes consumer realities of purchasing beer, liquor and wine across state lines,” Carlin says.

Under current law you may bring one bottle of liquor into Iowa from another state and four bottles into Iowa from another country. Smith says it appears to him leaving beer and wine out of the mix was simply an oversight. Another border-state senator suggests Iowa retailers who sell beer and wine may resist the change because they don’t want their Iowa customers going across the border to a competitor to buy beer and wine.

(Radio Iowa)

Governor Kim Reynolds says she and her staff “spent a lot of time” developing her plan for trimming nearly 30 million dollars out of the current year’s budget — and she’s ready to negotiate with her fellow Republicans in the Iowa Senate over a plan that would cut more than 20 million dollars deeper. “It’s part of the process,” Reynolds says. “We’ve been working on this a lot longer than they have. We’ll continue to work through it and we’ll do that with both the House and the Senate and hopefully we’ll get to a responsible place.”

Reynolds is not criticizing any of the specific cuts Republicans in the Senate propose, like more than 24 million dollars in cuts to the state universities and community colleges. The Senate Republicans recommend a cut in the state’s court system that’s three times as much as the governor recommended, prompting court officials to warn court operations in 30 county courthouses would be suspended “indefinitely” if that deep a cut is approved. Reynolds says that “would have an impact” on “access to justice” in Iowa. “I think there’s ways that we can respect some of the things that are really important to them by really reducing the impact on Iowans and services,” Reynolds says. “And so that’s the conversation that we’ll have moving forward.”

Reynolds says Iowans expect state officials to be “fiscally responsible” and she says “there is a way” to make budget cuts without major disruptions in state services. The Senate Republicans’ plan for cutting the current year’s budget cleared a committee last week and is ready for debate in the full senate. House Republicans have not yet unveiled their budget-cutting priorities.

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A former support manager for a Sioux City organization that helps people with intellectual disabilities has been accused of stealing from clients. Court records say 29-year-old Jessica Rivera is charged with three counts of dependent adult abuse-exploitation. Court records that between January and July 2017, while she worked for Mosaic, Rivera made unauthorized purchases using gift cards or other funds from the clients and kept the items.

Legislators are considering a proposal that would give Iowa schools authority to extend the riding time on bus routes. Under current Iowa law, elementary students may ride no more than an hour on the bus at a time. The length of a single bus ride for high schoolers may be no more than 75 minutes. Senator Ken Rozenboom, a Republican from Oskaloosa, favors allowing longer bus routes. “A Greene County school that has the elementary and high school co-located, if they were allowed to add 15 minutes to the elementary transportation time — taking it from 60 minutes to 75 minutes — it would allow them to eliminate two bus routes and save approximately $100,000,” Rozenboom says. “And that puts money into educating children instead of riding around on a bus.”

A bill that would let ride times for students be 15 minutes longer to school AND 15 minutes longer on the way home has cleared the Senate Education Committee. The legislation also let school boards set EVEN LONGER bus routes if they notify parents at least 30 days ahead of time and hold two public hearings before the change would take place. Senator Tod Bowman, a Democrat from Maquoketa, is skeptical. “I haven’t heard from any parents saying: ‘I want my kid on the bus longer,'” Bowman said. “…Haven’t heard from any superintendents saying they need a longer period of time and I haven’t heard from any constituents saying this is a need and I certainly haven’t heard from any students saying: ‘I want to be on the bus longer.'”

Bowman, though, wound up voting to advance the bill out of committee. The measure is now eligible for debate in the full Senate.

(Radio Iowa)