KJAN News can be heard at five minutes after every hour right after Fox News 24 hours a day!
Keep up-to-date with Fox News Radio, Radio Iowa, Brownfield & the Iowa Agribusiness Networks!
KJAN News can be heard at five minutes after every hour right after Fox News 24 hours a day!
Keep up-to-date with Fox News Radio, Radio Iowa, Brownfield & the Iowa Agribusiness Networks!
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Some of the hundreds of bills introduced in the Legislature will die this week as lawmakers run up against a self-imposed deadline. Most high-profile measures dealing with issues like property tax changes and education reform are moving through the process, but others dealing with gay marriage, abortion and gun control won’t survive the Friday deadline. Under the Legislature’s rules, bills die if they haven’t been approved by a committee by Friday, though they can be eligible in the session next year. Lawmakers won’t return to work until Monday. The Legislative Services Agency says 478 bills were introduced in the House this year and 354 in the Senate. Last year, 640 House and 478 Senate bills were introduced.
Bills that failed to meet an Iowa Legislature deadline include:
— Gay marriage: Measure would begin process of amending state constitution to prohibit gay marriage.
— Mandatory safety helmets: Minors would be required to wear a safety helmet while riding a mo-ped.
— Abolishing Education Department: The Department of Education would be eliminated and replaced by a state board of education.
— Guns on school grounds: People with a permit to carry a weapon could do so on school grounds.
— Medical marijuana: People with chronic illnesses and severe pain could get 2 ounce of legal marijuana from a nonprofit dispensary.
— Internet poker: Internet poker games would be legal in homes, casinos and racetracks but regulated by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.
— Webcam abortions: Doctors would be prohibited from prescribing abortion medication via a webcam consultation.
— Traffic cameras: Municipalities wanting to place a new traffic camera would apply for a permit from the Department of Transportation. Local governments would also need to justify existing cameras.
— Death penalty: People convicted of first-degree murder in which a victim was kidnapped or sexually abused or if the victim was a child could be sentenced to death.
— No-fault divorce: Parents of minor children would be prohibited from divorce unless one partner committed adultery, a felony and sent to prison, sexually abused the children or spouse or had abandoned the family for at least a year.
Sheriff’s Officials in Montgomery County report the arrest Thursday afternoon of a Hastings man. 52-year old John Michael Hudson was taken into custody on warrants for Contempt of Court/Failure to Pay Child Support. Hudson was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $2,000 bond.
Police in Lenox report an additional arrest has been made in connection with an ongoing investigation into the activities surrounding 45-year old Rosario Rivera. Rivera was arrested Tuesday on felony Identity Theft and Forgery charges. On Wednesday, another man, 28-year old Ruben Serrano Rivera, of Lenox,
Ruben Serrano Rivera (Lenox P.D. photo)
was arrested on a charge of Possession with the Intent to Distribute a schedule I drug within 1000 feet of a school, and while in possession of a firearm. He was also charged with forgery, identity theft and failure to affix a drug tax stamp. Each of the charges are Class D felonies.
Ruben Serrano was taken into custody at 601 South Walnut Street in Lenox, after a search warrant was executed at the home at around 7:30-p.m., Wednesday. The search, which was conducted by officers with the Lenox Police Department, the Taylor County Sheriffs office and the Ringgold county K-9 unit, resulted in numerous documents and 2 lap top computers being located and seized. Also seized during the search, was 1.3 pounds of marijuana, several firearms including an AK-47 and a 9-mm handgun.
Ruben Serrano Rivera, was transported to the Ringgold County Jail. The investigation continues and additional charges are expected against other suspects.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Airport control towers in Des Moines and Omaha could go dark during overnight hours if the federal government follows through with a plan to eliminate midnight air traffic controller shifts. It’s because of the government’s automatic spending cuts.
Executives at Des Moines and Omaha airports expect no disruption since commercial flight schedules end before midnight. Planes could still land and takeoff without controllers since all pilots are trained to use electronic Instrument Landing System equipment.
The FAA says it may eliminate overnight shifts at 72 airports beginning early April including Eppley Airfield in Omaha and Des Moines International. Control towers at 238 smaller airports including Waterloo, Dubuque, and Sioux City in Iowa and Grand Island, Neb., could be completely closed. The FAA is expected to decide by next week.
The City of Atlantic’s Community Development Committee will meet Monday evening in the Mayor’s Office at City Hall, to review and discuss a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) assistance application from Sonntag Development. The meeting is set to begin at 6-p.m. (This is a change from Thursday’s announcement). The Atlantic City Council had referred the matter to the CDC during its meeting, on March 6th.
Project developer Don Sonntag is asking the City for a $250,000 TIF grant for the construction of the Southern Heights II subdivision. The project will include a private road with a cul-de-sac and 10 condominium duplexes. Sonntag has indicated that four of the larger units would be for sale, while the remaining 16 units would be for rent.
After review, the Committee will forward its recommendation to the full Council for further action.
A Shenandoah man was cited for OWI following an accident late Wednesday night. According to police, an unidentified 17-year old male was struck by a pickup near the intersection of Lake and Matthew Streets. The teen was transported to the Shenandoah Medical Center for what authorities said appeared to be non-life threatening injuries. The driver of the truck was identified as 23-year-old Tyler Ellis, of Shenandoah. Ellis has since bonded out of jail and been assigned a date to appear in court.
The Clarinda Police Department reports officers executing a search warrant last Saturday evening, seized numerous items, including substances believed to be methamphetamine and marijuana. The search warrant took place at214 west State Street at around 5:45-p.m., pursuant to on on-going drug investigation. During their search, officers located and took into evidence, a white crystalline substance believed to be methamphetamine, burned green leafy plant material believed to be marijuana, several white pill/tablets and a glassine pipe believed to be used for the inhaling and ingesting of illegal drugs. All seized items have been sent to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Laboratory, for chemical analysis.
Officials say the residence is being rented by 26-year old Megan Diana Reynolds. Once all of the evidence is analyzed and the investigation is completed, the matter will be referred to the Page County Attorney’s Office to review for decision on the filing of charges.
The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, approved the use of an “E-Notify” text message notification system for firefighters and emergency responders. While some firefighters in the community already receive text messages about fires and other emergencies on a test basis, the remainder are expected to be integrated into the system within a couple of days, according to Atlantic Fire Chief Mark McNees. The text message system would supplement, and NOT replace the pagers carried by all firefighters and emergency responders.
Cass County 911 Coordinator Rob Koppert appeared before the Council to explain the how the system works, its drawbacks and advantages. He says the current computer system at the Cass County Communications Center is capable of automatically pushing text messages out to those who need to receive them. Koppert said one area of concern is the amount of time it takes for responders to actually get the message.
He said his research shows when the E-Notify system was used by some fire departments in the eastern U-S, firefighters weren’t their pagers anymore and relied only on their cell phones for text message alerts. The result was that some missed their text messages and failed to respond to fires or other emergency calls. Koppert said the same thing could happen here, if firefighters rely only on their cell phones for notifications.
He says there is a time delay factor in getting the message to firefighters. Koppert says 98-percent of the time, the system worked just fine. Sometimes, he said, the messages were received within a couple of minutes, sometimes hours, and in some instances, not at all. He said because of the liability issue, they don’t want firefighters to rely strictly on text messages.
He said the system is great as a “Secondary means” of communication, and it serves to provide a written description of the address of an incident. The agreement approved by the Atlantic City Council, and some other City Councils within the County, stipulates that the 9-1-1 Center is not responsible for any liability, should the fire department elect not to carry their pagers. He said most of the fire departments within the County are going to carry their pagers in accordance with the agreement.
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
RSS