(Radio Iowa) – State Auditor Rob Sand’s staff has completed the annual review of how major state funds were managed last year — and the report did NOT flag any issues in how the state-funded Education Savings Account program for private school expenses was handled. However, Sand says Governor Reynolds’ staff did not provide information about the program to his office until late November — six months after the initial request.

“Had they given us the information when we asked for it, we may have expanded the audit,” Sand says, “because we may have noticed something and performed additional procedures and been able to provide taxpayers with a better understanding of what’s going on in the program.” Last year, Sand and the governor’s staff disagreed on whether Iowa law allowed the auditor’s office to review how Education Savings Accounts were managed.

The governor’s budget director says it wasn’t until in October that staff from Sand’s office explained state spending on Education Savings Accounts had risen to a level that required auditors to review the program and the data was turned over the following month.

Statement from Governor Kim Reynolds in response to Sand’s annual review:

(Glenwood, IA) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports there were six arrests that took place between Feb. 9th and the 15th;

• On Sunday, Feb. 15th, Mills County Deputies arrested 39-year-old Denis M. Ramos Chicas, of Omaha, for OWI/1st offense and Possession of Contraband in a Correctional Facility. (Total bond, $6,000).
• There were four arrests on Feb. 10th:
  • 47-year-old Adrian Charles Bauer and 51-year-old Jason Allen Schultz, both of Glenwood, were arrested on Assault charges. Bauer was charged with Assault w/intent – Serious Injury. His bond was set at $2,000. Schultz was charged with Assault w/Bodily Injury. (No Bond); 32-year-old Patrick Clayton Giesting, of Malvern, was arrested on the 10th for Driving Under Suspension ($300 bond); and 49-year-old Lee Alfred Miles, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Violation of Probation ($5,000 bond).

And, on Feb. 9th, Mills County Deputies arrested 50-year-old William Ray Doughtery, of Council Bluffs, for Possession of Marijuana/1st offense (Bond, $1,000).

[UPDATED**] (Radio Iowa) – Backers of Iowa’s 47-year-old “Bottle Bill” are urging Iowans to contact lawmakers about a lack of access to sites where they can redeem their nickel deposits on bottles and cans. R-G Schwarm is executive director of Cleaner Iowa, a group that paid to survey Iowans about the Bottle Bill. “Iowans continue to support the Bottle Bill,” Schwarm said, “but the frustration is clearly recognized in the results.”

The Bottle Bill was changed in 2022, removing the requirement that retailers who sell beverages and collect the nickel deposits must pay consumers who return the empties. “64.5% of voters believe it is more difficult to redeem their containers with just 3% saying easier and approximately 25% saying about the same,” Schwarm said. According to Schwarm, there’s been an 80 percent reduction in the number of redemption sites in the state since the law took effect.

There’s no pending legislation to change the redemption system, but there a bill that would have expanded the nickel deposit fee to cans containing non-carbonated beverages, like energy drinks, failed to clear a House committee Tuesday, and is dead for the year.**

(Radio Iowa) – The annual kite festival held on Clear Lake that was scheduled for this weekend has been cancelled due to the recent warm weather. The Clear Lake Area Chamber of Commerce has announced that the Color the Wind Kite Festival has been canceled due to unsafe ice conditions near the shoreline on Clear Lake. In a social media post, they say they’ve been closely monitoring the ice in partnership with local safety officials, and it was determined that the ice is not stable enough to host the event.

The post also says they explored moving the festival to land, but FAA regulations, space limitations, parking, and lack of electricity make that option unworkable.

Color the Wind Kite Festival (File photo, Clearlakeiowa.com)

(Glenwood, IA) – The Mills County Emergency Management Agency reports a BURN BAN is now in effect, and until further notice. The ban is in-place due to the continued high temperatures, existing dry fuels, limited moisture, and renewed drought conditions. The BURN BAN is in effect for all areas and jurisdictions within Mills County. The ban prohibits ALL open and controlled burning in Mills County, including all incorporated city limits within the County. For more information, see the attached notification:

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa State University horticulture professor is trying to find out how some plants are able to endure cold winter temperatures and start growing again in the spring. Professor Rajeev Arora says research is showing there’s not one single factor involved the hardening of plants to the cold. “Freezing tolerance or the acquiring of freezing tolerance is not a single factor phenomenon. In other words, several things are changing, and logistically they work together to put the plant in the hardest state,” he says. Arora says one thing he’s studied is a protein called dehydrin, which helps keep plants from losing water in a process called desiccation.”What happens is that when the ice forms inside these tissues, it is never inside the cells, but outside the cells between the cells,” he says.

Arora says ice in the cells causes plants to loose all their water, which leads to their deaths. “It is the desiccation part of the stress that plant actually ultimately succumbs to and gets injured. It is not so much the cold itself, but the desiccating effect of the freezing is what kills the plant,” Arora says. “And so these dehydrants, they prevent that desiccation or do not let all the water to be pulled out, maintain some hydration so that cells can survive.” Arora says he’s also studying the way some plants roll up their leaves to help them survive the cold in what is called “thermonasty.”

He says there’s no one clear process for plants to survive. “Many, many genes are involved, it’s not just one or two, and those have to collaboratively together also. So, it becomes very complicated,” Arora says, “these things have limits.” Arora says there has been some breeding of plants to better survive the cold, and he hopes his research will lead to more information on how to do just that.

(Radio Iowa) – A bipartisan bill in the Iowa House would limit digital instruction in kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms to 60 minutes a day. There would be some exceptions for things like computer science instruction or math and reading programs on laptops or tablets that are tailored for a student’s individual use. Representative Samatha Fett, a Republican from Carlisle who’s co-sponsoring the legislation, says the bill is meant to refocus schools on what’s best for elementary school students. “Their learning capabilities are proving to be better without that technology,” Fett says. “Handwriting and cursive are actually better for our kids.” Representative Heather Matson, a Democrat from Ankeny, is the bill’s other co-sponsor.

“For me, a big part of this really is putting human connection back at the center of learning,” Matson said. The Iowa State Education Association, the union for Iowa school teachers, supports the bill. Melissa Peterson, a lobbyist for the group, says in-person interactions between teachers and students promote critical life skills. “That is so important,” Peterson said, “and one of the things I really like about this bill is the limitation to kindergarten through fifth grade during that really foundational and fundamental learning time.”

Deb Davis, a former member of the Johnston School Board, says when computers were introduced in classrooms, she and others believed they were equipping students for the future. “Over the past several years we’ve increased screen exposure in our youngest grades, yet we have not seen clear academic gains that justify that level of immersion,” Davis said. “At the same time, teachers report spending more time monitoring screens, redirecting attention and managing digital distractions.” The on-line academies for Iowa students are asking for an exemption from the bill since students spend their entire school day on a computer. Groups representing urban and rural districts say the bill needs modifications to ensure districts don’t have to buy textbooks and may continue to use laptops and tablets that have the same material. The bill cleared a House subcommittee this (Tuesday) morning.

Representative Jeff Shipley, a Republican from Birmingham, says limiting screen time in school is important. “The main thing we want to make sure is when we’re sending students into a school or an educational environment is that they’re actually learning things and getting smarter,” Shipley said. “I think one of the alarming things I’ve seen is that overuse of these devices could actually make people stupider and I think we’ve seen that a lot in our society where people are unable to navigate their local town because they’re so used to using the instructions from their device that they…don’t even know where they are in the world.”

The bill may be considered in the House Education Committee tomorrow (Wednesday).

(Atlantic, IA) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors met in a regular session this (Tuesday) morning. During their meeting, the Board approved the installation of a bench on the County’s portion of the (downtown) Atlantic City Park, west of the monument. Supervisor Wendy Richter explains…

A dedication ceremony will take place at a later date. The Supervisors also passed a resolution appointing Deputy Auditor Hannah Richter, at a rate of $27/hour ($56,376/year).

Photo of the bench from the Weirich Welding Plus, LLC / PowerLift Hydraulic Doors Facebook page.

Cass County VA Exec. Director Mitch Holmes provided the Board with a Quarterly Report, during which he stated his office made 493 contacts over the past Quarter.

Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken presented his regular report to the Supervisors. The Board then approved Publication of a Notice to Bidders for the cash rent of approximately 23-acres of County-owned farm land in the southwest portion of the NW 1/4 of Section 15, Grove Township. Bids will be opened at 9-a.m., Tuesday, March 17th, in the Board Room of the Cass County Courthouse in Atlantic. Anyone with questions pertaining to the land or bidding process, may contact the Cass County Engineer’s Office.

Cass County BOS 2-17-26

In other business, the Cass County Supervisors received a monthly report from Cass/Guthrie County Environmental Health Exec. Director Jotham Arber.

(Mount Ayr, IA) – Sheriff’s officials in Ringgold County say no injuries were reported following a head-on collision at around 8:05-a.m., Friday, Feb. 13th. Authorities say Brad England, of Mt. Ayr was traveling west on East South St/Highway 2, approaching the intersection with Garfield. Tracey Cowan, of Red Oak, was traveling east and was unable to stop due to a vehicle that was stopped behind another vehicle, that was waiting to turn north onto Garfield.

Officials say Cowan decided to enter the west bound lane to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of her that was stopped. Her vehicle struck England’s vehicle head-on, resulting in England’s vehicle ending-up in the North ditch. Cowan’s vehicle  came to rest facing North, in the west bound lane.

Ringgold County Sheriff’s Deputies cited Cowan for Failure to maintain control, No Insurance, and Unsafe passing.

*Any potential criminal charges identified above are merely allegations and any defendant are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.*