Severe weather is set to head into Iowa in the next day and a half, with possibilities ranging from tornadoes to thunderstorms to snow, as temperatures rise into the 70s and plummet into the 20s.
Meteorologist Roger Vachalek, at the National Weather Service notes it’s coincidental this is Severe Weather Awareness Week in Iowa, as they’ve been reminding people about the dangers of just this scenario.
While today’s high temperatures may climb into the 60s, the forecast calls for some 70s in the state tomorrow, but the warm weather will be accompanied by thunderstorms, some of which may be severe, with tornadoes, as well as large hail across the state,”
Iowa House Republicans are putting their own stamp on Gov. Kim Reynolds’ education bill while keeping most of the main parts of the legislation in place.
The revised bill (SF 496) passed the House Education Committee today (Thursday) and keeps a proposed ban on teaching about gender identity and sexual orientation in elementary schools.
It drops a Senate provision for school workers to call home when a student expresses a different gender.
But administrators would have to contact a parent if a transgender student asks to use a different name or pronouns.
A bill that could’ve limited the expansion of public lands appears dead for the year after the Iowa House failed to advance it before this week’s legislative deadline.
The bill would have required the natural resources department to prioritize maintaining existing public lands before acquiring more land.
A key Republican lawmaker says House Republicans intended to amend the bill. But they decided to drop it for the year and revisit the issue next year.
Conservation groups were strongly opposed to the bill, saying it had the potential to severely restrict the expansion of public lands for outdoor recreation and wildlife.
A House bill that would’ve restricted the use of eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines appears to be dead for the year after the Iowa Senate failed to advance it before a legislative deadline.
It would have banned the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines unless 90% of the route was first acquired through voluntary land sales.
Senate leaders could bring the dead proposal back to life, but House Speaker Pat Grassley says that seems unlikely.
Thousands of Iowans are expected to lose their Medicaid coverage over the next year as state officials go through the process of unwinding.
Since the start of the federal public health emergency in March 2020, Iowa hasn’t been allowed to dis-enroll anyone from Medicaid.
Saturday marks the end of that federal policy.
Elizabeth Matney is the state Medicaid director at the Department of Health and Human Services. She tells Radio Iowa that around 150 thousand Iowans are expected to be dis-enrolled over the next 12 months because they no longer qualify.
She says the state has been working for months to alert members to the upcoming eligibility redetermination process to avoid improperly dis-enrolling anyone.
Key lawmakers in the Iowa House are working on changes in a Senate bill that would let state agencies refuse to release information to the state auditor’s office. State Auditor Rob Sand, the only Democrat holding statewide office, has said the Senate-passed legislation would limit the ability of his office to investigate allegations of waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer money.
A lobbyist for the Iowa Society of Certified Public Accountants said the bill would also impact the ability of private sector CPAs to conduct audits of Iowa cities and counties.
A former Sergeant Bluff call center is getting a new lease on life.
Sergeant Bluff Mayor Jon Winkel told The Sioux City Journal Wednesday that the old MCI building, 102 Sergeant Square Drive, is being transformed into a multi-purpose arena by developer Roy Perry, of R Perry Construction.
The 170,000-square-foot building will hold a track, three basketball courts, three volleyball courts, a substantial workout area, and 20,000 square feet of retail space. Winkel said R Perry Construction would also be relocating its headquarters into the building.
Besides sports touthe arena would also be able to host horse shows and car shows. He said work on the project's first phase has been underway for two months and that he expects the building to be open within a year.
Milford Municipal Utilities is looking at constructing a new water treatment plant.
MMU General Manager Brad Willemsen told KUOO Radio it would replace the existing facility.
“We’ll construct the new plant north of the existing plant and then the existing plant will be taken out of service,” said Willemsen.
Milford Mayor Steve Anderson said the city is working with MMU to make sure the needed infrastructure is in place for the project.
Willemsen said most of the design work on the new plant should be completed by June, with the project going out for bid following that. Construction would then follow. He also said the new plant will be state-of-the-art and will allow for a significant increase in capacity for future growth and demand.
