Å bill that would increase penalties for selling a drug that results in a death, and hike penalties for fentanyl sales, is headed to Gov. Kim Reynolds' desk, according the Des Moines Register.
The Iowa Senate passed House File 595 41-9, and it is now eligible to be signed into law by Reynolds, who said she will soon sign it. All no votes were cast by Democrats.
If signed into law, a person would receive three times the sentence otherwise imposed by law if they sell or provide a drug to another person that results in their death. The sentence would be doubled if the sale results in serious bodily injury. A person who manufactures a drug in the presence of a minor or sells a drug to a minor would be subject to twice the penalty otherwise imposed by law.
Voters in the Papillion La Vista and Westside school districts can expect ballots for upcoming bond issues to arrive in mailboxes this week, according to the Omaha World Herald.
Beginning Monday, election officials in Douglas and Sarpy Counties will be sending mail-in ballots to registered voters. Completed ballots must be received by the appropriate election commission by 5 p.m. May 9.
Papillion La Vista voters will be deciding on a $129.9 million bond issue while Westside voters will decide on a $121 million bond issue.
The Papillion district’s bond issue would pay for a new elementary school, buy land for other schools and improve safety and security at existing schools.
The bond would also pay for improvements to auditoriums and athletic facilities at each high school.
District officials have said the $129.9 million bond issue would not require a tax levy increase because Papillion La Vista is wrapping up debt payments for a previous bond issue.
Residents have until Friday to register by mail to vote in this election. April 28 is the last day for in-person voter registration.
Westside’s bond issue, introduced earlier this year, would fund the costs of replacing or renovating eight school buildings, plus the district office, to update security, safety, accessibility, technology and more.
South Dakota has a new set of social studies standards that educators will start teaching to students in the fall of 2025, according to the Argus Leader.
That’s after the South Dakota Board of Education Standards passed that set Monday in Pierre, despite hearing from a majority of educators and the state’s nine tribes who all stood in solidarity opposing the standards.
A two-year implementation period for the standards will start in June at the South Dakota Department of Education office, along with the South Dakota Historical Society and the Office of Indian Education to help current teachers learn how to put the standards into practice, according to a press release from Gov. Kristi Noem’s office.
