Governor Reynolds today announced her administration has successfully implemented the alignment bill passed by the legislature last session. Senate File 514, which became effective on July 1. The bill reduces the number of cabinet-level departments from 37 to 16. The state has consolidated agencies with similar functions and centralized programs serving similar needs.
The legislation also eliminates more than 500 unfilled positions. THe law is projected to save the state $214 million over four years. When the bill was signed into law enterprise and department teams had three months to implement the changes by July 1.
The governor today also introduced a new state logo that will be adopted by executive branch departments and used to market Iowa to attract businesses and workforce and grow the state’s population.
The City of Storm lake today has declared mandatory water conservation measures to be in effect now through august 1st. City infractions will be issued for violations.
Two of the city’s water wells are currently not in working condition because of needed repairs.
The city will see a bigger need for water this Sunday because RAGBRAI riders are staying overnight. An expected additional 40,000 or more people will be in Storm Lake overnight.
The Sioux City Council yesterday approved grant for a mountain bike trails project at Cone and Sertoma parks. The city authorized the Parks and Recreation Department to submit a grant application to the Iowa Department of Transportation for $150,000 from the Iowa State Recreational Trails Program.
The public improvement project includes the construction of new shared-use trails, highly optimized bike-only trails and mountain bike amenities.
Northwest Iowa has higher incidence of Alzheimer’s Disease for residents over the age of 65 than other regions of the state, according to a report released today by The Alzheimer’s Association.
The nationwide report offers a county-by-county breakdown of the prevalence of that form of dementia, including in all 99 Iowa counties.
Two rural counties topped the state’s list. One was Monona County in western Iowa at 12.6%, and Ringgold County in southern Iowa 12.9%. Woodbury County had an Alzheimer’s rate of about 10 percent.
The report shows that the average Alzheimer’s prevalence rate in Iowans age 65 and older is 11%.
