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Noon Newscast 3.4.20

FEBRUARY 2020 - SIOUX CITY, IA

Voters in Woodbury County said “yes” to a new jail and law enforcement center. 

Unofficial results in Woodbury County show 57 percent of the voters wanted a new jail in yesterday’s special election.

It only needed 50 percent plus 1 vote to pass.

But, it will be a couple of years before the facility is up and running. In that time, Sheriff Dave Drew says there’s a chance the jail’s worn heating, cooling and ventilation systems could fail. 

“If it does, then I’m making phone calls across the state of Iowa to find bed space and that means a lot of transportation for our deputies and a lot of overtime.”

The other issue with the current jail is its 234 beds are often maxed out. The new jail will have about 200 more.

Meanwhile, a proposal for a $6 million jail in Monona County narrowly failed with 57% support.  It needed 60%.

Voters living in the Sergeant Bluff-Luton School District approved using sales tax money for school infrastructure projects. 

And, a financial vote for the Woodbury Central School District also passed 55-to-44%.

A plan to build a new school in the MOC-Floyd Valley School District narrowly won approval.  The 37-million dollar bond issue needed 60% approval.  Unofficial reports showed it received 63%.  The money will be used for a new elementary school between Orange City and Hospers and upgrades to the high school in Orange City.

As one Woodbury County Supervisor announced plans to run again, he faces a potential challenger for the District 1 seat.   

KEVIN MCCORMICK

Retired Sioux City Police Officer Kevin McCormick filed nomination papers for the Democratic primary this morning.

McCormick will be running for the seat currently held by Supervisor Keith Radig, who is a Republican. 

Radig won two terms on the Sioux City Council before moving to the board after winning election in 2016. 

Radig tells Siouxland Public Media News he turned in his papers to run yesterday.  

The primary takes place on June 2nd with the general election on November 3rd.    

The Iowa Senate has passed a bill to put restrictions on felon voting rights restoration.

It would prevent automatic restoration for some specific crimes, and require full payment of victim restitution.

If voters eventually ratify a constitutional amendment to automatically restore voting rights to Iowans with felony convictions, this bill would kick in. 

Governor Kim Reynolds says she’ll support the bill if that’s what it takes for her proposed constitutional amendment to pass. 

Iowa’s high school graduation rate climbed to a record high of 91.6% for the 2018-19 school year.

Since 2011, Iowa’s four-year graduation rate has increased 3.3 percentage points overall, with gains in nearly every student demographic group.

For example, graduation rates for Hispanic students have climbed by 9.3 percentage points and the rates for African American students have gone up 8.4 percentage points.

Iowa's rates typically are among the nation's highest.