School Board To Hold Meeting
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Community Board of Education are scheduled to meet this evening. The local school board has a short agenda, but they will hear from each of the principals. The school board is expected to discuss both their recent district school board meeting held at Sheldon, as well as review the results from the evaluations of the retreat. The school board has scheduled February 28th as the annual legislative forum with State Senator Bill Anderson, and State Representative Chuck Soderberg.
Legislature Works On Education Bills
(Le Mars) — Education bills was the focus of attention for the Iowa General Assembly during this past week. The House of Representatives passed a spending bill that would allocate $50 million to the Iowa school districts, which represents a 1.25 percent increase over last year’s education spending. Many school officials, however, are saying the approved amount of educational funding is simply not enough. State Representative Chuck Soderberg says there is no more available money in the state’s budget to increase education funding, unless more cuts are made.
Listen to
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The State Senate wants to allocate up to $200 million, or a four percent increase for education funding. Soderberg says, if the Senate bill passes, more cuts in other programs will be needed.
Listen to
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The other issue involving education was what should be the start date for schools? Soderberg says most of the state’s schools have requested, and been granted a waiver for the start date. However, Governor Branstad wants the state to follow the law which says schools can’t start school until the week of September 1st.
Listen to
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Counties Forced To Borrow Money For Road Repairs
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The amount Iowa counties borrow to repair their roads and bridges may be a key factor in the debate over whether to increase the state fuel tax.
Winnebago, Worth, Mitchell and Howard counties all carry large road construction debts.
State lawmakers are weighing a couple different proposals to increase the amount of money devoted to road maintenance.
The Iowa State Association of County Supervisors says counties don’t want to borrow for road projects, but in some corners of the state officials didn’t see another option.
Worth County carries the highest debt at $25.4 million. That translates into $3,366 per resident of the county.
By contrast, 17 Iowa counties carry no debt, and 27 other counties have less than $100 debt per resident.
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Johnson County To Send Inmates To Muscatine County Jail While Renovation Occurs
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Officials say a project at the Johnson County Jail will require most of its inmates to be moved and housed in the Muscatine County Jail for several months.
Work is set to begin April 27 on the $880,000 project intended to improve the Johnson County Jail’s control center and repair several cellblock doors. The project is scheduled to finish by July 20.
Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek says he estimates between 70 and 90 percent of the inmates will be moved to Muscatine County.
The Johnson County Jail has a capacity of 92 inmates. Pulkrabek says the jail will be able to hold some inmates during the project.
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Iowa State To Offer Seminar For Women Politicians
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – With the election of Senator Joni Ernst last year, the state of Iowa finally shed its status for having never selected a female governor or member of Congress. But advocates say there is still plenty of work to do to get more women involved in politics.
On Friday the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University will kick off its fifth “Ready to Run” campaign training for women. The program, which will be held over three days between February and April, includes seminars on how to organize a campaign, raise money and deal with the media.
Dianne Bystrom, the center’s director, said women in the state need encouragement to enter the political arena.
Ambulance Crashes In Northern Iowa
MANLY, Iowa (AP) – Officials say two crew members inside an ambulance were taken to the hospital after their vehicle crashed in northern Iowa.
State trooper Travis Derr says the victims were treated for injuries from the single-vehicle wreck on Sunday.
He says the two workers from Mitchell County EMS of Osage had just finished dropping off a patient in Mason City. They were the only people inside the ambulance when it hit a slick spot on Highway 9 and went into a ditch.
Derr says the vehicle rolled through a barbed-wire fence and landed upright in a farm field. No citations were filed in the accident. The names of the crew members weren’t released.
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No Powerball Jackpot Winner
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Lottery officials say no jackpot winner was selected in the latest $380 million Powerball drawing.
The next drawing will be Wednesday after no one matched Saturday’s winning numbers.
Sue Dooley is the senior drawing manager for the Multi-State Lottery Association, which oversees Powerball. She says the estimated value of Wednesday’s drawing will be $450 million.
The huge jackpot is a return to form for Powerball, which has been known along with Mega Millions for its record-breaking jackpots in recent years. But the Powerball lottery has experienced a slump, with nearly a year passing since its jackpot total climbed above $300 million.
Powerball’s last major jackpot was in February 2014, when it climbed to $425 million.
Powerball tickets cost $2 each.
