Carlin Calls For Schools To Have A Plan For “Active Shooter”
(Des Moines) — As a result of Wednesday’s incident in Le Mars and the school shooting that happened in Flordia, Republican State Senator Jim Carlin of Sioux City has introduced a bill requiring schools to have a plan for an “active shooter” situation for Iowa schools. Carlin says about 15 percent of Iowa school
districts do not have plans for dealing with an “active shooter” situation. He says he is surprised.
Carlin sponsored a bill last year in the House, when he was a state representative, that would have required Iowa schools to establish security plans. It didn’t get a hearing.
Carlin is now a state senator and today (Thursday), the Senate Education Committee unanimously approved the proposal. Carlin says he saw all sorts of “red flags” as he read about Wednesday’s mass shooting at a Florida school.
His bill merely calls for school officials to give some thought to how they could respond if shooting starts at their school.
Carlin says the Iowa Department of Education already has materials that can help districts who lack a plan develop one.
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Governor Reynolds Orders Flags At Half Staff
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa’s governor has ordered all state flags to be lowered to honor those killed and injured at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Gov. Kim Reynolds’ order was issued in conjunction with President Donald Trump’s order to lower all United States flags to half-staff until sunset Monday.
Flags will be at half-staff on all public buildings, grounds and facilities throughout the state.
Individuals, businesses, schools, municipalities, counties and other government subdivisions are encouraged to fly their flags at half-staff as well.
Iowa House Works On School Transportation Bill
(Des Moines) — School transportation was the main focus of attention coming from the Iowa House of Representatives this week. Republican Representative Chuck Holz of Le Mars says the legislators were attempting to reduce the financial burden that some schools face with the rising cost of transporting students. Holz says both legislative chambers agreed upon the figure of $32 million for educational spending. He says the State Senate had tacked on an additional $14 million to the education spending bill and wanted both parts, the K-12 spending, and the transportation funding to be thought of as one bill.
However, as Holz says, the House members wanted to deal with the provisions as separate bills.
Holz says the legislature is wanting to lower the transportation cost per student for schools that qualify.
The Le Mars lawmaker says some of the area schools that would benefit from the school transportation bill would include Akron-Westfield, Hinton, Woodbury Central, Kingsley-Pierson, and even MMC-RU.
Floyd Valley Healthcare Nationally Recognized With Two Awards
(Le Mars) — Floyd Valley Healthcare has again been nationally recognized for its service to the community. Administrator Mike Donlin says the local hospital recently received two separate awards.
Donlin says the Women’s Choice Award encompasses several areas within the Obstetrics division.
Donlin says it is the first time Floyd Valley has been so recognized by the Women’s Choice Award. He says it places the Le Mars hospital within the top ten percent of Iowa’s healthcare centers.
The Floyd Valley healthcare official says the hospital was also recently listed as one of the top 100 rural critical care facilities in the nation.
Donlin says he isn’t sure if the awards will necessarily lead more people to Floyd Valley for their healthcare needs, but he says the national recognition is good for the staff to know their dedication and work is being noticed, and that it means they are doing the right things.
Floyd Valley has also received national attention in the past from the prestigious Press Gainy organization.
Banks Say Economy Is Improving
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A monthly survey of rural bankers in 10 Plains and Western states suggests an improved economic outlook.
A report released Thursday says the Rural Mainstreet Index rose to its highest reading since May 2014, reaching 54.8 in February. January’s figure was 46.8, and December’s was 47.8.
Survey organizers say any score below 50 suggests a shrinking economy in the months ahead.
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says the solid February figure surprised him, given that only about a quarter of the bankers reported growth in their areas. Nonetheless, the confidence index jumped to 52.4 from 46.7 in January.
Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.
Corrections Officer Assaulted
CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Corrections Department says an inmate struck a correctional officer at the Iowa Medical Classification Center in Coralville.
The assault occurred around 2:05 p.m. Thursday. The officer handcuffed the inmate and then moved inside a cell to help move him, because the inmate uses a wheelchair. The department says the inmate then used both fists to strike the
officer once on the side of his head.
The officer suffered bruising and scratches from the strike and a headache.
He was taken to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for examination.
The names of those involved have not been released.
State Senate Holds Off On Voting On Gun Permit Bill
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Republican lawmakers in Iowa say they’re not advancing a bill that would have reduced gun permit requirements in the state in part because of a deadly school shooting in Florida.
The Senate judiciary committee agreed Thursday not to vote on a bill that would have repealed a requirement in Iowa to have a permit to acquire a weapon.
It also would have made it voluntary to have a permit to carry a weapon.
Sen. Brad Zaun, an Urbandale Republican, says the bill’s provisions are not related to the circumstances surrounding Wednesday’s shooting in Parkland, Florida, where a teenager is accused of using a semi-automatic rifle to kill 17 people. But Zaun says the timing of the shooting, plus a lack of support from
some other Republicans, complicated the bill’s chances.
A spokeswoman for GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds says the governor supported keeping the current permit requirements.
The bill will not advance because of a legislative deadline this week.
