SUPERVISORS MEET
The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors meet this morning. Their agenda includes a canvass of the Hinton special election returns. The county engineer will bring forward two action items:
One is final review and approval of a bridge replacement project. The second is a resolution concerning an embargo on a portion of Marble Ave.
HOUSE-PASSED BILL CRACKS DOWN ON AI CAMPAIGN ADS
Iowa lawmakers are considering criminal charges for those who fail to disclose that a campaign ad that uses A-I technology. Representative J-D Scholten of Sioux City says A-I is cutting edge technology that’s being used to try to influence elections.
A-I technology can be used to generate fake video and audio of a candidate seeming to say something they’ve never said.
A bill that passed the House on a 93-to-one last week requires ads for candidates OR ballot initiatives in Iowa to include a disclaimer which says that the ad contains A-I generated content that’s been manipulated. Representative Lindsay James of Dubuque says it’s an important step.
The bill also would prohibit the use of artificial intelligence in electronic systems that count or mark ballots in Iowa elections. The bill must clear the Senate State Government Committee by Friday to remain eligible for consideration this year. All the policy bills that have passed the House this year face Friday’s deadline to win Senate committee approval. Senate-passed bills have to win approval from a House committee by Friday as well. Bills that deal with state taxes or spending are eligible for debate at any time.
TWO INJURED IN HIGHWAY ACCIDENT
Two people were injured Saturday in a one-vehicle accident along Iowa Highway 60 in Sioux County. The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office investigated the accident that occurred on the highway one mile south of Hospers.
A 15 year old, Lara Williams, of Spirit Lake, was driving southbound on 60 when she lost control of the vehicle, entered the north ditch and rolled. She and a passenger were transported by Hospers and Alton ambulance to Orange City Health for treatment of minor injuries.
Williams was cited for failure to maintain control.
The sheriff’s office says the Hospers Fire Department, Hospers Ambulance, Alton Ambulance and Iowa State Patrol assisted at the scene.
JANUARY UNEMPLOYMENT REVISED DOWN
The U-S Bureau of Labor Statistics did some tweaking of Iowa’s unemployment numbers at the end of the year leading to a revised rate for both December and January of three-percent. Iowa Workforce Development director, Beth Townsend, says it’s something they do every year.
December and January unemployment rates were first announced at three-point-two percent until they were revised down. Townsend says that’s positive news.
The number of people in the workforce dropped down slightly in January. Unemployment numbers for February will be out next week, giving more information on how the year is starting out.
The state’s unemployment rate was slightly lower one year ago in January at two-point-nine percent. The U-S unemployment rate remained at three-point-seven percent in January.
TIME CHANGE MAY BOOST RISK OF HEART ATTACKS, STROKES, CAR CRASHES
You may find people around you grouchier than usual this week, as they’re not getting enough sleep due to the time change, but there’s also a greater health risk from springing forward an hour. Dr. Denise Sorrentino (sore-in-TEEN-oh), a cardiologist with the Iowa Heart Center in Ames, says over the seven to ten days after time change, they see a big rise in atrial fibrillation rates, heart attack, stroke, and even motor vehicle accidents. Some of us adjust to the shift in time more quickly than others, though Sorrentino says our bodies get used to going to bed and getting up at a certain time, and it’s a jolt to our system to move it. The best remedy, she says, is to try and get more rest, and if your schedule permits, a power nap here and there.
TYSON CLOSING PERRY PORK PLANT
Tyson Foods announced it is permanently closing its plant in the central Iowa town of Perry. A statement from a company spokesperson says “After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to permanently close our Perry pork facility. We understand the impact of this decision on our team members and the local community.” The statement says the company encourages Perry workers to apply for other jobs within the company. Tyson is Perry’s largest employer with 12-hundred workers. The company also has Iowa plants in Council Bluffs, Independence, Columbus Junction, Storm Lake, and Waterloo that it says employ more than nine-thousand workers.
CAP ON TRAVELING NURSE PAY IN IOWA NURSING HOMES DRAWS PUSHBACK
Agencies that provide temporary staff for Iowa long-term care facilities are calling on lawmakers to table a plan to limit how much they charge. A bill that’s cleared the Iowa House would cap charges for so-called traveling nurses at 150 percent of the statewide average wage for nurses who working in nursing homes. Executives with two Iowa-based medical staffing agencies say they’ll have to quit sending traveling nurses to Iowa nursing homes because that pay limit is too low and they’d lose money. A spokesman for the long-term care industry says 22 million dollars could be saved with the proposed pay cap, so nursing homes could raise pay and hire more full time staff. A key state senator says it’s clear the long term care industry is in crisis and lawmakers are fielding complaints about temporary staffing agencies making excess profits.
