BUS AND SEMI COLLIDE NEAR OYENS
Four people received minor injuries, none of them life threatening, in the crash of a Le Mars Community School bus and a semi tractor-trailer north of Oyens. The Iowa State Patrol says the accident occurred around 7:19 this morning, at the intersection of K64 and 120th St., four miles north of Oyens. The bus, westbound on 120th, pulled out from a stop sign and was struck on the right side of the vehicle by the southbound semi. Both vehicles went into the west ditch of K64. The bus driver, Raymond Holbrook, 61, of Sioux City, and the truck driver, Brian Bachmann, 67, of Madelia, Minnesota, were injured and transported to Floyd Valley Healthcare in Le Mars. Two students were also injured, but no other information about them was released by the State Patrol, Le Mars Fire Rescue, the the Plymouth County Sheriffs Office, and Remsen EMS, assisted the State Patrol at the scene. The accident remains under investigation.
PRINCETON STUDY OF IOWA ESAs
A Princeton University study of Iowa’s state-funded accounts for students in about half of Iowa’s private schools has found tuition rates for kindergarteners went up between 21 and 25 percent more than kindergarten tuition in Nebraska’s private schools. Democrats say the study shows the taxpayer-funded accounts are a windfall for private schools. House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights says the state spent 180 million dollars on the program this year.
Senate President Amy Sinclair, a Republican from Allerton, is an advocate of Iowa’s Educational Savings Accounts program. She says private school tuition increases are likely due to inflation.
The Princeton study found tuition in dozens of Iowa private schools for students in first through 12th grades went up 10 to 16 percent. Sinclair says the study is deeply flawed because researchers were unable to get information about tuition rates for all of Iowa’s private K-through-12 schools.
Sinclair and Konfrst made their comments during recent appearances on “Iowa Press” on Iowa P-B-S.
The 2024 Iowa legislature approved a two-and-a-half percent increase in general state funding for Iowa’s public schools, along with funding to raise starting salaries for public school teachers to 50-thousand dollars within two years.
IOWA’S HAD 43 TORNADOES SO FAR THIS YEAR
We’re just past the halfway point for Iowa’s tornado season, and while twisters can strike during any month of the year, April, May and June are considered the three prime months for tornadic activity. National Weather Service Meteorologist Mike Fowle says it’s been a very active season so far, with 43 confirmed tornadoes statewide, all of which came during April. Research is still underway into the recent outbreaks and Fowle says more twisters may still be added to the list. It marks the fourth-highest number of tornadoes in a single month in Iowa, the highest being May of 2004 with 57.
SAMPLE BALLOTS FOR PLYMOUTH COUNTY PRIMARY ELECTIONS
The Plymouth County Auditor’s office says sample ballots for the Plymouth County primary elections are now available on the county website. The Republican primary includes elections for county officials. Two seats on the Board of Supervisors are up for election. Mike Van Otterloo is seeking re-election in District Two. Douglas Manley is seeking election in District 5. Incumbent Gary Horton is not seeking re-election for that seat. County Auditor Stacey Feldman and County Sheriff Jeff Te Brink are on the ballot. All these candidates are running unopposed. For State Representative in District 3, Tom Jeneary of Le Mars the incumbent is unopposed in the primary election. In the Democratic Party primary, Emma Bouza of Hawarden is seeking nomination for that seat, also unopposed. State Senator Jeff Taylor of Sioux Center is on the GOP ballot in District 2, unopposed. The only contested race in the Plymouth County Primary election is for US House, District 4, where incumbent Randy Feenstra is challenged by Kevin Virgil of Sutherland. In the Democratic Party primary, Ryan Melton of Nevada is seeking the nomination, running unopposed. The primary election is Tuesday, June 4.
GOVERNOR SIGNS MERGER OF MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT REGIONS
Governor Reynolds has signed a bill into law that will create a new, merged system to provide mental health services and substance use treatment to Iowans.
The state currently has 13 regions to provide mental health treatment and another 19 regions to serve people with substance use disorders.
Seven Behavioral Health Districts will be established. Iowa Department of Health and Human Services director Kelly Garcia says they’re working on the timeline to complete the merger by mid-2025.
The law gives the state authority to manage the unified system and state officials may choose a public or a private agency to lead each of the seven districts.
GOVERNOR DIRECTS COVID FUNDS TO OPIOID PROGRAMS
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is using 17-and-a-half million dollars of federal pandemic relief money to pay for prevention and treatment programs for opioid addiction. She made the allocation after the legislature failed for a second year to agree on how the state’s opioid settlement funds should be spent.
A residential addiction treatment center in Cambridge for 12 to 18 year olds is getting three million dollars to finish construction of its “Recovery Campus.”
Another three million dollars will be distributed as grants for what are called “sober living environments” that provide safe housing for people exiting an addiction treatment program.
INTEREST RATES NOT DROPPING FOR NOW
The chair of the Federal Reserve says interest rates will hold steady for now. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says his survey of manufacturers showed improvement in the economy, but things have still not improved enough to lower rates.
There had been expectations of three rate cuts, that dropped to two, and now Goss says it will probably drop again.
Goss believes investors took the idea that the Fed would lower interest rates more positively than they should have.
NEW EXHIBIT HONORS THE HOOVERS’ 150TH BIRTHDAYS
This year marks what would’ve been the 150th birthdays of both President Herbert Hoover and his wife, Lou, and a special exhibit opened Saturday at his birthplace in West Branch to celebrate the sesquicentennial. Aaron Scheinblum, spokesman for the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, says visitors will discover the lives of the Hoovers in a completely new way, highlighting their birthdays over the decades and the celebrations in their honor. Scheinblum says some of the 70-some featured items have never before been on public display.
