Home News KLEM News for Saturday, January 25

KLEM News for Saturday, January 25

SITZMANN RECAPS LEGISLATIVE WEEK

State Representative Travis Sitzmann of Kingsley has completed his first week of work at the state legislature.  He describes the experience working in the state capitol in his first term.

This was a short week, as Monday was the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.  The rest of the week was taken up with committee.  Sitzmann’s outlook is so far positive this early in the session.

Sitzmann says in the Agriculture Committee, he voted for a bill that would set licensing for food processing plants, including those operating on farms or private residences.  House File 32  passed Sitzmann’s subcommittee, and will be considered later by the full committee.

 

DORDT TO OWN NISO

Dordt University announced that they will take ownership of the Northwest Iowa Symphony Orchestra after the current concert season. Dordt has had a longstanding partnership with NISO, providing a music library, instruments, a concert venue, and an executive director.  The orchestra musicians come from around the region.  What make the orchestra unique is its musicians range from grade school level to semi-professionals.  This encourages mentorship relationships between older and younger members.  NISO has recently experienced significant financial challenges.  By taking ownership, Dordt will lend more financial stability to the organization.  More details on the new arrangement will be made available this spring.

 

DECEMBER UNEMPLOYMENT RATE UP SLIGHTLY

The December unemployment rate moved up on tenth of a percent to three-point-two percent. Iowa Workforce Development director Beth Townsend says as the labor force participation rate went up for the second month in a row. She says that was primarily driven by college graduates, or community college graduates, getting into the job market. right into the workforce. ” Townsend says it is a little bit of a mixed bag as there were four-thousand new jobs in business, but manufacturing had layoffs, especially in ag industries, The U-S unemployment rate decreased to four-pint-one percent in December.

 

REYNOLDS INTRODUCES CEL PHONE BILL

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds Friday released a bill to restrict students’ cell phone use during instructional time.  The bill establishes a minimum standard that all Iowa school districts will be required to adopt, beginning in the next fiscal year.  Governor Reynolds says cell phones are a distraction and a deterrent to learning in classrooms.  The Iowa Department of Education will provide sample policies with room for potential common-sense exemptions.  The legislation also requires “effects of social media” training for 6th to 8th grade students.

 

LAWMAKERS CONSIDER RESTRICTIONS ON MUG SHOTS

Iowa legislators are considering restrictions on the release of booking photos taken when someone is taken into custody and charged with a crime.

Bills proposed in both the Iowa House and Senate would make most booking photos confidential records that could only be released if the person in the photo is a fugitive, an imminent threat to the public or has been convicted of certain felonies.

Representative Bill Gustoff says under America’s criminal justice system someone is to be considered innocent until proven guilty — but having a booking photo published in the media or posted on the internet sends a different message.

Gustoff, a Republican from a Des Moines suburb called Saylor Township, is an attorney who does not handle criminal cases. He says he has had relatives and friends who’ve been wrongly accused.

The bill was discussed last year, but did not become law.