SEVERE WEATHER WEEK IN IOWA
Today marks the start of Severe Weather Awareness Week. the National Weather Service is highlighting a different category daily, starting with lightning safety this morning. Other categories will include: tornado safety, hail and winds, flooding, and more.
The National Weather Service in Sioux Falls will be conducting in-person spotter classes during Spring 2025.
One is at Western Iowa Tech in Sioux City on April 2, @ 7 pm. Another is at the Alta Fire Department on April 21, 2025 @ 6-30 pm.
There are also virtual class options. Two virtual classes will utilize GoToWebinar. Presentations will run 1.5 to 2 hours in duration.
One will be Monday, April 28, 2025 @ 6pm, and another on
Wednesday, April 30, 2025 @ 1pm.
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/
As part of Wednesday’s focus on preparedness, a statewide tornado drill will be held at 10 A-M.
Iowa saw a record 125 tornadoes touch down last year.
TAYLOR MANAGES SENATE HEALTH BILL
A bill that would provide accomodations for students at the state universities and community colleges who are pregnant or have just given birth was introduced in the Iowa Senate by State Senator Jeff Taylor of SIoux Center.
Sen Taylor describes some of the classroom accomodations.
Taylor says the bill assures that having a child and continuing college course work don’t interfere with each other.
Sen Taylor says there is policy for this under the Title 19 program, but most of these are on a case by case basis.
The bill was introduced and passed last week. It moves on to the House, where the Education Committee, chaired by Rep. Skyler Wheeler of Hull, will pick up the bill.
WORLD FOOD PRIZE HOSTING EVENT IN DC TUESDAY
The Iowa-based World Food Prize Foundation is hosting an event in Washington, D.C. Tuesday to focus on ideas for feeding the world’s expanding population. Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack — who took over as foundation’s C-E-O March 1st — says it’s inspired by a letter.
The group’s letter suggests as the world population swells, the challenge will get more daunting.
Vilsack says many of the world’s conflicts revolve around food insecurity and addressing those challenges could lead to a more peaceful world. As the Trump Administration has moved to terminate U-S-A-I-D food programs in other countries, Vilsack says the World Food Prize Foundation will emphasize its record of hosting discussions about hunger for thinkers and problem solvers.
The 2008 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, a NASA scientist who won the 2006 Nobel Prize in physics and three World Food Prize laureates will participate in a panel discussion at tomorrow’s event in D.C. The president of Iowa based Stine Seed Company and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley have speaking slots as well.
SEWER EXTENSION PROJECT
The city of Le Mars is moving to complete infrastructure to four lots in the Industrial Park, second and third additions. A contract was awarded for construction of a sanitary sewer line to the site. Eight bids were received. The low bidder on the project, Solsma Construction, bid nearly 79-thousand dollars to complete the work. The estimated cost of the project was 104-thousand. It is to be completed this summer.
CHEROKEE MAN IN FATAL SOUTH DAKOTA ACCIDENT
A Cherokee, Iowa man has died in a one vehicle traffic accident early Saturday morning in Pringle, in Custer County, South Dakota. The South Dakota State Patrol says the 24-year-old man was driving a vehicle eastbound on Lime Kiln Road in Pringle shortly after 2 a.m. The vehicle left the road and entered a ditch, striking a culvert and overturning. The driver was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle. He died from his injuries at the scene.. His name has not been released pending notification of family members.
HONDURAN CHARGED IN IOWAN’S DEATH IN NEBRASKA TO STAND TRIAL
The Honduran man charged with killing an Iowa woman in 2016 is back in the United States, where he will stand trial for Sarah Root’s death. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst was at the Omaha airport when Eswin Mejia arrived late Friday afternoon.
Twenty-one-year-old Sarah Root of Council Bluffs — who had just graduated from college hours earlier — was at a red light in Omaha when her vehicle was struck and she died at the scene. Meija, who was in the country illegally, was arrested and accused of drunk driving. He posted a five-thousand dollar bond, was released and disappeared. On February 27th of this year, Honduras officials notified the Trump Administration they had Meija in custody and he was extradicted to the U-S Friday.
Ernst notified the Root family earlier Friday afternoon that Meija was being flown to the U-S and she spoke with Sarah Root’s mother, Michelle.
Trump met with Root’s mother and her father, Scott Root, in mid-2016 and Trump talked about their daughter’s death on the campaign trail. The first bill Trump signed into law this year includes what’s called “Sarah’s Law.” It requires authorities to detain any illegal immigrant who is accused of murdering or seriously injuring someone in the U-S. Ernst and other members of Iowa’s congressional delegation had sponsored the legislation for the past eight years.
Meija is being held in Omaha. U-S Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted photos of Meija’s flight on social media and wrote that President Trump is putting the safety of Americans first and will no longer allow murderers and criminal illegal aliens to be released into American communities.
FEENSTRA BACKS AG EDUCATION AND RESEARCH IN IOWA
U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra of Hull introduced the Future FARMER Act. The bill reauthorizes a program in the Farm Bill which funds secondary education, two-year post-secondary education, and other agriculture education programs. This helps to promote programs such as the Agriculture in the Classroom program, which currently affects 3-thousand teachers and 160-thousand students in Iowa.
STATE SENATE ANNOUNCES SHE’S AWAITING SURGERY FOR ‘MEDICAL ISSUE’
A member of the Iowa Senate has announced she is dealing with a medical issue and is awaiting surgery. State Senator Claire Celsi , a Democrat from Des Moines, issued a brief written statement Friday, announcing she is unable to be at the Capitol in person at the moment due to circumstances beyond her control. Celsi did not reveal her diagnosis, but said she looks forward to returning to the senate as quickly as possible. For the past few weeks, Celsi has been not been present and listed as excused from voting on bills that have passed the state senate this month.
HOUSE BILL REQUIRES PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO LET PRIVATE SCHOOL STUDENTS JOIN TEAMS
A bill that’s cleared the Iowa House would mandate that Iowa’s public school districts let local private school students join the district’s sports teams if the private school isn’t offering the sport. Representative Henry Stone, a Republican from Forest City, says kids should be allowed to compete in sports, whether they’re enrolled in a public or a private school. He says some public school districts ended longstanding athletic agreements with non-public schools after the state began financing Education Savings Accounts for private school expenses. The bill passed with the support of 63 House Republicans. The 33 Democrats in the House opposed it. Representative Heather Matson, a Democrat from Ankeny, says there’s no leeway in the bill, so public schools with sports teams at capacity may be forced to hire more coaches, find more spaces for practices and games or even add more teams.
