Capitol Notebook: State expands school access to opioid overdose-canceling naloxone

Iowa schools will have access to naloxone — a medication that can reduce the effects of an opioid overdose — under the expansion of a state program.

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services announced it is expanding its initiative, which started earlier this year, to provide naloxone to organizations, businesses and schools that may be in a position to assist a person at risk of experiencing an opioid overdose.

The state will now make the free naloxone nasal spray kits available to schools.

“While the hope is there would never be a need for the use of naloxone, having this medication available as part of a first-aid response could save someone’s life,” the state agency said in a news release.

The naloxone program is funded by a two-year, $18 million federal grant to provide treatment and recovery programs, as well as services to more than 11,000 people, the state agency said.

LANGUAGE BARRIER GRANTS: New state grants, supported by federal pandemic relief funding, are designed to reduce language barriers in Iowa’s workforce, Gov. Kim Reynolds said in a news release.

A total of $5 million through the Iowa Language Learners Job Training Program will help employers provide English language instruction to support improved communication in the workplace, the governor’s office said.

“Here in Iowa, we’re focused on breaking down any barrier that may stand in the way of a successful career,” Reynolds said in the news release. “As I travel the state, employers regularly highlight the importance of English Language Learner training.

“The Iowa Language Learners Job Training Program will provide employers with resources to offer or expand ELL training while at the same time supporting job safety, recruitment and retention efforts.”

The federally funded, state-operated grants are available to employers or groups of employers with at least 25 full-time employees who are either expanding or creating a language program, the governor’s office said.

Applications are being accepted at iowagrants.gov and are due on Dec. 2.

JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT: Jessica Noll, of Akron, has been appointed a district associate judge in northwest Iowa, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced.

Noll is a magistrate in Woodbury County and an attorney in Sioux City. She will serve as an associate judge in District 3B, which includes Woodbury, Crawford, Ida, Monona, Plymouth and Sioux counties.

TRAVEL APP UPDATED: The state transformation department’s free travel information app, Iowa 511, has been updated to include new features.

Among those features is a “nearby events” tab that notes nearby issues like crashes and construction. It includes the ability to save and view favorite traffic cameras and weather radar and alerts during inclement weather.

The Iowa 511 app is available in the Apple and Google Play stores.

INMATE DEATH: A 72-year-old inmate being held by the Iowa Department of Corrections died Monday while in hospice.

George Vantrece died at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville, where he had been housed due to chronic illness, according to a news release.

Vantrece had been serving a 35-year maximum term for drug and other charges from Polk County. His sentence began on May 16, 2011 .

Gazette Des Moines Bureau