Week in Iowa: Recap of news from across the state

School bills get hearing: A flurry of bills related to education were heard in the Iowa Capitol this week. They include private school tuition assistance, creating a so-called parents bill of rights to guarantee parents’ access to curriculum and prohibiting requiring any student to engage in any instruction or activity that involves content that is obscene as defined by state law. Bills also provide an accelerated path a teacher’s license; and authorize districts to use their funds to create a student loan forgiveness program for new teachers.

More E15: The Iowa House advanced a bill that would require more than half of Iowa fuel retailers to offer E15 on at least one pump.

Preservation grants: The Iowa Cultural Affairs Department awarded $118,626 grants to 14 historical preservation projects this past week.

Pipeline plans: Summit Carbon Solutions wants to use eminent domain to build a carbon dioxide pipeline through 30 Iowa counties in northern and western Iowa, according to a permit application filed with the Iowa Utilities Board.

They said …

“We have a great story to tell (about Iowa). So if I can get the (tax) rates competitive, watch out.”

— Gov. Kim Reynolds about her tax cut package.

"I'm going to be focused on not man or woman, (or) race. I'm going to be focused on the qualification, in particular … that we want somebody that's going to interpret the law and not make law."

— Sen. Chuck Grassley, on the nomination process to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court

Odds and ends

Family first: Since becoming the 11th state to adopt an approved Family First Prevention Plan, Iowa has reduced the number of youths in group care by 48 percent.

Inmate dies: Kenneth David Fransen, 74, died Jan. 31 at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center. He had been serving a five-year maximum term for operating while intoxicated, third or subsequent offense, from Osceola County.

Alden wants changes at Lee: Alden Global Capital proposes Lee Enterprises shareholders to elect two directors who are not on Lee's slate, saying the change can provide significant value for stockholders.

Water cooler

Give the man a cigar: A Davenport man faces a 25-year prison sentence after he brandished a gun to steal a $1.79 Swisher Sweet cigar from a Kwik Star.

Parole granted: A man serving a 25-year prison sentence for rigging computers to win lottery jackpots for himself, friends and family will be released from an Iowa prison on parole after serving nearly five years.

Open to conversation: The Muscatine Board of Education is starting a new monthly public session called “School Board Community Conversations” to hear more input from parents.

More in the news

Teens rolling in dough: Casey's, the Iowa-based gasoline and convenience store company, has proposed legislation that would make it legal for 16- and 17-year-old workers to operate pizza dough rollers to combat the workforce shortage.

Chase lawsuit: The city of Davenport is being sued by the family of a woman who died as a result of a high-speed police chase in 2019.

Corrections costs: The average cost to house an inmate in the Iowa Department of Corrections system ranged from $23,325 at the North Central Correctional Facility at Rockwell City to $63,143 at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Oakdale for the year ended June 30, 2020, according to a report from the Iowa Auditor’s Office. General fund expenditures for the nine correctional institutions were $287 million.

Jackpot: The Iowa Lottery added $99 million to the Iowa general fund in fiscal 2021 based on $452 million in ticket sales, CEO Matt Strawn told the House Administration and Regulation Appropriations Subcommittee last week.