Week in Iowa: Recap of news from across the state

FALLEN COLLEAGUE HONORED: Recollections of a fallen colleague started the day Wednesday in the Iowa Senate. Josh Bronsink, who worked on Senate Republicans’ staff, died March 11 of COVID-19, according to his obituary. Bronsink, who is survived by his wife and two children, died less than a week after his 48th birthday. Senators honored Bronsink with a Senate resolution.

ANTISEMITISM DEFINITION: Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law one bill that defines antisemitism in state law, and another that prohibits the state’s pension fund from owning stock in any company that boycotts Israel. That places in state law the definition of antisemitism as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

HEARING POSTPONED: A hearing scheduled for Thursday in the case of two teenagers charged with killing a Fairfield teacher with a baseball bat has been placed on hold after defense attorneys sought a review by the Iowa Supreme Court. Willard Miller and Jeremy Goodale, both 16, are charged with murder in the death of Fairfield High School Spanish teacher Nohema Graber, 66. The attorneys are asking the cases be transferred from adult court to juvenile court, where the teens could face lesser punishment if convicted, and also to suppress evidence obtained by investigators.

They said …

“We are going to treat workers not as an inconvenience if they’re unemployed, but as a valuable cog of this state, deserving of respect.”

— Rep. Bruce Hunter, D-Des Moines, arguing against a bill curtailing unemployment benefits

“It’s a lot more decorum this time. That’s the way it should be.”

— Sen. Chuck Grassley, on the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson

Odds and ends

FLY-IN ANNOUNCED: Cedar Rapids and The Eastern Iowa Airport will host the National Gay Pilots Association’s “Wings Over Iowa” fly-in event June 3-5, a first-of-its kind event that will bring members of the worldwide LGBTQ aviation community to Iowa’s second-largest city, officials announced Wednesday at the airport.

NEW MASCOT: The Mason City School Board approved the Student Senate's recommendation of the mascot name River Hawks on Monday. It replaces Mohawks.

PANDEMIC AID? The Associated Press reported that billions of dollars in federal relief funding went to odd projects, including $2 million to help Pottawattamie County purchase a privately owned ski area.

Water cooler

MALPRACTICE AWARD: An Iowa City couple this past week received a nearly $98 million civil verdict after suing Mercy Hospital in Iowa City after their newborn suffered permanent brain damage when health care providers “improperly used forceps and a vacuum, crushing the baby’s head” during delivery.

TRANS ATHLETE: Gavy Smith is a five-sport athlete at Decorah High School. She hasn’t been a star in any of the sports she’s tried so far, and she won't get the chance because of a new Iowa law prohibiting biological boys from competing on girls’ teams.

TEACHING TECHNOLOGY: The state is making more than a half-million dollars available to prepare K-12 teachers to teach computer science.

More in the news

Strike ends: Just a few hours after the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers announced the end of the strike against Eaton-Cobham Mission Systems, more than 400 members of Local 388 and Local 1191 returned to work Wednesday with a new five-year contract.

VIP VISITOR: American Legion National Commander Paul E. Dillard stopped in Waterloo on Wednesday, visiting the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum.

SUCCESSION PLAN: State lawmakers gave the first stage of approval to a proposed state constitutional amendment that would clarify what happens when Iowa’s governor must be replaced. Because it would amend the Iowa Constitution, the proposal now must be passed again by the Iowa Legislature in either 2023 or 2024. It then must be approved by a public vote; it could go on the ballot as early as 2024.

UKRAINE AID: U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, continued to call for the U.S. to step up the delivery of lethal aid to support Ukraine’s battle against a Russian military invasion, including the transfer of MiG-29 fighter jets from Poland.