From the KCRG-TV9 Newsroom:
Iowa’s new abortion law is set to take effect Monday morning. The law passed last year, but a judge initially blocked it from being enforced. Last month, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled there is no constitutional right to an abortion in the state and ordered the hold to be lifted. A district court judge now says the law will go into effect Monday at 8 a.m. The law bans an abortion once fetal cardiac activity is detected, which is typically around six weeks into a pregnancy. There are exceptions for rape, incest, fetal abnormality, or if the pregnancy endangers the mother’s life.
Iowa City Schools may make a change in its cell phone policies for students, but a final decision won’t be made until October. The district is taking a page from a book called “The Anxious Generation” which blames cell phones for skyrocketing mental illness among children. The district will also have surveys and meetings to get input from educators and families. Iowa City isn’t the first place in Iowa to consider banning students’ cell phones in classrooms. Ottumwa piloted a ban at one school and said it was so beneficial it could expand it district-wide.
Marion’s City Council wants the Civil Service Commission’s involvement in hiring officers paused, a move the city’s Police Chief says will speed up the hiring of new officers. That commission oversees the process for hiring and firing certain city employees–like police–to ensure it is fair. The Chief says the current hiring process takes too long, leaving his department understaffed and overworked. The new process will host an open application window, preliminary testing every month, and do away with the list of approved candidates.
In a new report released yesterday, State Auditor Rob Sand is calling out the Iowa Department of Education on its lack of oversight and transparency with regard to its school voucher program. He reports that Odyssey–the group the state hired to manage its ESA program–originally agreed to a $100,000 fee to administer the program. But that fee rose to an additional $267,000 in Fiscal Year 2024 and is set to increase each year, rising by 2027 to $852,000 in taxpayer dollars. The Auditor’s Office says its report contains recommendations for the Department of Education and the citizens of Iowa.
