From the KCRG-TV9 Newsroom:
State Auditor Rob Sand says no programs ran out of money because of computer coding errors, despite claims from Republicans. His office released a report on the Iowa Judicial Branch for the fiscal year ending in June 2023. In October 2024, Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley said the branch misallocated more than $53 million since 2021 because of a computer error, and Republicans blamed Sand for not alerting them. But Sand says the Governor’s office and the judicial system were aware. He says the issue was the result of last second changes to Iowa law, and there wasn’t enough time to put proper procedures in place.
A district court reinstated a former teacher at Dubuque Hempstead High School after he used a racial slur in front of a black student. A student recorded cell phone video of Roger Poling making the comment last year. The district fired him, saying he violated school policy when he directed the comment at a student. But the district court’s ruling says this wasn’t his intention. It says he tried to emphasize how derogatory it was for a student to make that kind of statement toward staff. Prosecutors asked to drop criminal charges against him in April, saying there wasn’t enough evidence. The plan will be presented to the school board in January.
The Cedar Rapids Community School District may use virtual learning to cut down on the number of snow days that must be made up at the end of the year. But the District says not every snow day will be a virtual learning day. The state allows schools to take five virtual learning days a year. Chief of Schools Linda Reysack says the District began looking into the option after many families said they wanted the school year completed by the first week of June
Prosecutors have charged two men for a hayride crash in Keokuk County. The crash sent several children to the hospital in October of last year near What Cheer. David Brubaker was driving the pickup truck which was pulling the trailer for the hayride at the time. The other person charged is David Heady, Jr. He was a Keokuk County deputy at the time of the crash. Court documents say he was intoxicated at the time. Both men each face 13 child endangerment charges, which are all felonies.