Nearly two years after ICE came to town, trauma still haunts these Iowa families

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Editor’s note: This story was produced with support from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s National Fellowship and by the Dennis A. Hunt Fund for Health Journalism. Luis bent over his front porch, one knee on a piece of plywood as he muscled an old hand saw through a cut in the wood on a warm day in early February. He was repairing a section of flooring in the small white house he shares with three other men on a quiet street in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.The cuts became more challenging as the saw caught in the wood. Luis, whose name has been changed for anonymity,  shook his head and said he once owned newer power tools that would make the job much easier.

Top Iowa health official knew of plans for ‘sexual preoccupation’ study at state-run institution for Iowans with disabilities, emails show

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A top health official for the state of Iowa knew of plans for a “sexual preoccupation” study at a state-run institution for people with severe disabilities well before federal officials began investigating the facility late last year, according to newly released emails. Rick Shults, the mental health and disability services administrator for the Iowa Department of Human Services, approved a software request on May 21, 2018, for studies on patients at the Glenwood Resource Center and on patients who are part of a state-run program for sexual offenders, according to emails DHS provided to the Des Moines Register as part of a records request. “Nice write up,” Shults wrote in response to the request. “Yes, I approve. Please keep the justification and my approval should questions arise later.” The newly released emails show, for the first time, how far back top state officials knew about plans for human experimentation at the center, which houses some of the most vulnerable Iowans.

Reynolds resists calls for emergency action to restore felon voting rights after Iowa scraps felon voter database

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Iowa has halted its use of an error-ridden database intended to stop people convicted of felonies from voting, while state officials check the accuracy of its more than 100,000 entries. But the anticipated 11-month gap while the database is being rebuilt has created another concern among some of Iowa’s 99 county auditors: how to quickly verify voter eligibility before the Feb. 3 caucuses and the June 2 primaries. 

Auditors’ inability to verify eligibility against a database could mean felons may illegally register to vote or cast a ballot without being aware they are committing a crime. The additional confusion prompted renewed calls Thursday for Gov. Kim Reynolds to take emergency action to restore felon voter rights, most likely through an executive order. “The governor just needs to buck it up,” Lee County Auditor Denise Fraise said.

Evans: A Teacher Has A Lesson From The ER For All Of Us

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Schools across Iowa have been dark for more than a week because of winter vacation. But a Des Moines teacher still managed to teach a very important lesson during that time – but this lesson wasn’t aimed at the kids she normally works with. It was intended for adults. Laura’s lesson is one more people should learn from, because the discussions in Washington, D.C., and at the Capitol in Des Moines would benefit from a wider appreciation and understanding of what she was telling us. Randy Evans
STRAY THOUGHTS
Randy Evans is the executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council.

alternative fuel

Study Puts Energy Storage Tax Credit On The Table In Iowa

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Iowa economic development officials tentatively are endorsing a tax credit for battery storage to complement the state’s wind and solar generation. The tax credit is one of several recommendations made in a recent report on energy storage opportunities by the Iowa Economic Development Authority. Others include targeting grant money and conducting additional research, including a “value of storage” analysis. “We are seeking to move the needle,” said Brian Selinger, who, as the agency’s energy team leader, was involved in developing the Energy Storage Action Plan. Storage was highlighted in a 2016 state energy plan.

fish contamination

Climate Change Linked To ‘Roller Coaster’ Mercury Levels In Wisconsin Fish

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It is mid-March, and two researchers trudge on snowshoes through feet of snow on a wooded trail, dragging a small plastic sled full of equipment. Scientist Carl Watras’ snowshoes are rigged with rubber from bicycle tires to bind the webbed contraptions to his feet. His research assistant, Jeff Rubsam, runs ahead to guide the sled down a steep, snowy slope towards a frozen lake. Watras descends, planting one long leg slowly after another. Watras has been making this trek for 32 years.

recreational off-highway vehicles

ATV Deaths Top 15,000 Threshold in Latest Government Report

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Since the early 1980s, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has conducted a grim census, tracking reports of deaths from crashes of all-terrain vehicles, or ATVs. Now the body count has risen above 15,250, according to the agency’s latest annual report, with more than one in five of the deaths suffered by children under 16. The annual death count, which has sometimes exceeded 800, has mostly ranged from 550 to 650 in recent years. That seems like progress, but may actually be the result of riders switching to another type of off-road vehicle, called an ROV, that isn’t included in the ATV fatality reports. “The problem has not been solved,” said Rachel Weintraub, general counsel of the Consumer Federation of America (CFA).

environmental journalism

Journalists, Students Interested In Environmental Communications: Register For Iowa Summit

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An opportunity exists on March 5 for journalists and students interested in environmental communication to network, explore issues with researchers, promote environmental journalism and strengthen the capacity for regional environmental reporting in Iowa and the Midwest. The day-long “The Climate of Environmental Journalism: A Regional Summit” is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Drake Community Library in Grinnell. IowaWatch is a summit cosponsor with the University of Iowa Environmental Health Sciences Research Center, University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication and Grinnell College’s Center for Prairie Studies. IowaWatch is focusing on public health issues in 2019. Participation in the summit is available free of charge but registration is required by Feb.

open courts

Evans: A Judge Should Not Prohibit Publishing Facts

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On the morning of Aug. 31, shortly after 8:30, a 12-year-old boy pulled out a gun in his seventh-grade classroom in Eldridge, a community just north of Davenport. In an instant, he directed his classmates to get on the floor and then pointed the gun at his teacher’s face and squeezed the trigger. Blessedly, he did not take the gun’s safety off. The gun did not fire.