Johnston Northern Polk County News (Newspaper) - May 12, 1977, Johnston, Iowa Page 2-Northern Polk County May 12.1977 Chief's Comments Several interesting pieces of legislation were acted upon in the House and Senate this last I write here nearly five days before you read This week I will comment on a couple of measures which the Senate has acted upon and we have yet to act JUVENILE JUSTICE In the House last Tuesday we passed a complete revision of the Juvenile Justice HF 248. There is no way I can describe that large and important legislation in one of these Suffice to say that it is a comprehensive reform of the Juvenile Justice It removes from the creates a new among many other I did support the final product which passed 91-7. It would not take effect until January 1, 1979. The now goes to the EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT The Iowa Legislature voted to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment nearly five years Recently the Legislature has been under much pressure to rescind that No action has occurred in the House or Senate on it. on May 16, 1977, at 7:00 p.m. a public hearing will be held in the Senate If you want to please call the Iowa Or just come as a MINIMUM EDUCATION STANDARDS The Senate Education Committee passed out to the floor a SF 252 which would require school districts to adopt standards of proficiency in basic skills for graduating A person could not graduate until having passed the standards I have been opposed to such a in the House Education Committee and have been successful so To me it would make more sense to have the mandatory testing in lower grades - 2, 4, 6, 8, for example - to be followed by remedial work for those needing it. Graduation is a little late to be penalizing people for not having learned a certain standard of proficiency in basic Let me know how you SALARY INCREASE SF 213 passed the Senate last the third attempt by a 27-23 This contains salary increases for judges and state elected The Governor's for would increase by from to comments from the Iowa House Lyle Representative The pay raise proposed for legislators is from per year to per with expenses raising from per day to per day for Polk County Many people say this is too large an increase for The increase for legislators would take effect after the next election - or January 1, 1979. We cannot raise our salary during our own under Iowa's Let me know what your thinking is on this WINE SALES AND DRINKING AGE The House Judiciary and Law Enforcement Committee reported out a to raise the drinking age to 19 years HF 112. the Senate defeated a to allow the sale of wine in private retail That one may yet pass on a ADJOURNMENT We seem to be getting down to the last two weeks of the Without much we will be adjourned within ten days of your reading this The problem is that we may need a special session later in the We cannot pass the appropriation for most state salaries until we know what their collective bargaining settlement is to That will come in very late May or So we will come back for a few days to do HOT ISSUE The hottest issue floating about these last weeks of the Session is the proposed changes in the collective bargaining The major part of the controversy is expanding the scope of issues which can be The current law contains a fairly narrow of The are working to expand that to the same language as the National Labor Relations which is nearly all It states that all issues related to wages and conditions of employment can be bargained and removes any specific list of Lobbying is very pronounced on both sides of this This column is getting longer and longer as the Session There are many more issues which could be discussed - and any of them more completely than I have been able to explore If you have questions - or viewpoints to share - please follow up with a letter of phone 7017 50322, or telephone 281-3221 or 276-8947. Summer is fast The summer presents several problems for law Many of these problems can be controlled to some degree by parents and law We could collectively reduce the problems we face as a Teaching children to be safety conscious is a tremendous Too often we make the mistake of a child's ability to make sound Too often we a child's ability to comprehend all the safety we have many children who had had safety teachers in the but no on-going teaching and reinforcement in the Traffic is picking up in Johnston As the lake our traffic volume will drastically Traffic also flows into our residential areas as people take through our or to see what is happening in or to look for homes to buy or or merely to joy We must plan to educate our children about good safety rules in walking and An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of We can also control the amount of vandalism and related Too many children of too young an age are allowed to roam about too Parental control could stop this Many times the culprits are but people do not report what they Children who habitually run the streets and neighborhoods at night are suffering from a lack of parental You should give them this concern by assisting in stopping their acts against which is done by letting the police know the Parents should also take steps to provide swimming lessons and enforce strict rules as to where and when a child may The the creek and the lake are Do not let children swim alone at and do not let them swim in those places with uncontrolled Even a good swimmer can Good weather brings out the worst in If you love that young do not laugh at fast Love them enough to pull the driving Take the Take the Use effective This method may just save you greater or possibly even later while teaching the young driver to respect life and Another very important point is to teach by Construction sites and heavy equipment draw children to Teach your children about the dangers Enforce strict rules about construction Call the police if children persist in playing around such You might also teach them that such play activities also constitute criminal We cannot control all of the factors of but we can have an effective impact on some Prevention does assist in keeping the statistics This depends upon a strong interest and commitment in the This also depends upon neighborhood concern and this depends upon working with the police to make our city safer for our Robert L. Brunk EPA public waste treatment plan Notice is hereby given that on June 1, 1977, at 7:30 the Environmental Protection Agency Region will hold a public hearing at the Federal Room 113, 210 Walnut Des The purpose of the hearing is to allow all interested parties an opportunity to express their views and provide information regarding the Environmental Impact Statement for the Des Moines 208 Areawide Waste Treatment Management The Central Iowa Regional Association of Local Governments has prepared the plan through funding by The plan is intended to be a management document identifying the waste treatment problems and their effects upon water quality to alleviate these problems and is ultimately intended to achieve and maintain a quality of water which can provide for all necessary uses within the The public hearing will also serve for the plan's proposed construction of wastewater treatment plants in 13 communities as well as for the areawide plant in the integrated community Detailed information concerning the plan is found in Draft Environmental Impact which is available for inspection at the Des Moines Public 100 Locust Des and the Region VII Library in Kansas Persons wishing to take part in the hearing are requested to notify Edward Environmental Impact Statement Region Although advance notice is persons wishing to make statements may so indicate at the hearing Persons unable to attend but desiring to submit written comments should direct them to the above address before June 15, 1977. Des Moines Metropolitan Police Officer's Memorial Day held The Nation will observe Peace Officer's Memorial Day on May 15, and National Police Week which runs from May 15 to 21. These observances were set by an Act of Congress in 1962 and a Presidential Proclamation in 1963 to honor the sacrifice and service of all Peace Officers killed in the line of duty and to honor the dedication and contributions of the Police to our states and the Johnston Police Chief Robert L. Brunk this week date of Peace Officer's Memorial Day is especially significant coming so close to the murder of Patrolman Brian Melton in Des We should honor and remember those who died protecting National Police Week also takes on significance as we ask the people to take an interest in their local police w mm Published every Thursday at Iowa 50131. Address all change of address Form 3579 to 5920 54th Des Iowa 50323. Second Class Postage Paid at Des and Jo Lee Jeanne Subscription per per year outside Polk Want 10 cents per Minimum Card of Display col. Notice of etc. where monetary interest is not published Northern Polk County News assumes no responsibility for articles including or any articles left with the Such articles should be called for at 5920 54th Des Iowa 50323. For news call 276-5117 O'
