A recent string of high-dollar financial gifts is continuing at Morningside University in Sioux City.
The latest came Monday, with a $2.5 million gift from the Curt and Linda White Family Trust.
Curt White graduated with the Morningside class of 1976, and is a current member of the university board of directors.
After playing baseball at Morningside, he worked in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and Indiana, before retiring as an executive from Mattel, Inc.
School officials said the White gift will advance various campus initiatives aimed at enriching the academic and personal experiences of Morningside students.
Over recent months, Morningside University has received six other donations of at least $1 million, including from Jim & Sharon Walker, Regina Roth, Tom Rosen, Dave Honeck, Larry & Joan Arnold, and an anonymous donor.
*Additionally, all over the state, Iowans are receiving mailed recaps of the proposed valuation amounts of the homes and lands they own, which is an amount that factors into determining how much property taxes they pay.
Iowa law says the real estate assessments must be mailed out every two years by April 1, Plymouth County Assessor Jill Renken explained.
Those were sent out on March 31 in Plymouth County, and last week in Woodbury County.
In even-numbered years, county assessors are to make changes, in order to keep property values in line with market values, or within 95 percent of market valuation, at the least.
Two years ago, the assessments of many properties in Woodbury County rose by 20 percent or more.
That created a public outcry, and many people protested their valuations in hearings with special assessor panels, which is an option every two years.
The property assessment amount is multiplied by local property tax levy rates to determine how much property taxes an owner pays, minus any of varying tax credits and the so-called state rollback amount.
These spring 2025 assessments will be used to determine property taxes for the semi-annual payments that are first due in September 2026.
*A bill passed by an Iowa Senate committee Monday would take out the requirement that says bullying has to target a particular trait or characteristic of a student.
It would also remove a section from law that gives examples of traits, such as age, color, disability and political beliefs.
The new definition would say bullying has to be repeated and targeted.
Democratic Senator Sarah Trone Garriot of West Des Moines says requiring behaviors to be repeated could make it harder to catch some situations of bullying.
“That’s saying that ‘if it happens once or maybe twice, it’s okay’ – we’re not going to report it, we’re not going to take it seriously, but it has to be repeated efforts. That’s a problem for me,” she said.
Supporters say the bill would make it easier for schools to spot and address all kinds of bullying, including some that might not involve a specific trait.
The bill next heads to the Senate floor.
*In other news, counties and cities in Iowa would be blocked from having diversity, equity and inclusion offices under a bill advanced by an Iowa House panel on Tuesday.
The bill would prohibit efforts to make city and county offices more diverse based on factors such as race, sex, ethnicity or gender identity.
Lucas Beenken represents the Iowa State Association of Counties, which is registered as undecided on the proposal.
He says the bill could make it harder for county supervisors to make decisions based on what their communities want.
“The needs and desires of the local community drive those decisions, so any sort of umbrella preemption kind of interferes with their mission to figure out what their constituents need and desire,” Beenken said.
Supporters of the proposal say DEI promotes discriminating against people based on race and they contend the bill pushes the state to treat people more equally.
The bill now heads to the House Local Government Committee.
*Also in Iowa, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins made her first official visit to the state since her appointment by President Donald Trump.
During the Iowa Ag Leaders Dinner in Ankeny on Monday, Rollins said the USDA is aggressively looking for ways to “unleash American energy.”
She announced the release of over $500 million dollars for projects in 29 states to install equipment that will allow gas stations to sell more biofuels.
“These projects will provide the crucial and critical infrastructure needed to support the increased capacity for higher biofuel blends, allowing our gas stations to add pumps and storage tanks for E-15 and E-85. So, we’re doing some good stuff in Washington,” Rollins said.
Rollins says the USDA is supporting the Environmental Protection Agency’s review of potential waivers to allow the nationwide, year-round sale of E15.
Iowa is the largest producer of biofuels in the U.S.
