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Northwest Iowa — Northwest Iowa parents would be required to have their children vaccinated against meningitis under a measure that is included in a budget bill awaiting Governor Terry Branstad’s review.

Bacterial meningitis is serious and can be deadly. It causes tissue surrounding the brain and the spinal cord to swell. Representative Rob Taylor of West Des Moines is all too familiar with it.

Iowa is one of 11 states that do not require teenagers to be vaccinated.

The Centers for Disease Control recommends kids get the meningitis vaccine by the age of 12 and then get a booster shot when they’re 16.

If Governor Branstad signs off on the proposal, 7th graders and 12th graders will have to show they’ve gotten the meningitis vaccine, or they won’t be able to enroll in school. Meningitis is highly contagious, according to Taylor. “And very devastating to the community that gets it because if there’s one that has, it can spread rapidly,” Taylor says. About four-thousand cases of meningitis are reported in the U.S. each year. At the end of March a student at St. Ambrose University was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. Nearly 80 percent of American teenagers get a first dose of the meningitis vaccine. In Iowa, only 64 percent get it. That’s 11-and-a-half percent lower than Minnesota and about 13 percent lower than Illinois. South Dakota’s governor just signed a bill requiring 7th and 12th graders to show they’ve been vaccinated before they may enroll in school.

Sheldon, Iowa — The Prairie Arts Council has received a grant toward the Baker Township School renovation project.

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) has announced that the organization will be donating $4,295 toward the project. Funding for this project was made possible through the sponsorship of the Ladies of the Lake Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution in Spirit Lake, which serves the northwest Iowa area including Sheldon.

Harold Tuttle, President of the Park Board says that they are very pleased to be receiving such a wonderful donation from DAR. He says they realize that their grant is just one of many that they made throughout the year to preserve our nation’s history. He says they feel fortunate that the DAR has chosen to provide the cement floor and finish for their basement and provide a 1936 light for the bathroom. Tuttle says as he understands it, this is the only grant in Iowa this year.

The DAR grants program was started in 2010. Funding is awarded to support projects in local communities which promote the organization’s mission of historic preservation, education and patriotism.

The award will be presented on August 23rd.

Incidentally, Baker Township is in O’Brien County, south of Sheldon. The township does not have any towns in it, but it’s just east of Hospers, and northeast of Granville.

Des Moines, Iowa — Governor Terry Branstad held a statehouse ceremony Tuesday morning to praise the legislature’s action on a pro-Israeli bill.

The legislature passed a bill that will ban any direct state investment in companies that boycott Israel.

There are currently no U.S. companies boycotting Israel, but there’s a global movement seeking to put economic pressure on Israel through boycotts. The goals of the movement are to get Israel to exit territory it has occupied for decades and secure new rights for Palestinians. Representative Quentin Stanerson, a Republican from Center Point, says the bill also forbids state agencies from signing contracts with any foreign company that is part of the boycott.

Representative John Kooiker, a Republican from Hull, voted no on the measure.

Iowa is the ninth state to pass this sort of legislation. Some critics argued it will cost too much for state officials to figure out which foreign companies the state is doing business with might be boycotting Israel. Supporters say it will cost just “a couple thousand dollars” to search all the state’s contracts and investments and cancel any deals that involve companies that are participating in the international boycott against Israel. This kind of review was done recently when the state banned investments in companies doing business with Iran and Sudan. In the 1980s, the State of Iowa joined many other states in demanding “divestment” from companies in South Africa — to try to force an end to racial segregation in the country.