State and Regional News

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) have reintroduced the Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act, which would allow individuals to safely import prescription drugs from Canada, creating savings for consumers and bringing greater competition into the pharmaceutical market...

Governor Kim Reynolds recently announced the availability of an eligibility precheck for the new Iowa Rent and Utility Assistance Program, which will begin accepting full applications this March. The program will provide eligible COVID-19 impacted Iowans with rent and utility assistance for a total of up to 12 months. The State of Iowa was awarded $195 million for the program through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which was passed by Congress in late 2020...

On February 24, we spent a little over five hours debating the Election Integrity Bill, House File 590, on the floor of the House. HF590 is another step in a series of bills that we have approved over the last several years to improve Iowa’s election laws with the ultimate goal of making it easy to vote and hard to cheat...

Unanimous support Ten bills passed through the Senate without opposition: SF 285 deals with suspension of student participation in the all Iowa opportunity scholarship program; SF 315 removes some reporting requirements for Iowa Department of Administrative Services; SF 343 provides access to confidential records by parole board and department of corrections; SF 354 addresses continuing education requirements; SF 363 regulates certain tobacco related products; SF 364 deals with deductions related to the Paycheck Protection Program for fiscal year filers; SF 366 deals with state taxes and collections; HF 386 strikes reporting requirements for school organizations that are non-profit; HF 231 provides special sentencing for sexual abuse committed during a burglary; and HF 308 addresses eligibility requirements for students under the senior year plus program.. ...

The risk of flooding generally remains low across most of Nebraska and Iowa because the snow across both states is expected to melt gradually in the coming days. But the amount of ice on some rivers, particularly the Platte River in eastern Nebraska, remains a concern because chunks of ice can create flooding as it melts by creating ice jams that block the channel of the river. So officials will be watching how the ice melts closely...

Emerald ash borer has been detected in Cherokee County for the first time. The discovery was made after City of Aurelia workers noticed telltale S-shaped tunneling under the bark of ash trees. This is the 77th county in the state where this invasive pest has been found...

House and Senate committees passed a 36-page election bill Thursday that would shorten the window for absentee and early voting and would introduce harsher penalties for election officials who do not follow state guidelines. Lawmakers introduced the identical bills, House File 590 and Senate File 413, just two days before...

Most of this week has been dedicated to committee work. If a bill has passed through subcommittee and a standing committee, 95% of the due diligence has been done. When it is brought to the House floor, passage is pretty well assured. Floor debate just allows for opponents or proponents to pontificate to a wider audience. What follows in this letter, are some of the things that are coming out of various committees that may be of interest to the district...

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a family farmer and strong advocate for renewable energy, this week sent a letter to White House Climate Czar Gina McCarthy, inviting her to visit Iowa and learn about the state’s continued leadership in renewable fuel production and overall sustainable energy strategy. Grassley’s request comes after McCarthy made what the senator felt were disparaging comments about Middle America in a recent interview...

Time is flying by as we end the fifth week of the 89th General Assembly of Iowa. Bills Passed Unanimously This Week: SF253, a bill for an act relating to sexual abuse, SF240 relating to custodial trusts, SF239 related to causes of actions following the death of a person, SF235 related to denial and contest of probate claims, HF235 related to charges on consumer credit transactions, and HF232 related to disorderly conduct all passed through the Senate without opposition...

Parents would need to provide written consent for elementary school students to discuss gender identity at school under a bill moving through the Iowa Senate. Senate File 167 would prohibit Iowa elementary schools from teaching about gender identity, defined as the “gender-related identity of a person, regardless of the person’s assigned sex at birth,” without the written consent of a parent or guardian. ...

The Storm Lake High School Jazz Choir, Evergreen, hosted the Iowa High School Music Association’s State Jazz Choir Festival on February 8. Evergreen performed at 7:40 pm and received the highest rating from all three judges, thereby earning a Division I rating for the festival. ...

You’re invited to the St. Mary’s Virtual Ball and Charity Auction on March 6, 2021. Join St. Mary’s alumni, friends, family and supporters for a night of bidding and fun from the comfort of your own home. St. Mary’s Ball Chairs Dr. John and Lindsay Armstrong and Colin and Trisha Schmitt are offering something new this year. Purchase a Starry Night Party Basket donated by VT Industries and host your own virtual bidding party!...

Though the statewide mask mandate expired in Iowa at midnight Feb. 6, Clay County’s mask regulation remains in effect. “The Clay County Board of Health just met Thursday and reviewed the COVID-19 numbers in our community,” said Dr. Janessa Mechler, Clay County Board of Health chair. ...

Authorities have filed charges against a South Dakota man who was accused of sexually engaging with a woman who was intoxicated and unable to give her consent. Arnolds Park Police charged 26-year-old Ashford Kromah of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with third-degree sexual abuse early Sunday, Jan. 31. Kromah told police the act was consensual, according to court filings...

Iowa public health officials selected Microsoft to create an online COVID-19 vaccination scheduling system as they seek to get past a frustrating start that has the state ranked near the bottom nationally in doses administered. The Iowa Department of Public Health posted notice online Monday that it intends to award an emergency contract to Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft. The agency told bidders that it would select a separate contractor to run a vaccine call center later this week...

U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) are calling on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to publicly release its weekly formula for allocating vaccines to states and other jurisdictions. The push for greater transparency comes as news reports suggest Iowa is lagging behind other states in vaccines delivered and CDC data currently available does not provide transparency into state’s vaccine allocation formula...

A new policing bill faces opposition from all sides, from the Des Moines Black Liberation Movement to several law enforcement organizations. Reynolds’ proposal, Senate Study Bill 1140, was introduced in the Iowa Senate this week. The 28-page bill would forbid police officers from treating civilians differently based on personal characteristics, including race. It would also require law enforcement agencies to keep data on police stops and race...

The fourth week of the 89th legislative session has come to an end. Fortunately, the Iowa Senate debated bills on Wednesday as Thursday’s weather was not very cooperative. With bipartisan support All ten bills debated this week passed with bipartisan support, and eight of those were passed unanimously...

Iowa’s weather has taken a day out of the Legislature’s schedule. As I write this on Wednesday afternoon (2/3), forecasts are predicting ice, snow and blizzard conditions for tomorrow. As a result, committee meetings and subcommittee meetings are being canceled and legislators are heading home to get ahead of the storm. Des Moines forecasts indicate that if we don’t leave tonight we won’t be leaving until Friday at the earliest...

Iowa’s three public colleges lost more than $208 million due to the COVID-19 pandemic, university presidents told lawmakers Wednesday. Presidents of the University of Northern Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Iowa met Wednesday with the House Education Appropriations subcommittee to make budget recommendations for fiscal year 2022. All three presidents reported significant losses due to the ongoing pandemic...

Long-time U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley on Wednesday said he may decide in a few weeks whether to seek another term in 2022. Grassley, 87, would be 95 at the end of what would be his eighth term. A Republican, he is Iowa’s senior senator. A reporter on Grassley’s weekly Iowa media call asked Grassley how close he was to making his decision, and what factors are in play. ...

The third week of the legislative session included the first floor debate of the year. I’m not on the Education Committee, but I took an extensive interest in the two education bills debated Thursday. Back to School There are over 300 school districts in Iowa. ...

Eighty-nine-year-old Harold Arthur Duncan was pronounced dead, likely due to complications related to COVID-19 and other preexisting medical conditions at approximately 11:12 a.m. Jan. 26 in a hospice room of the Iowa Medical and Classification Center...

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley on Wednesday acknowledged that his reintroduced proposal for a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget faces teetering political support. Grassley, R-Iowa, joined Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, this week to reintroduce the amendment...

After Thursday’s affirmation by the Iowa Court of Appeals of Clay County District Court Judge Charle’s Borth ruling in the case of Fabian Ivan Garcia, convicted second-degree sexual abuse, lascivious acts with a child and incest, Clay County Attorney Travis Johnson weighed in on the local case ruling...

Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst said Tuesday she believes it’s unconstitutional to try a president for articles of impeachment after he leaves office. Ernst, a loyal supporter of President Donald Trump while he was in office, is one of several Republican senators to question the impeachment proceedings, casting doubt on whether Democrats can get the needed Republican votes to convict Trump...

The former CEO of Make-A-Wish Iowa has been arrested on felony charges alleging she embezzled tens of thousands of dollars from the charity that supports sick children, the group confirmed Friday. Jennifer Woodley, 40, turned herself in to authorities in Des Moines on Thursday to face two charges of first-degree theft and the unauthorized use of a credit card. She was booked at the Polk County Jail and released after posting $30,000 bond...

An owner of a large pork production company that disproportionately benefited from an Iowa coronavirus aid program recently donated $25,000 to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ campaign, a new disclosure report shows. Mary Ann Christensen, board member of Christensen Farms and part of the family that owns the company, made the donation Dec. 29, according to the filing made public Tuesday...

Week two of the Iowa General Assembly was a short week due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Our normal week is Monday through Thursday. This allows us, as citizen legislators, to be back home one business day a week to do the things we all need to do to maintain our jobs or businesses. Even though we only had a three-day week this week, many bills were assigned and have already passed their subcommittee and are ready for consideration in a standing committee...

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ proposed bill to increase penalties for those who attack the police has yet to be introduced at the Statehouse, but it’s already facing strong opposition from Des Moines leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement. In her Condition of the State address, Reynolds said cities such as Minneapolis, Portland and New York have “embraced the attacks on law enforcement, and now their violent crime rates are rising for the first time in a generation. ...

Several crime victims and their advocates joined more than a dozen other Iowans who spoke Thursday against a legislative proposal to reinstate the death penalty in Iowa. Clinton native Christy Wolfe’s two younger sisters, Susan and Sarah, were killed by a neighbor in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 2014. She read a statement from their mother, who wrote that while Pennsylvania had the death penalty, the family was “relieved” when the jury did not impose it on the man convicted of the crime...

A medical assistance relief fund has been established for longtime Spencer High School Band Director and local musician Jack Ryan. Ryan has been diagnosed with cancer, melanoma in the chest area, a very aggressive and advanced stage cancer, and is in the Des Moines area receiving treatment and living in a care center facility near his niece, Jaci...

In her first Condition of the Judiciary message, Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen introduced herself as “Suzy,” disclosed that she used to be called the “Cookie Judge,” and described her two main post-COVID priorities for Iowa’s court system, both of which involve keeping children with their families...

An Iowa man was jailed early Saturday on charges accusing him of taking part in the riot at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump. Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek said officers assisted the FBI in arresting 41-year-old Doug Jensen on Friday night at his home on the south side of the city...

John and Kathi Hinn of Spirit Lake are safe and sound after a fire consumed a portion of their home Friday morning. But, if their morning had been just a few minutes different, the day might have been marked by tragedy. “Had I gone to work when I was supposed to, John would have burned up,” Kathi Hinn said. “It was that fast.”...

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds ended limits on sports and recreational gatherings as of Friday on a day when the state recorded 59 additional deaths caused by the coronavirus. Reynolds announced Thursday night that she would end restrictions on the number of fans who can attend high school sporting events. Spectators still must wear masks and adhere to social distancing rules at indoor events...

Newly-elected 4th District Congressman Randy Feenstra was sworn in just in time to experience the most frightening incident inside the Capitol in generations. “Today is a very sad day in our nation’s history. While every American has a First Amendment right to free speech, which includes the right to peacefully protest, violence is never the answer,” Feenstra said of a pro-Trump mob’s assault on the building during the counting of presidential electoral votes Wednesday. ...

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said she’s “not happy” with the speed of COVID-19 immunizations in the state’s long-term care facilities. During a meeting with reporters on Thursday, she acknowledged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s partnership with CVS and Walgreens to immunize Iowans in nursing homes isn’t moving quickly enough. Reynolds said she is participating in a call with the CEOs of Walgreens and CVS to discuss it on Thursday...

Buena Vista County Conservation Board (BVCCB) recently stocked Gabrielson Park-Gustafson Lake just south of Sioux Rapids, Iowa with approximately 1,000-1,500 rainbow trout for the public to catch throughout the ice fishing season. This is the second time trout have been stocked in Buena Vista County in recent years. ...

Iowa Democrats said Wednesday they want to legalize cannabis and regulate it at the same level as alcohol. So far, no Republicans, who hold the majority in the Legislature, have publicly supported the measure. Nearly 40 Democrats, ranging from city council members to Iowa state senators, signed on in support of legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana and expunging the criminal records of Iowans who have been previously charged in misdemeanors for marijuana possession...