NEGOTIATIONS FOR COVID-19 RELIEF ARE LIKELY OVER AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL UNTIL AFTER THE NOVEMBER ELECTION. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS EXPRESSED FRUSTRATION WITH CONGRESSIONAL PROGRESS ON AN AID PACAKGE TO MITIGATE THE ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC. IOWA SENATOR JONI ERNST TALKED ABOUT THE SITUATION YESTERDAY DURING AN INTERVIEW ON KXEL. IN A TWEET TUESDAY, PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SUGGESTED A STAND-ALONE BILL FOR INDIVIDUAL STIMULUS CHECKS. CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS HAVE SO FAR REJECTED ANY PIECEMEAL APPROACH TO COVID RELIEF.
JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT, POLICE WERE CALLED TO THE SCENE OF AN ARMED ROBBERY AT AN UPSCALE STUDENT HOUSING COMPLEX IN SOUTHEAST IOWA CITY. AUTHORITIES SAY THEY ARE LOOKING FOR A SUSPECT WHO WAS WEARING A MASK AND SHOWED A GUN DURING THE INCIDENT NEAR THE QUARTERS. PROPERTY WAS TAKEN FROM A VICTIM WHO WAS NOT HARMED. IOWA CITY POLICE CONTINUE TO INVESTIGATE.
THE IOWA DNR HAS RELEASED HUNDREDS OF RAINBOW TROUT IN CEDAR FALLS AND MARSHALLTOWN, AS WELL AS FOUR OTHER LOCATIONS. NORTH PRAIRIE LAKE IN CEDAR FALLS AND SAND LAKE IN MARSHALLTOWN WERE AMONG THE SITES WHERE THE FISH HAVE BEEN STOCKED. THE DNR ADDS RAINBOW TROUT TO MANY IOWA LAKES WHEN COOLER WEATHER ARRIVES, BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT WELL ADAPTED TO WARMER SUMMER WATER IN MOST OF IOWA.
A HIAWATHA MAN WON MORE THAN A QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS FROM AN IOWA LOTTERY GAME HE WAS PLAYING OVER THE WEEKEND. WHEN HE CLAIMED HIS PRIZE, DON BURD TALKED ABOUT SHARING THE NEWS WITH HIS WIFE. BURD DIDN’T REVEAL ANY SPECIFIC PLANS FOR WHAT HE WILL DO WITH THE 276 THOUSAND DOLLAR PRIZE. THE JACKPOT GAME HE WAS PLAYING HAD ODDS OF APPROXIMATELY 40 THOUSAND TO ONE.
A SCHOOL STAFF MEMBER IN THE WEST DES MOINES COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT HAS DIED FROM COMPLICATIONS OF COVID-19. AUTHORITIES ARE UNABLE TO SAY WHETHER 53-YEAR-OLD JENNIFER CRAWFORD WAS INFECTED WHILE WORKING AT INDIAN HILLS JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL OR ELSEWHERE. CRAWFORD WAS A SPECIAL EDUCATION ASSISTANT AT THE SCHOOL. ONLY 10 OF IOWA’S 99 COUNTIES ARE BELOW THE 5% THRESHOLD AT WHICH PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERTS RECOMMEND MEASURES TO SLOW THE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS, INCLUDING MANDATORY MASKS AND LIMITS ON GATHERINGS. WEST DES MOINES SCHOOLS DO HAVE A MANDITORY FACE COVERING POLICY FOR STUDENTS AND STAFF INVOLVED IN ON-SITE LEARNING.
TWO WATERLOO FIREFIGHTERS EARNED SCHOLARSHIPS FROM THE WATERLOO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION. BEN WEBER AND ONAZI AGBESE WILL EACH RECEIVE PARAMEDIC OR EMT TRAINING WITH THEIR AWARDS. THE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM WAS CREATED IN 2017 IN HONOR OF GREG FRESHWATER WHO WAS FATALLY INJURED IN AN ACCIDENT WHILE JOGGING THREE YEARS AGO. THE WATERLOO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION HAS NOW AWARDED FOUR GREG FRESHWATER SCHOLARSHIPS.
RUTHANN VEAL HAS SPENT MORE THAN HALF OF HER LIFE IN PRISON FOR THE MURDER OF A WATERLOO WOMAN IN 1993. IOWA CORRECTIONS OFFICIALS HAVE NOW OPENED A PATH FOR VEAL’S RELEASE. AT THE TIME VEAL KILLED 66-YEAR-OLD CATHERINE HAYNES AND STOLE HER CAR 27 YEARS AGO, VEAL WAS A 14-YEAR-OLD RUNAWAY. SHE WAS ORIGINALLY SENTECED TO LIFE IN PRISON WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF PAROLE. HOWEVER, CHANGES TO CRIMINAL SENTENCING OF MINORS ORIGINATING IN THE U.S. SUPREME COURT HAVE LED TO CASES LIKE VEAL’S BEING REVISITED IN THE PAST DECADE. NO PUBLIC TIMELINE HAS BEEN MADE AVAILABLE FOR VEAL’S TRANSITION INTO A WORK RELEASE PROGRAM.
DURING AN APPEARANCE ON KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL RECENTLY, IOWA SENATOR JONI ERNST TALKED ABOUT THE EFFORT TO PROTECT ETHANOL STANDARDS FROM BEING CHIPPED AWAY THROUGH BLENDING WAIVERS TO GASOLINE REFINERS. ETHANOL PRODUCTION FELL PRECIPITOUSLY DURING THE SPRING AND SUMMER AS DRIVERS USED LESS FUEL DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. HEAR MORE FROM ERNST ABOUT FEDERAL CORONAVIRUS RELIEF DURING NEXT HOUR’S KXEL NEWSCAST.
IOWA GOVERNOR KIM REYNOLDS IS GETTING HIGH MARKS FROM A CONSERVATIVE ORGANIZATION. THIS WEEK, REYNOLDS RECEIVED AN “A” FROM THE CATO INSTITUTE FOR “LIMITED GOVERNMENT” POLICIES. THREE OTHER GOVERNORS GOT THE SAME GRADE. THE CATO INSTITUTE REPORT ANALYIZED TAX AND SPENDING PATTERNS IN EACH STATE THROUGH A LIBERTARIAN LENS.
