From the KCRG-TV9 Newsroom:
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds says she wants people to avoid kratom and hopes state lawmakers will ban it next year. The substance comes from a plant and is used to get high. Some synthetic forms are illegal in the U.S., but not all. Public health officials say at least 16 people have died in Iowa from kratom-related causes so far this year. The Iowa House voted for a ban earlier this year but it stalled in the state Senate.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins says relief is coming for farmers on the price of fertilizer. She spoke to farmers Tuesday at the Farm Progress Show in Boone. Iowa farmers have dealt with high prices in fertilizer since the war in Iran shut down the strait of Hormuz. About half of the fertilizer used in the United States is imported. The Department of Agriculture spent $500 million to invest in fertilizer plants here in the country to ease prices. Rollins says new plants are expected to be finished next year.
Students finally got a chance to start school at Dubuque’s Jefferson Middle School. A fire last week delayed the start of the school year until yesterday. The cause of that fire is still under investigation, but officials say it was an accident. Eight classrooms are unusable, but the rest of the building is full.
A Cedar Rapids woman faces felony charges after police say she was involved in a fight with officers that left two offices hurt. Jill Lampe faces the charges after police say she arrived outside her ex boyfriend’s home last Friday. Police say they struggled with her inside her car when she drove off, throwing one officer to the ground and injuring another who was hanging onto the car before he could shift it into park. Lampe was booked into the Linn County Jail.
