The status of any agreement on a federal infrastructure bill is unclear, this after the president said he would only sign the bipartisan bill for hard infrastructure if he also got a bill for soft infrastructure. U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley of New Hartford says to use unspent and unneeded COVID funds to pay for some of it. Grassley spoke recently to Fox’s Neil Cavuto. The bipartisan agreement reached last week would have a cost of $1 trillion; Democrats want a second measure, spending up to $6 trillion, and are willing to push that through reconciliation, which would not need any GOP votes.
While the price of gas at the pump rose nationally by two cents a gallon over the past two weeks…the average price in Iowa dropped by 2.4 cents a gallon this month. The average price in Iowa is $2.86 per gallon, compared with a national average of $3.15 per gallon.
Officials say a new beef processing plant proposed for southwest Iowa would bring 750 well-paying jobs to the region. Cattlemen’s Heritage, a new corporation, announced Friday it plans to build a $325 million plant along Interstate 29 near the Mills and Pottawattamie County line. The plant would hold 1,500 head per day and have an annual economic impact of $1.1 billion. The corporation plans to begin construction next spring, with completion in late 2023. Jobs at the plant are expected to pay an average of $55,000 per year plus benefits.
AP–Officials are investigating after the body of a man was pulled from a south-central Iowa lake over the weekend. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the body was found Sunday morning in Lake Ahquabi near Indianola. Officials say the body was found near the beach and a swimming area at the lake. Authorities have not yet released the victim’s name. The body was taken to the state medical examiner’s office in Ankeny for an autopsy. Officials say no foul play is suspected in the man’s death.
AP–An Iowa woman has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison for stealing roughly half a million dollars from her husband’s ailing aunt. Kimberly Anny Henny was sentenced Friday to five years and 10 months in prison for taking advantage of her husband’s aunt, who was blind and suffered from diminished cognitive abilities. The 53-year-old Waterloo woman was also ordered to pay $494,724 in restitution. Prosecutors said Henny claimed she took the money to help support the nonprofit she had started, but she actually used the money to pay for a family vacation, furniture, spa expenses and other personal items.
AP–Iowa police are investigating a body found in the Des Moines River. Des Moines police found the body Saturday. Des Moines Fire Department’s Water Emergency Team is helping recover the body. Police are investigating the death. Spokesman Sgt. Paul Parizek says more information will be released when it’s available.
AP–A judge has convicted a Waterloo man to life behind bars for what prosecutors described as the revenge killing of another man. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that Judge Linda Fangman ordered 22-year-old Raymond Birden Jr. to life in prison for the 2018 death of 22-year-old Shavondes Martin. Martin was acquitted earlier that year of killing Birden’s brother in 2016. Martin had been one of three people charged with the 2016 drive-by shooting of Birden’s brother, Otavious Brown. Prosecutors say Birden searched for Martin on May 31, 2018. Martin was found hours later shot to death in a Waterloo alley.
AP–The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that employers cannot subject all warehouse employees to random drug testing by designating them as having “safety sensitive” jobs. In a 4-3 ruling, the court found that companies must consider the specific duties of each worker when designing safety-based drug testing programs and not just where they work. The majority rejected an argument from the state’s largest business association that courts should not second-guess determinations made by employers on which jobs are more dangerous than others. The decision interpreted a 1998 Iowa law that regulates how employers can conduct unannounced testing for drugs and alcohol in workplaces.
AP–Evictions are expected to increase in Iowa after the federal moratorium on them ends July 31. Alex Kornya with Iowa Legal Aid said he is also concerned that evictions will spike now that the state quit participating in enhanced unemployment benefits this month and people no longer receive an extra $300 a week federal benefit. The state has set aside $195 million to help with outstanding rent, but so far only $2.55 million of that has been distributed. A separate program in the Des Moines area has already handed out $8 million out of a $14 million pot of money.
