MORE HEAT AND HUMIDITY WILL MAKE THE WEEKEND UNCOMFORTABLE AT BEST AND POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS AT WORST. WITH HEAT INDICES EXPECTED IN THE TRIPLE DIGITS ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON, THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ALREADY ISSUED A HEAT ADVISORY COVERING CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA CITY, THE QUAD CITIES AND OTHER PORTIONS OF THE STATE. EXTRA PRECAUTIONS ARE ENCOURAGED FOR THOSE WHO WORK OUTDOORS. THE WEATHER SERVICE ALSO SUGGESTS THAT ANYONE ABLE TO MOVE OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES TO THE COOLER MORNING HOURS SHOULD DO SO.
U.S. SENATORS ARE LOOKING FOR WAYS TO HELP AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYERS FIND A MORE STABLE AND LEGAL WORKFORCE. UNDER CURRENT LAWS, EMPLOYERS CAN HIRE FOREIGN WORKERS FOR SEASONAL JOBS, BUT THAT IS PROBLEMATIC FOR YEAR-ROUND AG OPERATIONS. IOWA’S CHUCK GRASSLEY IS THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE’S RANKING MEMBER AND SAYS NEW LEGISLATION WILL HAVE TO ENSURE FARM WORKERS ARE IN THE COUNTRY LEGALLY. MANY AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYERS HAVE TROUBLE FINDING DOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS, AND DETERMINING IF THEIR WORKERS CAME TO THE U-S LEGALLY.
SEVERAL STATE OF IOWA WEBSITES WERE DOWN FOR ABOUT AN HOUR THURSDAY. IOWA.GOV, IOWADNR.GOV AND OTHERS WERE CAUGHT UP IN AN OUTAGE WHICH ALSO AFFECTED MANY PRIVATE COMPANIES AROUND THE WORLD. THE ISSUE WAS A SOFTWARE GLITCH INVOLVING THE LANGUAGE COMPUTERS USE TO TRANSLATE IP ADDRESSES INTO WEB DOMAIN NAMES.
AFTER SPENDING TWO YEARS IN WASHINGTON, DUBUQUE DEMOCRAT ABBY FINKENAUER ASPIRES TO RETURN…REPRESENTING IOWA IN THE U.S. SENATE. THE FORMER FIRST DISTRICT CONGRESSWOMAN SPOKE TO OUR COVERAGE PARTNERS AT TV-9 THURSDAY FOLLOWING HER SENATE CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCEMENT. FINKENAUER’S PREVIOUS TENURE AT THE CAPITOL BEGAN AFTER AN ELECTORAL WIN AGAINST ROD BLUM AND ENDED WITH A LOSS TO ASHLEY HINSON. NEXT YEAR, REPUBLICAN SENATOR CHUCK GRASSLEY WOULD BE UP FOR RE-ELECTION. ALTHOUGH GRASSLEY HAS NOT FORMALLY ANNOUNCED HIS INTENTIONS, A WALL STREET JOURNAL FEATURE EARLIER THIS MONTH HIGHLIGHTED HIS VITALITY, AND HIS CAMPAIGN ORGANIZATION WAS QUICK TO RESPOND TO THURSDAY’S FINKENAUER ANNOUNCEMENT.
A BIPARTISAN GROUP OF COUNTY AUDITORS WOULD LIKE A PAY RAISE. THE IOWA STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTY AUDITORS LABELED HIGHER COMPENSATION AS ONE OF THE ORGANIZATION’S HIGHEST LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES. THE STANCE IS A PRODUCT OF PENALTIES WHICH COUNTIES AND THEIR AUDITORS COULD FACE UNDER NEW STATE ELECTION RULES PASSED THIS SPRING. LINN COUNTY AUDITOR JOEL MILLER SPOKE TO TV-9. THE AUDITOR’S ASSOCIATION HOPES ITS MEMBERS WILL RECEIVE A SALARY INCREASE RANGING FROM 15 TO 20 THOUSAND DOLLARS.
AIR TRAFFIC IN AND OUT OF WATERLOO REGIONAL AIRPORT HAS NOT RETURNED TO PRE-PANDEMIC LEVELS. NUMBERS FROM JUNE SHOW APPROXIMATELY 14 HUNDRED COMMERCIAL FLYERS MOVED THROUGH THE FACILITY. THAT’S STILL ROUGHLY 30 PERCENT SHY OF THE SAME MONTH IN 2019. HOWEVER, JUST 352 PEOPLE MADE THE FLIGHT FROM WATERLOO TO CHICAGO IN JUNE OF 2020 AS CONCERN ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS WAS PEAKING WITH A WAVE OF INFECTIONS.
RESIDENTS OF A CEDAR RAPIDS HOME WERE NOT ON HAND WHEN A LARGE FIRE BROKE OUT IN THEIR KITCHEN ON THURSDAY. FIRST RESPONDERS ARRIVED TO EXTINGUISH THE FLAMES AT A HOME IN THE 19 HUNDRED BLOCK OF HIGLEY AVENUE. THE EMERGENCY CALL WAS MADE BY A NEIGHBOR WHO NOTICED SIGNS OF FIRE. DAMAGE REPORTEDLY EXTENDED FROM THE KITCHEN TO OTHER AREAS OF THE HOME. FIRE FIGHTERS DID NOT IMMEDIATELY CITE THE CAUSE OF THE FIRE.
THIS WEEK, U.S. SENATORS HAVE BEEN CONSIDERING AG LABOR ISSUES. DURING HEARINGS, IOWA’S CHUCK GRASSLEY NOTED THAT HE DOES NOT SUPPORT MASS AMNESTY FOR MIGRANT WORKERS WHO ARE IN THE COUNTRY ILLEGALLY. GRASSLEY OUTLINED WHAT HE WOULD LIKE WASHINGTON TO DO. GRASSLEY ENCOURAGED ELECTRONIC VERIFICATION OF AGRICULTURAL WORKERS. FARMERS DO CURRENTLY HAVE LATITUDE TO LEGALLY HIRE FOREIGN WORKERS WHO FILL CRITICAL SEASONAL JOBS, BUT MANY MIGRANT AG WORKERS ARE UNDOCUMENTED.
NINETY-TWO OF IOWA’S TOP HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYERS FROM LAST AUTUMN WILL BE IN CEDAR FALLS TOMORROW. THE 49TH IOWA SHRINE BOWL ALL-STAR GAME WILL KICK OFF AT THE UNI-DOME AT 4 P.M. A PARADE IN DOWNTOWN CEDAR FALLS IS PLANNED FOR 9:30 TOMORROW MORNING. THE IOWA SHINE BOWL WAS CANCELLED IN 2020 DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS. LINN-MAR COACH PAUL JAMES WILL LEAD THE NORTH ALL-STARS AGAINST A SOUTH TEAM, COACHED BY BAXTER’S ROB LUTHER. TICKET SALES FROM THE GAME WILL BENEFIT SHRINERS HOSPITALS.
