Legislature Adjourns Session Early Saturday Morning
(Des Moines) — The 2017 General Session of the Iowa Legislature is now finally over.
That’s the state House of representatives as the gavel pounded marking the end of the session at about 6:10 a.m. this Saturday morning. Moments later, the State Senate finished with their work.
Once the session had ended, KLEM news visited with Republican State Representative Chuck Holz of Le Mars to get his assessment of this year’s legislative session.
The one issue that remained unresolved was funding water quality initiatives.
The Iowa Legislature failed to approve legislation that would have designated more funding for water quality initiatives.
The chambers bounced measures back and forth this week that proposed using existing state money for the effort. Lawmakers in the House couldn’t agree with a Senate plan to additionally use some gambling money in a few years.
Sen. Ken Rozenboom, an Oskaloosa Republican, said the Senate version of the bill was better. GOP Rep. Chip Baltimore, of Boone, called the lack of compromise disappointing.
Water quality was a top priority last session, but the split-party
Legislature back then was also unable to agree on spending.
The failed action comes as lawmakers finalized a roughly $7.2 billion state budget and adjourned the session.
Le Mars State Representative Chuck Holz says he was a bit disappointed that the lawmakers could not come to an agreement with water quality, but he says the two
sides are getting closer, and he remains optimistic that perhaps in the next session the two sides will come together on water quality.
Holz says the Iowa Department of Agriculture and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources will still have some funds allocated to assist with water quality clean up programs.
Sioux City Man Stopped By Sioux County Authorities
(Orange City) — The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office arrested 43 year old Omar Bautista Rodriguez, of Sioux City. The arrest was made this past Monday during
the early morning hours.
The arrest stemmed from a traffic stop that occurred on Highway 75, four miles south of Sioux Center, IA.
Bautista-Rodriguez was the subject of a joint drug investigation between the Sioux and Lyon County Sheriff’s Offices.
Bautista-Rodriguez was charged with delivery of a controlled substance and operating a motor vehicle without a valid driver’s license.
The Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Sioux Center Police Department.
Fertilizer Truck Overturns Spilling Contents Into Creek
ODEBOLT, Iowa (AP) – Iowa environmental officials are investigating a chemical fertilizer spill in western Iowa.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources say a tanker carrying ammonium thiosulfate, a liquid fertilizer, tipped over Friday morning in Odebolt.
Investigators say the tanker, which was bound for a bulk plant in Boone, was carrying about 4,340 gallons of fertilizer. Officials say it’s not known how much of the product leaked from the top fill port before it was stopped and contained.
Some of the fertilizer ran into a small tributary, through a culvert and flowed through town to Odebolt Creek.
Officials have tested water quality at several places and found elevated levels of ammonia, but did not detect ammonia downstream. There are no fish in the tributary.
Cleanup of the spill is planned.
