King Inspects “Border Wall” Prototypes
(Des Moines) — Republican Congressman Steve King was in California last week to see prototypes for “the wall” along the southern border.
King, a former contractor, considers the workmanship “great,” but King says the 30-foot-tall sections are not “conducive” to a construction zone that will be hundreds of miles long.
Congress has not yet approved funding for completing a wall along the southern U.S. border, but six construction firms were chosen in August to build eight examples of what they would erect if chosen to build the barrier. King has asked for a meeting with President Trump to discuss his concerns about the prototypes.
The government is spending 20-million dollars on the prototypes. Erecting a wall along the southern border was one of the primary promises Trump made during the 2016 campaign. King says Trump needs to appoint someone to oversee the project.
There’s some discussion of linking funding for enhanced border security with providing some sort of legal status to young adults who were children when their parents brought them into the country illegally. Plus Democrats in congress and some Republicans oppose construction of a permanent barrier along the southern border.
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Iowa Department Of Transportation Wants Blue Lights Equipped On Snow Plows, Equipment, and Trucks
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Department of Transportation officials are convinced that blue and white emergency lights on snow plows are effective at reducing crashes, and they’re going to seek a change in state law to permanently allow the lights.
The department started a test project in 2015 to see if switching to blue and white lights would increase visibility and reduce crashes.
The agency found there were 29 crashes from October 2013 to April 2015 that involved vehicles rear-ending or side-swiping plows. After the blue and white lights were tested from October 2015 to April 2017, that number dropped to 10 crashes.
The agency is in its third year of testing and plans to ask lawmakers next session to change state law and make the new lights permanent every winter.
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Regents To Name New Iowa State University President By Monday Evening
(Ames) — Iowa State University will have a new president by tonight, Monday. Dale Whittaker, from the University of Central Florida, withdrew last week, so the state Board of Regents is interviewing the three remaining finalists today.
They are Sonny Ramaswamy, who heads the National Institute of Food and Agriculture; Pamela Whitten, a senior vice president at the University of Georgia in Athens; and Wendy Wintersteen, the dean of ISU’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The regents will hold a livestream news conference tonight at 6 to introduce the new hire. Iowa State’s previous president, Steven Leath, resigned to become president at Auburn.
