(LeMars) — Minnesota Congresswoman and Republican Presidential Candidate Michele Bachmann has announced plans to visit northwest Iowa, including a stop in LeMars. Bachmann is scheduled to make an appearance at the Family Table Restaurant on Monday, November 14th. at 2:00 p.m. Bachmann will conduct a LeMars Town Hall meeting at the restaurant. Following her visit at LeMars, Bachmann will then make a stop at the Pizza Ranch restaurant in Sheldon at 5:30 p.m. Her other northwest Iowa appearances include a stop at Storm Lake and Webster City on Wednesday, November 16th.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad has taken an increase in the state’s gasoline tax off the table, rejecting arecommendation by a commission he appointed.
In a statement released Wednesday, Branstad says he will press state transportation officials to find administrative savings of nearly $50 million over the next year. He says that those savings
must be found before any increase is proposed in the gasoline tax.
Branstad’s plans were first reported by The Gazette newspaper.
The governor acknowledges studies have shown that more money is needed for the state’s highways, but he says that funding should come from increased efficiency in highway programs before the state increases taxes.
Legislative leaders say Branstad’s position will make it difficult for lawmakers to consider increased gasoline taxes during the upcoming legislative session.
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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Two days after she was convicted of murder, an appeals court has upheld a perjury conviction of a woman who lied to obtain an Iowa driver’s license under a fake name.
A jury convicted Tracey Richter of using a forged divorce decree that falsely claimed she had changed her name to “Sophie Corrina Terese Baronin von Richterhausen Edwards” to obtain a name change and an Iowa license in 2008. She was sentenced to probation.
The Iowa Court of Appeals rejected her appeal Wednesday, ruling there was sufficient evidence to conclude she knew the statement was false.
A jury on Monday convicted Richter of first-degree murder in the 2001 shooting of Dustin Wehde. On Tuesday, authorities found her father dead outside his rural Iowa home. An autopsy was being
conducted Wednesday.
