(LeMars) — Iowa Republican Congressman, Steve King was in LeMars this morning holding a town hall meeting. King addressed several issues including what he calls as the failure of the “Super Committee”. The “Super Committee” comprises of 12 people, six republicans from the House and Senate, and six democrats from the House and Senate. The super committee was given the assignment to cut up to $1.2 trillion from the budget. The super committee was to have proposed cuts announced by Wednesday. King believes the committee will not be able to come to any agreement by the Wednesday deadline.
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Congressman King believes the automatic cuts may not actually occur, because the timeline is too far down the line.
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King is advocating for a balanced budget. He says 49 of the 50 states require the state legislators and governors to have a balanced budget, and he believes it would be best for the federal government. King told the gathering that all but 25 Democrats voted against the Balanced Budget bill that was before Congress on Friday. He believes Democrats are opposed to a balanced budget because it would place a limit on spending, and for Democrats it would mean a limit on the amount they could borrow and spend on projects, and it would place a limit on the reason to raise taxes, and it would limit the opportunity for Democrats to spread the wealth. King was asked on a couple of occasions to help reduce regulatory actions that are preventing the LeMars dialysis center from opening, as well as to help employers find suitable employees due to the length of time the employer must wait for the background check to be returned. King was also asked about the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case involving the Health Care Inititative, or sometimes referred to as Obamacare. King told the group he believes that Justice Elana Kagan should excuse herself from hearing the case, since she was with the Obama Administration and helped craft the language of the health care bill prior to being appointed to the Supreme Court.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A businessman who built one of the nation’s largest egg production operations is getting out of the industry after its farms were found responsible for a nationwide salmonella outbreak.
Austin “Jack” DeCoster and his son, Peter, said in a statement they have given up control of egg operations in Iowa, Maine and Ohio, including the farms with filthy conditions that produced salmonella-tainted eggs that sickened about 1,900 people last year. Centrum Valley Farms chief operating officer Steve Boomsma said Monday his firm has signed a lease with an option to purchase DeCoster operations in Iowa. A division of Minnesota-based Land O’ Lakes announced this month it is taking over DeCoster’s Maine egg farms. And Boomsma said there is a deal in the works involving DeCoster’s egg operations in Ohio.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad is pledging to move forward with his plan to overhaul the state’s teacher pay system, but he is conceding it will be delayed as he works to sell the plan to education groups. Branstad had called for a tiered teacher pay system that links salary to performance in the classroom. He says some questions about his proposal remain and that he needs to get education groups on board before he moves forward. He says the proposal will be delayed for a year as he works to do that. The governor spoke Monday at his weekly news conference.
(LeMars) — The Iowa Highway Patrol is investigating an accident that took place on Saturday on County road C-38. A pick up truck, driven by 26 year old Cassandra Lange of LeMars lost control and rolled in the ditch on its top. Four people were injured during that accident. All four were transported to the Floyd Valley Hospital in LeMars. The Iowa Highway Patrol hasn’t released the other names involved in the accident.
(Spencer) — An accident on Sunday afternoon claimed the life of an Ayrshire woman. Lonna Hess, age 61, was driving her vehicle on Highway 18 when her vehicle crossed the center line and struck a semi truck. The semi truck was driven by Luca Risseeuw of Inwood, Iowa. Hess was pronounced dead at the scene. Risseeuw did not suffer any injuries. Clay County Sheriff’s office is still investigating the accident.
SAC CITY, Iowa (AP) – About 500 customers in Sac County were without power after wind and ice brought down electrical lines.
A Mid-America Energy spokesperson says that more than 200 of the outages reported Saturday were in Sac City. Power was restored to all affected customers later in the day.
Meanwhile, authorities in northwest Iowa were dealing Saturday with weather-related crashes.
Officials in the Sioux City area say at least 50 fender benders were reported and a stretch of Interstate 29 south was closed for a short time due to a crash. None of the crashes were serious.
