Cruz Campaigning In Northwest Iowa
(Sioux Center) — Republican Presidential hopeful and Texas Senator Ted Cruz is traveling throughout Iowa, making stops today at Onawa, Cherokee, and Sioux Center. Cruz, who has risen in the polls lately to become the top Republican contender, edging out businessman Donald Trump and surgeon Dr. Ben Carson, is scheduled to appear at the DeYager Activity Center in the Campus Center at Dordt College for a town hall meeting beginning at 6:00 p.m. On Wednesday, Cruz is scheduled to make appearances at Rock Rapids, Sibley, Spirit Lake, Spencer, and Storm Lake.
Back in early November, when the Texas Senator and republican presidential hopeful was in Plymouth County during a weekend pheasant hunt hosted by Iowa Congressman Steve King, KLEM news visited with Texas Senator Ted Cruz, and asked about the additional support from northwest Iowa.
Listen to
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Senator Cruz has been under attack from special interests groups accusing him of having an anti-ethanol position. KLEM news asked Cruz for his specific position relating to ethanol production.
Listen to
{audio} images/stories/mp3/January 2016/Cruz ethanol.MP3{/audio}
Cruz Criticizes Obama’s Gun Controls
WASHINGTON (AP) – Texas Sen. Ted Cruz says President Barack Obama’s new actions to more tightly regulate gun sales aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.
During a campaign stop in Onawa, Iowa, the Republican presidential candidate repeated his promise to repeal all of Obama’s executive actions, including the latest ones on guns.
Cruz says that “when you live by the pen, you die by the pen.” And he added that his own pen “has an eraser on it.”
Ernst To Speak At Veteran’s Benefit
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) – U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa is the featured speaker at a fundraiser to benefit a veterans organization in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Ernst will speak Tuesday evening at the Airborne & Special Ops Museum Foundation. The event will feature a round table discussion with Ernst and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown.
Ernst is the only female combat veteran to ever serve in the U.S. Senate and is a member of the Armed Services and Agriculture committees. Brown and Tillis are members of the Senate Veteran Affairs Committee.
The group Veterans Leadership Council-Cares says on its website that it provides temporary housing for at-risk veterans, health and wellness services, professional counseling, vocational education, mentoring and other services.
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Iowa Legislature To Focus On Water Quality
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad wants to extend a one-cent sales tax established in 2008 to make improvements in school buildings by 20 years and to divert a portion of the money toward water quality projects.
Calling it the biggest and boldest initiative he’s put together in his many years as governor, Branstad says his plan announced Tuesday helps fund two top priorities – education and water quality.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack traveled to Iowa to support Branstad. He says Iowa’s water quality needs immediate attention.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal says legislators might resist using money from a school fund.
The plan extends the sales tax scheduled to expire in 2029 through 2049. It would provide about $20.7 billion for schools and more than $4.6 billion for water quality.
Powerball Jackpot Exceeds $450 Million
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The estimated jackpot for Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing has soared to $450 million thanks to strong sales.
Multi-State Lottery Association officials on Tuesday increased the expected prize from $400 million because of fast sales for the largest lottery jackpot in nearly a year.
No one has won Powerball’s biggest prize since Nov. 4. The jackpot now is the sixth-largest ever in North America, and if there is no winner after Wednesday night’s drawing, the prize will keep climbing.
The biggest jackpot was a $656 million Mega Millions prize won in 2012. The last time Powerball had grown this large was in February 2015, when three winners split a $564.1 million prize.
Powerball is played in 44 states as well as the District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
