State Senate Say They Will Not Vote On Gun Permit Bill
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Republican lawmakers in Iowa say they’re not advancing a bill that would have reduced gun permit requirements in the state in part because of a deadly school shooting in Florida.
The Senate judiciary committee agreed Thursday not to vote on a bill that would have repealed a requirement in Iowa to have a permit to acquire a weapon.
It also would have made it voluntary to have a permit to carry a weapon.
Sen. Brad Zaun, an Urbandale Republican, says the bill’s provisions are not related to the circumstances surrounding Wednesday’s shooting in Parkland, Florida, where a teenager is accused of using a semi-automatic rifle to kill 17 people. But Zaun says the timing of the shooting, plus a lack of support from
some other Republicans, complicated the bill’s chances.
A spokeswoman for GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds says the governor supported keeping the current permit requirements.
The bill will not advance because of a legislative deadline this week.
Supreme Court Tells Surrogate Mother She Is Not Legal Parent
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Supreme Court says the birth mother of an 18 -month-old girl, paid as a surrogate to have the baby, is not legally the child’s parent.
The opinion issued Friday means the girl remains with the Cedar Rapids couple raising her. The child will not be turned over to the woman who gave her birth.
It’s the first time the state’s highest court determined surrogacy
contracts in Iowa can be enforced.
The court says if the contracts were nullified it “would deprive infertile couples of the opportunity to raise their own biological children.”
The case centers on Paul and Chantele Montover of Cedar Rapids who paid $13,000 to a Muscatine woman who wanted to keep the baby.
The court concluded Paul Montover, as the baby’s biological father, gets permanent custody.
Father Head-Butts Two Year Old Son
WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) – Authorities have arrested a southeast Iowa man accused of head-butting his son to discipline the 2-year-old.
Court records say 21-year-old Zachary Fritsch, of Washington, is charged with child endangerment causing injury and assault causing injury. Des Moines County Jail records say he remained in custody Friday. His attorney didn’t immediately return a call from The Associated Press.
A court document says Fritsch, the boy and the boy’s mother were visiting a West Burlington residence when the child was injured. His mother and another woman took him to a medical center, where workers notified police about the possible abuse victim.
The woman with the boy’s mother told investigators that Fritsch head-butted the boy’s forehead after yelling at him for playing with a bottle and pacifier that didn’t belong to him.
Ag Economist Optimistic About Future Pork Outlook
(Le Mars) — Pork producers may be interested in knowing the price outlook for hogs for the next few months. Steve Meyer, an economist with Kerns and Associates of Ames says 2018 looks good for pork producers. He says 2017 was better than expected.
Meyer says pork producers have had good market prices, which is also due to lower input costs, mainly with feed.
Pork exports account for nearly 25 percent of the market for hogs and pork products, with Mexico and Canada accounting for a large share of that market, but with negotiations happening with the North American Free Trade Agreement, can pork producers count on exports to remain strong?
The agricultural economists says the export outlook could change if trade negotiations fail.
In past years, the oriental nations of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, and Viet Nam have all been good buyers of U-S pork. However, President Trump killed the proposed Pacific Partners Trade agreement. How much did that action hurt the U-S pork producer?
