Grassley Says Trade Agreements Mean Good News For Agriculture and Businesses
(Washington) — Calling it a big victory for farmers, U-S Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa says the recently passed US-Mexico-Canada agreement along with the signing of phase one of the Chinese-US trade will mean additional agricultural products will soon enter all three markets.
Grassley says the two agreements will also benefit many manufacturing and businesses. He points to the auto industry as his example as how it will be better under the terms with the US-Mexico-Canada agreement.
The Iowa Republican Senator says labor and the production of the automobiles will also be better under the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
Grassley says under the phase one signed agreement with China, the Chinese have agreed to some terms the U-S has wanted for a number of years in terms of intellectual property.
Grassley made his comments Tuesday, during his weekly news conference with the news media. He says the two trade agreements were promises delivered by President Trump and by a Republican Senate majority.
Grassley Questioned Whether Senate Democratic Presidential Candidates Should Serve On The Impeachment Jury
(Washington) — The impeachment trial of President Donald Trump begins today in the U-S Senate. During his news conference, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa was asked if the Democratic senators that are running for the nomination of the presidency should excuse themselves from the Senate trial? Those senators would include: Amy Klobachur of Minnesota, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Michael Bennett of Colorado. Some people even believe that Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey and Karmila Harris of California should also excuse themselves from the trial. Booker and Harris have suspended their presidential campaigns. Grassley says he understands the reasons for people asking for the Democratic Senators to be excused from the trial, but he doesn’t necessarily agree with it.
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) – Leaders in Davenport, Iowa, are condemning a snow display depicting a figure gunning down a snowman wearing a Bernie Sanders shirt and another adorned with a Democratic Party hat. Davenport Mayor Mike
Matson said Monday he’s asked the police chief to investigate the display, noting “all hate speech is wrong.” Homeowner Donald Hesseltine laughed off such concerns. He says he created the display over the weekend to “mess with” friends who support Sanders, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president. The display includes a mannequin topped with a military helmet that is holding a rifle and chainsaw. The rifle is pointed toward the Sanders snowman, which has red-dyed snow near its head.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – A drug dealer who sold cocaine and guns from his downtown Cedar Rapids apartment has pleaded guilty. Federal prosecutors say Raven Burkhow entered pleas last week to several charges, including conspiracy to sell drugs, use and possession of a firearm and possession of
machine guns, a sawed-off shotgun and a pipe bomb. His sentencing hasn’t yet been scheduled. Officers who searched his apartment seized 20 firearms, including the machine guns and shotgun; the pipe bomb; cocaine, silencers; and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Burkhow faces a mandatory minimum
sentence of 25 years and a possible maximum of life.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – Officials say British-based BAE Systems will maintain a presence in the Cedar Rapids area after it completes a deal to acquire Collins Aerospace’s military GPS business. BAE announced Monday that United Technologies Corp. had agreed to sell the GPS business for $1.925 billion. The Gazette reported that a BAE spokeswoman says plans are for the
GPS business’s 675 employees to stay in their Collins facilities until the deal closes. Those workers then would become employees of BAE Systems and transition to a new facility in the Cedar Rapids area. The spokeswoman says it’s not clear where and when that would occur.
FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) – Police have arrested a 28-year-old man suspected of killing his girlfriend’s mother in Fort Dodge. Police say Mark Russell, of Fort Dodge, is charged with first-degree murder. Court records don’t list an attorney for him. He was arrested after police were called to a home around 9:15 a.m. Monday. Officers dispatched to check on a domestic dispute there found the 45-year-old woman unresponsive. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Police identified her Tuesday as Angela McLeod. Investigators think Russell grabbed an object inside the home and struck McLeod with it.
BRANDON, Iowa (AP) – A man whose elderly mother was found in a feces-filled house with 18 dogs in northeast Iowa has been given jail time and probation.
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that David Rogers was sentenced last week to a year in jail with all but 60 days suspended. Authorities say Rogers and his mother lived in a Brandon home. Authorities say that last August he went to a hospital for a lengthy stay without making arrangements
for care of his mother or the dogs. Officers called to the home later in the month found the dogs, four dog carcasses and the filth.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Democratic White House hopefuls are deploying surrogates across the early primary states and beyond as they try to make up for their limited time on the trail. Candidates have deployed their spouses, their children and celebrities to make their case to undecided voters and
help them raise money in unorthodox ways. The surrogates will become even more important this week as four senators running for president will be stuck in Washington to serve as jurors for President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. The proxies can help fill in the gap as the senators are sidelined from campaigning in the critical final stretch before voting.
