Home News Monday News, March 15th

Monday News, March 15th

Economists Disagree On $1.9 Trillion Covid Relief Plan

(Des Moines) –– There’s debate among economists about how the American economy will respond to the injection of one-point-nine trillion dollars from the new pandemic relief package. Creighton University’s Ernie Goss predicts it will spur inflation.

Iowa State University’s David Swenson disagrees.

Swenson and Goss debated the so-called American Rescue Plan during a joint appearance on this weekend’s “Iowa Press” program on Iowa P-B-S. Goss says sending more federal money to state and local governments is a mistake.

Swenson says there should have been a formula that took into account several factors, not just unemployment rates, for distributing that 350 BILLION dollars to states and local governments. Swenson says the package, overall, covers a wide range of categories that weren’t adequately addressed in the first two pandemic-relief packages.

The plan did NOT include an increase in the minimum wage. Swenson says the minimum wage should be much above the current 7-dollars-and-25 cents per hour and future increases should be tied to the inflation rate, to get the politics out of it.

Goss agrees the minimum wage is too low, but he says raising the wage at this time would hammer the hospitality industry.

There is 10-point-four billion for agriculture in the pandemic relief package President Biden approved last week. Both economists say with expanding exports and rising commodity prices, there won’t be a need to match the extra 46 BILLION in payments the Trump Administration sent farmers in 2020.

 

 

 

Mason City: Bones, Clothing Found On Banks Of Winnebago River

(Mason City, IA) — Authorities in northern Iowa are reporting the discovery of human bones and clothing on the banks of the Winnebago River. A resident reports the find on private property Thursday. When officers searched the area they turned up more human bones. All of the evidence was collected and forwarded to the State Medical Examiner’s Office. Investigators say there is no indication the remains are connected to the disappearance more than 25 years ago of television anchor Jodi Heisentruit. The remains were found near the apartments where she lived when she went missing in the summer of 1995.

 

 

 

Car Goes Out Of Control, Drives Into West Des Moines Home

(West Des Moines, IA) — West Des Moines resident Cherese Schirk came home Sunday morning to find a Pontiac Grand Prix parked where he couch used to be. Police are investigating the accident where that vehicle went out of control on E-P True Parkway and drove into Schirk’s house. The driver was headed went when he hit a bus stop sign, jumped a curb, then rolled inside the newly-remodeled home. The driver’s name hasn’t been released. He was taken to a hospital for treatment, but he is expected to survive.

 

 

 

House Speaker Pelosi Says Protocol Is Being Followed In Election Challenge

(Washington, DC) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that the chamber is following the protocol as it deals with the election challenge in Iowa’s Second Congressional District. Marianette Jane Miller-Meeks won the vote count by just six votes. Iowa Republicans like Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, Governor Kim Reynolds, and both U-S Senators, Chuck Grassley, and Joni Ernst, have objected to the process. Pelosi, a Democrat, says fellow party member Rita Hart was within her rights to ask a House panel to investigate. Pelosi says there is no timetable to make a decision.

 

 

 

Both Drake, Iowa Named To NCAA Tournament Field

(Des Moines, IA) — For the first time in 13 years the Drake Bulldogs are in the field for the N-C-A-A Basketball Tournament. Drake will take on Wichita State in the West Region’s “first-four” matchup Thursday. Drake finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 25-and-4 record. The Iowa Hawkeyes will also be in the tournament as a two-seed – the program’s best position in 34 years. The Hawkeyes finished with a 21-and-8 record while playing in the nation’s strongest conference – the Big Ten.