DOT AIRPORT GRANTS
Sioux Gateway Airport is among eight in Iowa that will receive part of a 100-million dollars grant. The Iowa Department of Transportation will distributing 3.15 milllion dollars toward phase one of a T-hangar construction project at Sioux Gateway. The grants are to be used for terminal buildings, parking structures, and hangar infrastructure. The biggest portion of the money – more than half – will go to Des Moines International Airport. It will be used primarily to build a five-story parking garage there.
TRUCK FRANCHISE RULING
The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled in a franchise dispute involving a Sioux City truck dealership. Peterbilt got approval from the Iowa D-O-T to open a dealership in Clear Lake. Owners of the Sioux City Truck Sales Peterbilt dealership sued — saying the 23 counties surrounding Clear Lake were in its 71 county “community” under state franchise law, and the new dealership should not be allowed to open. The Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that the Clear Lake franchise is far enough away to not be included in the Sioux City dealership’s “community.” Justice Christopher McDonald wrote the dissenting opinion — saying the majority’s approach undermines franchisee protection, contrary to the plain text of the statute and the purpose of the law.
RIFLE RAFFLE
The raffle of an A-R-15-style rifle that had been scheduled this weekend at the Sioux City Bandits indoor football game has been indefinitely postponed. Brett Funke (FUNK), the team’s marketing and sales director, says he’s not sure when the rifle raffle will be rescheduled, but now is not the time for it after A-R-15’s have been used at recent mass shootings in Buffalo, Texas, and Oklahoma. A Sioux City businessman had threatened to withdraw his sponsorship of the Bandits after comments the team’s owner made to the Sioux City Journal — that complaints about the give-away were mainly from East Coast residents who drive electric cars and have an overblown obsession with a piece of metal. Funke admits that spurred a social media firestorm.
CASINO EMPLOYEE FIRED
A casino employee has been fired for helping a romantic partner gamble on credit. The Ameristar Casino in Council Bluffs reported the incident to Iowa state regulators. The commission says a customer used a credit card to buy food and beverages, then added large tips for a casino employee they were dating. The tips ranged from 100-to-280-dollars in each instance. The AmeriStar employee then converted the tips into cash and gave the money back. That person violated Iowa laws when the money was used to gamble at the casino. The casino has been fined 10-thousand dollars for the violation.
FREE FISHING
Iowans can try their hand at fishing this weekend without having to buy a license. Joe Larscheid (LAHR-shyd), the Iowa D-N-R fisheries bureau chief, says it’s a free fishing weekend, so folks can grab their best fishing pole and head for their favorite fishing hole.
Larscheid says this event, held the first weekend of June, is always popular with those who enjoy spending time along the state’s rivers and lakes.
In addition to free fishing, Larscheid says the weekend will feature fishing clinics and a chance for law enforcement officers to go fishing with kids as part of “Cops and Bobbers.”
The free fishing runs today through Sunday at hundreds of Iowa lakes and thousands of miles of rivers. You may purchase a fishing license at the county recorder’s office, a sporting goods store or through the DNR.
