STUDENT LOAN LAWSUIT
Governor Kim Reynolds has signed onto a lawsuit that seeks to stop President Biden’s plan to cancel up to 20-thousand dollars in student loan debt for many borrowers. Reynolds is joining a lawsuit filed by the Republican-led states of Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and South Carolina. Reynolds released a statement that said the president’s plan is an insult to working people and it punishes Americans who didn’t go to college or have already paid off their student loans. The attorneys general of each state in the suit except Iowa are asking the court for an immediate temporary restraining order against the program, claiming the program is unfair, unwise, and an unlawful regulatory action. Iowa has signed onto the suit through its solicitor general. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller says the governor has a statutory right to join such lawsuits and the attorney general’s office has a responsibility to do so. Miller says he wouldn’t have joined the suit if the governor hadn’t made the request. According to the Biden Administration, more than 400-thousand Iowans are eligible for student debt relief.
AG SECRETARY DEBATE
The two candidates for Iowa Agriculture Secretary made their only joint appearance last night on Iowa Public Television. And the two squared off on carbon pipelines.
John Norwood, a small business owner and Polk County Soil and Water Commissioner, is the Democrat who’s running against Naig. Norwood says the pipelines aren’t the right answer for the long term success of the ethanol industry.
Iowa Agriculture Mike Naig, a Republican who is seeking a second full term as ag secretary, says an over reliance on electric vehicles is dangerous and ethanol use should expand.
Norwood says all pipeline land deals should be voluntary and the pipeline owners should make yearly payments to landowners and to counties.
Naig says a significant percentage of land owners should agree to let carbon pipelines run through their property before any developer is granted eminent domain authority to acquire land from unwilling property owners.
VIETNAM BOOKS
Books about the Vietnam War were the focus of events at Siouxland Freedom Park in South Sioux City Thursday morning.
First, Vietnam veteran and longtime Sioux City college professor Ralph Swain donated his collection of Vietnam War books to the park’s interpretive center.
Steve Feimer, Professor Emeritus at the University of South Dakota has written “Vietnam Vets, Still Coming Home”, which profiles 31 veterans’ stories about their service in the Vietnam War.
One of those vets was Dennis Daum, who served in the Marines as a machine gunner and rocket launcher. He took part in a lot of combat in the Demilitarized Zone.
Daum wears a shirt with the slogan “Bullet Magnet” on it. He and other veterans profiled signed copies of the book at Freedom Park. You may find out more about the book online at the Vietnam Vets.- Dot – Com..
SCHOOL LUNCHES
The Sioux City Public School Foundation is trying to pay off student loan balances. The nonprofit group is asking the public to pledge one dollar for 30 days and share what it calls its 30/30/30 program with 30 friends. Through last week the district had a negative balance of almost 13-thousand dollars to its Food Service Department. The foundation says that debt could be an estimated 145-thousand by the end of the current school year.
PROJECT HEAVEN
Work has started on the 100-acre “Project Heaven” development next to the Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville. Investors will spend 80-million dollars to build nine baseball and softball fields for boys and girls, team dormitories, and a boutique hotel. Youth teams have already been traveling to Dyersville for the last couple of years to play in tournaments at the famous baseball field. Project Heaven is the largest private investment ever in Dyersville and one of the largest in Dubuque County. It is expected to create 170 full-time jobs and give economic development and tourism a boost in eastern Iowa.
