FEENSTRA PICNIC
He hasn’t officially announced his candidacy for president, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida sounded like he was at a Saturday event in Sioux Center.
DeSantis was the featured speaker at the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic, a fundraiser for 4th District Congressman Randy Feenstra.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds was also there, and DeSantis praised Reynolds and said Iowa was a lot like Florida politically.
DeSantis ran through a litany of issues he has dealth with in Florida, drawing applause from the Sioux County crowd
The Florida Governor also took the Biden Administration to task on several issues, including immigration and the border crisis:
He says he also supports finishing the border wall. De Santis also said that there is war between workeness and the truth, and that he is a believer in truth.
He also spoke out against educators who are rewriting history, and says Dr Fauci was wrong regarding dealing with the covid pandemic. Senator Joni Ernst also spoke at the Feenstra event.
OC COUNCIL
The Orange City council this afternoon is holding a public hearing on a 10 million dollars bond issue to benefit a senior living project. Kanaal Huis, or canal house, is a 36 unit condominium complex that is currently under construction. It’s geared to residents 55 and older, and is designed for independent living in a community setting. This is part of a joint project with Vision Builders. The entire project includes single family and twin homes.
The city council this afternoon will also revisit a proposal to purchase an ariel ladder truck for the city’s fire department. The matter was tabled at their last council session.
ATV ACCIDENT
A 12 year old received minor injury in an ATV accident Sunday in rural Plymouth County. The Plymouth County Sheriffs Office says the accident occurred around 2 pm, The 12 year old was the lone occupant of the Polaris side-by-side. While entering a steep ditch, the vehicle rolled. The driver received minor injury, and was taken to Floyd Valley HealthCare for treatment.
TRUCKERS LIABILITY LAW
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has signed a bill into law that extends new liability protection to the trucking industry. When someone is injured or killed in a crash with a semi, a large commercial vehicle or tow truck, the new law sets a five MILLION dollar limit on so-called pain and suffering awards for non-economic damages in most cases. Iowa’s trucking industry lobbied for the bill, arguing there had been nuclear verdicts connected to lawsuits in other states. The new law does not limit compensation to accident victims for things like medical expenses or lost wages.
COASTER RESTORED
A historic wooden roller coaster in northwest Iowa will be taking on riders again when the Arnolds Park Amusement Park opens for the season on Saturday. Jon Pausley is C-E-O of the Arnolds Park Amusement Park.
The Legend was originally called The Speed Hound and the ride opened in 1930. It’s among the 15 oldest wooden roller coasters operating in the world. It was designed by John Miller, who’s considered the father of high speed coasters for developing some of the safety features still in use today.
CHINA CYBER THREATS
Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says China is the greatest threat to the peace and prosperity of the world and the U.S. cannot shrink from the challenge. The commander of U.S. Naval Intelligence recently warned that China is building up every part of its military — from space and cyber to its navy. Ernst, a Republican, is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. She suggests China’s president Xi Jinping is a lot like Russia’s Vladimir Putin and has plans to invade Taiwan and the South China Sea. Ernst says cloud computing firms in China are trying to infiltrate and undercut U.S. companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft. Ernst is calling on the Biden Administration to impose sanctions on China and encourage the same response from allied countries that are facing the same economic and national security threats from China’s technology.
RAISE TEACHER PAY
Governor Kim Reynolds says raising the pay of public school teachers will be on her 2024 legislative agenda. Reynolds says she’ll also focus on improving reading scores among public school students in the early grades. Reynolds says as she campaigned around the state for her plan give state help to parents who send their kids to private school, it was clear that pay for public school teachers is an issue. She says rural administrators and rural legislators are concerned about being able to be competitive for teacher salaries as they can’t match what urban school districts are able to pay.
DEA CARTEL INVESTIGATION
The U-S Drug Enforcement Agency is wrapping up a year-long investigation that identified connections between Mexican drug cartels and communities in Iowa and elsewhere. Emily Murray, spokeswoman for the D-E-A Regional Office in Omaha, says Operation Last Mile provided valuable information.
Murray says the illegal, dangerous drugs are landing everywhere and there’s really nowhere in the U-S that isn’t being touched.
In the last year, investigators from the Omaha office linked 26 cases directly to the cartels. They made 87 arrests and seized 60 firearms tied to the cartels. Murray says they expect those numbers to rise, just as seizures of meth and fentanyl have risen exponentially.
Murray says they are seeing increased use of social media by the cartels to move their drugs. According to the Iowa Department of Public Health, drug overdose deaths climbed 34-percent in the past three years. Among Iowans 25 and younger, overdose deaths surged by 120-percent, while 470 lives were lost to drug overdoses in Iowa during 2021.
USS IOWA CHRISTENING
The U-S Navy’s newest submarine, a three-billion-dollar vessel named for the state of Iowa, will be christened next month in a formal event at the shipyard in Connecticut where it’s being built. Tom Hudson, executive director of the U-S-S Iowa’s commissioning committee, says the hour-long ceremony is when the 377-foot long warship will officially be named and it’ll be ready for the first stage of duty. The submarine’s sponsor is former Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack and she’ll follow tradition during the christening by breaking a bottle of champagne over its bow. A few weeks later, the sub will be lowered into the harbor and its sea trials will begin. About this time next year, it will be commissioned and be placed on active duty. The christening is scheduled for June 17th and multiple watch parties are planned in Iowa. The shipyard will live-stream the event.
