FLOOD RECOVERY CENTER OPENS
The Small Business Administration is opening a Business Recovery Center in Sioux Center Friday. Garth MacDonald is a public relations officer for SBA. Mac Donald says the Small Business Administration is offering loans are for businesses, non-profits, and homeowners who suffered flood losses. MacDonald says the SBA office in the Centre Mall is set up to take applications for relief on a person-to-person basis.
There are also other ways to contact SBA to answer questions or apply for aid.
MacDonald says their goal is to cover uninsured losses. The office serves three counties listed in the presidential disaster declaration earlier this week – Plymouth, Sioux, and Lyon – and the adjacent counties in Iowa affected by the floods.
CHEROKEE LEADERS, RESIDENTS LAMENT DAMAGE FROM RECORD FLOODING
One leader in Cherokee, Iowa says about 70 homes were destroyed by flooding in the past week and double that amount saw some amount of water in their basements. Cherokee Emergency Management Director Justin Pritts says they’ve dealt with flooding in the past, but this is the worst ever. The Little Sioux River crested five feet higher than the previous record. Pritts says the destruction is simply gut-wrenching. Mark Casey’s home was right in the path of the highest water in town history. Casey says he’s hoping FEMA will buy them out and declare it a federal disaster area.
IOWA NATIONAL GUARD AIDS FLOODED COMMUNITIES
The 185th Air Refueling Wing of the Iowa National Guard will help with debris cleanup in the wake of last weekend’s floods in northwest Iowa. 30 members of the unit were given the task by the Guards state headquarters in Des Moines. The 18th, based in Sioux City, will help in Woodbury, Cherokee, Ida, and Buena Vista counties. The Air Guard has Debris Removal Teams, specially trained personnel and vehicles and equipment to use in carrying out their task.
IOWA SUPREME COURT RULES IOWA’S SIX WEEK ABORTION BAN CAN TAKE EFFECT
The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld the law that bans most abortions after the sixth week of a pregnancy. Four of the justices joined the majority ruling that removed the injunction that prevented the law from taking effect. Three justices opposed the move.
Iowa’s Catholic bishops say they celebrate that the Iowa Supreme Court has recognized there’s no right to an abortion in the Iowa Constitution. A written statement from Bishop William Joensen and the other bishops says human life should be protected under our laws to the greatest extent possible. Joensen suggests the next step is banning in vitro fertilization.
The President and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, Ruth Richardson had this reaction to the Iowa Supreme Court ruling on abortion.
Richardson says they have been planning for the decision and says they will continue to work to help Iowans travel out of state for an abortion. She made her comments on a video call after the decision was announced Friday.
Governor Reynolds is praising the decision, saying nothing is more worthy of the strongest defense than the unborn. Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart says Republicans went too far with this abortion ban and voters will hold them accountable in November.
GOV. REYNOLDS APPOINTS JOHN SANDY AS COURT OF APPEALS JUDGE
Gov. Kim Reynolds Friday announced her appointment of John Sandy as an Iowa Court of Appeals judge. Sandy, of Spirit Lake, Iowa, serves as District Judge in District 3A. He received both his undergraduate degree and law degree from The University of St. Thomas. Sandy fills a vacancy created following the retirement of the Hon. Chief Judge Thomas N. Bower.
