VETERANS WEEKEND
Monday is Veterans Day, and there are celebrations planned this weekend at the Wasmer American Legion Post in Le Mars. Tonight, there will be dinner in honor of vets from Korea and Vietnam war eras. Monday, there will be a gathering in honor of World War II Veterans. Also on Monday, Veterans Day, there will be a Veterans Day observance at Gehlen Catholic High School, starting at 8:45 at the old gym. A reception will follow in the school cafeteria. All veterans are invited to attend the Monday event.
BURN BANS REMOVED STATEWIDE
Burn bans are now lifted statewide. Lyon, Sioux, and two other counties were among the last four in Iowa to have burn bans in place, but they were lifted as of Wednesday. There were as many as 62 burn bans in place in the month of October, due to extremely dry weather in September and October. Rains in the last week of October reversed the fire threat.
IOWA DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR CALLS 2024 RESULTS ‘GUT PUNCH,’
Republicans score historic gains in Iowa on election day. Donald Trump won all but five counties in the state, and Republicans gained seats in the Iowa legislature. Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart says the results are — in her words — “an absolute gut punch.” Jimmy Centers, who was Governor Terry Branstad’s spokesman, has worked on local, state and presidential campaigns. Centers says he was struck by Trump’s margin of victory in Iowa. No presidential candidate in the past 50 years has won by a larger percentage — including Ronald Reagan in 1980, which won by just under 13 percent.
REPUBLICANS WIN ‘SUPERMAJORITIES’ IN IOWA HOUSE AND SENTATE
Republicans appear to have secured supermajorities in the Iowa legislature, although there could be recounts in some close races. House Speaker Pat Grassley says Republicans in the Iowa House have expanded their majority to 67 seats. Every Republican incumbent seeking reelection to the House won. Grassley suggests Democrats, by focusing on the abortion issue, were at a disadvantage. Republicans have held 34 of 50 seats in the Iowa Senate for the past two years and unofficial results indicate Republicans will hold that 34-seat supermajority when the legislature convenes in January.
REGENTS GET REPORT ON DEI CHANGES
The staff of the Board of Regents says they are ahead of schedule in complying with a new law that requires cutting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (D-E-I) programs.
Regent David Barker says the report only deals with university administrative offices. He says D-E-I has been ingrained in the system.
Regent Robert Crammer says the students might want to participate in developing a process to address issues that pop up.
Regent Jim Lindemayer says inclusion is something that we all want, but he thinks some of the mistakes is when it is institutionalized.
The new law will take effect on July 1st of 2025.
TRUMP’S IDEA OF ‘GREAT AMERICAN STATE FAIR’ AT IOWA STATE FAIRGROUNDS RECIRCULATES
Donald Trump has said his first act after he’s sworn in on January 20th will be appointing a task force to plan for the country’s 250th anniversary in 2026 — and he picked Iowa as the spot for a major exposition.
Trump posted a video on social media back in May of 2023, and it is recirculating online after X owner Elon Musk commented on it. Trump said he’d work with all the nation’s governors to create pavilions for each state that will be set up on the Iowa State Fairgrounds — for a year-long expo.
Governor Kim Reynolds said Iowans know the Iowa State Fair is the best fair in the country. And she said we stand ready to host the Great American State Fair. The manager and C-E-O of the Iowa State Fair says the world’s greatest state fair is in Iowa, but no formal request or inquiry has been made for use of the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
