Tag Archives: Iowa

From the Des Moines Register editorial board: A primary aspiration for the Register’s editorial board and Opinion section is to identify and promote solutions for challenges that confront Iowa. Punditry about politicians’ campaign commercials doesn’t usually meet that bar, but Gov. Kim Reynolds’ most recent offering is hard to shrug off as just part of the noise. In 10 days …

The Des Moines Register reports: Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley leads Democrat Mike Franken by 8 percentage points among likely Iowa voters, according to a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll — a first look at what could be Grassley’s most competitive election since 1980. Grassley leads 47% to 39% against Franken, a retired U.S. Navy admiral, in the latest …

The Sioux City Journal reports: Smithfield Foods will pay restaurants and caterers $42 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the giant meat producer of conspiring to inflate pork prices, which will likely only add to concerns about how the lack of competition in the industry affects meat prices. Lawyers began notifying companies affected by this latest settlement Tuesday. Previously, …

The Des Moines Register reports: A man shot and killed two female victims, then killed himself, in a parking lot outside Ames’ Cornerstone Church Thursday night, according to police and officials at the church. “We are grieving deeply,” said a statement from Mark Vance, with the Salt Company youth ministry at Cornerstone Church. “Tonight, a tragic shooting occurred involving two …

The Des Moines Register reports: U.S. Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer will appear on the June Democratic primary ballot, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday, reversing a district court decision that found she failed to qualify. The ruling ends a tense week for Finkenauer, a former U.S. representative who is vying to take on Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley. On Sunday, …

The Des Moines Register reports: U.S. Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer will appeal a judge’s ruling saying she cannot appear on Iowa’s June 7 Democratic primary ballot. The ruling late Sunday night, which reverses a state panel’s decision, is a major setback for Finkenauer, who is competing for the Democratic nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican. A pair …

The Iowa Capitol Dispatch reports: An Iowa mother accused of taking part in the U.S. Capitol riots with her son is attempting to block federal prosecutors’ use of a photo of her posing with the Proud Boys. Deborah Sandoval of Des Moines and her son, Salvador Sandoval Jr. of Ankeny, were arrested 13 months ago and face charges that include …

The Des Moines Register reports: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will deliver the Republican Party’s rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address next week. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy made the announcement in a release Tuesday morning. “While Washington Democrats fail working Americans, Republican governors are fighting and winning for families,” McConnell …

The Des Moines Register reports: A state audit report on government spending released Monday accused Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds of using nearly $450,000 in federal coronavirus relief funds to pay salaries for 21 staff members for three months last year and concealing the spending by passing it through the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. State Auditor Rob …

The Washington Post reports: The Iowa state legislature passed a bill Thursday that allows residents fired for noncompliance with vaccine mandates to receive unemployment benefits, while also broadening religious and medical exemptions from immunization. The bill was passed with overwhelming support in both chambers, which Republicans control. Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) said she plans to sign the legislation into law, …

The Des Moines Register reports: Iowa Democratic Party Chair Ross Wilburn received multiple threats, including one of lynching, after he penned an opinion piece critical of former President Donald Trump, he told the Des Moines Register. Wilburn, a state representative from Ames, is the first Black chair of the Iowa Democratic Party. Wilburn authored an opinion piece titled “Iowa Republicans …

The Des Moines Register reports: Hundreds of thousands of dollars are at stake for a suburban Des Moines school district Friday if incensed parents follow through with a plan to artificially lower the district’s enrollment numbers. Ankeny Community School District families angry over a new mask mandate are threatening to unenroll their children from school ahead of the state’s Oct. …

Fox News reports: U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley announced in the wee hours of Friday that he intends to seek an eighth term in 2022. The 88-year-old Iowa Republican, who has been in the Senate since 1981, posted his plans on Twitter shortly after 4 a.m. CT, along with a video of him going out for his daily jog. Grassley had …

Peoria’s CBS News affiliate reports: A current part-time Morton High School teacher is facing accusations of homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, and racial insensitivity. Student testimonies show these claims go as far back as 2009. The district’s superintendent Dr. Jeff Hill twice confirmed in e-mails that there is an ongoing investigation into these allegations against French teacher Kim Johnson. “I remember comments …

The Associated Press reports: A white Iowa woman who said she drove her SUV into two children in 2019 to try to kill them because of their race was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison on federal hate crimes charges. Nicole Poole Franklin had already been sentenced to up to 25 years, including a mandatory minimum of 17 1/2, …

The Associated Press reports: A man was sentenced Monday to up to 10 years in prison for shooting into a car full of Black teenage girls after an Iowa rally for then-President Donald Trump, injuring one girl. Michael McKinney, 26, of St. Charles, pleaded guilty in June to intimidation with a dangerous weapon and willful injury in the Dec. 6 …

The Des Moines Register reports: Gov. Kim Reynolds said Tuesday that “part of the problem” with rising COVID-19 cases in the United States is unvaccinated immigrants entering the country via the southern border. “Part of the problem is the southern border is open and we’ve got 88 countries that are coming across the border and they don’t have vaccines so …

Axios reports: Former Rep. Abby Finkenauer (D) announced Thursday that she’ll run in 2022 for the U.S. Senate in Iowa, a seat currently held by seven-term incumbent Sen. Chuck Grassley (R). Finkenauer is the first major Democrat to announce a Senate run in Iowa, which is expected to be a critical swing state next fall as the party looks to …

ABC News reports: Overturning a landmark $1.5 million jury verdict, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that former Gov. Terry Branstad [photo] did not illegally discriminate or retaliate against a gay state official. The court found no evidence that Branstad had knowledge that then-Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commissioner Chris Godfrey was gay when his administration tried to push Godfrey out of …

The Des Moines Register reports: Fewer than a third of Iowa’s likely voters say they would vote to reelect Republican Chuck Grassley if the U.S. Senate elections were held today, a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows. Grassley has not yet said whether he will seek an eighth term in 2022. But the new Iowa Poll appears to show …