504 News 062420
Iowa Senate Democrats called today for Republican Governor Kim Reynolds to quickly sign an executive order allowing felons to vote once they have completed their sentences. Reynolds has made a constitutional amendment restoring felon voter rights a top priority for two years. But, Senate Republicans have rejected her proposals. Against a backdrop of protests over racial injustice following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Reynolds this month promised to sign an executive order. Iowa is the only state that disenfranchises all felons.
The Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center will open with limited hours beginning June 30. It has been closed to the public since March due to COVID-19 concerns.
The Nature Center's new limited hours will be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. It will be closed to visitors on Sundays and Mondays but the trails and Nature Playscape will remain open.
Education Program Director Dawn Snyder said no more than 30 people will be allowed inside the facility at one time and it will remain closed to rentals and group events.
Also, the Sioux City Public Museum, the Sioux City Art Center and the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center have all announced plans today to reopen to the public on July 7.
Those facilities had been closed since March due to COVID-19.
And, because of the coronavirus, the Sioux City International Film Festival will have to wait until next year. Today, festival organizers announced they plan to reschedule the 16th annual event for the first week of October of 2021 at the Promenade Theater. They said it would be too hard to recreate the atmosphere of the festival in a virtual setting.