Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law requiring gas stations to sell fuel with higher blends of ethanol. The bill provides exceptions for smaller gas stations and those that have old equipment that’s incompatible with E-15.
Reynolds signed the bill on a farm in Prairie City. She says it’ll help boost Iowa’s economy.
“This historic bill makes Iowa the first state in the nation to adopt an E15 standard, setting the stage for the single largest expansion of biofuels in our state’s history. Woo!”
The bill takes effect in 2023 for new gas stations and 2026 for existing stations.
The bill got bipartisan support in the Iowa Legislature. Some lawmakers opposed it, saying they disagree with state government requiring business owners to sell a certain product.
Gas prices have hit their highest level ever in Nebraska.
According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas hit $4.11 Tuesday morning, breaking the previous record set in July 2008. Gas in the state is 30 cents more expensive than it was a month ago and $1.22 higher than it was a year ago.
Both the state and local prices for diesel fuel had already set records earlier this month.
Experts say the high gas prices are largely due to the price of oil, which is hovering around $110 a barrel.
Tomorrow is the first day Iowans can vote in this spring’s primary elections.
County election offices are open for early in-person voting tomorrow through June 6th.
Tomorrow is also the first-day county auditors can start mailing absentee ballots to voters who requested them. A voter’s written application for an absentee ballot must be received by their county auditor by 5 p.m. on Monday. Absentee ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on June 7th to be counted.
Iowa PBS will hold an Iowa Press debate for the U.S. Senate Democratic primary on Thursday. The hour-long debate will begin at 7 p.m. The program will air live on statewide Iowa PBS and social media.
The candidates taking part are former U.S. Representative Abby Finkenauer of Cedar Rapids, Michael Franken, a retired Navy Vice Admiral of Sioux City, and Glenn Hurst a doctor and Minden city council member. Candidates will discuss their platforms, concerns, and future plans.
A “Meet the Candidates” forum takes place at Hardline Coffee on Friday at 5:30. P.M. The event will feature the two Democrats running for Woodbury County Board of Supervisors/District 2: Jeremy Dumkrieger and Maria Rundquist.
A group that wants to legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska sued the state on Monday to try to overturn a requirement that makes it harder to qualify for the ballot by forcing petitioners to get signatures from a large number of rural counties. The federal lawsuit comes after the group Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana lost one of its biggest donors, forcing the campaign to rely primarily on volunteers as it scrambles to place the issue on the November general election ballot. Organizers have until July 7 to gather roughly 87,000 signatures from registered voters. The Nebraska Constitution also requires those signatures to come from at least 5% of registered voters in 38 of the state’s 93 counties.
A television report shows South Dakota Senate Republicans in a private 2020 meeting planned an already-negotiated outcome for a committee investigating a pair of lawmakers for being intoxicated during legislative proceedings even before the committee had a chance to meet. A transcript of the April 2020 Republican caucus meeting was reported Sunday by KELO-TV. It showed how Republicans held a private caucus meeting to discuss how to quickly and quietly resolve a legislative investigation into the two most powerful senators at the time, Sens. Kris Langer and Brock Greenfield. The pair were accused of showing up intoxicated at a legislative session that had stretched into the early morning hours as lawmakers discussed the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fire Fighters battled a fire at Sioux Laundry in North Sioux City early this morning.
The Sioux City Journal reports the business had already been the site of a previous fire in the fall of 2020. That's when Sioux Laundry ended up with moderate damage due to an overheated dryer. This damage is more substantial this time around.
Sioux Laundry provides services to area hospitals, medical facilities, restaurants and other businesses and industries.
Boutique Air has submitted a proposal to service Sioux City Gateway Airport. It’s the only carrier to submit an Essential Air Service application to the U.S. Department of Transportation after SkyWest announced its plans to leave the airport in March. SkyWest cited pilot shortages as the reason for ending its contract.
But the city has asked to withdraw from the Essential Air Service replacement process. Rather, it wants to enter into a temporary agreement with SkyWest to reduce the number of weekly flights out of Sioux City until the pilot shortage subsides. That way it can keep its current routes to Chicago and Denver.
Boutique Air proposes to run 28 flights each week to Minneapolis on an aircraft that could carry up to 9 passengers. The airport’s Board of Directors will consider Boutique’s proposal on Thursday.
News release from the City of Sioux City surrounding service at the Sioux Gateway Airport:
The Sioux City Journal reports as the Sioux City Explorers take the field for a home opener tonight as the dispute between the city and team over stadium repairs remains unresolved.
The team’s owner wanted the city to replace more than 3,000 seats at Lewis and Clark Park or the team would leave Sioux City. He says the seats, in the city-owned stadium, pose a danger to fans due to their deteriorating condition.
The City Manager said earlier this month, said it was “unrealistic” to replace all of the seats, but offered to replace them in phases over several years. The city did budget about $150,000 for the next fiscal year and ordered 850 seats.
Tonight, the X’s are scheduled to start the team’s 30th season when they play the Lake Country DockHounds. The same starts at 7:05 p.m.
The Sioux City Musketeers won last night in the USHL Clark Cup finals. The hockey team shut out the Madison Capitols at the Tyson Events Center three-to-zero.
The next two games will be played in Madison on Friday and Saturday night in the best-of-five series.
The league consists of 16 teams for players between the ages of 16 and 21.
