More than half of the workers at Tyson Foods' Dakota Dunes office did not move to Arkansas and will lose their jobs. That’s according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice.
Republican Governor Kim Reynolds yesterday signed a bill into law that limits the Iowa state auditor’s ability to access some information, like tax returns or medical records, for audits and investigations.
State Auditor Rob Sand, the only Democrat in statewide elected office, said it’s “the worst pro-corruption bill in Iowa history.” It forbids Sand from going to court to compel reluctant state officials to turn over records. Sand said the mediation process set up in the bill gives the governor the power to block access to information that would expose wrongdoing.
During a recent appearance on Iowa Press on Iowa PBS, Reynolds said executive branch officials should be able to resolve disagreements without going to court. Governor Reynolds signed 67 bills into law yesterday, completing action on all the bill that cleared the 2023 Iowa legislature.
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced this week the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is expanding its existing partnership with Ducks Unlimited Ducks Unlimited agreement to build water quality wetlands across Iowa.
The Department and Ducks Unlimited have had a cooperative agreement in place since 2020. The new 5-year $7.1 million cooperative agreement includes the goal of constructing more than 60 water quality wetlands and installing other proven practices like multi-purpose oxbows, bioreactors and saturated buffers.
Nebraska’s voter identification requirements became law yesterday. State lawmakers overcame one last filibuster and Gov. Jim Pillen immediately signed the legislation.
Lawmakers passed Legislative Bill 514 LB 514 on a 38-1 vote. State Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar led efforts to get a voter ID measure on the ballot, cast the lone “no” vote. Nine senators abstained.
On Thursday, Slama argued that LB 514 was unconstitutional and did not follow the will of Nebraska voters, who passed the voter ID constitutional amendment by an overwhelming margin last year. She criticized the exemptions allowed under the bill, calling it “voter ID without voter ID.”
Gov. Kristi Noem’s funding source for troop deployment to the U.S.-Mexico border is the state’s Emergency and Disaster Fund, a revelation that caused a top-ranking legislator to criticize the plan and question its legality. Check out the Argus Leader for more information.
Last night Iowa Task Force One finished its survey of the building. Three residents are still missing. Thursday night, dogs and handlers were patrolling the wreckage looking for their remains.
In a news conference, Task Force One’s Chief Rick Halleran says their work has to be responsive to the changing conditions of the building to keep his team safe.
“This building—as I’ve stated—is very dynamic. As the temperature rises up and down during the day, this building is expanding and contracting. So it’s talking to us. It’s telling us what it wants to do. Some of it is … as much as we want to, we can’t because the building’s not letting us.”
Already, supports have been installed on the building exterior. While the building will eventually fall, these support will help prevent that collapse from happening on its own.
City Administrator Corri Spiegel said the building is likely “filled with asbestos” based on its age.
Thursday evening, 13 members of the Sioux City division of Iowa's Urban Search and Rescue team were deployed to Davenport.
The John Deere Classic Golf Tournament has announced that Iowa Hawkeye hoops star Caitlin Clark will play in the tournament’s pro-am with fellow Iowan and current U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson.
