The Sioux City School District may be adding 15 electric school buses to the fleet that transports students.
The Sioux City School Board will meet at 6 p.m. this evening at the downtown administrative building, and will review a recommendation to buy the buses. The board members will also select a new president and vice president for the next year.
The current school board president is Jan George and the vice president is Treyla Lee.
The bid for 15 International brand EV buses is for $5.9 million from Hoglund Bus Company, of Minnesota The other recommendation is for the school board to accept the bid of $340,600 for 15 electric bus charging stations from In Charge Energy.
The possibility of buying the electric buses came up in the previous Sioux City School Board meeting, but a decision was tabled to double check on revenues. The district is receiving a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the buses, which have a range of about 130 miles once charged, and most buses travel 50 miles per day on their routes.
*In other news, Iowa Senate Democrats have elected Senator Janice Weiner of Iowa City as their new leader.
Weiner replaces state Senator Pam Jochum of Dubuque, who’s retiring from the legislature.
Weiner in a statement said she’s honored to be elected leader of the Iowa Senate Democrats, and that they will fight to ensure opportunity for all Iowans.
Weiner was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2022. Before that, she worked for the U.S. State Department and served on the Iowa City City Council.
The number of Democrats in the Iowa Senate is at its lowest point in more than 50 years. Going into the next legislative session, they’ll hold 15 of the 50 Senate seats, pending state election certification.
Weiner is Senate Democrats’ third leader in less than two years. Jochum became minority leader last year when Senate Democrats ousted Senator Zach Wahls from the position after he fired two longtime staffers and restructured the office.
*Additionally federal funding for research on organic farming does not match its share of the food system.
Organic products account for six percent of total food sales in the United States, but the sector is less than one percent of the Agricultural Research Services budget.
Thelma Velez (vel-EZ) is the keynote speaker at this year’s Iowa Organic Conference. She is the Research and Education Program Director with the Organic Farming Research Foundation.
Velez said organic farmers “are leaders in soil and climate stewardship,”
But she added that such farmers need more resources, so she wants to see bipartisan support to give organic producers more resources.
The two-day 24th Annual organic conference wraps up Monday in the Iowa Memorial Union at the University of Iowa.
*Additionally, the price for unleaded self-serve gas in Iowa has dropped for the fifth consecutive week.
The average price has dropped 15 cents over the first three weeks of November, to sit at $2.65.
According to AAA, the statewide average price of $2.65 is 21 cents less than a year ago at this time, and the current national average is $3.07.
Many Sioux City and surrounding town stations are selling unleaded this week in the range from $2.42 to $2.60, or well less than the state average.
Of the last 14 weeks dating back to August, gas prices have only gone up over two of those weeks.
