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Iowa's court system has blocked public access to online records detailing Gov. Kim Reynolds' 2000 arrest for drunk driving, saying they inadvertently exposed her sensitive personal information.
The records contained the governor's Social Security number, driver's license number and other sensitive information that should not have been made public under court rules.
The annual Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" – a region of oxygen-depleted water off the Louisiana and Texas coasts that's harmful to sea life – will be the second-largest on record this summer, scientists announced today.
This year's zone should be about 8,717 square miles, an area roughly the size of New Hampshire, according to researchers at Louisiana State University. A dead zone occurs at the bottom of a body of water when there isn't enough oxygen in the water to support marine life. Also known as hypoxia, it's created by nutrient runoff, mostly from over-application of fertilizer on agricultural fields during the spring.
Nutrients such as nitrogen flow from North America's corn belt through streams and rivers before ending up in the Gulf. Heavy rains fueled near-record flooding along the Mississippi River throughout the spring.
As part of Volkswagen’s settlement for Clean Air Act violations, Iowa will receive 21-million dollars over the next few years to reduce pollution from diesel automobiles. In Iowa, the program is administered by the Department of Transportation. It just announced 44 school districts will be awarded three-million dollars to replace school buses.
