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It looks like longtime Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott is running for reelection. Scott made the announcement today. Scott has been mayor of Sioux City for 14 years. Former ESL teacher Maria Rundquist, who teaches Northeast Community College and runs a translation business, is the only other mayoral candidate who has filed so far.
Also, the Woodbury County Auditor’s office says there will be a primary election because there are now three candidates a city council race. Scott and council member Rhonda Capron are the only two incumbents up for re-election. Capron, Michael Bayala, an accountant, and Rosario Perez, Jr., a local hip-hop artist also known as Rev have all filed nomination papers. If there are three candidates or more in a local race in Sioux City there is automatically a primary. The primary is scheduled for October 8th. The filing deadline for city and school board races is 5 p.m. Thursday.
Iowa Republican Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s asking President Trump to help the ethanol industry. That’s after Trump reportedly okayed exemptions that lowered demand for the corn-based biofuel.
The EPA recently issued 31 waivers exempting refineries from blending ethanol into gasoline. The move sparked outrage from elected officials and Iowa corn growers who say it’s a blow to the ethanol industry. An ethanol plant in Merrill has been shut down for four weeks because of the exemptions. And another company that owns six plants in Iowa has cut its company-wide ethanol output. Reynolds says she expressed those concerns to Trump. She says she understands refineries were asking for waivers to avoid shutting down. Reynolds praised the Trump administration for allowing year-round access to gasoline with more ethanol. But she says these refinery exemptions undermine that progress.
