Siouxland Public Media News

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Republicans on an Iowa Senate committee say they won’t consider the governor’s proposed constitutional amendment to automatically restore felon voting rights when a person completes their sentence. That effectively kills the proposal for this year.  

Senator Brad Zaun of Urbandale says there wasn’t enough support among his fellow Republicans on the committee to pass it.

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The Iowa Senate will not advance a proposal to amend the state's constitution to restore voting rights for former felons, dealing a blow to one of Gov. Kim Reynolds' top legislative priorities.

Sen. Brad Zaun said Thursday afternoon he was taking the measure off the Senate Judiciary Committee's calendar, killing the measure's chances of advancing ahead of a legislative "funnel" deadline on Friday.

04.04.19 4:04 

Republicans on an Iowa Senate committee declined to consider the governor’s proposed constitutional amendment to automatically restore felon voting rights when a person completes their sentence. That effectively kills the proposal for this year.  

Senator Brad Zaun of Urbandale says there wasn’t enough support among his fellow Republicans on the committee to pass it.

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It looks like a controversial fetal homicide bill that defines personhood as starting at conception will not advance in the Iowa legislature this session.   This means the proposal won’t remain eligible at the statehouse this year. 

The bill would further increase criminal penalties for a person who “causes the death of an unborn person” without consent from the mother.

Republican Representative Steven Holt of Denison says the proposal came from the Senate too late for House members to get answer some important questions.

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Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s confident the state will have two private insurance companies to take on 425-thousand poor and disabled Iowans after the state’s biggest Medicaid management company leaves.

0403reynolds1: 14   “Yes they are--every indication that they’re in. We’re meeting with Iowa Total Care as well as Amerigroup. They’re committed to Iowa. They’re committed to continuing to provide the services and we’re going to get it done.”

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It looks like a controversial fetal homicide bill that defines personhood as starting at conception will not advance in the Iowa legislature this session.   This means the proposal won’t remain eligible at the statehouse this year. 

The bill would further increase criminal penalties for a person who “causes the death of an unborn person” without consent from the mother. Opponents say the proposal could lead to outlawing abortion and could affect birth control and in vitro fertilization.

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A Senate panel has advanced a constitutional amendment that would restore voting rights to Iowans with felony convictions, but some Republican lawmakers are expressing doubts about its future.

The proposal—a priority of Republican Governor Kim Reynolds—overwhelmingly passed the Iowa House last week. It has to get through a Senate committee by the end of this week to remain eligible this year.

Republican Senator Dan Dawson of Council Bluffs says he doesn’t know if that will happen because Republicans want to add restrictions.

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A proposed constitutional amendment to automatically restore voting rights to Iowans with felony convictions has an uncertain future in the state Senate

key lawmakers are expressing doubts ahead of a deadline for bills to be approved by a second committee.

A Senate panel has advanced the proposal, which is a priority of Republican Governor Kim Reynolds.

But a key lawmaker says his fellow Senate Republicans are still discussing whether they’ll vote for it in a committee later this week to keep it eligible this year.

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Iowa’s senior U.S. senator is criticizing Democratic lawmakers for voting down a disaster funding bill yesterday. The plan included aid for flooded communities in Iowa and Nebraska, but Senate Democrats say it didn’t offer enough support for hurricane-battered Puerto Rico. 

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley says the vote puts Democratic presidential hopefuls in a difficult position.

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As negotiations with an Iowa Medicaid insurer breakdown, the state’s senior U.S. Senator says he’s supporting the governor. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley says the privatization of Iowa’s Medicaid system is a state decision. 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers increased releases this week from Gavin’s Point Dam.  The Corps is trying to release water before snowpack to the north starts melting.

Flood damage in Iowa and Nebraska this spring totaled about three-billion dollars.

The Siouxland Salvation Army opened a Disaster Resource Center at their main location near West 14thand Villa Avenue.

The center will help people impacted come and pick up flood-relief items like water, cleaning supplies, food and financial assistance.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will conduct one of its six annual spring public meetings in Sioux City.

The meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. April 10 at the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, 900 Larsen Park Road.

The corps will provide a status of mountain snowpack, plains snowmelt, a forecast for the runoff this year and how operations will meet the authorized purposes for the Missouri River's reservoir system.

A Nebraska City meeting will be at 5 p.m. on April 11th at the Fox Center Event Space, 

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A new report says a March survey of business supply managers is signaling solid economic growth over the next three to six months for nine Midwest and Plains states.

The report issued Monday says the Mid-America Business Conditions Index hit its highest level since August, 58.2, compared with 57.9 in February. 

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says even stronger growth was hampered by international trade disputes and the global economic slowdown.

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Representatives from FEMA started going door-to-door in Sioux City for residents impacted by flooding. 

Crews already spent time in Hornick, Iowa.  The team is now targeting areas with damage in Sioux City, including northern Indian Hills, Morningside, the lower west side, and Riverside. 

They also set up an office at the city hall in Moville.

But, Kevin Wallace from FEMA says there might be other homes out there with damage.

TRT: 10 (could cut the sot shorter for time.

State economic leaders announced a former Sioux City golf course as a certified location for future industrial development. 

The “27 Flags” site is located south of the Sioux Gateway Airport in the Southbridge Business Park.

The city bought the 183-acre golf course almost 11-years-ago for almost one-and-a-half million dollars.

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President Donald Trump has issued a new presidential permit allowing construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, two years after he first approved the long-stalled project.

The permit issued today replaces one granted in March 2017. It is intended to speed up development of the controversial pipeline, which would ship crude oil from tar sands in western Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

This spring's massive flooding along the Missouri River has renewed criticism of the agency that manages the river's dams.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says much of the water that created this month's flooding came from rain and melting snow that flowed into the river downstream of all the dams. At the same time, massive amounts of water filled the reservoirs and some had to be released.

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Transportation officials say it will take months to repair major roads in western Iowa damaged by spring flooding.

State transportation official Scott Suhr says crews were on site Thursday to inspect some of the worst damages on parts of Interstate's 29 and 680, Highway 34 and state highway 2.

Suhr says around 25 miles of interstate in southwest Iowa and roughly 14 miles of roads north of Council Bluffs remain closed Thursday afternoon due to washed away shoulders, eroded pavement and scattered waste.

Authorities say human remains have been found along the Elkhorn River in northeast Nebraska's Stanton County.

The remains were spotted Tuesday night southwest of Stanton. 

The Stanton County Sheriff's Office says the remains appear to have been washed out of the river during recent flooding and appear to have been in the water for an extended period.

The remains have not been identified, but are not those of 30-year-old Scott Goodman of Norfolk.  He was last seen two weeks ago on top of his car near a levee in Norfolk before being swept away by a surge of water.

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Republican Governor Kim Reynolds today signed a bill into law that requires colleges to promote free expression and to avoid attempts to shield students from the speech of others. The new law also bans “free speech zones,” which some lawmakers say infringe on constitutional rights by only allowing expression in certain areas of campus. 

County treasurers in Iowa abruptly canceled a scholarship program Wednesday that benefited their relatives and employees amid criticism that the vendor-funded awards were illegal gifts under state ethics law.

A mistrial has been declared in a northeast Nebraska murder case.

Cuming County jurors had heard nine days of testimony surrounding the second-degree murder and other charges against Derek Olson. 

Prosecutors say Olson and his father, Jody Olson, killed 64-year-old Ernest Warnock more than 2-years ago, at Warnock's home in Rosalie.

The judge said the mistrial was warranted because a former Nebraska State Patrol investigator mentioned a lie detector test taken by Jody Olson. 

The Iowa Senate has passed a bill to ban traffic cameras for the third year in a row. Supporters of banning traffic cameras say they violate due process rights and are a money-making scheme for local governments.

Senator Brad Zaun of Urbandale, the self-described “poster boy” on this topic, says it’s the right thing to do.

0326zaun1  :12   “I want to make it very clear: our traffic laws are there for a reason. They need to be obeyed. But I have to stand up when our citizens are being taken advantage by these gotcha cams.”

Three deaths have been blamed so far on flooding along the Missouri River and its tributaries. Two men remain missing in Nebraska.

Yesterday authorities found the bodies of two men whose garbage truck was found in a flooded South Dakota river.  

The men were last seen Thursday driving away from a landfill in Mitchell. Crews spotted a damaged guardrail Saturday on a highway along the James River and later found the truck. 

The patrol says equipment failure likely caused the crash, but that the investigation is ongoing.   

Authorities are trying to find a Sioux City man suspected of shooting to death two people at their home in southeast Nebraska.  The victims were the parents of his former live-in girlfriend.

36-year-old Brindar Jangir is charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Randal and Annette Grimes on Saturday.  

Court records say Jangir threatened to kill his girlfriend and her parents if she ever left him.  The girlfriend moved out on March 12th.