President Joe Biden arrived in Iowa this afternoon, touching down in Des Moines at 1:15 p.m. He is traveling to nearby Menlo where he announced lifting restrictions on E15 gasoline sales to help ease fuel prices.
The Biden administration says it will suspend a federal rule that bars higher levels of ethanol in gasoline during the summer. The move is intended to tamp down prices at the pump that spiked during Russia’s war with Ukraine.
Most gasoline sold in the U.S. is blended with 10% ethanol. At President Joe Biden’s direction, the Environmental Protection Agency will issue an emergency waiver to allow the widespread sale of the 15% ethanol blend that is usually prohibited between June 1 and Sept. 15 because of concerns that it adds to smog in high temperatures. Officials said the move would save drivers up to 10 cents per gallon at 2,300 gas stations that sell E15, as the high-blend ethanol is known.
The South Dakota House has impeached the state’s attorney general for his conduct surrounding a 2020 fatal car crash. The Republican-controlled House rejected a majority report from a special investigative committee that had recommended against impeaching Jason Ravnsborg.
Gov. Kristi Noem had pushed for her fellow Republican to be impeached, as had Democrats. Ravnsborg will be at least temporarily removed from his office until a Senate impeachment trial that will happen in May. It takes a two-thirds majority in that chamber to convict on the impeachment charges.
Briar Cliff University has chosen Patrick Jacobson-Schulte to become the school’s interim president. Jacobson-Schulte will take over on July 1 and he will serve as the board seeks to find a replacement for President Rachelle Keck. Keck is leaving to become the president of Grand View University in Des Moines.
Jacobson-Schulte has served as Briar Cliff’s vice president of finance and chief information officer. He has been promoted immediately to executive vice president to learn from and collaborate with Keck prior to her departure on June 30.
Beginning this fall, the board of trustees will launch a presidential search, with the objective to name the school's 12th president by July 2023.
