The two major party candidates for the U.S. Senate spoke to a crowd of Iowa business leaders Thursday afternoon. Republican Joni Ernst outlined her record as a member of the state senate and called for junking the federal tax code, while Democrat Bruce Braley laid out a series of steps he says the federal government could take to boost the nation’s manufacturing sector. Ernst spoke first.

“We need to start by lowering taxes immediately on our hard-working families, but then working over the long term to scrap the existing tax code and work toward something that is fairer, flatter and simpler,” Ernst said. “Something that is much more competitive.” Braley says the U.S. has to do what competitors like China, India, the European Union and Russia have done and develop a national strategy to boost manufacturing and a national infrastructure plan.

“Every year Texas A&M publishes a report on the hidden costs of our failure to meet our aging infrastructure problems,” Braley said. “The latest report estimates we pay a hidden tax of $121 billion because we’re failing to meet these infrastructure needs. They delay the shipment of the goods you manufacture and cost all of us money.” Braley suggested creation of a new bank that could pool public and private resources to finance critical infrastructure projects in the U.S. The two were the final speakers at the day-long Advanced Manufacturing Conference sponsored by the Iowa Association of Business and Industry. Ernst was asked what could be done to increase the number of American workers who have the necessary skills to work in the manufacturing sector.

“The federal job training programs or workforce investment programs, I believe there are 40, 45 or so more programs, but they all overlap in one way or another and they’re administered by nine different departments and it becomes so very confusing,” Ernst said. “…What we need to do is really streamline down our job training programs, make them much more efficient and much more effective.” Braley called for making the federal tax credit for research and development permanent, along with changes in federal grants for students attending community colleges and technical schools.

“Pell Grants which are available over a nine-month academic year penalize community colleges that are helping to train your workforce for tomorrow because many of those students are on year-long programs and the lack of Pell Grants for many of these students in that summer semester poses a substantial economic challenge for them,” Braley said. Go to www.radioiowa.com to listen to all of what the candidates had to say yesterday (Thursday). The two candidates are scheduled to debate one another Saturday night in Davenport.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A lawyer for a female prison guard suing Iowa for sexual harassment says the Department of Corrections practice of allowing violent inmates to watch sexually graphic movies encouraged prisoners to harass and threaten her. Kristine Sink’s attorney, Paige Fiedler, told jurors in closing arguments yesterday that Sink tolerated threats of rape and murder. She is seeking up to $4.5 million for emotional distress. Sink contends supervisors at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison allowed harassment by inmates and co-workers.

WAVERLY, Iowa (AP) — Officials in Waverly say a longtime city employee has died while working at a site. City administrator Phil Jones tells the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier 62-year-old Dan Sinnwell, a senior employee in the city’s engineering department, collapsed Wednesday morning.

MONTROSE, Iowa (AP) — Officials in the southeast Iowa city of Montrose are considering banning residents from keeping a variety of livestock within city limits. The Keokuk Daily Gate City reports the Montrose City Council discussed a ban last week and could take up the matter again at its November 6th meeting. Montrose is a city of about 900 residents along the Mississippi River.

Police in Audubon are warning residents to lock their vehicles! In the past several weeks, as recent as this (Thursday) morning, a few vehicles in the City of Audubon have been entered and had items such as wallets, purses, checkbooks, and loose change stolen. All the vehicles that were entered were unlocked, making it very easy for the criminal.

Officials say the suspect in the Thursday morning thefts wore a black hooded sweatshirt and black sweatpants. The only other description of the suspect is that they are of medium build. The incident in question happened at about 6-a.m., in the 200 block of Scott Street, in Audubon.

Police are asking residents not to leave your personal items in your car and to keep it locked. If anyone has any information regarding these incidents, please contact the Audubon Police Department at 712-563-2500.

A Creston man was arrested early Thursday morning. 29 year old Nickolas Wilkinson was arrested and charged with third degree sexual abuse. Wilkinson is being held in the Union County Jail on 10-thousand dollar bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – With just weeks left in a tight Senate race that he started with an advantage, Democrat Bruce Braley is trying to raise concerns among women voters about his Republican opponent, Joni Ernst, and take some of the sheen off the farm-raised, military veteran who rose from relative obscurity to GOP stardom during the campaign.

The four-term congressman and Democratic supporters are running ads and holding events questioning Ernst’s position on abortion rights. He is also attacking Ernst on the minimum wage, another issue the campaign thinks resonates with female voters.

Iowa has never elected a woman to Congress or as governor. Ernst has stressed her background as a mother and female veteran as she has made her case to Iowa voters.

A special investigation from the State Auditor found the former Monona County Auditor misused the county credit card. The investigation began after former auditor Brooke Kuhlmann was arrested on July 29, 2013 for possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. Deputy State Auditor, Tami Kusian, says Kuhlman routinely did not report to work after her arrest and other employees took over her duties and found some issues and asked for the audit.

“We identified over eight-thousand dollars of improper credit card charges and late fees associated with that credit card,” Kusian says. She says Kuhlmann use the card to buy things for her personal use. “There were a lot of convenience store purchases, retail vendors, there were some purchases at the Winnavegas Casino, Apple i-Tunes, those kinds of things,” Kusian says. Other purchases on the county credit card 100 dollar debit cards from Wal-Mart. There also late fees totaling near 11-hundred dollars. Kusian says the county had guidelines that were to limit how the card was used.

“There were minimal approved usages of it. And in this case it was mainly for gas-type charges, and in fact the county did not use it for meals and those types things — some of those things we did find on the credit,” according to Kusian. The audit also found that a personal check was sent to the credit card company. “The former county auditor’s family did pay a large portion of the improper items. They did make a payment to the credit card company of over eight-thousand dollars,” Kusian says.

Petitions were submitted to the county board of supervisors for Kuhlman’s removal from office, but were withdrawn after she resigned on December 11th of 2013. The audit shows Kuhlman entered a written plea of guilty to possession of a controlled substance on December 30th and she was sentenced to two days in jail and fined 315 dollars. Kusian says the audit recommends the county ensure the monthly credit card statements are delivered to and reviewed by a staff member who does not have access to a county credit card to prevent future abuse.

Copies of the report have been filed with the Division of Criminal Investigation, the Monona County Attorney’s Office, and the Attorney General’s Office.

(Radio Iowa)