The two major party candidates for the U.S. Senate disagreed over some familiar issues during their third and final debate in Sioux City last night, but their argument over who had the “pure heart” of a devoted Christian sparked an intense exchange. Republican Joni Ernst brought it up first when a debate moderator asked what set her apart from Democrat Bruce Braley. “Soundbites do have consequences and I believe that I have a pure heart, willing to serve Iowans, where Congressman Braley behind closed doors has poked fun at our senior senator, Chuck Grassley,” Ernst said. “I don’t call that building bridges. I call that burning bridges, congressman.”

Braley immediately responded, saying he had apologized to Grassley and to Iowa farmers for his remarks at a Texas fundraiser in which Braley warned that Grassley — a farmer who isn’t a lawyer — would become chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee if Republicans win the U.S.Senate. “So if you’re questioning my pure heart, senator, I can tell you that I’ve been an elder in my church. I’ve taught Sunday School to adults and children. I’ve never seen a corporation sitting next to me in the church pew and yet you believe that their interests outweigh those of women in Iowa when it comes to contraception,” Braley said.

Ernst replied: “Oh again, very misleading. I have said I support a woman’s right to contraception.” Ernst agrees with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling which says some family-owned corporations like the Hobby Lobby chain do not have to provide their employees insurance that covers contraception if the family has religious objections. “But that doesn’t mean a woman can’t get reliable, safe birth control,” Ernst said. “She can still go to her doctor and receive birth control. It’s not outlawing birth control.”

Braley says no business should be able to select the types of contraception their employee insurance plans cover. “She supports a Supreme Court decision that allows employers to interfere with an individual woman’s health care decisions about her contraception,” Braley says. During a discussion about taxes, Ernst touched on her support for a “flatter, fairer, simpler” tax, like a national sales tax instead of a federal income tax.”I say, ‘Scrap the IRS,'” Ernst said. “Let’s start all over again.” Braley replied. “Senator Ernst’s answer to everything is ‘Scrap it.’ Scrap the IRS. Get rid of it. Get rid of the Department of Education. Get rid of the EPA.” And Ernst responded.

“I don’t believe in a bloated federal bureaucracy,” Ernst said. “We need to return a lot of that power to the states.” The candidates began the debate by addressing concerns about Ebola and both said it may be necessary to temporarily ban flights into the U.S. from west Africa. Midway through the debate both candidates denounced the negative campaign advertising swamping Iowa’s airwaves. Braley supports efforts to reign in the outside spending, but Ernst says they’re “exercising political free speech” and “that’s a right.”

The debate was held at Morningside College in Sioux City and sponsored by T-V stations K-C-A-U in Sioux City and W-O-I in Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa)

Dropping oil prices are partly responsible for a drop of prices at the gas pump. Department of Agriculture fuels analyst, Harold Hommes, says a lot of the state is seeing gas for under three bucks a gallon. “Right now we’re finding things are fairly varied. We do have some in the low three’s yet, but most of the gasoline has crossed the three-dollar mark and has fallen into that two-70 to two-90 mark,” Hommes says. He expects prices to continue to drop.

“I do look for that trend to continue, there’s a lot of downward pressure right now on crude right now from the general economy, and recently, European recession woes,” Hommes says. He says one of the biggest factors is the substantial build up of crude oil stores. “We are producing a lot of it, and most storage hubs are sitting on ample supplies and inventories.” Switches in production to produce heating oil can make the price go up, but Hommes says that’s no long a factor.

“The heating fuel production, it’s really already occurred. And I think the industry is ready to move that and has been moving it through pipelines. It’s pretty much placed where it needs to be placed for this winter,” Hommes says. While the gas in your area may be under the three-dollar mark, others may still be paying much more. Hommes says there can be wide variations on price, and sale philosophy and location are a couple of keys for the differences.

“Some retailers have a bit wider margins. Some focus on narrower margins to attract customers in for other products,” Hommes explains. “But maybe the single biggest factor is location. When you’ve got to drive more than an hour to get your product from a terminal, those costs add up.” He says competition can also be a factor in gas pricing.

“And in most places in Iowa we do have that competition,” Hommes says. He says when there are a lot of stations in one area, it is hard to not match a station that drops its gas price, as customers can quickly move to the lowest priced station. Crude oil prices dropped nearly six dollars or more this week — leading to the drop in gasoline prices.

The Triple-A average price for regular unleaded gasoline in Iowa Tuesday was three-dollars, three cents. That is down nine cents from last week and down 25 cents from one year ago.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa National Guard says an airman who died nearly 70 years ago during the Battle of the Bulge will be laid to rest Monday. The Guard announced yesterday that through DNA testing, a team identified remains found near Allmuthen, Belgium as those of Staff Sergeant Maurice Fevold. The memorial service will be Monday at Bruce Funeral Home in Fort Dodge with burial at Blossom Hill Cemetery near Badger.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joni Ernst and Democratic opponent Bruce Braley have again sparred over abortion rights in their final debate. The Iowa congressman and the state senator participated in a conversational debate yesterday as part of their neck-and-neck race to succeed retiring Senator Tom Harkin.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee will campaign for Iowa Republicans next week. A spokesman for congressional candidate Rod Blum says Paul will appear Wednesday at a Cedar Falls rally for Blum, who is seeking the open 1st district seat. An Ernst spokeswoman says Huckabee will hold Tuesday events for Ernst in Sioux City and Council Bluffs.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — Mason City officials are asking people not to smoke at public playgrounds in the city but have decided to make compliance voluntary. The Globe Gazette reports the Mason City Parks and Recreation Board on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution urging people not to smoke in playgrounds.