(Radio Iowa) – As the Biden Administration continues its push to move from gas-powered to electric cars, police departments are finding it tough to make the transition. Sioux City Police Chief Rex Mueller says getting regular patrol cars right now is not easy. “It is very hard for us to get patrol cars nowadays there’s a very short window that the manufacturers give for orders — so just being able to replenish your fleet — whether it’s hybrid or electric or or gas engine is very difficult,” he says. “It’s a challenge for all police departments right now.”
Mueller says electric vehicles pose some challenges that include the time it takes to charge them.

“The charging technology is getting better. But during the time period that those vehicles are being recharged, they’re out of service,” Mueller says. “… Our patrol cars are being driven literally 24/7. An officer comes in, they hand the keys off to another officer and they’re off. It’s easier and quicker to fuel them up during the course of a shift than it is to recharge a vehicle, because they’re absolutely unavailable for service then.” Mueller says police vehicles have more equipment than stock electric vehicles, which also poses a problem.

“There’s not a lot of all electric vehicles made for police use and police vehicles need to be ruggedized, they need to be made to accept all the equipment that we give them, and there’s not a lot of manufacturers that are willing to dive into that at the moment,” Mueller says. He says they do not have any electric vehicles in use, but do have a handful of hybrid vehicles. He says the hybrids do save on gas, but they also pose some challenges as well.

(Radio Iowa) – The online retail giant Amazon is holding its “Prime Days” sales event this week, and Iowans are being warned to watch out for related scams. Jim Temmer, with the Better Business Bureau, says crooks have cooked up websites that mimic large retailers to try and fool you with phony links. Temmer says, “A lot of them are scams, and they take legitimate websites, photos, and descriptions, and they plug them in on their own.”

You might get a text or email claiming you have a free gift waiting for Prime Days, with runs tomorrow (Tuesday) and Wednesday. Temmer says do some basic research on the website before you put down your money for that “amazing deal.” “Is there a return policy? Is there a customer service number you can call and talk to a live person? Do they have an address,” Temmer says. “If they do, pump it into Google Maps or something like that. It might be a vacant field.”

Temmer says you should always be using a credit card to make online purchases and don’t let yourself get bullied into other payment methods. “The protections built into a credit card aren’t always offered by debit cards,” he says, “and of course not with a check or money order or Green Dot card or gift cards or any of that other stuff.” Temmer says if you see a deal on premium merchandise that seems too good to be true, it’s likely a scam. He says to be sure to check the fine print to see what you’re actually purchasing and be ready to get a return or a refund.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak arrested a local man Sunday evening. 27-year-old Austin Lee Jones, of Red Oak, was arrested for Criminal Mischief in the 4th Degree, and Reckless Driving. Jones was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – G-O-P lawmakers have released the bill they intend to pass tomorrow (Tuesday) in a special legislative session that would ban nearly all abortions in Iowa. The bill is almost identical to the Fetal Heartbeat Act that passed the legislature in 2018. Last month, a three-to-three tie among the Iowa Supreme Court justices kept in place the injunction that has blocked that law from taking effect. Senator Dennis Guth is a Republican from Klemme.

“What we intend to do is just repass the same ‘heartbeat’ bill that we had before,” Guth says, “because that’s going to be the easiest and the fastest to do.” When Governor Kim Reynolds signed the bill in 2018, it was the toughest anti-abortion policy in the country and would have banned abortions after fetal activity can be detected. That’s around the sixth week of a pregnancy. Guth voted for the bill in 2018.

“The legal eagles that have analyzed what the Supreme Court justices said are thinking those Supreme Court justices thought we were just fooling the first time,” Guth says, “so we’re just going to pass the same thing and then they’re going to have to deal with it.” Senator Dave Rowley of Spirit Lake was first elected to the state senate during a special election in 2021. He says tomorrow’s (Tuesday’s) vote will send a message.

“With the Supreme Court, of course, of Iowa going 3-3 that we had to prove pretty much that the bill was not just hypothetical and was placed into law and signed by the governor,” Rowley says, “and we’ll go through that step again.” Senator Guth says lawmakers “meant it” the first time and they’ll prove that quickly tomorrow (Tuesday).  “In the Senate, we plan on getting done in 24 hours unless the Democrats really throw some big snafus on it,” Guth says. “We’re going to start at 8:30 in the morning and it may take us ’til midnight, but we think we can get it done in one day.”

Mazie Stilwell with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa says polling has shown a growing majority of Iowans support legal abortion. “We are calling on all Iowans to show up at the Capitol on Tuesday, to be contacting their legislators who work for them,” Stilwell says. “…Iowans are simply not interested in the ways in which politicians are trying to claw their way into the exam room.”

Planned Parenthood officials say they’ll fight any new abortion restrictions in court. so it’s more than likely the issue will wind up before the Iowa Supreme Court again. Two weeks ago, Planned Parenthood announced they’re closing three of Iowa’s nine Planned Parenthood clinics and will expand abortion services at many remaining locations. Ruth Richardson is president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States.

“Should the legislature and the governor fail to listen to Iowans and pass harmful legislation next week, we will continue our expansion plan while we continue to fight to protect access through the courts,” she said. Tomorrow’s (Tuesday’s) special legislative session is expected to get underway at 8:30 a.m.

A public hearing on the bill is scheduled to start at 9:30 and last until 11.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Republican Party leaders have set January 15th as the date for their party’s 2024 Caucuses. Iowa’s Caucuses have traditionally been the kick off event of the presidential campaign for both parties. The Republican National Committee has agreed on a schedule that keeps the Iowa G-O-P’s Caucuses first. National Democratic Party leaders booted Iowa from its early state line up and plan for South Carolina’s Democratic Primary to go first, on February 3rd of next year.

Iowa Democratic Party leaders have indicated they’ll host caucuses on the same night as Republicans next year, just to conduct party business. They’re planning a separate mail-in system for Iowa Democrats to express their preference in the 2024 presidential race, but party leaders haven’t said when that voting would start or when the results might be announced. Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann says Iowa Republicans are committed to maintaining Iowa’s cherished first-in-the-nation Caucuses, where Republicans cast a straw poll ballot on Caucus night.

It’s possible the January 15th Iowa Caucus date for Republicans may change after New Hampshire officials announce the date of their state’s presidential primary.