(Radio Iowa) – Former Vice President Mike Pence says he’s entering the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential race because he has a different vision for the country and the party than Donald Trump.  “We are here because we know that Iowa was the right place to start our engines for the great American comeback,” Pence said, to cheers. Pence kicked off his campaign over the noon hour Wednesday, with a rally in Ankeny, calling the former president reckless.

“We need leaders who can distinguish between starting fights and finishing them, between the politics of outrage and standing firm.” Pence spent several minutes discussing the rioting at the U.S. Capitol on the day congress confirmed Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. Pence, as he’s said before, stresses that he had no authority to reject or overturn the results.

“The American people must know leaders in the Republican Party we will keep our oath to support and defend the constitution even when it is not in our political interests to do so,” Pence said. “Anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States and anyone who asks someone else to put them over the constitution should never be president of the United States again.”

Pence served 12 years in the U.S. House and was governor of Indiana when Trump chose him as his 2016 running mate. Pence says he’s incredibly proud of the Trump Administration’s conservative agenda.  “As your vice president, I was proud to stand by President Donald Trump every single day when we made America great again,” Pence said. But Pence has been cautioning Republicans to resist the siren song of populism and return to the roots of the Reagan Revolution, leading with tax cuts and repealing regulations.

“We must elect a new Republican president to chart a course for our nation guided by our timeless principles,” Pence said.

(Radio Iowa) – Democrats in the Iowa Senate have removed the lawmaker who’s been their leader for two and a half years and selected a veteran legislator to be Senate Minority Leader. According to a news release, Senate Democrats have unanimously selected Pam Jochum of Dubuque to be Senate Democratic Leader, replacing Zach Wahls of Coralville.

Wahls faced criticism from some his colleagues for his decision to dismiss two long time employees last Friday. Wahls was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2018 and had a national reputation when he arrived due to his statehouse testimony as a teenager against a ban on same-sex marriage. He’s been directly involved in recent efforts to reshape the Iowa Democratic Party and recruit candidates.

Jochum has been a legislator for 30 years. She issued a written statement thanking Wahls for his vision and leadership and describing Senate Democrats as a united team heading into the 2024 election.  Jochum was first elected to the Iowa House in 1992. She’s been a member of the Iowa Senate since 2009 and previously served as Senate President when Democrats held the majority.

(Radio Iowa) – Former Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne is now a member of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s senior staff. Axne is the U-S-D-A’s Senior Advisor for Rural Engagement, Delivery and Prosperity. Axne, a 58 year old Democrat from West Des Moines, served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Last November, she lost her campaign for reelection in Iowa’s third congressional district to Republican Zach Nunn of Bondurant.

Axne and Democrat Abby Finkenauer of Dubuque were the first two women from Iowa to serve in the U.S. House after winning their first races for the House in 2018. Axne served on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee for four years and co-chaired the Congressional Rural Caucus. Axne had worked in state government for nine years, serving three different governors, including Tom Vilsack who is now the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

Axne endorsed Joe Biden just before the 2020 Iowa Caucuses.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City Council in Atlantic met Wednesday evening. During the public comment portion of the session, NishnaNet owner Scott Bennett spoke about the need for the community to pull together on issues that divide us, and more specifically, the need to support the Police Department, in their efforts to combat incidents of vandalism and other incidents.

Bennett said his daughter’s car was vandalized last week, and there have been other incidents of crime, including a person urinating in front of a convenience store in the downtown area. He said as a result of the increase in incidents, including sign vandalism, his staff has been installing so many security cameras, they can’t even keep them in stock.”I think we just need to have a discussion,” Bennett said. He said also, “I’m just kind of frustrated because I don’t think it’s any one person isn’t doing anything, I think it’s ‘we need to come together as a community to help solve these problems,’ to make the vandalism go away, to make these thefts go away.”

He added, “Businesses are having other customers stuff stolen from behind them.” In the last six-months, he said, he’s installed no less than 80 security cameras within six-blocks of City Hall. There are so many cameras at this point, I’m literally ordering them by the dozen.” He said security cameras don’t stop a crime in progress, they “catch things after the fact.” He said if people and organizations can come together, “Making sure that we’re not working against each other…” things can change. Mayor Pro-Tem Linda Hartkopf said she’s sure that will be a matter of continued discussion, but acknowledged that things won’t change overnight. Bennett said he wanted to make sure the Police Department has the resources it needs to fight such incidents of crime.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council passed a Resolution “Setting the dates for Fourth of July Fireworks Use,” as June 30th through July 4th, from Noon until 11-p.m. each day. They also passed a Resolution “Authorizing and Approving a Loan Agreement and Providing for the issuance of a $90,000 General Obligation Solid Waste Management Note,” with regard to the City’s annual $85,344 fee ($12 per capita) with the Landfill, as stipulated in a 28-E agreement.

The Atlantic City Council acted on passing a Resolution appointing Chelsie Rush, Jess Larsen and Chelsi Huddleson as Sunnyside Pool Management Board Team Leaders, making them eligible for $2,500 in an annual stipend pay, in addition to $15/hour as Pool Co-Managers, for hours worked. And, they approved a Resolution granting compensatory hours to Atlantic Police Chief Devin Hogue, who has had to assume duties as a Patrol Lieutenant for an extended period of time, due to staffing issues. The City’s Personnel and Finance Committee met May 31st, and unanimously endorsed the granting of 158 compensatory hours to Chief Hogue, at his current rate of pay, to be used as either paid time-off or cashed out (with a value of $6,406.90).

The Council passed the third and final reading of an amended ordinance with regard to Special (downtown) Parking Permits, and the first readings of: An ordinance discontinuing the Cable Television Commission, and the Community Promotion Commission, for reasons previously explained. In his report to the Council, City Administrator John Lund said there is a Planning & Zoning Commission meeting next Tuesday to review a site plan for a storage unit, and discuss a proposal to make sure the first floor of downtown buildings is reserved for commercial use, with the possibility of having a conditional use permit for residential use.

He said also he’ll review a natural gas franchise agreement with Alliant Energy, with regard to price fluctuations and the use of funds for when prices drop. Lund will also examine House File 718, with regard to Property Tax Reform.