(Radio Iowa) – America will gain about four dozen new, young citizens this morning (10 AM Monday) at a special ceremony at the Iowa State Fair. Officials from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services are holding a citizenship ceremony on the state fair’s MidAmerican Energy Stage. A total of 47 children will be taking the Oath of Allegiance, after which, they’ll be presented with their citizenship certificate.

The children range in age from 10 to 18 and they come from 17 countries around the globe, from Brazil and Burma to Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The ceremony is designed to recognize and celebrate the naturalization of immigrants who have derived citizenship through their naturalized parents or adoption.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak, Sunday evening, arrested a man for Public Intoxication. 69-year-old Randal Joe Barr, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 5:45-p.m. in the 100 block of E. Oak Street.

Barr was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $300 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa — A missing teen from Arizona flew to Iowa to meet someone she had met online, according to the FBI. Authorities say 17-year-old Liliana Munguia was seen on home security video leaving her father’s home in Bapchule, Arizona, at 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 5. Later that evening, she purchased a plane ticket and flew from Mesa, Arizona, to Des Moines to meet an individual she had met online. Security footage at the Des Moines International Airport showed Munguia arriving on Aug. 5.

The FBI says Munguia was briefly in contact with her family, but has since ceased communication. According to investigators, Munguia was last seen in the Clive and Waukee area on Thursday.

17-year-old Liliana Munguia

According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children website, Munguia may go by the name “Lily” or “Lil.” The website also says she has a mole on the left side of her neck. She is 5’2″ tall, weighs 125 pounds and has black hair and brown eyes.

If you have any information, you’re asked to call 911 or the FBI’s Phoenix Field Office at 623-466-1999.

(Radio Iowa) – Challenges have been filed with state election officials, claiming the Libertarian candidates running in three of Iowa’s congressional district are not qualified for the 2024 General Election ballot. Residents in the first, third and fourth congressional districts have signed petitions which allege Libertarians did not hold county conventions as required by law, so the three Libertarian congressional candidates were not properly nominated. The Libertarians say they did have county conventions, just not in every county.

Nicholas Gluba of Lone Tree, the Libertarian candidate in the first congressional district, says the challenges show Republicans are terrified of how Libertarians are appealing to voters. “They want to attack our ability to be on the ballot. They want to attack Iowans’ ability to vote for who they choose. We have to fight against that,” Gluba said. “…When the Republicans decided that they needed to take on the Republican Party, that was an admission of fear. They’re afraid that we’re going to take out the death grip that Republicans hold on the State of Iowa.”

Marco Battaglia of Des Moines, the Libertarian candidate in Iowa’s third congressional district, says Libertarians did have county conventions, they just didn’t have one for each of Iowa’s 99 counties because there were no Libertarian delegates in some counties. “Most of our population is in, like 12 counties,” Battaglia says. “What are we supposed to do in a county that’s never voted Democrat in their life? Why do they want to register as anything else if they want Republicans to keep winning?”

Battaglia says the Republican-led legislature and Republican Governor Kim Reynolds have repeatedly changed election laws to put Libertarians at a disadvantage. “If we’ve got to take this up further up the court system, I think we can kind of dismantle this kind of unfair, rigged game that they’ve got going,” Battaglia said.

Charles Aldrich of Clarion, the Libertarian Party’s candidate in the fourth congressional district, says there was county participation — from counties that have Libertarians. “What they’re saying is inaccurate,” Aldrich says.

The Libertarians were among six congressional candidates who appeared this weekend on the Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair. Democratic candidate Ryan Melton of Nevada, who’s running in the fourth congressional district, says voters deserve as many choices as possible and the G-O-P attempt to toss Libertarians off the November ballot is awful.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Congressman Zach Nunn of Bondurant says he’s running for a second term in the U-S House to ensure congress has an “America First” mindset. “One that really puts our priorities at the top of the line,” Nunn said. Nunn, who represents Iowa’s third congressional district, says there is no greater threat to the U-S than the situation at the southern border.

“Too many in Washington are treating it like this is every day business,” Nunn said. “…Eight million illegals coming into our country is a direct threat to our nation. In fact I don’t think there’s a more direct threat to our country…We have to secure our border before we can talk about any kind of immigration reform.” Nunn says he’ll have three priorities if he wins reelection: securing the border, lowering taxes and opposing changes to Social Security and Medicare.

“Let’s keep our momentum in Washington with real leaders out there and not move backwards to the way that we’ve been,” Nunn said. “This is doing to be a competitive election year…This is an opportunity for each of us to stand up for things that are important.” Nunn made his comments on The Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair.

Nunn is facing Democratic challenger Lanon Baccam, who’s scheduled to speak at the fair late this (Monday) afternoon.

(Iowa News Service) – Thirteen students, ranging in age from 14 to 21, have just graduated from the Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council Youth Leadership Academy. The program’s goal is to develop young leaders who learn skills that build their confidence.  A dozen students from Iowa welcomed one from Illinois who is attending school in Iowa. Together, they learned during the weeklong academy how to be more effective advocates for their communities.

That’s exactly what 21-year-old Andrew Allen, who has been diagnosed with ADHD, autism and severe separation anxiety, was looking for when he applied.

The annual academy teaches students ways to advocate for themselves, become more civically engaged and to be of service in their communities. 19-year-old University of Iowa student Jackie Corless, who said she has an intellectual learning
disability, also took part in the Youth Leadership Academy. She said the topics ranged from advocacy to communicating, and lots of useful skills in between.

The Youth Leadership Academy is a partnership between the Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council, Disability Rights Iowa, ASK Resource Center, the University of Iowa Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, and Access to Independence.