(Radio Iowa) — Pork producers in Iowa and across the country are growing increasingly concerned about the threat of African Swine Fever (ASF). Curtis Meier runs a 160 sow farrow-to-finish operation near Clarinda. “It would be disastrous if we get it here in the U.S.,” Meier says. ASF has been spreading in China in recent months and products with the virus have been detected in Australia, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. Here in Iowa, Meier says producers have always emphasized bio-security on their farm, but there are some things they just can’t control. “You know, it’s really scary the amount of feed ingredients we get from China,” Meyer says. “And it doesn’t necessarily have to be in the ingredients, it can be on the confounded containers that they use to haul the stuff over here.”

Livestock economist Steve Meyer says African Swine Fever could have a big impact on hog prices in coming months. If ASF continues to spread in China, it could be positive for U.S. pork producers. “If the losses in China get completely out of hand and they have to go to the world market to just feed their people – and if we can get our tariff situation settled enough that we can participate in that – that would be a real positive,” Meyer says. But if AFS were to enter the U.S., Meyer says, it would obviously be devastating. “If it comes here, we’re blocked from exports immediately, and we have 23 percent more pork and we’ve got to work through all that…so, even if we contain it quickly and it doesn’t kill many pigs, we can’t export until we prove it’s contained,” Meyer said.

But Meyer also thinks the U.S. is much better prepared to deal with an ASF outbreak, which could limit any potential long-term damage to markets. Curtis Meier and Steve Meyer both spoke with Brownfield Ag News during this week’s annual meeting of the Iowa Pork Producers Association in Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa) — A Senate committee is scheduled to consider a bill next week that will ensure that fireworks may be set off anywhere in the state on Independence Day. Senator Jake Chapman, a Republican from Adel, says “There is nothing more patriotic in America than fireworks on the 4th of July.”  Chapman is backing the move to undo city and county ordinances that have restricted or banned fireworks displays on July 4th. The legislation would also forbid local rules restricting where retailers may sell fireworks. Companies that sell fireworks say that kind of statewide uniformity is essential. Jim Henter of the Iowa Retail Federation suggests there’s a hodge-podge of regulations now. “We’ve had folks that had to go through full-blown DCI background checks just to sell them for a couple of weeks, fingerprinting, permits, etc. and that’s just one community,” Henter says. “And we have had other communities that have said: ‘Hey, we’d love to have you in here, love to have you selling.”

Henter also points to some ordinances restricting WHERE fireworks may be sold within city limits.  “It is crazy for us to sit here and look at a product that we can legally sell and you have to move it to an industrial zone,” Henter said. “We cannot sell it in our stores.” Cities and counties as well as fire fighters and law enforcement groups oppose the bill, citing safety concerns. Robert Palmer of the Iowa League of Cities says local ordinances on fireworks should be maintained. “We’re the best ones at the local level to know where they should be safely used,” he said. “That logic applies on July 4th as well as it does on July 3rd.”

Des Moines Police Chief Dana Wingert says there were 12-hundred 9-1-1 calls in the capital city on Independence Day this past year. “Most of these calls come into us as ‘shots fired’ trips, which calls for a two-person response, an emergency response,” Wingert said, “and you get there and then you have to make the determination: Was it ‘shots fired’ or was it fireworks? It’s very resource intensive.”  Jonathan Lund, the fire marshal for the City of Des Moines, says first responders see an increase in fires and injuries when fireworks are for sale in the state. “The injuries and the destruction that’s associated with those, obviously we’re concerned about that,” Lund said.  A senate subcommittee advanced the bill late Thursday afternoon, making it eligible for debate in the Senate Commerce Committee next week.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:50 a.m. CST

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A second Republican has announced he’ll challenge embattled Iowa Rep. Steve King in the 2020 primary. The Sioux City Journal reports that 40-year-old Jeremy Taylor, a Woodbury County supervisor and former state legislator, announced his candidacy for Iowa’s 4th Congressional District in a news release Thursday. Earlier this month, GOP state Sen. Randy Feenstra announced he’ll challenge the longtime congressman in the primary.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — An arctic wave has wrapped the Upper Midwest in numbing cold. But the worst may be yet to come. The deep freeze caused organizers of the Winter Carnival in Minnesota to cancel several events, including Thursday night’s parade through downtown St. Paul. Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has closed its six outdoor skating rinks because of the cold weather. Forecasters say the frigid weather is expected to linger into next week, with even colder temperatures midweek.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa county agreed to pay $50,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit against its top prosecutor last month, days before he applied for a seat on the Iowa Supreme Court. The payment settles a lawsuit filed against Muscatine County Attorney Alan Ostergren over his two-year prosecution of West Liberty City Manager Chris Ward that an appeals court eventually found unjustified.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa court judge has struck down a portion of a 2017 voting reform law that requires county election officials to call, write or email voters who do not completely fill out an application for an absentee ballot. The law was written to say county officials must use the best means available to find missing information.

Police in Council Bluffs were called to 35 N. 1st Street in Council Bluffs at around 1:23-p.m., Thursday, to check on the welfare of a person who has not been heard from for several days. Officers entered the residence and located a deceased person. The death is being investigated as a suspicious. The deceased person had not been identified as of the latest report. The cause of death was unknown, and pending autopsy.

The investigation is ongoing by the Council Bluffs Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division. Anyone with any information that was in the area at the time of this incident is encouraged to contact this Division at 712-328-4728 or they may call Crime Stoppers at 712-328-7867.

A collision on icy roads in Montgomery County Thursday afternoon resulted in two people being transported to the hospital. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the accident happened just before 2-p.m. on Highway 34, a little east of E Avenue. An investigation determined a 2002 Hyundai Sonata driven by 35-year old Leanna M. Jensen, of Shenandoah, was westbound on Highway 34, when it encountered a snow covered portion of the road. The snow caused the car to skid across the road before it struck an eastbound 2010 Toyota Highlander on the driver’s side. The Toyota was being driven by 57-year old Mark W. Euken, of Red Oak. The impact caused the SUV to enter the south ditch where it rolled over once and came to rest on its wheels. The car also came to rest in the south ditch.

All of the occupants of Jensen’s car declined medical treatment. Both occupants of the Euken SUV were extricated by Red Oak Fire and Rescue from the vehicle, by mechanical means. They were transported to the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. Both vehicles were considered a total loss. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by Red Oak Police and the Iowa State Patrol. The accident remained under investigation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa court judge has struck down a portion of a 2017 voting reform law that requires county election officials to call, write or email voters who do not completely fill out an application for an absentee ballot. The law was written to say county officials must use the best means available to find missing information.

When Secretary of State Paul Pate wrote the administrative rules to enact the law, he prohibited election officials from looking up the needed information in their electronic voter registration system. He instead required election officials to contact voters by phone, writing or by email.

The League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa sued last year, saying Pate’s rule could lead to voter suppression. In a ruling Thursday, Judge Karen Romano said Pate’s interpretation of the Legislature’s language is erroneous, irrational and illogical. Pate says he will appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court.

Additional challenged sections of the law, which require voters to present government-issued identification at polls and shorten the time frame for casting absentee ballots, are scheduled for trial in June.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A second Republican has announced he’ll challenge embattled Iowa U.S. Rep. Steve King in the 2020 primary. The Sioux City Journal reports that 40-year-old Jeremy Taylor, a Woodbury County supervisor and former state legislator, announced his candidacy for Iowa’s 4th Congressional District in a news release Thursday. Taylor touted his conservative record on abortion, gun rights and tax relief.

Earlier this month, another Republican — state Sen. Randy Feenstra — announced he’ll challenge the longtime GOP congressman. At least two other Republicans have indicated they might too.
King is known for his caustic comments about race and immigration. He was stripped of his committee assignments and rebuked by the House in a 424-1 vote for recent comments about white supremacy.

Police in Council Bluffs report officers were dispatched a little after 10-a.m. today (Thursday), to the old, vacant No Frills Supermarket store at 1817 West Broadway, for a death investigation. While the store’s shelving and coolers were being removed by a contract firm, a body was found. The body appears to have been there an extended period of time.

The Pottawattamie County Medical Examiner’s Office responded, and is conducting an investigation along with the Council Bluffs Police Department. The Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office has ordered an autopsy and the body will be transported their facility in Ankeny.

Officials with Southwest Valley Schools in Corning put out a statement Thursday on social media, with regard to students soliciting money for organizations. The statement said “If you are approached by a student claiming to represent a school organization soliciting money please remember the following:

1) Make sure the student soliciting funds has paperwork related to the fundraiser, especially if you give cash as payment so it can be tracked.

2) NEVER make out a personal check to a student. ALWAYS make out the check to the school or school organization.”

If you are suspicious, contact (S.W. Valley) immediately. Administrators have paperwork on file for all approved fundraisers and can check into the situation for you.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Sen. Joni Ernst says in an interview that she was raped by a boyfriend while she was a student at Iowa State University but didn’t report the assault. In an interview with Bloomberg posted online Wednesday night, Ernst disclosed the attack. She also clarified her discussions with President Donald Trump about becoming his running mate. Ernst, a first-term Republican from Iowa, this week has spoken about her troubled marriage and other aspects of her life after media disclosures based on court documents from her recently settled divorce from Gail Ernst, 65. They were married 26 years and have one adult daughter. Ernst, 48, told Bloomberg she decided to disclose the rape after the court filings were publicized, including her allegations that her husband assaulted her.

Ernst said she was in a relationship with a man who was “physically and sexually abusive.” She said he raped her at his home and threatened to kill himself if she ended the relationship. She called a campus sexual assault counseling center hotline and ended the relationship but didn’t report the attack to police. During her 2014 Senate campaign, Ernst noted she volunteered at the counseling center but didn’t acknowledge the assault. “I was embarrassed,” she said. “I didn’t know how to explain it. I was so humiliated. And I’m a private person, when it comes to those things.”

Ernst declined to name the man who attacked her, noting she’d described the assault to her former husband but not divulged the man’s identity. In court affidavits filed during the divorce hearings , Ernst stated that Trump interviewed her in 2016 to be his vice president. Ernst wrote, “I turned Candidate Trump down, knowing it wasn’t the right thing for me or my family.” In the Bloomberg interview, Ernst clarified that Trump didn’t offer her the job and that after thinking about it, she phoned then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort to withdraw from consideration. Trump eventually chose Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who is now vice president.