(Radio Iowa) – The Des Moines City Council has given initial approval to an ordinance that sets a 50 dollar fine for those caught sleeping in public and refuse to leave places like doorways and alleys. Des Moines City Councilman Chris Coleman helped draft the plan. “When the police are asking them to move on, we expect people to obey the police and there has to be some penalty,” Coleman said. “We’ve made it the lowest possible penalty with a way to ensure that people who can’t pay the fine with won’t pay the fine.”

The ordinance also lets the city remove personal belongings from an illegal campsite three days after a notice is given. Des Moines and other cities have begun rewriting regulations after a U-S Supreme Court ruled last month that cities can ban sleeping and camping in public places. Sarah Schuler — the H-R director for a Des Moines ad agency — says she has begun talking with employees about safety outside their office in downtown Des Moines. “We all know that when we live in a city, that we’re going to face challenges,” she said. “We all understand that, but since COVID and since my time with Flynn Wright the incidents have really continued to escalate.”

Alan Callanan of Des Moines says the ordinance criminalizes homelessness. “People with fines and criminal records will have a harder time getting out of homelessness,” Callanan says. “Everyone on city council knows this will not solve the rising rate of homelessness in the city and across the country, but some on council clearly want the council to be able to further punish people who are already in a dangerous situation.”

Tom Hromatka, the treasurer of a non-profit that helps homeless people in Des Moines, says the homeless population in Iowa’s capital city has more than doubled in the past two years and the ordinance is a band-aid. “We need to aggressively seek long term alternatives and permanent solutions to this problem,” he said.

The Des Moines City Council must review and approve the ordinance in two more meetings before it takes effect. The A-C-L-U of Iowa has signaled it will go to court to challenge the ordinance.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court has rejected a request to reconsider its recent ruling that outlawing nearly all abortions in legal under Iowa’s constitution. A year ago, Governor Reynolds signed the law banning abortions after fetal activity can be detected, which is around the sixth week of a pregnancy — but even after the Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling the upholding the law, it hasn’t taken effect because attorneys for Planned Parenthood asked the Iowa Supreme Court to rehear the case. Now that the Iowa Supreme Court has said no that, a lower court judge could make the law take effect yet this week.

A Polk County District Court judge issued the injunction last July that has blocked the law. Under court procedures, it has to be a Polk County District Court judge who lifts that injunction.

• June 22, 2024, Proclamation of Disaster Emergency issued for Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, Emmet, Kossuth, Lyon, O’Brien, Osceola, Plymouth, Sioux, Cerro Gordo, Floyd, Hancock, Humboldt, Pocahontas, Webster, Winnebago, Woodbury, Worth and Wright Counties.
• June 23, 2024, Proclamation of Disaster Emergency issued for Palo Alto County.
• June 24, 2024, Proclamation of Disaster Emergency issued for Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona, and Pottawattamie Counties.

Des Moines, IA —  This evening, the Iowa Delegation to the 2024 Democratic National Convention met virtually to discuss the 2024 Presidential Nomination and decided to unanimously endorse Vice President Kamala Harris.

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart, who also chairs the Iowa delegation to the convention, is excited to rally behind the Vice President’s campaign.

“This is a historic moment for our country and for Iowans. We’ve seen a swell of support in the last 24 hours since Vice President Kamala Harris announced her campaign for the White House. Not only has Vice President Harris broken national fundraising numbers –  here in Iowa, we’ve had a substantial number of people reach out asking to volunteer.

Iowans know what’s at stake this November. Our reproductive freedoms, our public schools, Social Security and Medicare, and our values are on the ballot. I’m proud to lead a united delegation in Chicago that will work relentlessly to elect more Democrats in Iowa and help get Kamala Harris elected as the next President of the United States.”