Senator Joni Ernst and the rest of the Iowa Congressional Delegation recently sent a letter to President Donald Trump expressing concern about the impact of trade negotiations on farmers in the state. Ernst, a Republican from Red Oak, says process for handling trade issues isn’t exactly the way she would do it — but she says she the president does listen. “This president is very, very open and accessible, and more so than the last administration where we had even Democrats, some of my colleagues have stated they had very little if any interaction with the president,” Ernst says. Ernst says she favors a more linear approach to handling the trade issues. “He is juggling a number of trade deals right now, which makes it very complicated,” Ernst says. “Of course I would prefer that he take up a trade deal, we get that deal done and we move on to the next.”

She says in her talks with the president he has expressed confidence he can get the North American Free Trade Deal done by this fall. Ernst says the president says Canada has been the problem in NAFTA, so they’ve encouraged the president to do a bilateral deal with Mexico while continuing to work on Canada. “Trade is so important for us, so while we have all these trade deals up in the air, we need to have some level of optimism moving forward that these deals are going to get done. So, I want to see action on it. I want to see that we do have NAFTA done,” Ernst says. Ernst says they continue to remind the president of the concerns of farmers. “I know they are juggling a lot right now — it’s probably not the preferable way for Joni Ernst — but if we can get these deals done, I think our farmers will be doing well,” according to Ernst. “But I am extremely concerned in the short term on what it’s going to do to our markets.”

Ernst and Senator Chuck Grassley recently met with Terry Branstad, who is the former Iowa governor and now Ambassador to China to discuss trade with that country. “The ambassador did give us good feedback. I won’t discuss it openly today because of course we have a number of ongoing issues with China,” Ernst says. She says they also talked with Branstad about North Korea and while they have trade issues with China — China is important in helping to ensure the de-nuclearization of North Korea.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — High winds from a fast-moving storm front have knocked trees and limbs onto houses and cars and knocked out power to homes and businesses in several Iowa counties.
Gusts up to 80 mph were reported Thursday and winds nearing 60 mph were reported at Des Moines International Airport. At least two semitrailers were tipped over on Interstate 80 near Walnut and one on Interstate 35 near Bevington. No injuries were reported. At the Atlantic Municipal Airport, Thursday, the automated weather system recorded a wind gust of 61 mph just before 11-a.m. Numerous large trees were uprooted or had their limbs fall on property, including at least two vehicles, the Rolling Hills Bank sign on 7th Street was blown down, and power was out to several areas of town, with the west side having the longest outage while AMU crews worked to repair downed power lines. A fireworks vendor tent in the Atlantic Wal-Mart parking lot, was destroyed by the high winds.

In Anita, a tree fell on a house, but there were no injuries. Two-miles south of Massena, farm sheds were toppled and corn fields nearly flattened. Fontanelle and Greenfield reported damage in the form of fences down, a greenhouse was blown over the the Greenfield Shopko store, heavy rain and hail was reported. Winds gusted up to 70 mph. A home was damaged three-miles south of Greenfield, a machine shed was destroyed, a grain bin severely damaged and multiple trees were down in the same area.  Downtown Greenfield also saw damage, with a gas leak – possibly storm related – having caused the evacuation and closing of the courthouse and neighboring businesses. The radio tower at the Adair County Hospital was blown down also. The Wallace Country Life Center near Orient also sustained damage. Officials report all hoop houses have MAJOR damage (most likely can not be repaired), the greenhouse had plastic ripped off but the structure seemed to have minimal damage, a tree was uprooted and numerous other branches were sheared-off. The west side of the house on the property was impaled by a tree branch that went through the wall and into the gift shop. There was roof damage on the barn, and the flag pole has a major bend in it. Winds topping 60 mph were reported in Stuart, Adair, Creston, Walnut and Harlan, to name a few of the communities affected by the storm. Scattered power outages were reported across the listening area.

Indianola officials say some trees posed a danger to cleanup efforts because they were touching downed power lines. Wind damage also was reported in Afton, Creston and Greenfield. A fireworks tent and fireworks were destroyed in Winterset.

Sheriff’s deputies in Adams County along with the Adams County K-9 Unit and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies, executed a search warrant at around 12:55-a.m. today (Friday, on the Westover residence at 2575 Elm Avenue. Deputies located and seized a substance believed to be methamphetamine, scales, plastic baggies, marijuana pipes, methamphetamine pipes, ammunition, offensive weapons and prescription drugs. The case remains under investigation. No arrests were reported.

And, a traffic stop Wednesday evening on a vehicle near Highway 34 and Fig Avenue in Adams County, resulted in the arrest of Emily Breffle, of Milwaukee, WI.  Breffle was taken into custody for OWI and Possession of a Controlled Substance. The Adams County K-9 “Baxo” was deployed during the traffic stop.

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report three recent arrests. At around 4:30-p.m. Thursday, 23-year old Edward Izell Davis, Jr., of Lenox, was arrested on a valid Mongtomery County warrant for Violation of Probation. Davis, Jr. was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond. At around 3:35-p.m. Thursday, 42-year old Dawn Aleene Anderson, of Red Oak, was arrested by Montgomery County deputies for simple assault, following a fight with another inmate in the Montgomery County Jail. Anderson was being held on an additional $300 bond, on top of her original bond. And, at around 5-p.m. Wednesday, 41-year old Joseph Ryan Bredberg, of Red Oak, was arrested on a valid Montgomery County warrant for Violation of Probation. His bond was set at $10,000.

Red Oak Police report 58-year old Thomas Oscar Anderson, of Red Oak, was arrested Thursday for allegedly Violating the terms of his protective order four times. Anderson was located in the 200 block of N. Broadway St., and was being held in the Montgomery County Jail without bond, pending an appearance before the magistrate.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a former insurance claims representative in West Des Moines, Iowa, has been sentenced to two years’ probation in a fraud case. The Iowa Insurance Division said Thursday that Cora Harrington pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree fraudulent practices, a felony. An investigation begun in 2017 concluded that Harrington submitted false information in support of insurance claims and altered insurance company records to generate payments for her own benefit.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Nearly 1 percent of the electorate in Iowa’s largest counties did not show identifications during the June 5 primary, prompting critics to warn that the requirement could disenfranchise some voters in elections beginning next year. Figures provided by the 10 counties with the highest turnout show that 1,198 voters signed oaths attesting to their identities of 144,000 ballots cast.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the number of pigs on farms has reached a record high for June 1. The agency says in a report released Thursday that the inventory of pigs was 73.5 million, up 3 percent from a year ago and an increase of 1 percent from March 1.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A 21-year-old Davenport man accused of crashing a stolen garbage truck into a police chief’s squad car, seriously injuring the chief, has been found guilty of attempted murder. A jury returned the verdict Thursday against Logan Shoemaker. Authorities say Logan Shoemaker stole the truck Sept. 25 after his pickup truck collided with it while being pursued by police. Authorities say Shoemaker rammed the garbage truck into the squad car of Buffalo Police Chief T.J. Behning.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the number of pigs on farms has reached a record high for June 1. The agency says in a report released Thursday that the inventory of pigs was 73.5 million, up 3 percent from a year ago and up 1 percent from March 1.

It’s the highest June 1 inventory of all pigs since estimates began 54 years ago.
The USDA says 33.2 million baby pigs were born from March to May, the largest number of new pigs for the same period since 1970 when records began.

Iowa has the most pigs with 22.7 million animals, also a June 1 record for the state. North Carolina is second with 8.9 million and Minnesota third with 8.6 million.

Atlantic City Clerk Barb Barrick reports City officials have heard some radio advertisements with regard to tree trimming services, in the aftermath of Thursday’s storm. The City reminds the public that any tree trimmers working in Atlantic need to have a permit.

Questions about the permitting process can be directed to City Hall as well as any questions pertaining to which businesses have permits.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Nearly 1 percent of voters in Iowa’s largest counties did not show identification during the June 5 primary under a new state law, prompting critics to warn that the requirement could disenfranchise some voters in elections beginning next year.

At least 1,198 voters signed oaths affirming their identities because they did not have, or refused to show a driver’s license or other ID accepted under the law, according to figures provided to The Associated Press by the 10 counties with the highest turnout. They accounted for 0.83 percent of 144,000 ballots cast for which the data was collected.

The primary was the first statewide election in which pre-registered voters were asked to show a state-issued ID, passport, military or veteran ID or free voter card before casting ballots, under the law approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature last year. Previously, those voters only had to give their names and addresses to poll workers.

As part of a gradual rollout of the new law, voters without IDs in 2018 are being allowed to sign an “Oath of Identification” attesting that they are who they say they are. The oath option will remain available in the November election, which features competitive races for governor and at least two Republican-held U.S. House seats.
But in 2019 when there will be local races, the option of signing an oath will go away.

In 2019 under the law, voters without IDs will be allowed to have other registered voters, such as a spouse or neighbor accompanying the person, attest to their identity. Otherwise, they will be required to cast provisional ballots that would be counted only if they take steps to establish proof of their identities by the next Monday at noon.

In a filing Wednesday, lawyers for voting rights advocates who are challenging the law argued it will impose “significant” new burdens to participation that will fall disproportionately on voters who are young, low-income and minority. State lawyers have asked for the suit to be dismissed.

CHEROKEE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say floodwaters from the swollen Little Sioux River have carried an invasive fish into a northwest Iowa city lake. The silver carp from Asia — also known as jumping carp — have landed in Spring Lake Park in Cherokee, thanks to a broken overflow line. City conservationist Nick Livermore told station KCAU that, as filter feeders, the carp “can really hurt the bottom of a food chain in a water system.”

State authorities say that when the fish are startled by boat motors, they can jump 10 feet out of the water, striking and injuring boaters, anglers and skiers.