(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds says she wants more information about the issues that have caused errors in the state’s distribution of federal welfare benefits and led the feds to fine the State of Iowa one-point-eight MILLION dollars.  “I want to know where throughout the region are we seeing the discrepancy, so that I can make sure that we’re targeting the resources to that area,” Reynolds says, “whether that’s educational or maybe additional people or what we need to do to make sure we’re where we should be.”

W-O-I Television in Des Moines first reported the state had a 10 percent error rate in its distribution of federal benefits commonly referred to as food stamps. The U-S-D-A notified the state a year ago that its error rate was above the national average. The fine was levied June 30th of this year. The governor says state officials are working on an action plan after the U-S-D-A cited the state for inconsistencies in its distribution of food stamp benefits.

“I’m also hoping that the fine that we were assessed, we’ll be working with (USDA) to see if there’s an opportunity for us to take some of that and reinvest it into technology so that we can do a better job of really being more accountable,” Reynolds says. Reynolds says at this point, state officials do not know why Iowa’s 10 percent food stamp error rate is three percent higher than the national average.

“We serve a lot of vulnerable Iowans and we have state workers that are doing a phenomenal job,” Reynolds says, “but I think there’s opportunities that we can bring to the agency and just some changes that will help them do their job more effectively and efficiently.”

Reynolds says while she’s look for a new D-H-S director to take a “fresh look” at this problem, she’s not blaming former D-H-S director Jerry Foxhoven for the higher-than-average food stamp error rate. Reynolds asked Foxhoven to resign in June.

(Radio Iowa) — A convoy of olive drab-painted jeeps, trucks and other historic military vehicles will make its way across Iowa next week, part of a journey that’s taking the collection of privately-owned, restored vehicles coast-to-coast. Jan Gammon, the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway coordinator for Prairie Rivers of Iowa, says there should be about 60 vehicles in all making the long trek from the East Coast to California.

“People are welcome to line the Lincoln Highway and wave at people as they go by,” Gammon says, “or if they’re stopped in your community for a lunch break or overnight or whatever, the public is welcome to come up and look at the vehicles and talk to people on the convoy.”

This is a recreation of a 1919 convoy that first drove from Washington D-C to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, then followed the Lincoln Highway all the way to San Francisco. It was the brainstorm of Henry Osterman, the first field secretary of the Lincoln Highway Association, who led convoys along the East Coast during World War One.

“Just after the war was over, he had this idea to test the nation’s roadways,” Gammon says. “Since he was involved with the Lincoln Highway, he suggested that they take military vehicles across the nation using the Lincoln Highway, so, that’s what they did. They started at the South Lawn of the White House and then headed to Gettysburg.” The 100th anniversary convoy is a project of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association.

A century ago, the original transcontinental convoy included some 285 enlisted men and 24 officers, including a certain ambitious lieutenant colonel. “The first military vehicle convoy had Dwight Eisenhower on it,” Gammon says. “He later became president and signed in the Interstate Act to create the interstate system, so that’s kind of interesting.”

The convoy is scheduled to cross the Mississippi River into Iowa on August 22nd, passing through Clinton, with overnights stays planned in DeWitt, Marshalltown and Denison. There should be stops in: Lowden, Marion, Belle Plaine, the Tama Lincoln Highway Bridge, Nevada (nah-VAY-dah) during the Lincoln Highway Days Parade, Boone, Jefferson, Woodbine and Missouri Valley or Crescent. The convoy should pass through Council Bluffs on August 25th.

Learn more at https://www.mvpa.org/

URBANDALE, Iowa (AP) — U.S. Rep. Steve King is defending his call for a ban on all abortions by questioning whether “there would be any population of the world left” if not for births due to rape and incest.

Speaking Wednesday before a conservative group in the Des Moines suburb of Urbandale, the Iowa congressman reviewed legislation he has sought that would outlaw abortions without exceptions for rape and incest.

King said, “What if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled out anyone who was a product of rape or incest? Would there be any population of the world left if we did that? Considering all the wars and all the rapes and pillages that happened throughout all these different nations, I know that I can’t say that I was not a part of a product of that.”

The Des Moines Register reports that the Republican added, “It’s not the baby’s fault for the sin of the father, or of the mother.” A King spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Atlantic City Councilperson Linda Hartkopf today (Wednesday), announced her intention to run for re-election to her 4th Ward seat in the November General Election. Hartkopf has been on the Council since she won a write-in campaign in 2007. Her current term expires Jan. 1st, 2020.

Linda Hartkopf

She highlighted street and sidewalk improvements as some of the highlights of her past term, and will continue to work on trying to bring new and expanding businesses to town.  Hartkopf said the Council will continue to work on improving blighted properties as well, to provide housing to people looking to move to Atlantic.

She said “I look forward to serving people, and I enjoy it when residents call me, have concerns…that I can try and help them with.”

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A 37-year-old Missouri man is charged with kidnapping the 4-year-old daughter of a woman whose body was found on a hillside in southwest Missouri.
Federal prosecutors say 37-year-old Mahamud Tooxoow Mahamed, of Noel, was charged Tuesday. He is not in custody. The body of 25-year-old Jessica McCormack, of Noel, was found July 29. Investigators believe she was stuffed into a suitcase that rolled down a hill after being thrown from a moving vehicle.

Her three children, ages 4 years to 6 months, were missing until a woman in Des Moines, Iowa, told authorities Mahemed brought them to her home Aug. 5 but left three days later.
The 4-year-old’s father told authorities Mahemed didn’t have consent to take the children to Iowa. Prosecutors say Mahemed is the 2-year-old’s father. The 6-month-old’s paternity has not been determined.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has blocked Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller from joining 21 states and six large cities in a lawsuit challenging a Trump administration policy easing restrictions on coal-fired power plants. Miller says he sought approval from the governor in June but Reynolds, a Republican and Donald Trump supporter, declined.
Miller, a Democrat, reached an agreement with Reynolds in May requiring him to get her consent before joining such lawsuits. In exchange, Reynolds vetoed a bill lawmakers passed that weakened the attorney general’s powers.

Trump has replaced an Obama administration plan that required states to cut emissions from fossil fuel-burning power plants with a rule relaxing the state restrictions. The federal lawsuit claims the Trump rule violates the federal Clean Air Act.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a woman from Nebraska was arrested on robbery and other charges following a carjacking with shots fired, Tuesday, evening. 30-year old Justine Baker, of Omaha, was transported to the Douglas County, NE. jail and held on charges that include Robbery in the 1st degree, Eluding while participating in a felony, Intimidation with a Dangerous Weapon, Theft in the 2nd degree, and Theft in the 5th Degree – related to the theft of gasoline. An unidentified adult male also allegedly involved in the incident was being sought by law enforcement.

Authorities say at around 6:12-p.m., Tuesday, Pottawattamie County deputies were dispatched to the area of I-29 and I-680 near the Mormon Bridge for a carjacking with shots fired. The vehicle reported stolen was a white GMC pickup. The pickup was taken by a white male and white female. A deputy was in the area and located the vehicle southbound on I-29 near the 57-mile marker. The deputy observed the pickup at speeds in excess of 100 mph. The pickup continued southbound on I-29 and travelled into Omaha on I-480. The Omaha Police Department located the pickup near 13th Street and Cass Street. One adult female identified as Justine Baker, was detained. The adult male was not located.

The preliminary investigation indicates that Baker and the unidentified male drove off in a 1992 Chevy truck without pay for gas from the DeSoto Bend Mini Mart. One of the owners located the vehicle on 145th Street near I-680. The owner blocked the road with his pickup. The male driver rammed the truck that was blocking the road, before firing shots. The male and Baker got into the truck blocking the road and fled. The 1992 Chevy truck that was left at 145th Street and I-680 was a stolen vehicle from Saunders County, Nebraska. At this point, a deputy located the vehicle southbound on I-29 and it continued into Omaha, NE.

The investigation into the identity of the male is ongoing.