(Radio Iowa) — Vice President Mike Pence visits central Iowa today (Tuesday) to discuss the importance of the U-S-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s not aware of any timeline for the trade deal to be sent to Congress. The measure would go to the U-S House first where Grassley says Speaker Nancy Pelosi is still working to get her freshmen troops organized. “Every day, you read about her having problems with these new members on this subject or that subject or some other subject,” Grassley says. “She has the same problems with the Mexico Canadian agreement with the United States and she’s got to get her people comfortable with it.”

Grassley, a Republican, says he met with Democrat Pelosi about a month ago to talk about U-S-M-C-A and he says he believes she’s “very sincere” about getting it passed. He notes the House has 75 or 80 new members, the largest such class since 1974. Vice President Pence will visit Accumold in the Des Moines suburb of Ankeny, a company that makes molds for the high-tech industry and ships globally.  “I’m certainly glad the vice president is going to Ankeny because trade is so important to Iowa,” Grassley says. “Good for the administration to see first-hand the need to do it.”

Grassley says he fully supports U-S-M-C-A and he knows it has bipartisan backing, including from former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, who served eight years as U-S Ag Secretary under President Obama. “I kinda’ think that a month ago or whenever Secretary Vilsack had an announcement that he supported it and that it was good for Iowa, particularly Iowa agriculture,” Grassley says, “that probably was the best boost that it could possibly have.”

The U-S-M-C-A is designed to replace NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, which went into effect in 1994.

(Radio Iowa) — Vice President Mike Pence will be in Iowa today (Tuesday) to tout a revised trade pact with Canada and Mexico. Pence will land in Des Moines shortly after noon and head to Accumold in Ankeny. It’s a business that ships its products worldwide. Pence will speak there, to highlight the Trump Administration’s “efforts to pass the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.” The deal has not yet been submitted to congress. Once that happens, the U.S. House and Senate have 30 days to ratify or reject the deal. The deal updates the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

NAFTA created a free trade zone on the continent and was ratified by the U.S., Mexico and Canada in 1993. It went into effect on January 1st of 1994.

Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports the arrest on July 14th, of a Polk County man. 29-year old Lukas Jamal Garner, of Des Moines, was arrested at the Polk County Jail, on an Adair County warrant for Violation of Probation that was filed in Aug., 2018. Garner was transported to the Adair County Jail and released later in the day July 14th, on a $5,000 cash-only bond.

Sheriff’s officials in Union County report a Jasper County man was injured during a rollover accident Monday night. 38-year old Marshall Lee Bennett, of Colfax, was driving a 2001 Ford Escape eastbound on Highway 34 at around 11:20-p.m., when the vehicle went out of control. The SUV entered a ditch a struck an embankment before flipping onto its top. Bennett was transported by EMS ambulance to CHI Health/Mercy Hospital in Corning, for treatment of unknown/possible injuries, after he complained of pain.

A special election is taking place today (Tuesday), in the Adams County City of Prescott. Voters will cast their ballots for Mayor, and two Council Member At-Large positions, all three posts are to fill vacancies. The candidates include:

• Mayor – Jerry Loghry & Theresa West
• Council At-Large: Lanna Ray & Kimberly Reed
• Council At-Large: Cheryl Holbrook & Gregory Allen Wilkinson.

The polls are open today until 8-p.m. The polling site can be found at the Prescott City Hall/Library.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa police officer facing growing claims of misconduct has resigned, two weeks after the release of a video that showed him striking a motorcyclist during a 2017 traffic stop. Robert Smith resigned Monday after a closed City Council meeting in Durant. Smith was one of three full-time officers in the town of 1,800. Durant hired Smith last year after he resigned from the Iowa State Patrol following an investigation into his arrest of Bryce Yakish.

Problems in Smith’s past came to the public’s attention after Cedar County Sheriff Warren Wethington banned Smith and other Durant officers from bringing suspects to his jail in May. Wethington said he couldn’t vouch for their credibility. Video obtained by The Associated Press shows Smith pointed his gun at Yakish and knocked him down.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a man from Council Bluffs was arrested at around 5-a.m. today, following a report of Criminal Mischief. 31-year old Cody William Thomas was arrested for Violation of a No Contact/Protective Order – Contempt of Court. And, 22-year old Victor Manuel Martinez, of Blair, NE, was transported from the Washington County, NE Jail to the Pott. County Jail, Monday, to address a warrant for Violation of Probation.