Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst, from Red Oak, wants your input on the upcoming Farm Bill, which is in the process of being written. Officials with her office said Ernst didn’t receive any questions about the bill during a recent visit to Red Oak.  Ernst serves on the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. The Farm Bill, a comprehensive food and agriculture legislation, is typically enacted every four or five years.

Last month, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Bill and Legislative Principles for 2018. (You can download a pdf copy of those legislative principals here: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2018-farm-bill-and-legislative-principles.pdf

Persons with input and concerns about the bill being drafted are strongly urged to contact Ernst’s office in Council Bluffs, by phone, letter, or fax, or her office in Washington, D.C.

Contact info.:

Senator Joni Ernst

221 Federal Building
8 South Sixth Street
Council Bluffs, IA 51501
Phone: (712) 352-1167
Fax: (712) 352-0087

111 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3254
Fax: (202) 224-9369

Senate Republicans are crafting a “fix” that would ensure future Iowa governors have the constitutional authority to appoint a lieutenant governor who could also become the state’s chief executive. After an attorney general’s ruling in May, Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds appointed an “acting” lieutenant governor replacement when Terry Branstad resigned and she became governor. A proposed constitutional amendment would make it clear any future lieutenant governor who takes over in the middle of a governor’s term may appoint a lieutenant governor.

Republican Senator Roby Smith, of Davenport, says “The constitution is there for the people to tell us what we are to do in these situations.” Senator Tony Bisignano, a Democrat from Des Moines, says it was a “unique situation” when Branstad resigned in the middle of his term. “But it doesn’t mean that it can’t happen again and it could happen very soon,” Bisignano says. “If Senator Grassley did not complete his term, Governor Reynolds could appoint herself and if she did that, we would have a lieutenant governor who can’t assume the position of governor at this time.”

In that scenario, Senate President Jack Whitver would be next in what’s called the “line of succession” and HE would become governor. The proposed constitutional amendment has cleared a senate SUBcommittee. It has at least four more hurdles to clear THIS year. The proposal would have to win approval from the House and Senate AGAIN in 2019 or 2020 before Iowans would be able to vote on the proposed change to the state constitution.

(Radio Iowa)

Dave and Buster’s — a national chain of restaurants with video arcades — wants to expand in Iowa and give customers PlayStations and iPads as prizes. But Iowa law limits the value of prizes for “concession games” In retail establishments to no more than $100. David Adelman, a lobbyist for Dave and Buster’s, is urging Iowa legislators to lift the limit and let the business to come to Iowa. “The construction investment, the property taxes, the sales taxes to the state — I mean, states around the country have seen this as a no-brainer,” Adelman says. “Again, it’s a job-creating opportunity. This is a family-friendly environment.”

Similar establishments in Iowa such as Chuck E. Cheese’s or Fun City operate under the 100 dollar limit. The bill would raise the limit to 950 dollars. The state’s gambling industry warns it’s a slippery slope that could make “amusement devices” in these establishments similar to casino games. Senator Dan Dawson, a Republican from Council Bluffs, patronizes a Dave and Buster’s across the border in Omaha. “We’ve had a Dave and Buster’s I believe for probably the past 10 years and casinos for at least 20 to 25 (years),” Dawson says. “I’ve never heard anyone in my metro area talk about a cannibalizing or businesses or competing operations or anything along those lines.”

Dave and Busters, a Dallas-based business, operates more than 100 locations around the country. The bill it backs in the Iowa legislature must pass a committee by the end of next week or the proposal will be ineligible for consideration again this year.

(Radio Iowa)

Authorities in southeast Iowa are investigating a fatal accident that happened at around 10:45-p.m., Tuesday. The Iowa State Patrol reports 41-year old Christopher James Feldman, of Bloomfield, who was not wearing a seat belt, died at the scene, when his 1997 Toyota went out of control on northbound Highway 63, and collided with a southbound 2017 Mack semi tractor.The driver of the semi was identified as 61-year old Marion Dale Zook, of Ankeny. Zook was not injured in the crash.

Following the collision, both vehicles came to rest in the west ditch.

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

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Attorneys for Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz and his neighbors say they’ve settled a years-long dispute over a private road. Trial had been scheduled to start Tuesday in a case that pitted the nation’s longest-tenured college football coach and his wife against the other families living along a road outside Iowa City. The lawsuit involved the cost of road maintenance and claims that the Ferentzes’ privacy fencing and landscaping were encroachments. Both sides say they’re pleased to settle the case.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say eight died – including two teenage sisters _ on Iowa roads as a winter storm swept the state Monday, leading to dozens of crashes and a 50- to 70-car pileup near Ames. The Des Moines Register reports that 17-year-old Avery Arneson and 13-year-old Aiden Arneson, sisters from Decorah, died a two-vehicle crash around 8:30 a.m. Monday on a county road in northeast Iowa. Another fatal crash happened at around 4:30-p.m. Monday, in Cass County.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The person offered the job as president of Briar Cliff University in Sioux City has declined the position. The Sioux City Journal reports the university planned to announce the new president this week but instead learned the person had withdrawn from considerations due to family obligations. In response, college trustees named Rachelle Karstens as interim president. Karstens, the executive vice president, has overseen the college’s operations since the resignation of president Hamid Shirvani.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Labor, public health, environment and animal protection organizations are asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reject plans to change the way hogs are slaughtered and processed for meat. Thirty-five organizations including Compassion Over Killing, Friends of the Earth and Waterkeeper Alliance have asked Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to reject the rules proposed last month.