WASHINGTON, D.C. — With a government shutdown looming, U.S. Representative Zach Nunn (IA-03) today (Thursday) wrote a letter to the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives requesting his pay be withheld until the government is funded.

“Members of Congress have a responsibility to the American people to work together to resolve our differences, responsibly cut wasteful spending, and protect the critical programs that Americans rely on,” Rep. Nunn said in the letter. “Congress’s failure to do so will imminently subject many Americans to painful decisions about their budget.  Members of Congress must not live by a different set of rules than the people they are sworn to serve, and as such, I do not believe it is appropriate for Members of Congress to collect a paycheck during a government shutdown.”

Rep. Nunn’s letter can be found here.

(Rural Guthrie Center, Iowa) – An SUV vehicle struck a deer on the road Wednesday night, in Guthrie County. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office reports the accident happened on northbound Highway 25, near 280th Street south of Guthrie Center, a little after 8-p.m.  The 2010 Jeep Liberty driven was driven by 57-year-old Loni Sue Anderson, of Shelby. Anderson was not injured. Her vehicle sustained about $4,000 damage.

DENVER, Iowa – The Iowa State Patrol reports a person driving the wrong way hit a Denver, Iowa Police Officer’s vehicle Wednesday night, when the officer tried to stop them. The vehicle was traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of Highway 63 at around 8:20-p.m.  Officers found the driver and tried to stop them by slowing down to a stop. That’s when police say the driver hit the officer’s vehicle at low speed near Highway 63 and 260th Street.

The driver then backed up, going into the ditch. The Iowa State Patrol said the driver was injured in the incident, but they did not confirm the extent of the injuries. The crash involved a 2015 Ford F-150 pickup and a 2021 Ford Explorer. No others about the crash have been released, including the names of the drivers.

Former Republican Vice-President and current 2024 presidential candidate Mike Pence will hold several “Meet-and-Greet” events in southwest Iowa, next week. According to his campaign schedule, Pence will be in Fremont, Ringgold and Adair Counties on Friday, Oct. 6th, and on Saturday, Oct. 7th, in Mills, Montgomery and Adams Counties. Pence will also be at the Atlantic High School Football game in Atlantic on Oct. 6th, for the coin toss.

Pence served alongside President Donald Trump (R) from 2017 to 2021. He officially filed to run for president on June 5, 2023. Before assuming office as vice president, Pence served as the governor of Indiana from 2013 to 2017, and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013.

Pence has highlighted the economy, abortion issues, and his religious background as central themes of his campaign.

(Iowa City, Iowa) – A head-on crash early Tuesday afternoon in Iowa City resulted in the death of an SUV driver. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2008 Ford Escape driven by 74-year-old Cynthia M. Asmussen, of Iowa City, was traveling westbound around a right-hand curve at Black Diamond Road SW/Hazelwood Avenue, when the vehicle crossed the center-line of the road and hit a 1994 Mack Dump Truck head-on. The accident happened at around 12:45-p.m.

Asmussen died at the scene. The truck driver – 39-year-old Benjamin B. Burton, of Grundy Center, was injured, and transported by ambulance to the University of Iowa Hospital, in Iowa City. The accident remains under investigation.

(St. Charles, Iowa) – A truck driver from Oklahoma was injured during a fiery crash early this (Thursday) morning, in central Iowa’s Warren County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2023 Kenworth semi tractor-trailer driven by 27-year-old Jackie C. Brooks, of Tuttle, OK, was traveling north on Interstate 35 near mile marker 53 at around 2:17-a.m., when his truck ran into the back of a 2019 Freightliner semi, driven by 47-year-old Roman Kotov, of Chicago, IL.

The Kenworth caught fire during the impact, causing the Interstate to be blocked. Brooks was transported by New Virginia EMS to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines. A report on his condition was not released.

The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Warren and Madison County Sheriff’s Offices, Martensdale and St. Mary’s Fire Departments, New Virginia EMS and an Iowa DOT Highway Helper.

(Radio Iowa) – Sioux City is hosting a festival highlighting diversity this weekend and organizers hope other Iowa communities will follow the example. The Sounds of West 7th Festival happens on Saturday with walking tours, food, art, and many genres of music. Semehar Ghebrekidan, Sioux City’s community inclusion liaison, says the fest is historically known as a hub for members of the Jewish, Black, and Asian communities.  “It’s an easy way to be able to connect with people and then hopefully having those conversations that go beyond the fun things,” Ghebrekidan says. “It’s just important to be able to celebrate all the diversity of this community.”

The music is an important aspect of the festival and they aim to please all ears, with a range including rock and roll, blues, gospel, and jazz. “I think we’re all working on engaging with people who aren’t like us, and sometimes it’s hard to know how to,” she says, “and I feel like music is just the way to people’s heart.” Ghebrekidan encourages communities across the state of Iowa to embrace their diversity by organizing similar cultural events. The event runs Saturday from 11 AM to 3 PM.

(Radio Iowa) – The Board of Regents facilities committee has given the go-ahead for several projects on the University of Iowa campus. U-I vice president Rod Lehnertz presented the projects, including one for the children’s hospital. “This as we have mentioned in the write up is a fit out of a shelled space within the Stead Family Children’s Hospital for postpartum rooms, as well as support spaces, family waiting and provider work rooms,” he says. Lehnertz says there’s been an increasing need for services to new mothers.

“A 34 percent growth in the next five years, 63 percent growth in the next ten years in newborn deliveries. And as one of the many services we provide to the citizens of the state of Iowa and beyond, this is an important one and we’re undersized for the demand on that front,” Lehnertz says. Another project involves the modernization of the student union that has had a lot of additions since it was built in 1925. The building was rebuilt in a partnership with the federal government and FEMA following the floods of 2008. “As a part of that deal, we proposed to FEMA to address outdated building systems, it’s a lot of what’s behind the walls in a building of this scale and age and FEMA disallowed it, we would put at risk the federal funds if we did anything other than repair of the building as it was,” he says. They then had to wait for a period of time before doing anything else to the building.

“That period has expired, we’re able to move forward. So we’re going back to fix the things we wanted to fix before,” Lehnertz says. “But a key component of that is tying together public spaces student spaces, so that there is a an easier way to get through and understand your way through the building.” Other projects include the expansion of the CAMBUS maintenance facility and renovating labs in the Bowen Science building.

The full Board of Regents approved the projects at its meeting today (Thursday).

(Radio Iowa) – A film that tells the story of German soldiers who spent Christmas at a P-O-W camp in Algona back in 1944 has won the top movie of the year award from a faith based entertainment and arts society. “Silent Night in Algona” was nominated for six of the group’s first-ever “Red Letter” awards. The film won the Red Letter award for Best Picture and D.J. Perry won the Best Writer award for the Silent Night in Algona screenplay. The film will be released on D-V-D and streaming platforms on December 1st.