Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says the impeachment inquiry into President Biden is part of the oversight function congress has over the executive branch.

Ernst says the House does have to follow the facts and see where they lead.  In January of 2020, Ernst accused Biden of turning a blind eye to his son’s business dealings AND she accused House Democrats of lowering the bar for impeachment by trying to impeach President Trump. Ernst recently has suggested she and her fellow Republicans in the Senate are focused on getting a bipartisan deal on the annual defense spending bill rather than impeachment. She commented briefly Wednesday during a conference call with Iowa reporters.

The White House has said the president was not in business with his son and the impeachment inquiry is based on debunked conspiracy theories. Ernst is also criticizing the Biden Administration for allowing federal employees to work from home. Ernst says it’s time for Senate Democrats to bring up a bill House Republicans passed in February that would require federal agencies to return to pre-pandemic telework policies — when about two percent of all federal employees worked remotely.

A government report found that in January, February and March of this year, the employee occupancy rate at the headquarters for 17 federal agencies was 25 percent or less.

Ernst is calling for a report on how many federal employees are working remotely. Last month, the White House chief of staff sent an email to top agency officials, directing them to aggressively execute plans to get employees to work in their government offices.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Joni Ernst pressed an Air Force general during confirmation hearings on Tuesday about what Ernst called an unfulfilled promise the military made to Sioux City. Ernst questioned General David Allvin, who is nominated to be the 23rd Chief of Staff for the Air Force. She said the promise was made 20 years ago to expand the runway at Sioux City.

During the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Ernst said the lack of a runway upgrade puts the future of the National Guard in Sioux City in jeopardy.

Ernst called the potential loss of those guard members unacceptable, and Allvin responded that he’d get the runway project reviewed.

The general called the 185th a fantastic organization and promised to work with the secretary of the Air Force to pause any discussion to change the 185th’s mission until the assessment is complete.

DES MOINES – Gov. Kim Reynolds today (Wednesday) announced her appointment of David Faith as a district judge in Judicial Election District 5A.

Faith, of Indianola, Iowa, is a deputy attorney general at the Iowa Office of the Attorney General.  He received an undergraduate degree from Concordia College and his law degree from the University of Iowa College of Law.

Faith fills a vacancy created by the retirement of District Judge Randy Hefner.  Judicial Election District 5A includes Dallas, Guthrie, Jasper, Madison, Marion, and Warren counties.

Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn is co-sponsoring a bill that would require suicide awareness and prevention training for most school employees in every state, at least every other year.

All but two states have laws that encourage school personnel to take suicide prevention training, but Iowa is one of only 17 states where it’s mandatory for school staff each year. It’s a requirement Nunn supported when he was a member of the state legislature.

Nunn, a Republican from Bondurant, is co-sponsoring the bill with a Democrat from Alaska. It would require suicide prevention training for all licensed staff in public and private schools that serve sixth through 12th grade students.

Nunn says the key to the training for educators is to identify resources to help students who express feelings of hopelessness or signs of depression.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Police Detectives in Council Bluffs are attempting to identify the person wanted in connection with a death investigation. Authorities say that at around 3:10-p.m. Thursday, Sept. 7th, Council Bluffs police and fire departments were dispatched to 2712 South 24th Street, in Council Bluffs, at the Super 8 Motel, for a report of an unresponsive person. An investigation revealed that an adult female died at the hotel under suspicious circumstances. Final results of the autopsy are still pending.

Authorities said the victim who has been identified as 35-year-old Natalia Manriquez Sepulveda was found dead at the Super 8 Motel near Interstate 80 and 24th Street. She was an employee at the motel.

The Council Bluffs Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in identifying a person of interest in the investigation. The person is described as a black male in his late 30s or early 40s, who may frequent the Super 8 Motel. Pictures of the individual wanted for questioning are shown in this story.

Specific details of the investigation are not being released at this time, as the investigation is on-going.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Council Bluffs Police Department Criminal Investigation Division at 712-328-4728. To remain anonymous, they may call CrimeStoppers at 712-328-7867 or submit an on-line crime tip at https://www.councilbluffs-ia.gov/FormCenter/Police-Department-2/Online-CrimeStoppers-Tip-70

(Radio Iowa) – The Ankeny-based convenience store chain Casey’s reports a good first quarter. C-E-O Darren Rebelez (Reh-bell-ez) talked about the results in a conference call for investors.

He says the company saw gas sales increase slightly, while maintaining a gas margin of nearly 42 cents a gallon. Rebelez has said in the past the company has been able to take advantage of big changes in gas prices, but he says they maintained their margin this quarter without that happening.

He says the amount of profit they make on gas has remained strong.

Rebelez says in-store says were up more than eight percent– driven by sales of their new thin crust pizza.