The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission renewed the licenses for the 19 casinos it oversees during its meeting Tuesday in Altoona. The state issues one license to the gambling company to run the games, and one to a non-profit organization to distribute the money they are required by the state to set aside. Several members of the non-profits spoke to the commissioners during the renewal process — including Dakin Schultz, president of Missouri River Historical Development, or MRHD. “Since August of 2014, Merd has received over 11 million, 500-thousand in funds to distribute as grants,” Schultz says. “We’ve granted over a million dollars in scholarships — with over half of that in the last two years alone.”

He says he’s seen other benefits from moving the casino from a riverboat to the land. “Our relationship with the Hard Rock Casino Hotel has been very positive….some of the things that you see when you are in Sioux City with the Hard Rock now is the astonishing change in the downtown,” according to Schultz. He says there used to be numerous vacant buildings in the area. “Today with what’s going on at the Hard Rock, all those storefronts are filling up quick. It’s been a remarkable transition for what’s happening,” Schultz says.

The president of the Lyon County Riverboat Foundation, Jerry Keizer of Doon, talked about the funding they receive from the Grand Falls Casino.”Last October of 2017 we held our grant review banquet in the events center, where we distributed one million,235-thousand dollars to new projects in the surrounding communities,” Keizer says. He says they also distribute funds from the casino golf course, with half going to scholarships. “These awards are based on applications. The remaining 50 percent of the funds are given to the Lyon County schools,” Keizer says. “There’s three schools in Lyon County that we fund. Since 2011, each school has received one-million-200-thousand dollars.” Steve Staebell is the president of the Southeast Iowa Regional Riverboat Commission which partners with the Catfish Bend Casino. “I’m happy to report that the relationship between the Catfish Bend Casino and the Southeast Iowa Regional Riverboat Commission or SIRRC — continues to thrive to the benefit of the Des Moines and Lee County communities,” Staebell says.

He says the benefits are spread across the area. He says the revenues are equally divided between Keokuk Area Convention and Tourism Bureau, the Fort Madison SIRRC and Grow Greater Burlington. “This year southeast Iowa is sharing the benefits of nearly one-point-three million dollars made possible by these revenues,” according to Staebell. The Racing and Gaming Commission took the action to approve the new licenses at their meeting at the Prairie Meadows Casino in Altoona.

(Radio Iowa)

Eleven of the 12 Republicans on a House committee have advanced an anti-sanctuary cities bill, making it eligible for House debate. The legislation would deny state money to any city in the state that declares itself a sanctuary to people at risk of deportation because of their immigration status. Representative Clel Baudler, a Republican from Greenfield, says the city council in Iowa City “is causing this” action from legislators because it has barred Iowa City Police from acting on their own to “detect the presence of undocumented people.” “The rule of law and the voluntary compliance to the rule of law is one of the most important parts of our society,” Baudler told reporters yesterday. “If we don’t adhere to that, we’re going to have chaos and I don’t want to live in a place with chaos.”

The bill cleared the House Public Safety Committee last (Tuesday) night, but not after some extraordinary measures. Baudler chose to restrict public access to an early afternoon committee meeting on the bill, because there were protesters last year when a similar bill was considered in his committee. “I threw 11 people out of here, one at a time,” Baudler said. “We don’t want a repeat of that and that was an attempt to stop it.” Later in the afternoon, an immigrant engaged Baudler in conversation and referred to the bill as racist. Baudler replied. “That just really bugs me when you refer to me as that,” Baudler said. He then recited part of his extended family tree: “My greatgrandkids: Carlita, Emilio, Bella — Isabella, Salina, Megan, Wyatt — they’re out in California.”

Baudler — who is chairman of the House Public Safety Committee — was encouraged by House leadership to move the panel’s evening meeting to a larger room. That allowed about two dozen members of the public who oppose the bill to watch committee’s deliberations. There were no disruptions.

(Radio Iowa)

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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Vice President Mike Pence headlined a rally in Council Bluffs on Tuesday to tout the tax cuts President Trump signed into law late last year. “President Trump promised over the course of the campaign that we’d cut taxes across the board for working families and job creators large and small,” Pence said. “And just over two months ago President Donald Trump signed the largest tax cuts and tax reform in American history and our economy has taken off every day since.”

Pence took the stage by saying, “Hello Iowa!” quickly followed by a “Hello Nebraska!” Pence told the crowd businesses now have “unprecedented opportunities” to pass tax savings onto their employees. “We believe workers in Iowa and Nebraska can expect to see pay raises,” Pence said. “…We’re already on the way.” About 500 people attended the event organized by America First Policies. The group was formed to tout the president’s accomplishments and has scheduled a series of rallies around the country focused on tax policy. Pence, however, addressed other pressing issues of the day, including news that North Korea is willing to talk about ending its tests of nuclear weapons. “We’ll continue to apply maximum pressure to the Kim regime until we see North Korea take credible and concrete steps towards denuclearization,” Pence said. “We will remain firm in our resolve and we will continue to stand strong until North Korea abandons their nuclear program once and for all.”

Pence also addressed the president’s proposed trade tariffs on steel and aluminum exports. The vice president described it as a “crackdown” on unfair trade practices. “Now, the president said earlier today the United States has been taken advantage of for too long by too many countries when it comes to trade,” Pence said. “…Whether it be in renegotiating NAFTA or protecting our steel and aluminum industries, President Trump is always going to put American workers, American companies and American farmers first.”

About a dozen Democrats staged a protest outside the venue. They accused the vice president of “spreading a misleading message” about what the Democrats called the “G-O-P tax scam.”

(Radio Iowa)

A day after resigning as Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture, Bill Northey took the oath of office for a federal job. Northey is now an Undersecretary in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue flew to Iowa to conduct the ceremony last (Tuesday) night at a previously-scheduled ag leadership banquet on the state fairgrounds. After the event, Perdue told reporters Northey will be in charge of organizing and consolidating some agencies within the U-S-D-A — that includes the Farm Service Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Risk Management Agency. “So we can have a one-stop shop for farmers where they can come in and get answers. Their databases need to coincide and work together, get our IT working and there are a lot of challenges out there and we’re going to do it,” Perdue said. “We’re both sooner-rather-than-later kind of people.”  Northey delivered a “I couldn’t be more excited to be able to work for all of you at USDA,” Northey said, “…and to serve in a way that certainly magnifies or is an example of the support that you all have shown me through the years and certainly in the last four months.”

In early September, President Trump nominated Northey to be Undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services. A committee in the U.S. Senate endorsed his nomination in October, but Texas Senator Ted Cruz held up a senate vote on Northey as leverage for changes in the federal ethanol production mandate. Perdue told the crowd Northey had “finally been “liberated from the U.S. Senate” last week. “In case you have any questions about it, Bill Northey, Sonny Perdue and Donald J. Trump stand for the RFS, unequivocally,” Perdue said.

The crowd gave that statement a standing ovation. Perdue calls Northey an “evangelist” about what’s working in Iowa agriculture and someone who has the “moxie to get things done” in the U.S.D.A. “I frankly have been congratulated so much tonight over Bill Northey, I feel like I’m getting married,” Perdue quipped and the crowd laughed. This was Perdue’s fourth visit to Iowa since HE was sworn in as U.S. ag secretary last April. It’s his first since President Trump announced tariffs on steel imports and tweeted about winning a trade war. Perdue was asked how Iowa farmers who may be spooked by those developments should react.
“Pray,” Perdue said, laughing. “…President Trump is a unique negotiator and sometimes he keeps people off balance, even his own staff sometimes…He certainly did that this last week…He believes solely in his heart ‘America first’ and the American people first and that includes American agriculture.”

Perdue says he and others are working “feverishly” with the president on trade issues. Perdue suggested Trump’s unconventional comments may have positioned the U.S. for a breakthrough in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

(Radio Iowa)

An incident in Stuart late Tuesday night ended with no injuries being reported. Stuart Police said on their social media page, that “Officers with the Stuart Police Dept., Adair, Dallas and Guthrie Co. Sheriff’s Office and Iowa State Patrol responded to a report of a suicidal person barricaded in a hotel room in the 1200 block of S. Division St. The subject, who had claimed he was armed with a handgun had made threats that he was going to harm himself and Officers. After approximately 2 hours of negotiating, the subject came out of the room peacefully without incident. The adult male was transported to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines for psychiatric treatment.”

Stuart Police thank those agencies who assisted in handling the situation successfully, saying “In small rural communities it often takes several agencies to handle incidents like this and it’s nice to know that when necessary we all work so well together.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Voters in most Polk County cities have rejected a 1-cent increase to the local sales tax. Unofficial results show the measure failed by 227 votes Tuesday in the 10 Polk County cities that have contiguous borders: Altoona, Bondurant, Clive, Des Moines, Grimes, Johnston, Pleasant Hill, Urbandale, West Des Moines and Windsor Heights. The tax was expected to generate $79 million annually, and cities planned to use the money to hold down property taxes and pay for such things as parks, trail extensions and street improvements.

Without the $37 million Des Moines would have received in the first year of the increase, city officials are expected to raise the city property tax rate by 20 cents Thursday before passing a budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Voters in Adair County managed to brave the howling winds and frigid temperatures, Tuesday, to cast their ballot in a Special Election. Adair County Auditor Mindy Schaefer says unofficial results show 277 registered voters (a 5-percent turnout) cast their ballots, with the result being 175 yes (or, 63.2%) votes approving a Courthouse Elevator Bond, and 102 voting against. A 60% majority was needed in order for the measure to pass.

The Special Election was held with regard to passing an additional bond for the courthouse elevator project. The question was “Shall the Board of Supervisors bond for an amount not to exceed $650,000 for the purpose of installing an elevator?” The elevator will be installed in the Adair County Courthouse, and will replace an elevator installed in the 1980’s that is no longer ADA compliant and never intended for commercial use.

Cass County Deputy Auditor Sheri Karns reports another candidate has filed nomination papers for the June 5th Primary Election. Linda Templeman, of Atlantic, has added her name to the Republican ticket for Cass County Board of Supervisors, District 3. Her challenger is fellow Republican Dana Halder.

County positions to appear on the Cass County ballot for the June 5th Primary include: District 2 County Supervisor; District 3 County Supervisor; County Attorney; County Recorder and County Treasurer.

Persons wishing to file nomination papers have until March 28th to do so.  Nomination papers are available at the office of the county auditor and from the secretary of state.

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

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence’s trip to western Iowa and eastern Nebraska is one in a series of stops to tout a recently approved federal tax cut, as well as attend a fundraiser for Republican Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts. Pence spoke at an America First Policies event in Council Bluffs, the latest in his bid to sell the American public on the tax overhaul signed into law by President Donald Trump in December.

LAKOTA, Iowa (AP) — An autopsy shows a northern Iowa woman whose body was found in a home died of “sharp force injuries.” The Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office also determined 38-year-old Krista Lynn Hesebeck’s death was a homicide. The Kossuth County Sheriff’s Office says deputies and medics were sent early Saturday to a Lakota home after a domestic assault. They found Hesebeck’s body at one address and then found an injured man at another address. Chad Dietrick, of Lakota, was charged with first-degree murder.

URBANDALE, Iowa (AP) — Court records indicate a former information technology worker for the city of Urbandale will change his plea later this month on charges that he stole from the city library. Chad Nielsen pleaded not guilty in December to nine theft counts stemming from the theft of more than $47,000 worth of computer hardware. The records say Nielsen and his attorney have been working on a plea deal with prosecutors.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — A former paraeducator at a Fort Dodge high school has been accused of having sex with a student. Court records say 22-year-old Denico Johnson is charged with sexual exploitation by a school employee.