(Radio Iowa) – The continuing resolution President Biden signed last week to keep the federal government running into January included a one-year extension of the Farm Bill. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says that extension will afford Congress plenty of time to sort out that mammoth piece of legislation which is vital to the ag industry and to tens of thousands of family farmers.  “President Biden did what he had to do, and he couldn’t have vetoed it because it didn’t include a five-year Farm Bill,” Grassley says. “It only had the extension of the existing 2018 Farm Bill for one year.” While ag groups are expressing gratitude the Farm Bill was extended, there’s also disappointment the new version couldn’t have been passed yet this year, as farmers face significantly higher input costs as well as weather challenges.

Grassley isn’t overly concerned that the deadline was pushed back. “I don’t know how many times, I suppose I’ve been involved in my years in the Congress in six or seven Farm Bills and not every one of those has been extended for a year before we got a new five-year Farm Bill,” Grassley says, “but I want to make very clear to you, it’s not uncommon.” The one-year extension provides federal lawmakers a buffer zone, but groups like the American Farm Bureau Federation are pushing them not to delay. One federal estimate earlier this year predicted this would be the first Farm Bill in history to top one-trillion dollars in total spending.
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With Sunday’s death of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he has fond memories of the last time he saw the Carters in person. The former president invited Grassley to Atlanta several years back to speak before a group of Southern Baptists about the value of bipartisanship. Grassley says both of the Carters were there to greet him. “They’re just outstanding people and we ought to thank Rosalynn for what she has done to promote our interest in solving our mental health problems,” Grassley says, “and we still have those problems, but they’d be worse if it hadn’t been for the leadership of Rosalynn Carter.”

Grassley says he does not plan to attend next week’s funeral for Mrs. Carter, who was 96. Former President Carter is 99.

INDIANOLA, Iowa — The Superintendent of Indianola Schools is apologizing after parents say a quote tied to Nazis was included in the morning announcements. KCCI says on Monday, some Indianola parents shared an email with the station, which appears to be the day’s middle school morning announcements. At the bottom, it included the “Respect Quote of the Day,” which was “My honor is my loyalty.” The quote was attributed to Heinrich H. — Heinrich Himmler was a prominent Nazi leader.

Parents also shared an email from Indianola Superintendent Ted Ihns, who said a staff member “did not realize that the quote was from a highly inappropriate source.” Ihns said in the email, “I first want to apologize for the oversight. While it was completely unintentional, I understand that some of those who saw the quote and realized the source were offended. Again, we are very sorry for this mistake,” Ihns said in the email. “Moving forward, we will implement a new process for our Respect Quote of the Day to be sure that we are double-checking all sources and ensuring the quotes are appropriate for our students.”

AMES, Iowa — One of three fraternity brothers at Iowa State University charged with felony extortion and misdemeanor assault has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. According to reports, 21-year-old Grant Kuehnast was charged alongside fellow Farmhouse Fraternity members Colton Moore and Tyler Ekstrom, for allegedly trying to force another member to perform a sex act in January — and threatening to shoot the victim with an airsoft gun if he did not do it. Kuehnast has pleaded guilty to first-degree harassment and will be sentenced Dec. 6.

Prosecutors are recommending 2 years of probation for Kuehnast and 100 hours of community service, as well as a letter of apology to the victim. Moore is scheduled to go to trial on Dec. 5, according to court documents, and Ekstrom is scheduled for a Feb. 27, 2024, trial.

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI]— Des Moines police arrested a man Monday in connection to a crash that killed a married couple. Des Moines police have charged Kameron Wright, 18, of Des Moines, with two counts of vehicular homicide by OWI and two counts of vehicular homicide by reckless driving. Police say on Nov. 12, Wright crashed his Camaro into the passenger side of a car on East University Avenue. The force of the crash flipped the car on its top.

Seventy-six-year-old Fred Lehman and his wife, 79-year-old Mary Lehman, died at the scene. Police say evidence indicates that impairment and high speeds were factors in the crash. Police say Wright was driving his Camaro over 100 mph in the seconds before the crash. The Des Moines Police Department Traffic Unit continues to investigate.

(Pocahontas, Iowa) – A jury in northwest Iowa deliberated for about two-hours before handing down a verdict in the case of a 41-year-old man charged with timber theft. They found Jason Levant Ferguson, of rural Rolfe, guilty of felony theft and 50 timber violations, for taking dozens of trees from public property. Ferguson’s criminal tree-theft case went to trial last week in Pocahontas County. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports court records indicated Ferguson had been accused of taking about 150 trees from a wildlife management area northeast of Rolfe last year, purportedly to build himself a house. Timber thefts are an uncommon but growing crime in Iowa, according to the state’s Department of Natural Resources. Ferguson’s thefts stood out for the number of trees taken and for one of the trees he was accused of felling: a bur oak that was about six feet in diameter at its base.

Ferguson’s prosecution hit a snag last month when a district court judge decided that search warrants for his rural acreage were improperly approved and the evidence obtained by the subsequent searches couldn’t be used to prosecute him. Those searches allegedly found evidence that someone had been growing marijuana and manufacturing methamphetamine on Ferguson’s property, and he faced numerous felony drug  and weapons charges. Those charges were dismissed, but the tree theft case continued with the evidence DNR officers had obtained before the searches. That evidence included an admission by Ferguson that he had taken the trees from the Stoddard Wildlife Management Area and photographic evidence of tree trunks on his property, court records show. The trial last week spanned four days and ended with a 12-person jury finding him guilty of every criminal charge he faced, according to court records.

Ferguson’s sentencing hearing is set for Jan. 26. He faces up to five years in prison for the felony theft charge and one year imprisonment each for the 50 counts of timber buyer violations, which were for cutting down trees he had not purchased and, according to court documents, “had no legal right to do so.”

DALLAS COUNTY, Iowa (KCCI) — Eight of the 46 horses seized from a rural Dallas County farm were brought back to the property over the weekend, according to neighbors. Their owner, Linda Kilbourne, was charged with livestock neglect in early November. Last Friday, the Dallas County Attorney reached a deal with Kilbourne, allowing eight of the horses to be given to a third party. The other 37 would stay in the custody of the ARL. One of those horses has died.

Neighbors said they believe the third party is a friend of Kilbourne’s and is the one who hauled them back to her farm.

(Radio Iowa) – One of Iowa’s community colleges is seeing a shakeup at the top. The Northeast Iowa Community College board of trustees has voted to terminate the contract of college President Herbert Reidel. The board took the action at its meeting Monday.

Reidel was placed on administrative leave October ninth. He began at NICC in July of 2022. The college named vice president for finance and administration David Dahms as acting president last month.