(Radio Iowa) — Republican Congressman Steve King took to the floor of the U.S. House today (Friday) to respond to a New York Times story in which he’s quoted talking about the terms white nationalist, white supremacy and western civilization. King, a Republican from the western Iowa community of Kiron, says he is an “AMERICAN Nationalist” and rejects the ideology of white supremacy and white nationalism.

King says he “made a freshman mistake” in talking to the New York Times.

The newpaper quoted King asking rhetorically why the terms white nationalism, white supremacy and western civilization had developed negative connotations. King today (Friday) said on the House floor that he is an advocate for the values of western civilization.

King says he is an advocate for the values of western civilization. The top three Republican in the U.S. House have denounced King in the past 24 hours. Republican Tim Scott, an African American who represents South Carolina in the U.S Senate, says “silence is no longer acceptable” when it comes to the things King says. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is urging Republicans to “actively support” King’s primary opponent, Republican State Senator Randy Feenstra. Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann has called Feenstra a “legitimate” challenger, but Kaufmann says the party will be neutral in the race.

Kaufmann says he wants to make it clear there are some phrases that do not represent “the American spirit” and Kaufmann puts “white supremacy” in that category.

Iowa DEMOCRATIC Party chairman Troy Price says King is an embarrassment to the state of Iowa.

Feenstra, the state senator who’s stepped forward to challenge King, is using the hashtag “retire Steve King” on twitter and this (Friday) afternoon Feenstra tweeted a link to a National Review opinion piece. It was titled “Steve King’s Bigotry Is the Antithesis of American Ideals.”

The Iowa State Patrol, Friday afternoon, released the name of a man who died Thursday during a pursuit-involved crash in Webster County. Authorities identified him as 25-year old Philp Wooden, of Kansas City, MO.

Wooden was driving a stolen 2000 Ford Econoline van that crashed on northbound Highway 169 north of the 2nd Avenue South interchange at Ft. Dodge, when the vehicle went out of control, entered the median and rolled several times. Wooden, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the van and died at the scene. The accident happened at around 5:21-a.m. Thursday

Investigators say the van was taken during an armed car-jacking in Des Moines at around 3:30-a.m., Thursday. The chase crossed from Polk into Story, Hamilton and Webster Counties before ending in the fatal crash.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — An arrest has been made in the death of a woman whose body was found earlier this week on the side of an eastern Iowa highway. The Muscatine Journal reports that police arrested 35-year-old Douglas Foster, of Marion, Thursday night in the death of 20-year-old Lea Renae Ponce, of Fairfield. The Muscatine County Attorney’s office says Foster is being held on $50,000 bond.

Investigators say Ponce was last seen alive early Tuesday getting into a pickup truck Foster was believed to have been driving. Her body was found along Highway 38 less than an hour later. Investigators say they later found the truck behind a Marion storage facility and discovered Foster hiding in the building’s attic, along with some of Ponce’s belongings.

Police say Foster told investigators Ponce safely got out of the truck soon after he picked her up.

(Radio Iowa) — Western Iowa Congressman Steve King tweeted this (Friday) morning that if President Trump declares a state of emergency for border security, Trump should “build the whole wall out of concrete.” King said a concrete wall along the U-S/Mexico border would “stand forever as a monument to the Rule of Law.” King went on the house floor early in his congressional career with his own model for a “fence and a wall” along the southern border. King’s model called for “precast concrete panels 10 feet wide and 13 feet high.”

Two Republicans have announced this week they intend to challenge King in a Republican Primary if King runs again in 2020. Also this week, King has been rebuked by House G-O-P leaders for comments he made to The New York Times about “white supremacy, white nationalism and Western Civilization.” King issued a written statement yesterday (Thursday) afternoon, saying he is “simply a Nationalist.”

The Atlantic Police Department reports 30-year old Justin Patton, of Atlantic, was arrested this (Friday) morning on a trio of charges. Patton was taken into custody on a Cass County warrant for Theft in the 5th Degree, and charges that include Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drugs and Providing False Identification Information. He was booked into the Cass County Jail.

(Radio Iowa) — Republicans at the statehouse are drawing up plans to change the make-up of the commission that nominates people to the governor for judgeships, in response to what they say is “judicial activism.” Iowa’s Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2009 and recently overturned a G-O-P plan to require a three-day waiting period for abortions. Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, a Republican from Ankeny, says there are “a lot of people” who are frustrated. “Over the last 20 years, there has been more and more judicial activism, where the Supreme Court justices are trying to legislate from the bench,” Whitver says. “If they want to be legislators, run for the legislature. Otherwise, they should be interpreting the laws and the constitution as we give them, and so it’s just a matter of accumulation of dozens and dozens and dozens of activist ruling from the court, that you’re trying to curb some of that.”

Governor Kim Reynolds last year appointed her father to the panel that recommends DISTRICT COURT nominees. It’s clear she and Republican lawmakers plan to target the attorneys appointed to the Judicial Nominating Commission by the Iowa State Bar Association. “It’s about making sure it’s a fair process,” Reynolds said during a Radio Iowa interview. “When I interview judges, I don’t care what party they are, I want an individual who is going to uphold the law and not create it and so right now eight members of the commission are selected by the Bar.”

An amendment to the Iowa Constitutional set up a “merit based” system for judges on the district courts, court of appeals and Iowa Supreme Court. The Judicial Nominating Commission interviews candidates and submits three nominees to the governor, who must choose a judge from that list. Senator Whitver, who is an attorney, says the commission will be retained, but the way commission members are appointed is likely to change. “Right now, there’s 16 members of that commission that select our supreme court justices. Eight are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate. Eight are voted on by attorneys and you must be an attorney and there’s no governor oversight or legislature oversight on that,” Whitver said. “And so, if you’re an attorney in the state of Iowa, that’s great. You have a much better chance of being on the Judicial Nominating Commission. If you’re not an attorney, your chances are very slim.”

Whitver says the “general populace” should have “more say” than attorneys in deciding who gets to be an Iowa judge. “It’s kind of a parochial system when you only have lawyers serving in those roles,” Whitver says. Supporters of the present system say attorneys on the commission have valuable insight into how a prospective judge has operated in the legal system. House Minority Leader Todd Prichard, a Democrat from Charles City, says “The worst thing that we can do is politicize our judiciary. What problem are we trying to fix? I think accusing a merit-based judiciary of activism is unfounded.”

Prichard, who is also an attorney, says Iowa’s judicial nominating system is a model for the rest of the country. “I have friends who are lawyers in other states where they elect judges and I get very leery of these kind of ideas, because is that the kind of path we’re on, is to make these political appointments, political races,” Prichard says. Prichard and his fellow legislators made their comments during a forum at the statehouse organized by The Associated Press.