(Radio Iowa) – Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Davenport says congress will have valid questions about how the Secret Service performed at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.  “Having been in the military, there is always an after-action report,” Miller-Meeks says. “You want to know, you know, how was a shooter on the building? How did that occur? Why and how were they close to the perimeter?”

Miller-Meeks says she has additional perspective because her oldest brother was a Secret Service agent who guarded and traveled with Presidents Carter, Ford, Reagan and Bush before ending his career working at the Reagan Ranch in California. Miller-Meeks says she’s heard directly from Iowans — and from people from both political parties — who have expressed shock and horror after Saturday’s tragic events. “It is not acceptable. It is not how we solve differences or how we promote and advocate for issues that we think are important,” Miller-Meeks says. “We do that at the ballot box and elections.”

Miller-Meeks will be in Milwaukee at some point this week to meet with Iowa delegates at the Republican National Convention.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says over 30-thousand students have been approved for state funding to cover private school expenses for the next school year. Reynolds made the announcement at an event hosted by The Family Leader, an evangelical Christian group. “Just another indication that parents want options,” she said, to applause.

In early 2023 Reynolds signed a law creating state-funded Education Savings Accounts. Last school year nearly 19-thousand students qualified for the program based on limited family income. This year, students from households with an annual income that’s 400 percent of the poverty level are eligible. The state will spend about 78-hundred dollars on each private school student who qualifies. Reynolds says the program injects competition in the state’s K-through-12 education system.

“As lieutenant governor with Governor Branstad we did a comprehensive education reform package and I can remember standing at a town hall saying: ‘You know, I think we should embrace competition. It makes us all stronger,'” Reynolds said. “…I was booed and heckled and nearly chased out of the room by just saying that simple statement.”

Reynolds describes the pandemic as a game changer in the push to dramatically increase state funding for private schools. “It really gave parents a front row seat to see what was happening in their classrooms,” Reynolds said, “and just the lack of the teachers union for really getting those kids back in the classroom.”

Beyond state funding for private school expenses, Reynolds says she’s trying to lift Iowa’s education system as a whole. She points to the raises she approved for beginning and veteran teachers in public schools and a new reading initiative. “Iowa used to lead the country when it came to education and I think a lot of people still believe that. We are not now, but we will be,” Reynolds says. “…Hang in there with me. We are on our way.”

Democrats say education is a major issue in legislative races this year. The Democratic leaders in the Iowa House and Senate say spending hundreds of millions of state tax dollars on private schools and the changes Reynolds pushed for in Iowa’s Area Education Agencies are unpopular with voters.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – The Page County Sheriff’s Office has released a report on 18 arrests that occurred between July 2nd and the 14th. In order from the most recent to the earliest arrests:

• July 14: 20-year-old Riley Eileen Hunter, of Shenandoah, was arrested on an active warrant for Failure to Appear (in court); and, 23-year-old Blas Rendon Luevanos, of Shenandoah, was arrested for Harassment, and Violation of a No Contact Order.
• July 12: 39-year-old Nichole Marie Nicholas, and 37-year-old Amy Jo Liles, both of Shenandoah, were booked into the Page County Jail to serve time.
• July 11: 46-year-old Michelle Marie Carnes, and 35-year-old Tyler Buck Carnes, both of Shenandoah, were arrested for Harassment.
• July 9: 55-year-old Thomas Harold Nielsen, of Ida Grove, was arrested in Page County for OWI.
• July 8: 33-year-old Bradley Aeron Haley, of Clarinda, was arrested for Sex Offender Registry Violations.
• July 7: 62-year-old Judy Ann Berry, of Shenandoah, was arrested for Theft and Interference with Official Acts; 37-year-old Amanda Maria Carlson, of New Market, was arrested at the Page County Sheriff’s Office on an active warrant out of Taylor County. She was later transferred to the custody of Taylor County Deputies.
• On July  5th, four people from Shenandoah were booked into the Page County Jail to serve time. They included: 39-year-old Nichole Marie Nicholas; 38-year-old Karl James Shade, III; 37-year-old Amy Jo Liles, and 47-year-old Jamie Jay Shannon. 
• There were three arrests July 3rd in Page County: 41-year-old Michael Joe Baxter, of Des Moines, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance, Criminal Mischief, Assault on a Peace Officer, and Obstruction of Emergency Communication; 40-year-old Joshua Wayne Baer, of College Springs, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault, Assault, and Child Endangerment; and, 35-year-old Kelli Jo Wiederholt, of Braddyville, was arrested for Criminal Mischief.
• And, on July 2nd, Page County Deputies arrested 32-year-old Jessie Marie Patterson, of Clarinda, for OWI, Driving While Barred, and Assault on a Peace Officer.

Sheriff’s Office Disclaimer: “A charge of merely and accusation and that the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.”

The Page County Sheriff’s Office also reports 14 people who received citations between July 4th and July 13th. Ten of those persons were cited for Minor in Possession of Alcohol, four were cited for Speeding.