(Radio Iowa) – Delegates at the Iowa Republican Party’s state convention voted to include a policy statement on marriage in the party’s 2024 platform. A 2022 law requires the federal government to recognize marriages as long as they were valid in the state where the marriage took place. Three Iowa Republicans — U.S. Senator Joni Ernst and Congresswomen Ashley Hinson and Mariannette Miller-Meeks — voted for it.

A majority of delegates at this weekend’s Iowa GOP state convention voted to encourage repeal of any law allowing marriage that’s not between one man and one woman. Iowa County delegate Brad Sherman, author of the platform plank, said the legal recognition of same-sex marriages violates religious freedom. “The attack on marriage and the family that we have seen is part of a strategic effort to destabilize our culture and destroy our nation,” he said.

Thomas Hansen of Winneshiek County said having government define marriage is the problem, because it has led to edicts from the court and congress. “If you want to use the Bible to define what marriage is, I’d like you to show me in the Bible where God says we need a license to do it,” he said.

Patrick Geren of Pottawattamie County was also among the minority of delegates who opposed adding the policy statement to the party platform. “People have the right to disagree with our religious beliefs and to follow their own conscience,” he said.

Gary Leffler of Polk County said the party needs to stand on principle. “We still believe in marriage between a man and a woman and I don’t care what the left says,” Leffler said.

A similar statement was included in the party’s 2022 platform. One of the first debates among delegates at this weekend’s GOP convention was about gender balance rules. David Chung of Davenport argued the national party should do away with requirements that each state have a National Committeeman and National Committeewoman. There’s also a rule that the national party have a female co-chair if the chair is a man — and vice versa.

“We Republicans are hypocrites,” Chung said. “…We Republicans should be consistent. We have stood against affirmative action, against DEI.”

A majority of delegates voted against Chung’s proposal, but a member of the Iowa GOP’s governing board said party leaders will discuss the issue.

(Radio Iowa) – The Board of Regents will hear the first reading of proposed tuition increases at the three state schools during their meeting Friday. The proposal would increase in-state tuition by three percent at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University, and a two-and-half percent at the University of Northern Iowa.

That amounts to a 270 dollar increase at the U-I and I-S-U, and a 168 dollars at U-N-I. They are also requesting a three-percent increase in mandatory fees at U-N-I, a two-point-five percent increase at I-S-U, and one-point-three percent increase at the U-I.

The tuition increase comes after the Regents requested 14-point-eight million more dollars in state funding and the Legislature approved a 12-point-three million dollar increase.

RED OAK, Iowa – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Ranking Member of the Senate Small Business Committee, today announced her Small Business of the Week: The Bakery on Broadway of Audubon County. Throughout this Congress, Ranking Member Ernst plans to recognize a small business in every one of Iowa’s 99 counties. 

“The Bakery on Broadway is well-known for serving delicious baked goods and custom cakes as well as bringing a taste of the West Coast to Audubon,” said Ranking Member Ernst. “I want to congratulate Kate Hargens and the entire team at The Bakery on Broadway for their work to revitalize downtown and provide an important community gathering space in southwest Iowa.”

In 2020, Kate Hargens founded The Bakery on Broadway after spending her early career as a food scientist and licensed at-home baker. Kate’s goal was to revitalize downtown Audubon and give the community a place to gather. Since fall 2023, The Bakery on Broadway has hosted “What’s Happening in Audubon” weekly forum events in late fall and early spring. They have also hosted the “Art on Broadway” event that gives Iowans the chance to showcase and sell their art. Kate served as president of the Children’s Nest Childcare Center and on the fundraising committee for the Audubon Rec Center. The Audubon Chamber of Commerce awarded her the 2016 Citizen of the Year for her hard work and dedication to the community.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Police Department reports five recent arrests:

• On Sunday, May 5th, Officers arrested 40-year-old Fernando Villa-Diaz, of Atlantic, for Driving While License is Barred.
• Last Friday, May 3rd, 44-year-old Matthew Steffens, of Atlantic, was arrested for OWI/3rd Offense/
• 44-year-old Nicholas Anderson, of Atlantic, was arrested April 30th, for Harassment in the 1st Degree, and Disorderly Conduct; Also arrested on the 30th, was 24-year-old Matteo Antunez, of Atlantic, who was taken into custody on a Pottawattamie County warrant for Eluding. Antunez was transported to the Pott. County Jail. And,
• on April 26th, Atlantic Police arrested 30-year-old Niko Nikity, of Atlantic, for Domestic Abuse Assault/1st offense.

All subjects (with the exception of Matteo Antunez), were transported to the Cass County (IA) Jail, and booked-in.

(Radio Iowa) – The fundraising effort to replace thousands of trees lost to the 2020 derecho in Cedar Rapids has entered its final phase. The interim C-E-O of the non-profit group Trees Forever, Deb Powers, says their goal is 37 million dollars. ” That’s a big number. We’re going to get most of that money through major federal grants and things like that,” she says.

Powers says they call that the silent portion of the fundraising.  ” So we’ve achieved a six million dollar grant, three-and-a half million dollar grant through the city, and the city has committed ten million dollars to this campaign,” Powers says.

The remaining amount will be raised in what is called the ‘peoples’ phase of the campaign. ReLeaf Cedar Rapids has already planted 19-thousand trees. and the goal is to plant 40-thousand over ten years. Cedar Rapids lost an estimated 720-thousand trees in the derecho — some 65 percent of its overall tree canopy.

(Radio Iowa) – A traveling training unit has been at Sioux City’s 185th Air National Guard Refueling Wing for the past three days, so members of the fire department at the base can practice responding to various scenarios. Master Sergeant Mitch Decker is the Assistant Chief of Fire Operations for the base.  “A little bit more controlled setting, but we do this for safety anyway,” he says. “We want people to be safe while they’re doing it. We don’t want anybody to get hurt. That’s not our goal, but it allows us at our own home station to train when we can’t get somewhere else.” Decker says aircraft fires usually involve large amounts of fuel, so the training helps firefighters review that unique challenge.

“If we had a crashed aircraft or a fire on that ramp, these are the tactics we would use to fight that fire,” he says. The Air Force firefighters were also training while wearing chemical warfare gear along with their regular gear underneath. “It’s very cumbersome. It’s hard to move around in. A lot of your agility is taken away. Dexterity with your hands is definitely affected because you’re wearing bulky gloves and you’ve got gloves underneath them,” he says. “It definitely presents a new challenge to it.”

The firefighters also practiced how and when to enter aircraft that are on fire.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Glenwood Police Department reports the arrest on Saturday, of 33-year-old Tyler Palensky, from Glenwood. He was charged with OWI/1st offense, posted bond, and was released.

The Glenwood P-D reports also, a Glenwood woman reported a theft on May 3rd. Another Glenwood woman reported, on May 5th,  an attempted burglary. Additional details were not provided in the P-D report.