Republican Congressman Steve King tried, but failed to get House approval of his attempt to “cut off funding now” so President Obama’s executive order on immigration cannot be implemented. King asked the Republican-led House Rules Committee for permission to put his plan forward for a House vote, but he was rebuffed. “It’s time that we stood up and fight now rather than fund now and fight later,” King said in a video statement posted on YouTube.

Sometime today (Thursday) a House vote is expected on a massive spending plan that will keep most of the government running through next September. A vote to prevent Obama’s action on immigration will come in January, G-O-P leaders say, after the new congress is sworn in and Republicans have control of both the House and the Senate.  “We’re sitting here with a majority in the House and soon a majority in the Senate, but waiting for the Senate is waiting too long because if we wait, we are then compelled to fund now and fight later, if we fight at all,” King said. “I say, instead, cut the funding now. Start the fight now.”

King’s alternative plan would have funded federal government operations through January 31st. “That seats the new Republican majority in the Senate, it seats the expanded (Republican) majority in the House and it makes us stronger in fighting this president,” King said. “We will have to put him in a political straight-jacket or there won’t be anything left of the Constitution by the time we elect another president.” The spending plan congress is expected to pass only funds the Department of Homeland Security through February. That’s the agency which oversees most immigration policy.

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – The former operator of the Argosy riverboat casino in Sioux City has filed another appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court. The Sioux City Journal reports that the former Argosy operator, Belle of Sioux City, a subsidiary of Penn National Gaming Co., is appealing a Nov. 7 ruling by Judge Eliza Ovrom.

She ruled that the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission acted within its authority in granting a license for what has become the land-based Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sioux City. Argosy says Ovrom should not have ruled that Argosy failed to prove that the commission erred or abused its powers.

Argosy attorneys also filed a motion to combine the case with another appeal before the court. That appeal challenges the judge’s order to shut down the Argosy.

A man from Colorado was arrested for the third-day in a row, Wednesday, in Creston. Creston Police say 51-year old Jeffrey Armstrong, of Loveland, CO, was arrested just after 11-a.m., Wednesday at the intersection of Spruce and Adams Streets, and charged with Public Intoxication. Armstrong, who was initially arrested Monday evening for OWI//1st offense, was arrested again Tuesday at the Creston Amtrak station for Public Intoxication. His latest arrested resulted in him being held in the Union County Jail on $300 bond.

And, officials say Kristopher Allen Goettert, of Davey, FL, was arrested Wednesday in Creston, on a charge of Disorderly Conduct. The man was released on a promise to appear later, in court.

Creston Police said also, the Crest Haven Nursing Home reported on Monday, someone stole three bottles of cough suppressant. The incident took place sometime between 9:50-a.m. and 10:30-a.m., on Dec. 4th. The loss was estimated at $15.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The campaign may be over, but Senator-elect Joni Ernst says she is just getting started. The recently elected Republican was in Washington this week. She’s meeting her future colleagues, hiring staffers and seeking advice from longtime Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley.
She’s also planning to visit every county in Iowa next year.

Ernst scored a decisive victory in November, helping the GOP take control of the Senate. She started the race as a relatively unknown state senator but soared to national stardom, promoting her farm upbringing and military background.

Looking ahead, Ernst says she hopes to serve on either the armed services or agriculture committees. She plans to focus on issues she addressed during the campaign, like changes to the tax code.