The proposed platforms Iowa Democrats and Republicans will be asked to approve at their state conventions this Saturday illustrate the stark contrast between the parties on major issues. The Iowa G-O-P platform calls for banning all abortions in Iowa “without exceptions.” Republican lawmakers enacted the toughest abortion law in the country this year, but that ban on abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected — about the sixth week of pregnancy — includes exceptions for rape and incest. Iowa Democrats have a proposed platform which declares the party’s opposition to that law as well as its support of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. On the gun issue, the Iowa Democratic Party’s platform calls for an “updated” assault weapons ban that would include limits on how many bullets may be in the magazine inserted in the gun. The Republican platform opposes new gun restrictions and calls for letting “authorized personnel” who’ve undergone training carry guns in Iowa schools.

As it did in 2016, the Iowa G-O-P’s platform calls for an end to public sector unions. The Democratic Party’s document calls for restoring the bargaining rights of government workers that Republican lawmakers erased in 2017. Iowa Democrats added a line to their proposed platform spelling out their opposition to “presidential self-pardons.” The Iowa G-O-P’s platform says all agreements with foreign countries “should be done by treaty and subject to approval by congress” — a relevant section given President Trump’s meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) with North Korea’s leader. State convention delegates in both parties are likely to debate some items in each proposed document. Iowa Libertarians held their state convention last Saturday.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Libertarian Party has nominated a woman from Rockwell City as its lieutenant governor candidate for the fall election. The Libertarian Party is now an officially recognized party in Iowa because its presidential candidate got more than two percent of the vote in 2018. There are about 10-thousand registered Libertarians in Iowa. About 18-hundred of them voted in last week’s primary, selecting Jake Porter of Council Bluffs as the Libertarian nominee for governor. Lynne Gentry, a retired teacher from Rockwell City, was selected on Saturday as Porter’s lieutenant governor/running mate. Gentry ran for a seat in the Iowa House in 2014 and won 21 percent of the vote in the district that covers Calhoun, Pocahontas and Humboldt Counties.

(Radio Iowa)

CRESTON, Iowa (AP) — People in four Iowa cities have been told they can once again safely drink water from their taps. The Southern Iowa Rural Water Association says the treatment system is back up and running with new filtration membranes. Three cities given an all-clear Monday were Afton, Diagonal and Lenox. Creston was cleared Sunday. The advisory remains in effect for people in rural areas around Creston and in several counties served by the association.

A membrane filtration system failure at the Twelve Mile Water Plant in Creston had left association customers without safe tap water since June 1. People were advised to boil tap water before consumption to avoid pathogens and parasites that could cause illness. The water was considered safe for bathing and for pets and livestock.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa City man accused of neglecting more than 200 birds on his rural Solon property has been given a year of probation and fined $315. Johnson County Court records say 71-year-old Francis Prohaska pleaded guilty last week to livestock neglect. The judge granted him a deferred judgment. That means the conviction can be cleared from Prohaska’s record if he abides by the terms of his probation.

The charge stemmed from a Dec. 9 search of the Solon area farmstead. Deputies found a number of dead birds and counted about 200 others, including ducks, geese, chickens and pigeons.