(Radio Iowa) – President Biden will visit an Iowa ethanol plant today (Tuesday) to highlight steps to expand the use of “homegrown” biofuels. The Environmental Protection Agency will issue a waiver so E-15 — gasoline with a 15 percent ethanol blend — can be sold nationwide all year long. Under current regulations, E-15 cannot be sold in most of the country between June 1st and September 15th.

The leader of a trade association for the ethanol industry says this is welcome news for all American drivers seeking lower cost options at the pump. The U-S-D-A is providing 100 million dollars in grants for installing or upgrading gas station equipment that can dispense gasoline with higher blends of ethanol and diesel with a higher concentration of a soybean-based additive.

The event is being covered by the national press corps. The White House has not released any information about how the public can attend the event. Expect security to be tight and some detours in the area.

Republican Senator Joni Ernst says expanding the biofuels industry is a national security issue. “It’s not only important for the United States — clean energy! — but it sure is a great way to push back against Vladamir Putin,” Ernst said.

Ernst was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014 and has lobbied the Obama, Trump and Biden Administrations on policies to expand ethanol production. That includes refusing to issue waivers so oil refinerites don’t have to blend ethanol into gasoline and allowing fuel blended with 15 percent ethanol — E-15 — to be sold year-round all around the country. Anti-smog rules have prevented E-15’s sale in most areas during the summer months. Ernst says Biden’s trip to Menlo was a surprise. “With everything that is going on, I just did not anticipate that he would be traveling right now. His approval levels are very low, but at the same time, you know, he needs to be out engaging with the public. We’ve got high inflation. We’ve got high gas costs…He needs to get out and he needs to explain his position,” Ernst said. “He needs to engage with constituents — and maybe that would help.”

Iowa’s other U.S. Senator, Republican Chuck Grassley, says promoting biofuels and allowing summer sales of E-15 is far better than pursuing expanded crude oil production from Middle East countries and Venezuela. The chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party has said he’s thrilled Iowans can hear directly from Biden about the agenda Democrats are pursuing to lower costs for working families. This is Biden’s first trip to Iowa as president. Biden was last here four days before the 2020 General Election, for a drive-in rally on the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

(Radio Iowa) – Advocates for people who were sexually abused as children continue to lobby Iowa lawmakers to give survivors more time to file lawsuits against their abusers. Last year, the Iowa Legislature removed the state’s legal time limit on criminal charges against people accused of sex crimes against children.

But advocates say giving more time for survivors to file lawsuits in civil court will help hold educational, athletic, and religious institutions accountable when their employees sexually abuse minors. Kathryn Robb is executive director of Child USA Advocacy.

“Why should we have a public policy that allows sexual predators to walk free and be protected by the passage of time?” she asks. Kylie DeWeessays she was sexually abused by an Iowa school employee as a minor. She says when she learned about the statute of limitations, her time to file a lawsuit had already run out.

“I can tell you firsthand that the only way to expose the abusers and institutions that allowed it to occur is by putting pressure on lawmakers now,” DeWeess says. She’s urging Republican lawmakers to make it a priority to end the time limit on when child sex abuse victims may file civil lawsuits against their abusers — and get the policy passed before the 2022 legislative session ends.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Katarina Sostaric)

(Radio Iowa) – Cedar Rapids Police have one suspect in custody for the shooting early Sunday that killed two people inside a Cedar Rapids nightclub and injured 10 others. Authorities say the two people who were shot to death were at the club to celebrate a mutual friend’s birthday. Michael Valentine was 25 years old. Nicole Owens was 35. Both were from Cedar Rapids.

On Monday, Cedar Rapids Police arrested 32-year-old Timothy Ladell Rush on charges of second degree murder, willful injury, intimidation with a dangerous weapon, reckless use of a firearm and possession of a firearm as a felon. The chief of police said during a news conference on Sunday that investigators believe two gunmen were involved in the shooting at the Taboo Nightclub.