by O. Kay Henderson | Mar 15, 2020 | News, Politics & Government
The 2020 Iowa legislative session will be suspended for at least 30 days due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Leaders of the Iowa House and Senate made the announcement late this afternoon. According to a news release, the decision was made to protect older people and those...
by O. Kay Henderson | Apr 16, 2019 | Crime & Courts, News, Politics & Government
Democrats are urging Republicans in the legislature who control the budgeting process to boost spending for the state’s prisons. Over the past two years, spending for the Iowa Department of Corrections has been reduced significantly. “There’s a real...
by O. Kay Henderson | Jan 8, 2019 | News, Politics & Government
Governor Kim Reynolds has appointed a former Iowa Republican Party chairman as the Iowa Lottery’s new chief executive. Matt Strawn of Ankeny worked in Washington, D.C. as a congressional aide before serving as the Iowa GOP’s chairman for the 2012 Iowa...
by O. Kay Henderson | Nov 28, 2018 | Crime & Courts, News, Politics & Government, Top Story
About five dozen state prison inmates have filed a lawsuit challenging a new policy on pornography inside prison walls. Prisoners had been able to have nude photos and pornographic magazines in their cells. Prison staff sometimes let inmates go in empty rooms to view...
by O. Kay Henderson | Jun 19, 2018 | Crime & Courts, News, Politics & Government
Iowa Department of Corrections director Jerry Bartruff says the state is facing “new and, in some cases, daunting challenges” when it comes to public safety. “The rise of the opioid crisis, rising violent crimes and arrests in rural areas,...