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‘March for Our Lives’ tour stops in Sioux City

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Jaclyn Corin talks during stop in Sioux City.

The national gun control advocacy group “March for Our Lives” bus tour stopped in Sioux City today.

A student from Marjorie Stoneman High School in Parkland, Florida Jaclyn Corin was the keynote speaker.

Seventeen people were killed during a February shooting at the high school and Corin talked about her advocacy to stop gun violence in the wake of the killings of her fellow students and teachers.

“I personally organized a protest to our state capital of Tallahassee less than a week after the shooting. And we amazingly did not stop advocating from the start — and here we are four months out and we are still not stopping,” Corin says. Corin says her group wants what she calls “morally just leaders” elected to political office.

The bus tour is stopping in three Iowa Congressional districts represented by strong gun rights supporters. Corin criticized the National Rifle Association and it’s support of those lawmakers such as 4th District Congressmen Steve King:

“Lobby groups like the National Rifle Association have such a stranglehold over our politicians and they bar these politicians from passing common sense gun laws to protect their own constituents — which is completely unAmerican,” Corin says.

Corin and a student from Chicago talked to a predominantly Democratic audience of 100 people that included King’s opponent for Congress, J.D. Scholten and numerous local party leaders and supporters. Corin’s group then met with local high school students to discuss how to get young people out to vote. They also made posters for a planned afternoon protest outside of Congressman Steve King’s Sioux City office.

She says they will hold a vigil at King’s office to honor all the lives that have been lost to gun violence. “because Steve King is not a morally just leader.”

King is in Washington, D.C. and not at his Sioux City office. The Congressman declined to respond to Corin’s remarks or the protest at his office.

(Photo and story by Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City)

 

Parkland students to protest at Congressman King’s office

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The national gun control advocacy group “March for Our Lives” is making three stops in Iowa this week in Congressional districts represented by strong gun rights supporters.

Today’s stop will be outside the offices of Congressman Steve King, a staunch supporter of the second amendment and a critic of March for Our Lives. Organizer Kyrah Simon is from Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed during a high school shooting in February. Simon has a message for King.

“It’s really that the young people are not afraid, we’re not willing to back down to hatred,” Simon says. “Our voices are just as important, just as strong as his. We’re willing to make a change if he’s unwilling to do that.” Simon says a vigil will be held outside King’s office in Sioux City at noon today, as he’s a fervent supporter of gun rights and has sparred with the students on social media.

Simon says, “I think what’s amazing with the movement is that a few days after the shooting when everything was still raw, they had the courage, they had the bravery to go out and speak to the media, get their voices out, make an organization to implement change in our country.” They’re calling this the “Road to Change” bus tour. On Thursday, the group plans to hold an afternoon rally in Cedar Rapids and another event at Linn-Mar High School in Marion on Thursday night.

(Thanks to Rob Dillard, Iowa Public Radio)

 

Soybean producers continue to watch trade situation anxiously

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Midwestern farmers are seeing soybean prices fall as the U.S. and China remain at odds over trade and tariff issues.

Kirk Leeds, chief executive officer for the Iowa Soybean Association, says soybeans are one of Iowa’s top crops and this continued spiral in prices is disheartening. “China is very, very important for Iowa farmers,” Leeds says. “From soybean farmers in particular, they buy about 60% of all the soybeans traded in the world. Anything that causes a potential disruption in our ability to sell high-quality soybeans to a customer like China is very, very concerning.”

The initial concern came when the Trump Administration threatened to put high tariffs on steel and aluminum coming from China and China responded with threats of raising tariffs on a list of American goods, including soybeans.

“None of these tariffs are yet in place but just simply the threat of tariffs and counter-tariffs has been enough to drive soybean prices down,” Leeds says. “As you all know, at a time when farmers are already struggling to make ends meet, to have this kind of potential disruption in trade is very, very concerning.” Leeds says he and other members of the Iowa Soybean Association are in contact with the Iowa delegation in the U.S. House and Senate.

“The administration has promised that they will take a look at some way to compensate farmers for the loss of income,” Leeds says. “I’m kind of skeptical that we’re going to find anything that they’ll actually follow through on and anything that’s WTO-compliant. So, it’s really troubled times and uncertain times.”

Leeds says they’ve gotten tremendous support from both Iowa U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst as well as from the U.S. Ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, a former Iowa governor. Leeds says he’s taken around 25 trips to China over past 35 years, working to develop the trade relationship.

(By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)

 

Popular farm conservation program is revived from hiatus

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Continuous sign-up under the Conservation Reserve Program is now open in Iowa and runs through mid-August.

Greg Reisdorff, with the Farm Service Agency, says they’ve restarted the popular program after putting it on hold.

“Currently, there’s 22.7-million acres enrolled in CRP and the cap under the last Farm Bill is 24-million acres,” Reisdorff says, “so, we’re going to take some more sign-up right now.”

He says CRP has always been a popular program, moreso now.

“I think it has something to do with the commodity prices but there’s just a lot of interest right now,” Reisdorff says. “We’ve got people asking all the time about enrolling in CRP. I expect there’ll be a lot of interest when people start making some appointments to come in.”

Reisdorff says the deadline for continuous CRP sign up is tied to the Farm Bill, which is set to expire this fall on September 30th.

“They want to make sure all of the offers we get, we get them processed, we get them accepted and we get them approved before the end of September,” Reisdorff says. “The deadline for producers to sign an offer is August 17th. Then, we have to get conservation planning done by NRCS and get the contracts approved.”

Reisdorff says for any CRP contract that’s expiring this fall and is less than 15 years, enrollees can apply for a one-year extension.

For more information, contact your local county Farm Service Agency office.

By Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton

New Hubbell-Hart ticket visits Hart’s home territory

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Fred Hubbell, the Democratic candidate for governor, and Rita Hart, his running mate, went to Clinton today to meet with Hart’s hometown supporters. Hart, a farmer from nearby Wheatland, told the crowd it was a difficult decision to join the Hubbell campaign and end her bid for reelection to the state senate representing Clinton County and parts of neighboring Scott County.

“It has been such a pleasure to serve you guys, to work with you and for you for six years,” Hart said. “I look at each one of your faces and I see a memory there.”

Today’s campaign event was originally scheduled inside Clinton County Democratic Party Headquarters, but moved outdoors to a park across the street because of the overflow crowd. Hubbell promised the audience Governor Kim Reynolds has pursued a “shortsighted and destructive agenda” that he and Hart will reverse. Hart said she and Hubbell are pursing a “put people first” agenda.

“You are the people we need to fight for and with,” Hart said, “and that’s what we’re going to do as we continue on this great journey.”

Democrats from Clinton and Scott Counties will meet soon to select someone else to run for Hart’s state senate seat, but no date has been set yet for the district nominating convention.

(Reporting by Dave Vickers, KROS, Clinton)

Cedar Falls boy gains 90,000 Twitter followers by petting dogs

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Kidd with Gunner

A northeast Iowa boy has amassed a tremendous, international following on Twitter thanks to his simple love for dogs.

Nine-year-old Gideon Kidd of Cedar Falls has a website that features photos of himself petting a variety of canines at www.ivepetthatdog.com. It all started when he created a blog when he was seven, with the help of his mom.

“I just thought of it and I love dogs and I wanted to show the world these amazing creatures,” Kidd says.

At the suggestion of his mom, Kidd started posting pictures of the dogs he met on Twitter instead of just the website, and now, @IvePetThatDog has more than 90,000 followers.

Each photo is accompanied by a few sentences about the dogs, just basic questions he’ll ask the owner or caretaker.

“For starters, can I pet your dog and what’s his name?” Kidd says. “Then, I ask about the dog, like, where did you get the dog, how old is your dog, what type of breed, your dog’s personality, any funny stories? Does he like playing? Any favorite toys?”

Besides dogs in his neighborhood, Kidd meets new dogs at places like the farmers market or the Cedar Bend Humane Society. He and his mom go out nearly every day to “get” a dog.

Rachel Braunigan says her son is “extremely social” and she thought it would be a good way for him to meet people.

“He said he wanted to take pictures of all the dogs he met and I was confused at first,” Braunigan says. “Then, he said he wanted to put them up for people to see and I said, ‘Like a website?’ and he said, ‘Yeah!’ So, we decided to try it and I didn’t think it would last this long.”

After being featured on “The Today Show,” Kidd’s number of followers on Twitter bounded from the hundreds into the tens of thousands. Why is it so popular?

“I think it’s just the simplicity of it,” Braunigan says. “It’s a boy, a dog and a short story. It’s not an opinion. It’s nothing polarizing. It’s just the simplicity and people love dogs.” Braunigan says she monitors her son’s online activities. “Everything he posts I’m there to make sure it’s okay, so he doesn’t see things I don’t want him to see and I monitor who he follows,” she says. “It’s such a surreal experience.”

The two made their comments on the Iowa Public Radio program “Talk of Iowa.”

Thanks to Charity Nebbe, Iowa Public Radio

City of Burlington paying $2 million to settle 2015 police shooting case

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Two weeks ago, a settlement was announced between the City of Burlington and the family of Autumn Steele, who was shot to death by a Burlington police officer three and a half years ago. Dave O’Brien, the Steele family’s attorney, today announced the family agreed to a settlement of two million dollars, but it “absolutely” does not end the family’s effort to have more information about the case released to the public.

“The family feels very strongly about the need to release this body cam video and other evidence in the case,” he said. “However, we are going to comply with confidentiality put in place and until we can get the details of that sorted out, we won’t be releasing any additional information.”

O’Brien said he has no time frame for when a final agreement about what may be released to the public will be completed.

“As the court order regarding confidentiality and what materials that we developed as part of this case and discovered as part of this case — as that becomes available and we know whether or not be can release it, we will be releasing more information,” he said.

The Iowa Freedom of Information Council has joined the family’s effort to get more than 12 seconds of the policeman’s body-cam video and other information related the case released to the public. The watchdog group is still engaged in a fight in U.S. District Court for all sealed documents in the case to be released. In January of 2015, 34-year-old Autumn Steele was shot by a Burlington policeman responding to a domestic call. The policeman says he fired his gun at a dog who was attacking him.

(By Steve Putney, KBUR, Burlington)

When facing a bee infestation, this guy won’t tell you to buzz off

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Photo by Matthew McGuire, Des Moines Backyard Beekeepers

Discovering a large swarm of bees in a hollow tree or in an abandoned building can be unnerving. For some Iowans, the first instinct is to destroy the insects, but there are alternatives.

Sixty-two-year-old Jeff Becvar of Indianola is a bee removal specialist. He says it’s not an easy task, but the honeycomb and its residents can be relocated.

“I use a bee vacuum to collect up all the excess bees,” Becvar says. “They are not harmed. They are actually put into a hive-box that’s converted into a vacuum with a vacuum head on top of it and they’re ventilated as well so they don’t suffocate or overheat.”

Becvar has been using this specialized skill for more than 26 years. He says it’s hard work and it can be dangerous for both the bees and those doing the removal.

“It’s extremely difficult,” he says. “The one I’m working on currently, three beekeepers have looked at it and all three have backed away from it. Not everyone is prepared for this. It’s a pretty daunting task to open up somebody’s house, get in there and remove bees.”

Becvar and a few other bee removal specialists in Iowa are called on an average of 85 times each year. He says the prime time for “cut outs” as they’re called is mid-May through August.

He says he gets stung nearly every time.

Thanks to Pat Blank, Iowa Public Radio

 

 

Iowa pork producer donates 30 tons of pork loins to state’s needy

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Today marks the start of a two-week effort to feed the needy in Iowa called “Haul Out Hunger.”

The state’s largest pork producer will be filling freezers at food banks, pantries, schools and churches.

Allyson Ladd, spokeswoman for the Iowa Falls-based Iowa Select Farms, says they’ll be delivering boneless pork loins by the ton.

“School is out for summer so food pantry supplies are at an all-time low,” Ladd says. “We schedule our donations so that it’s timely and so these pantries can have access to fresh, high-quality, protein-packed products like pork when families need it most.”

Ladd says the total donation will be around 60,000 pounds of pork, or about 30 tons.

“The pantries really appreciate the five-pound pork loins we donate,” Ladd says. “From each pork loin, families are going to get about 24 servings of pork, so when it’s all said and done, we’ll have donated about 292,000 servings of pork for families in need here in Iowa.”

The effort is also being made possible by the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation. The pork is being delivered through July 2nd.

Deliveries at many of the food pantries will be live-streamed on the Iowa Select Farms Facebook page.

By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City

Iowans part of military reserve exchange program with Germany

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A German Luftwaffe officer was in Iowa this week as part of a military reserve exchange program.

Lieutenant Julia Renke, a personnel officer from Germany’s Air Force, visited Sioux City’s 185th Air Refueling Wing. “It’s a great opportunity to get to know American units, as kind of an ambassador between both countries,” Renke said. “It gives you an inside look, which you wouldn’t get in different ways. So, this exchange program between Germany and America is just a special experience.”

Renke took flights on aircraft housed at both the 185th in Sioux City and at the 132nd Wing in Des Moines. “I got to ride on a Black Hawk (helicopter) and I got to go on the KC-135 on a mission,” Renke said. “We saw some F-16s getting refueled, which was amazing for me to get to experience.”

As part of the Defense Military Reserve Exchange Program, 1st Lieutenant Joshua Thomas — Sustainment Services Flight Commander with the 185th — will visit German bases in September. It’ll be his first trip overseas. “I’m very excited to go to Germany for two weeks…and learn their military programs and how both the reserves and active duty units work over there,” Thomas said.

Another officer from Germany and the 132nd Guard unit in Des Moines are also been taking part in the exchange program.

Reporting by Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City

PHOTO: U.S. Air National Guard 1st Lt. Joshua Thomas, the Sustainment Services Flight Commander assigned to the 185th Air Refueling Wing, poses for a photo with German Luftwaffe (air force) Lt.  Julia Renke, a personnel officer, at Sioux City Iowa, June 3, 2018. Renke and Thomas are a part of an officer transfer program designed to enhance service member’s abilities to work and communicate with individuals from various NATO nations. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Daniel Ter Haar)