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Iowa early News Headlines: Friday, 1/24/2020

News

January 24th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

CORNING, Iowa (KJAN) – A collision Thursday afternoon in Adams County between a semi-tractor and a passenger van has claimed the life of a Coon Rapids man. The Iowa State Patrol reports 64-year old Jerome Koester, of Coon Rapids died, when he pulled away from a stop sign near Highway 34 and Highway 148, and his van was struck be a semi tractor, driven by a man from Lenox. The accident, which happened at around 1:20-p.m., remains under investigation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With all eyes on Democrats as they prepare to cast their ballots in Iowa’s kickoff caucuses, President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is working to try to persuade Republican voters that they should turn out at their caucus sites, too. The push is complete with a presidential rally next week, GOP-led training sessions and a new video featuring the president’s daughter-in-law. It makes clear that the campaign is trying to avoid the optics of empty Republican rooms on caucus night juxtaposed with Democratic gatherings brimming with enthusiastic voters and keep the focus on Trump.

STANTON, Iowa (AP) — The impeachment trial that got underway this week is happening at an inopportune time for all four senators in the Democratic primary. But it’s a particularly bad moment for Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar. The three-term senator built her campaign on a strategy of a slow and steady build in Iowa. She spent campaign funds conservatively all year, hoping a late surge would bring a strong showing in Iowa and catapult her to the top tier in New Hampshire and beyond. Now her absence from the campaign trail could blunt the gains from what Klobuchar described Wednesday as “quite a 48 hours.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Environmental groups and community activists rallied at the Iowa Capitol to push lawmakers to consider halting the growth of hog farms in the state. Food and Water Watch and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement sponsored the Thursday event. They have sued the state, claiming it has violated its obligation to protect the Raccoon River from hog farm pollution. Activists at the rally called on lawmakers to consider a House bill introduced last year that would impose a moratorium on hog farm expansion. The bill sponsored by a group of Democrats was not assigned by Republican leaders to a subcommittee for discussion.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A resolution amending the Iowa Constitution to declare there is no right to an abortion in the state has passed a Senate committee, making it eligible for floor debate. The measure passed Thursday with only Republican votes from the Senate State Government Committee. Republican Sen. Jake Chapman has long been disturbed by a 2018 Iowa Supreme Court ruling that gave women the right to control their bodies. He calls the decision judicial tyranny and says the amendment restores the people’s voice. The amendment must pass the legislature this year, again next year and then would go to voters as early as 2022.