(Radio Iowa) – Congresswoman Cindy Axne, a Democrat from West Des Moines, will seek re-election for a third term in the U.S House in Iowa;s new third congressional district. Axne, who had been considering a run for governor, says she took some time to make the decision because she wanted to assess where she could “make the most impact” for Iowa.

“What does redistricting look like and how are we going to make sure that Iowa has the best support for what we need? And it took a minute and really look at all these things in conjunction and make sure I made the right decision,”Axne says. Axne defeated incumbent Republican Congressman David Young in 2018 and she won a 2020 rematch against Young.

“My goal, when I started in my first primary, was to to make sure that I represented Iowans in the best way I thought I could, to make sure that we do three things: uld: put money in their pockets, give our families opportunity and ensure that states like Iowa got to operate on a level playing field with other states,” Axne says. “…I still feel that the best way to address those issues is within the United States Congress.”

Commercials critical of Axne have already begun airing in Axne’s current district. Axne says that shows she’s in the number one targeted race for Republicans in 2022. “This job, for me, is about standing up for Iowans,” Axne says. “That means making sure that we have what they need, but it also means protecting our democracy and I play a pivotal role in both of those areas and I intend to make sure that Iowans have the best voice out there.” Axne made her announcement during this (Friday) morning’s taping of Iowa Press which airs tonight (Friday) on Iowa P-B-S.

Axne’s decision follows this week’s announcement from Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who — like Axne — lives in the new third congressional district, but will seek reelection in the new first district. Four other Republicans have announced they intend to run in the new THIRD district. Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann says Axne is a big government Democrat who has spent the past two years cozying up to Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden. Axne endorsed Biden before the 2020 Iowa Caucuses and she says she’d be happy to have Biden campaign for her in Iowa in 2022.

“Once we get the infrastructure bill signed into law, the Build Back Better bill signed into law, next year folks are seeing expansion of those child care centers, they’re seeing more money in their pocket because of the earned income tax credit or the child tax credit…when those pieces are put in place and we start moving those agendas forward, we’re going to overcome some of the false narratives that we’re hearing right now,” Axne says.

Axne is the only Democrat in Iowa’s congressional delegation. She’s also among the few House Democrats who won last year in a district that President Trump carried. Her margin of victory in 2022 was about one-and-a-half percent.

(Storm Lake, Iowa) – The driver of a pickup died and two people were injured during a head-on crash Friday morning south of Rembrandt. According to the Iowa State Patrol, at around 9-a.m., a 2005 Ford F-150 pickup driven by 33-year-old Juan Alday Pena, of Storm Lake, was traveling north on Highway 71, when the vehicle went out of control. It crossed the center line of the road into the path of a 2010 GMC Arcadia, driven by 46-year-old Terry Stevens, of Spencer, who was unable to avoid the ensuing collision.

The Pena died at the scene. Stevens, and a passenger in Pena’s pickup, 41-year-old Ninfa Carbral Bautista, of Storm Lake, were transported to the Buena Vista Regional Medical Center by Buena Vista EMS. All of the accident victims were wearing their seat belts.

The Patrol said weather was a factor in the crash.

Des Moines, Iowa — Data released today (Friday) by the Iowa Department of Public Health shows the state is headed in the wrong direction on the spread of COVID-19. There were 8,047 positive tests in the last week, up from 7,616 at last report on Wednesday. The state’s 14-day positivity rate climbed from 8.9% to 9.2%. That number has been increasing for about two weeks.

Hospitalization numbers have declined. There are 487 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, down from 524 on Wednesday. Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, 75.8% are unvaccinated, while 87.1% of those listed in intensive care with COVID-19 are unvaccinated. There have been 3,895,495 vaccine doses administered in Iowa, with 68.3% of those 18 and older fully vaccinated, and 71% of those 13 and older with at least one dose.The number of long-term care facilities reporting a virus outbreak dropped from 29 to 26 since Wednesday.

IDPH provides new COVID-19 data every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Altoona, Iowa — Greenfield Artist Ray “Bubba” Sorensen announced Thursday night, the location of his soon to be 100th and final mural on the Freedom Rock Tour in Iowa. His official “Freedom Rock” Facebook page said the site will be Adventureland Park, in Altoona. When completed, the boulder will wrap up Sorensen’s tour of the state, painting a Freedom Rock in all of Iowa’s 99 counties, plus the bonus rock in Polk County. Sorensen says he hopes to have the Adventureland Freedom Rock completed by July 4, 2022.

Ray Sorsensen and his wife Maria at Adventureland, the site selected for the 100th Freedom Rock, in Iowa.

The chance to host the 100th Freedom Rock came during an online auction. The winning bid was $20,000. The rules said the winning town must not have had a Freedom Rock already. Proceeds from the sale will be divided between the TAPS and PuppyJake non-profit organizations.

DES MOINES ­– Iowa Third District Representative Cindy Axne is reminding Iowa parents who do not regularly file taxes and have not received a Child Tax Credit (CTC) payment, to sign up for 2021 payments before Monday’s deadline. Monday, November 15 is the last day for eligible non-filers to apply for monthly payments of up to $300 per child from the expanded Child Tax Credit. Eligible families can sign up for the monthly payments here. The expansion was approved by Rep. Axne and her colleagues in March through the American Rescue Plan, the most recent federal COVID-19 relief package.

Families are eligible for the expanded CTC if they have at least one child under the age of 18 and made up to $150,000 for a couple or $112,500 for a family with a single parent (also called Head of Household). Eligible families who do not sign up by the November 15 deadline can still claim the CTC through a 2022 tax filing.

Iowans with questions are encouraged to visit ChildTaxCredit.gov to learn more.

(Radio Iowa) – As flurries fly across much of the state today (Friday), the experts still aren’t able to nail down what type of winter may lie ahead for Iowa or the Midwest. National Weather Service meteorologist Brett Albright says the forecast of another La Nina weather pattern will drive the winter weather across the Northern Plains, but how much snow may fall is still anyone’s guess. “In terms of total precip that we’re expecting here in Iowa and Nebraska, we could be above normal or below, there really isn’t a strong way to predict where that’s going to fall,” Albright says. “It does look like to our south, it’s going to be below, and then we’re caught in between a couple of areas here of above-normal precip being most likely this winter.”

The forecast models also show essentially a 50-50 chance of below- versus above-normal temperatures. Still, Albright says there is a narrow possibility of more snow in Iowa later in the winter. “There’s no strong signal for total precipitation, but there is a weak signal for more snowfall, particularly during the second half of the winter,” Albright says. “We’re looking for maybe when will more of our snow fall? We’d be looking more at certainly January into February if not latter January into February for the best, the highest chances of more of that snowfall.”

Despite recent heavy rains, the Climate Prediction Center is forecasting drought conditions to linger across much of the region into next spring.

News from around Iowa, with Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has taken the rare step of rejecting the candidates a commission had nominated to be a district court judge in northern Iowa. Reynolds sent a letter to the commission making nominations for the district court vacancy created when Judge Gina Badding of Carroll was appointed to the Iowa Court of Appeals. Reynolds says she heard from several commission members that the judge who led the interview process had coached one candidate and made unprofessional and disturbing comments about others. Reynolds says her staff discovered Judge Kurt Stoebe of Humboldt also misled commission members by saying one applicant had withdrawn after being interviewed. That person adamantly denied that when contacted by the governor’s office. The commission is to reconvene November 18th and redo the entire process.

According the letter from Reynolds, the only other time nominees for an opening in DISTRICT court have been rejected happened during Governor Robert Ray’s tenure. In 2011, Governor Terry Branstad rejected a slate of candidates for Iowa SUPREME Court openings. The nominating commission reconvened and submitted a second set of names to Branstad. In Iowa’s process of filling openings in the judicial system, governors make appointments from the list of names submitted by judicial nominating commissions.

Area and western Iowa News from Ric Hanson.

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(Anamosa, Iowa) – One person died, and two others were injured during a single-vehicle rollover accident early today (Friday), south of Anamosa, in eastern Iowa’s Jones County. The Iowa State Patrol says a 2009 Ford Focus was traveling north in the 9200 block of Jones County Road X-40 at around 1-a.m., when the car entered the west ditch and rolled several times before hitting farm equipment. One person died at the scene, the two surviving occupants were transported to area hospitals. Authorities were withholding the names, pending notification of family.

The Patrol was assisted at the scene by Anamosa Police, Fire & Ambulance.