(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds will deliver the annual “Condition of the State” message to the Iowa General Assembly later this (Tuesday) morning (at 10-a.m.) — the third year she’s done so. Reynolds offered a bit of a preview a week ago at a statehouse forum organized by The Associated Press. “We have a diverse and growing economy, even with some significant challenges, but I’m proud to say that Iowa is in growth mode,” Reynolds said. “We have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, more Iowans working today than at any time in our state history.”

This past summer, Reynolds indicated finding new ways to improve access to quality child care, particularly in rural Iowa, would be a priority issue for the 2020 legislative session. She’s been non-committal about what plans she may have when it comes to tax policy. “Stay tuned,” Reynolds said last week, laughing. “…We’re looking at all of it.” Reynolds has met privately with groups to discuss revamping the way the state might allocate new revenue if the state sales tax was raised — and a constitutional amendment requires a portion of that money be spent on water quality and outdoor recreation projects. “We’ve worked very hard to incorporate or hear from anybody who has ideas or interest in addressing that,” Reynolds told reporters last week.

Reynolds and Republican leaders in the legislature have repeatedly said if the sales tax goes up, it must be part of a package that winds up lowering the total amount of taxes the state collects.

(Radio Iowa) — On the first day of the 2020 Iowa legislative session, Republican leaders in the Iowa Senate called for more income tax cuts. Two years ago, the Republican-led legislature passed the largest state income tax cut in state history. Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver of Ankeny says it’s time to cut more. “We can continue to do more to simplify and make taxes lower, fairer and more efficient,” Whitver said, “but the ultimate goal is to ensure that people who work hard for their money are going to keep more of it.”

Senate President Charles Schneider, a Republican from West Des Moines, says state income taxes ARE gradually being reduced through the legislature’s 2018 action, but they’re still too high.  “The more we can lower income taxes the sooner Iowans will be able to pay off student loans, buy a home, start a family, save for their children’s education or put aside money for retirement,” Schneider says. The top Democrat in the Senate called for guaranteeing paid family leave for Iowa workers. Senate Minority Leader Janet Petersen of Des Moines says the state’s unemployment rate may be low, but too many Iowans who ARE working are paid too little. “Let’s raise the minimum wage and end welfare practices that prop up low-wage employers who trap Iowans in chronic poverty,” Petersen said.

House Minority Leader Todd Prichard of Charles City suggested he and other Democrats in the House will call for a significant increase in state spending on Iowa’s public schools. “Democrats understand that to build a better future and grow our workforce, we must educate the children and students of today to work and lead the state tomorrow,” Prichard said. In addition, Prichard says House Democrats will offer proposals to address Iowa’s housing shortage.

(Update 8:25-a.m.) The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported following a rollover accident south/southwest of Marne, this (Tuesday) morning. Marne Rescue and Medivac Ambulance were called to the scene at 590th and Fairview, at 5:53-a.m. According to dispatch reports, a vehicle rolled into a field and through a fence. The driver, who was said to be 25-year old Matthew Allen Cook, person was said to have been out of the vehicle, walking around, when authorities arrived. The accident was reported at 5:52-a.m.  Dispatch advised at 6:04-a.m., that there were in fact NO injuries, and Marne Rescue was told to disregard.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – A Central City woman accused of running over and killing a bicyclist has taken a plea deal. Melinda Lawrence took the deal before jury selection was to begin Monday in Cedar Rapids. She pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide while intoxicated and other crimes. Her murder charge was dropped. The agreement calls for her sentences to run consecutively, for a total of 40 years. Authorities say Lawrence drove over Jeffrey Scott on his bicycle on Aug. 30, 2018, in a Central City parking lot. A court document says a friend of Scott told investigators Lawrence had been stalking Scott.

(Iowa News Service)  Ames, IA — Going into 2020, there’s continued excitement for alternative meat products and their benefits. But an Iowa-based expert says consumers should learn more about them. Over the past year, the food world buzzed over marketed items such as plant-based hamburgers, which are designed to taste like meat but don’t come at the cost of hurting the environment because of how they’re produced. There’s also the perception that they are healthier to eat.

Ruth Litchfield is a professor of food science and human nutrition at Iowa State University. She says the environmental benefits are there, but not necessarily the health benefits. “My biggest concern about some of these products is not what the constituents are for, so it’s not the ingredients that are of concern to me, but it’s the consumer perception that these are going to be nutritionally very similar to the traditional product. ”

For example, Litchfield says some plant-based burgers on the market are higher in saturated fat and sodium. She says they also have less protein and a lower-quality protein. She says a lot of the perception mirrors what happened when many different styles of milk hit the market in recent years.

The Impossible Foods company recently unveiled plans for an alternative form of pork. That has some worried about how this might harm producers in Iowa, which is the leading pork-producing state in the U.S. But Litchfield says it’s too early to say how this might affect them. “It really could go either way, and it’s really going to depend on the consumer demand and the acceptance of these products.”

Despite some of the hype and popularity surrounding alternative meat products, research has shown the U.S. consumption of traditional meats has rebounded in recent years.

(Radio Iowa) — Six Democratic presidential candidates will debate tonight (Tuesday) in Des Moines. The debate will be broadcast on C-N-N, in partnership with The Des Moines Register. It’ll begin at 8 p.m. and last for two hours. In the hours leading up to the event, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren quibbled publicly about a C-N-N report of a private conversation they had more than a year ago.

Actress and singer Mandy Moore joined Pete Buttigieg in Ames last night to make her pitch for his candidacy. The black mayor of Iowa’s most racially diverse city in endorsing Pete Buttigieg for president. The endorsement by Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart gives the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor a boost as he struggles to attract voters of color. Hart told The Associated Press he was supporting Buttigieg in part for what he called the Democrat’s effort to address racial economic disparity in South Bend. The Buttigieg campaign hopes Hart’s endorsement will help not only inoculate Buttigieg from the stubborn notion he cannot win black support but also potentially resonate beyond majority-white Iowa, as Buttigieg winds his way through the Democratic primary campaign.

Andrew Yang, who did not qualify for tonight’s debate, celebrated his 45th birthday last night after speaking to a crowd of 700 at Drake University. Joe Biden and Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller visited with campaign volunteers in Des Moines last night. Miller endorsed Biden Monday morning. And late Monday afternoon President Trump’s campaign announced there will be a Trump re-election rally in Des Moines on January 30th.

Iowa Republicans AND Democrats will hold their precinct caucuses in 20 days.

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

WASHINGTON (AP) — Today (Tuesday) marks the last time the leading Democratic presidential contenders will face a national audience on the debate stage before primary voting begins, making it the most significant moment of the 2020 primary season to date. The prime-time faceoff comes just 20 days before Iowa’s caucuses as polls suggest the nomination is truly up for grabs. Heading in, there are new signs of tension among all the top-tier candidates, particularly Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. If ever there has been a time for the six contenders on stage to take the gloves off, this is it.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new dispute between Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders marks a significant turning point in a Democratic primary that has generally been characterized by genial differences over policy. On Monday, Warren said Sanders told her during a private meeting two years ago that he didn’t think a woman could win the White House. Sanders has denied telling Warren that, and a senior Sanders adviser says that “those conversations can sometimes get misconstrued.” The feud brewing between Warren and Sanders will likely change the tone of the campaign going into Tuesday’s debate.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — President Donald Trump will be holding a rally in Iowa just days before the state holds its election kickoff caucuses. Trump’s reelection campaign announced Monday that he will be rallying supporters in Des Moines on Jan. 30. That’s four days before the contest for the Democratic nomination formally gets underway. It’s one of a series of events in states across the country that will keep Trump in the spotlight and give him a platform to make his case directly to voters as the impeachment case against him heads toward the Senate.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Presidential candidates have swarmed Iowa’s rolling landscape for more than a year, making their pitch to potential supporters on college campuses, county fairgrounds and in high school gymnasiums. But three weeks before the caucuses usher in the Democratic contest, the battle for the state is wide open. A cluster of candidates, including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, along with Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, enters the final stretch with a plausible chance of winning Iowa’s caucuses. A poll released Friday by The Des Moines Register and CNN found them all with similar levels of support.

DES MOINES – Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds today (Monday), announced appointments to Iowa’s boards and commissions.

The following appointments (of area persons) are subject to Senate confirmation:

Commission of Deaf Services: Chris Nipper, Council Bluffs

Iowa Autism Council: Cheryl Mulligan, Shenandoah

The following appointments are not subject to Senate confirmation:

Armory Board: Virginia Taylor, Exira

Southwest Regional STEM Advisory Board:

• Nadine Jessen, Exira
• Stephanie Lane, Creston
• Deb Sprecker, Woodbine
• Terry Torneten, Harlan

STEM Advisory Council:

Barbara Crittenden, Creston

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Democrats are preparing for what could be their most contentious debate yet. The six candidates on the stage Tuesday night are all looking for a way to break out of the crowded pack at the top with just weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses.

Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Tom Steyer will all appear at the debate. It marks the first all-white debate stage of the cycle, which is sure to underscore concerns among Democrats at the lack of diversity in the field.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – President Donald Trump will be holding a rally in Iowa just days before the state holds its election kickoff caucuses. Trump’s reelection campaign announced Monday that he will be rallying supporters in Des Moines on Jan. 30. That’s four days before the contest for the Democratic nomination formally gets underway.

It’s one of a series of events in states across the country that will keep Trump in the spotlight and give him a platform to make his case directly to voters as the impeachment case against him heads toward the Senate.