(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican from Red Oak, says the impeachment of former president Donald Trump won’t do anything to unify the country and there is still a question about whether a private citizen can be impeached.  Ernst says if there truly is a case against Trump, he can be held accountable in the courts, and it is up to the Senate to follow the U-S Constitution. Ernst says President Joe Biden spoke about unity in his inaugural address — but hasn’t followed through.

“His actions have been totally opposite of that with so many of the executive orders that he has signed already. They are very, very, left-leaning liberal policies that will continue to divide the nation,” Ernst says, “you know he’s done that without engaging members of Congress.” She says she wants to work with Democrats to get things done, but their leadership isn’t doing that.

“The actions in the Senate of (Majority Leader) Chuck Schumer not agreeing upon the filibuster. Not agreeing that’s an important part of our institution and wanting to do away with minority rights in the Senate — which Republicans have upheld — even against President Trump, we upheld the minority rights in the Senate,” according to Ernst. “And Chuck Schumer is being very divisive.” Ernst says some Democrats are trying to work across the aisle to get things done.

“I mean, there’s a number of us who continue to work together to move forward on solutions. And right now, I just don’t see that guidance coming from the administration so far,” Ernst says. Senators were sworn in today (Tuesday) to serve as jurors in the impeachment trial. The trial will start on February 8th. Ernst made her comments during her weekly teleconference with reporters.

ELK HORN – Officials with the Danish Windmill announced Thursday, that the organization has received an Iowa Arts & Culture Recovery Program Grant from the Iowa Arts Council, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. The Iowa Arts & Culture Recovery Program Grant funds support recovery of expenses, such as payroll, utilities and PPE as well as goods and services that were needed to transition and ensure a safe reopening.

The Danish Windmill, Elk Horn, Iowa

The Windmill’s manager, Lisa Steen Riggs stated, “We are so grateful for receiving $15,600 from the Iowa Arts & Culture Recovery Program Grant. As a small non-profit cultural heritage museum in rural Iowa the value of receiving these public funds cannot be understated. We managed through the challenges and although visitor attendance was down almost forty percent from the previous year, we still were able to welcome almost 30,000 visitors originating from all fifty states and twenty-one different countries.”

Funding for Iowa Arts & Culture Recovery Program Grant is made possible by Governor Kim Reynolds allocating $7 million of federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs for the purpose of providing economic relief to Iowa’s arts and culture industry. The funding is administered by the Iowa Arts Council, on behalf of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, through the Iowa Arts & Culture Emergency Relief Fund.

To learn more about the Danish Windmill and how you can support the organization and about the projects, visit danishwindmill.com or contact the Danish Windmill at 712.764.7472.

The U-S Department of Justice’ Criminal Division reports an Iowa woman plead guilty Thursday to unlawfully using a former Department of Justice contractor’s government computer to access government records and to obtain sensitive, non-public law enforcement information. According to admissions made in connection with her guilty plea, Rachel Manna, 33, of West Des Moines, was acquainted with Danielle Taff, who was employed as a contractor paralegal by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa. Taff was assigned to the office’s Civil Division, where she worked exclusively on matters related to civil forfeiture and was neither required nor authorized to access files and information related to the district’s investigation and prosecution of criminal cases.

Manna admitted that in the spring of 2018, she asked Taff to obtain non-public information about certain defendants in a criminal investigation and prosecution being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. As a result, on or about May 16, 2018, Taff used her U.S. Department of Justice computer to access criminal files stored on the district’s shared electronic data storage drive, including reports of law enforcement interviews with at least two individuals who cooperated with the district in a drug-trafficking investigation. Taff then used her cell phone to take approximately 30 photographs of the sensitive, non-public documents related to the drug-trafficking investigation.

After photographing the documents, Taff shared them with Manna, who subsequently shared the photographs with several individuals on Facebook. As a result, in October 2018, other individuals posted those photographs to a Facebook group dedicated to outing “snitches,” or law enforcement cooperators, in the Des Moines region. Among other sensitive information, the photographs taken by Taff and subsequently posted on Facebook identified at least two cooperators in the drug-trafficking investigation by name and other personal identifiers.

Taff pleaded guilty in November 2020 for her role in the scheme and is scheduled to be sentenced March 9. Sentencing for Manna is scheduled for June 4.

The Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, Chicago Field Division, is investigating the case. Trial Attorneys Erica O’Brien Waymack and Matthew Palmer-Ball of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section are prosecuting the case.

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — A snowy section of Interstate 80 was closed Thursday afternoon in central Iowa after a massive crash involving roughly 40 vehicles. Iowa authorities closed the eastbound lanes of the interstate west of Newton after the chain-reaction crash happened shortly before noon. The Iowa State Patrol said two troopers were in the middle of assisting with several multi-car crashes in the area when the larger pileup happened.

This image provided by the Iowa Transportation Department from a traffic camera shows a massive pileup on Interstate 80, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021, west of Newton, Iowa. A snowy section of Interstate 80 was closed Thursday afternoon in central Iowa, after the massive crash involving roughly 40 vehicles. Iowa authorities closed the eastbound lanes of the interstate west of Newton after the chain-reaction crash. (Iowa Transportation Department via AP)

Iowa Transportation Department spokeswoman Andrea Henry said several serious injuries have been reported in the crash but no deaths. Officials are urging drivers to stay off the roads across most of eastern Iowa because they were mostly covered with snow Thursday.

These two images are from the ISP Facebook page

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports a man who failed to appear on possession of a controlled substance and driving while barred charges, was arrested Tuesday afternoon.

Alfred H. Wright, II

Authorities say 48-year-old Alfred Henry Wright II, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Jail. Wright was transferred to the Mills County Jail and held on $10,000 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa continues to have the third-worst coronavirus vaccination rate per capita in the nation as the state reached a milestone Thursday of more than 5,000 people killed by the virus. Gov. Kim Reynolds says she is working on improving vaccination efforts. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Iowa has 6,315 people per 100,000 given the first vaccine dose.

That is worse than all other states except Idaho and Missouri. Public health officials reported 58 additional deaths on Thursday, increasing the state total to 5,033 since the beginning of the pandemic nearly a year ago.