(Radio Iowa) — California billionaire and Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer just wrapped up a two-day campaign swing through north-central Iowa, touting plans to boost the amount of affordable housing in America.  “So many things depend on where you put your head down at night,” Steyer says, “and I think that solving and addressing this housing shortage and this housing crisis is something that’s critical in terms of addressing inequality around the country.”

Steyer says the federal government should invest more than six-hundred-25 BILLION dollars ($625 billion) over ten years in existing housing programs — to create three-and-a-half million units of affordable housing. Steyer says an additional six-hundred BILLION ($600 billion) should be used to develop “climate-smart” housing in cities that’s affordable. Steyer says there’s no state in the US where a minimum-wage worker can afford a market-rate two-bedroom apartment. “Des Moines has gentrification problems like the gentrification problems across this country,” Steyer says. “I’ve been to Council Bluffs to see the flooding. I know that they are the issues about rebuilding houses and I know there is enough housing stock in rural America.”

Steyer says leaders at the local, state and federal level need to show leadership in addressing housing issues.  “We’re going to have to deal with our homelessness problem across the country explicitly,” he says. “We’re going to have to help people to the traditional American wealth generation through home ownership…because that has gotten to be very problematic and particularly in red-lined areas.”

Steyer made stops in Mason City and Osage on Sunday, and Charles City and Northwood on Monday.

(8-a.m. News) COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Some business owners at a western Iowa mall say they’re upset at being forced out of the building by the end of the year. Officials say the Mall of the Bluffs on the east side of Council Bluffs is being acquired so Menards can demolish it and build a new home improvement center.

Bryon Beins co-owns Madness Haunted House, and he told The Daily Nonpareil that he received a letter from Woodsonia Real Estate Group of Omaha, Nebraska, on Nov. 18, telling him that he had to move out of the mall by Dec. 31. He says he intends to fight the eviction. Beins says there isn’t enough time for him and his business partner to find a new location, tear down everything at the mall and move.

Spokesmen for Woodsonia and Menards were not immediately available for comment.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Sioux City officials have repealed an 11-year-old ban on pit bull ownership, saying a city ordinance is unfair and likely difficult to defend against court challenges. The Sioux City Journal reports the City Council voted 4-to-1 Monday to overturn the ban, effective Saturday. The ban adopted in 2008 prohibited residents from keeping dogs that are 51% or more pit bull. Those who owned dogs before April 2009 could keep them if they were registered each year.

The ban was spurred by concerns the dogs were inherently vicious, but pit bull advocates argued each animal should be judged independently. City lawyers recommended the council adopt a “breed neutral” ordinance.

The Creston Police Department reports one arrest and two incidents of theft from vehicles. Authorities say 48-year old John Pace, Jr., of Creston, was arrested Monday afternoon for Driving While revoked. He was later released from the Union County Jail on $1,000 bond.

A Creston resident reported to Police Monday morning, that sometime overnight Sunday into Monday, someone broke into their vehicle while it was parked in the 900 block of E. Summit Street. A wallet containing credit cards and checks, some vehicle documents, and a mask were stolen from inside the vehicle. There was also damage to the center console. The loss was estimated at $500. Another Creston resident reported Sunday morning, that someone had broken into their vehicle in the 300 block of N. Cedar Street. A wallet containing various personal documents was missing. The loss was estimated at $50.