U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), a combat veteran and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today (Wednesday) sent a letter to Brigadier General Heather L. Pringle, Commander of the U.S. Air Force 502nd Air Base Wing and Joint Base San Antonio, requesting she consider a mandatory buddy pair system as a means to reduce sexual assaults at the facilities under her command for servicemembers in a training status. Her letter follows her visit to the base, which included discussions with servicemembers to identify a number of ways to better address these heinous crimes, such as a mandatory buddy pair system.

In her letter, Senator Ernst writes that she was “surprised to hear that the Air Force was the only service that did not require such a system for all of its students in training status.” And added “this is disappointing, as the buddy pair system not only can reduce vulnerabilities for sexual assault, but also helps young servicemembers make better decisions.”

The Iowa Senator asked that the Air Force consider implementing the buddy pair system, emphasizing that, “as we continue to see sexual assault plague institutions around the country, it is my hope that the military will continue to take concrete steps to improve and become a leading example for how to effectively curb this problem. Therefore, I request that you consider making a buddy pair system mandatory for all Air Force personnel in a training status on Joint Base San Antonio.”

Senator Ernst’s letter comes as part of her ongoing efforts to combat military sexual assault, including work with Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill on the Military Retaliation Prevention Act which was signed into law as part of the Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act. This also follows her column earlier this year in the Dubuque Telegraph Herald, urging the military to do more to prevent sexual assault.

The president of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) says he’s “very disappointed” with President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of talks on the Trans Pacific Partnership. John Weber of Dysart says the pork industry worked hard to make sure T-P-P would be good for pork producers. However, “All is not lost,” according to Weber. “We haven’t lost anything we currently have. We lost opportunity,” Weber says. “We are optimistic that we can work with this new administration in developing…perhaps bilateral agreements or some other combination of those Asia Pacific countries and regions. Believe me, we’re going to be involved in that and hopefully gain market access for pork.”

The bigger concern right now, Weber says, is the renegotiation of NAFTA  — the North American Free Trade Agreement. “That is going to have to be a smooth and gentle process, if they’re going to massage the trade with both Canada and Mexico, or agriculture could be in big trouble in a hurry,” Weber says.

While the trade issues are concerning, Weber says, NPPC is looking forward to the regulatory relief promised by the new administration.

(Reporting by Ken Anderson, Brownfield Ag News via Radio Iowa)

Lawmakers have included a 600-thousand dollar cut to the legislative branch of state government in their plan to trim 88 million dollars from the current year’s state budget.  Representative Pat Grassley, a Republican from New Hartford who is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said “I think the legislature should share in making sure that the…budget works.”

Republicans serving on committees in both the House AND Senate endorsed the overall plan last (Tuesday) night. Democrats on both committees voted against the plan. They criticized Republicans to making cuts to community colleges in particular. Democratic Senator Joe Bolkcom of Iowa City, said “You have asked nothing of the fat cuts that have benefited from record tax cuts and special give-aways.” The G-O-P plan does includes cutting off legislators’ daily expense money 10 days earlier than normal. That would save up to 360-thousand dollars.

Democrats in the SENATE suggested giving up one more day of expense money, for an additional 36-thousand dollars in savings. Republicans on the senate committee rejected that move — saying for “expediency’s sake” they wanted to keep the senate bill identical to the one advancing in the house. The unified G-O-P plan is now eligible for debate in both the House and Senate. Governor Branstad has indicated he’ll approve it.

(Radio Iowa)

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The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a Red Oak man was arrested Tuesday night on a Theft-related warrant. 18-year old Kyle Jacob Parks, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 7:40-p.m. in the 100 block of W. Coolbaugh Street in Red Oak, on a Montgomery County arrest warrant for Theft in the 2nd Degree. Parks was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $5,000 bond.

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

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s executive actions on the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines are aimed at turning the much-protested pipelines into reality. But they don’t immediately clear the way for construction, and opponents of the projects are likely to fight in court. Trump’s actions also might reinvigorate protests against the pipelines.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — A pickup truck and school bus collided near Mason City, causing two injuries but not harming any of the children. The Globe Gazette reports a dozen children were on the West Fork School District bus when it collided with a pickup on Tuesday afternoon south of Mason City. The students were sent home with parents. The Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office says 55-year-old bus driver Kimberlee Kephart, of Swaledale, and a pickup passenger, 33-year-old Ana Baquedano-Avila, were taken to a hospital.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A district court judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging privatization of the Iowa Medicaid program filed by a group representing hospitals across the state. The Iowa Hospital Association sued in November 2015 seeking to reverse Gov. Terry Branstad’s plan to privatize the Medicaid program claiming it violated state law because it diverted money hospitals have historically been paid to the three health care corporations the state hired.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Department of Public Safety says 1,700 Iowa firefighters and emergency responders have been issued improper credentials due to improper test scoring over a four-year period. The department says its former employee, Fire Training Service Bureau Certification and Accreditation Coordinator John McPhee, is charged with misconduct in office and tampering with records. A department review found that nearly 2,300 certifications were improperly issued from February 2012 through February 2016.

Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry/CDC, Tuesday evening, made a presentation to about 25 people at the Cass County Community Center in Atlantic, with regard to PCE (Tetrachloroethylene) groundwater contamination and vapor intrusion from two separate former dry cleaning sites in town. The former Norge Dry Cleaning site near 7th and Plum Streets, was placed on the “National Priorities List (NPL)” for clean-up, in April 2016. EPA Superfund monies are being used for the process.

Bo Hull, Remedial Project Manager for the EPA’s Region 7 office in Kansas City said when a site is place on the NPL, that means there’s a problem. Susan Fisher, On-Scene Coordinator with the EPA’s Region 7 office in Kansas City, has previously stated that for the past several years, the agency has been assessing the groundwater in Atlantic, and found one area in particular to be contaminated with PCE, which is a manufactured chemical typically used in dry cleaning solvents.

The chemical PCE – a known carcinogen — was originally detected in 1982, when routine monthly sampling of an Atlantic Municipal Utilities (AMU) well resulted in the discovery of PCE. The well was immediately taken off line and pumped to the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Research then began on where the contaminant was coming from. Once the site was located, the process began to determine the extent of contamination and how to mitigate the impact. In the former dry cleaners parking lot, they found a high contamination of PCE in the soil. It extended below the soil into the Dakota Sandstone, a depth of about 40-feet.

The affected well, AMU 7, is old and failing. As a result, the contamination was moving towards the AMU 6 well. That well showed contamination and is no longer being pumped for drinking water purposes. In June 2015, when 7th Street was being torn up and resurfaced, the EPA Clean-up team removed about 45 truckloads of contaminated soil from under the street near the former dry cleaner site and replaced it with clean soil.

Last year, the EPA worked on finding a remedy to remove the source area of contamination, and came up with the idea of using TRS Electrical Resistance Heating (ERH), or in situ thermal remediation.

An example of an ERH system that will be installed in the parking lot near 7th and Plum Streets.

The work is expected to begin around February 21st. It’ll take three months for the ERH system installation and once on-line, it’ll run for about nine months. The entire process therefore, takes about a year. Once the source contamination is removed, the EPA will begin on removing the remaining plume that stretches about a half mile south through 3rd Street Place and Mulberry Streets. A ground water containment system including two extraction wells, will be installed south of the railroad tracks, near 3rd Street Place and Mulberry.

A second, separate PCE site on Chestnut Street was discovered in 2015 by sub-slab soil sampling and/or air sampling from several buildings along Chestnut. Officials say that was likely the result of six dry cleaning businesses that were in operation in the downtown area since the 1930’s. The samples showed elevated levels of PCE and TCE (Trichoroethylene), which is also sometimes associated with dry cleaning, metal degreasing and textiles. Under certain circumstance, officials said TCE can degrade and break down into PCE. The primary issue with the Chestnut Street site is what’s called “Vapor Instrusion,” which is when vapors come from the contaminated soil and groundwater to the ground surface via cracks in basements and foundations.

Of the 73 properties downtown, nine were identified as having “Elevated concentrations” of PCE/TCE. Vapor mitigation systems [VMS] (Similar to those for eradicating radon), were installed. No other properties to date have been identified as needing a VMS. Current studies show no portion of the City’s drinking water or private wells have been affected by the downtown PCE/TCE issue. The EPA will continue sampling of properties next week along Chestnut Street. Soil sampling will also be conducted. An EPA clean-up will be based on those results.

The total cost of the cleanup is estimated at $1.5-million dollars. Again, officials stress that the City’s of Atlantic drinking water wells are NOT affected by the PCE, and the water is safe to drink. Additional information is available online at https://www.epa.gov/superfund/pceformerdrycleaner

Authorities in Crawford County said today (Tuesday), the driver of a vehicle that crashed into Boyer River early Thursday morning was arrested Monday night on drug and other charges. 25-year old Ramon Hernandez, of Denison, is in the Crawford County jail on charges of drug distribution to minors, marijuana possession, reckless driving, driving under suspension, and failure to maintain control. He is accused of giving four teenagers marijuana about 10 p.m. last Wednesday at his house.

Law enforcement, fire and rescue personnel and volunteers have been search for 15-year old Yoana Acosta, of Denison, since she failed to surface from the submerged car following last week’s crash. Four other people survived that crash into the Boyer River, north of Denison, after the vehicle they were in drove through two fields before ending up in the river.

Just this morning (Tuesday morning), members of Iowa Task Force One, Sioux City Fire and Rescue Division, were activated by Iowa Homeland Security to assist local agencies in Denison with locating the missing girl. Members are providing search and recovery efforts as well as relief assistance to local officials.

(KNOD/Harlan)

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have decided not to prosecute a man whose vehicle fatally struck an Iowa woman in southeast Nebraska. Nineteen-year-old Merzedes Hart, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was killed late Jan. 13 as she crossed U.S. Highway 6 northeast of Lincoln. The vehicle that hit her continued on. The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office says Hart and two friends had been at a nearby strip club.

A news release from Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that investigators concluded the vehicle driver did nothing to cause the accident and left the scene only because he thought his vehicle had struck a deer. The 51-year-old man, Ricky Phillips, of Lincoln, was cited for driving with a suspended license.

Hart was a student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and was on the track team.