It lasted into the five o’clock hour on Saturday, May 5th, but the 2018 Iowa Legislative session ended on its 118th day. Republicans are using the word “historic” to describe the agenda Republican majorities in the Iowa House and Senate have enacted over the past two years.

That’s House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, a Republican from Clear Lake. Senate President Charles Schneider, a Republican from West Des Moines, says the 2018 legislature’s premiere accomplishment is its “comprehensive” tax bill.

Democrats like House Minority Leader Mark Smith of Marshalltown are offering a different assessment.

It has been 20 years since Republicans held the majority of seats in the House and Senate at the same time a Republican held the governor’s office. Governor Kim Reynolds is praising the 2018 legislature’s passage of the tax bill as well as approval of a water improvement plan and bills to address the opioid epidemic and problems in the state’s mental health care system.

A plan designed to eventually cut Iowans’ INCOME taxes by 400-million dollars a year was the last major piece of legislation to clear the 2018 Iowa legislature this weekend. In addition to fulfilling G-O-P wishes to cut taxes, the state now has a law that bans nearly all abortions, setting up a potential challenge of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 ruling that legalized abortion. A year ago, Republicans in the legislature voted to ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy. A 2017 law also limits the union bargaining rights of public sector workers. Upmeyer those are accomplishments that will “fire up” the G-O-P base in the November election.

Senate Minority Leader Janet Petersen, a Democrat from Des Moines, says Democrats are anxious to challenge Republican legislative candidates this fall.

The Iowa Senate adjourned for the year at 5:11 p.m. Saturday. The House adjourned about 15 minutes later.

(Radio Iowa)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Billionaire Warren Buffett deflected questions about his eventual successor at Berkshire Hathaway on Saturday, and encouraged the thousands of people at his annual meeting to focus more on big picture investing principles than day-to-day events. The shareholder meeting celebrates the successes of the conglomerate that Buffett built with Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger while offering a chance to learn from the two accomplished businessmen. Buffett doesn’t plan to retire, even though he’s 87 years old, but he invited more questions about his eventual successor earlier this year when he promoted Greg Abel and Ajit Jain to vice chairmen and expanded their responsibilities. Both men now oversee about half of Berkshire’s operating companies.

Buffett and Munger both said little has changed because Berkshire’s businesses largely run themselves day-to-day. Buffett said he still spends most of his time reading about businesses, thinking and fielding the occasional phone call. Many shareholders say they trust that Buffett has a solid succession plan in place. Berkshire investors are also eager to see how Buffett might spend the company’s $116 billion in cash and short-term investments. Buffett reiterated Saturday that he thinks shareholders will be better off if that cash is reinvested in the business, not used for dividends. Buffett encouraged everyone in the crowd to make long-term investments without worrying about headlines, such as trade disputes, Federal Reserve actions or the economy.

Berkshire Hathaway owns 10 percent of Wells Fargo’s stock, and Buffett reiterated his support for the bank Saturday despite its recent scandals. Buffett said Wells Fargo appears to have learned a valuable lesson from the scandals and that he thinks it’s likely to avoid future problems. Wells Fargo had been trying to repair its reputation after admitting in 2016 that employees opened as many as 2 million accounts without getting customers’ permission to meet aggressive sales targets. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. owns railroad, clothing, furniture and jewelry firms. Its insurance and utility businesses typically account for more than half of the company’s net income. The company also has major investments in such companies as American Express, IBM and Wells Fargo & Co.

CLIVE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in central Iowa say a massage therapist charged with sexually assaulting two women in April now faces an additional charge. The Des Moines Register reports that 26-year-old Gage Sheldon Bauer, of Altoona, was arrested Friday on suspicion of assault with intent to commit sex abuse. He was arrested April 16 on similar charges after reports of incidents at a Clive business called Mr. Massage.
The most recent charge stems from a Nov. 27 incident filed by a woman after she heard about his earlier arrest.

Bauer was initially arrested after a woman told police that Bauer attempted to perform a sex act on her and a 17-year-old girl reported that Bauer sexually assaulted her during a massage. Bauer is being held in Polk County Jail without bond.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Officials say it will likely take days to retrieve several barges that broke free on the Mississippi River and hit a dam at Dubuque. The Telegraph Herald reports that the barges struck Mississippi River Lock and Dam No. 11 shortly after 3 p.m. Friday. Multiple barges could be seen up against the structure on the upstream side.

Dubuque Fire Department Lt. Charles Blasen says officials were considering closing bridges for fear one of the barges could get through the dam and hit a bridge support. Both the Dubuque-Wisconsin Bridge and the Julien Dubuque Bridge are downriver from the dam.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City hot dog shop is closing because the building’s landlord intends to demolish the structure, just months after the closure of another longtime hot dog shop. George and Mary Demetroulis were informed earlier this month that their lease for will be terminated May 31, the Sioux City Journal reported . The couple has operated George’s Hot Dog Shoppe since 1975. They began the business five years after moving to the U.S. from Greece.

The shop will stay open until the end of the month, but plans to move to another location are uncertain, Mary Demetroulis said. “In 30 days, what are you going to do?” she said. The restaurant uses all-beef hot dogs served with toppings such as mustard, chili, chopped onions, relish, sauerkraut and jalapenos. The menu also features Mary Demetroulis’ homemade potato salad and baklava.

Landlord Wayne Bradley of Fargo, North Dakota, said he plans to demolish the entire complex once all the tenants have vacated and wants to eventually redevelop the property. “The building is tired, old, worn out; I can’t justify continuing to put money into it,” Bradley said. “I don’t have any plans yet, just aspirations to develop the property.”

The strip mall was built in 1960, according to records from the Sioux City Assessor’s Office. Another well-known Greek hot dog restaurant in the downtown area recently closed. Coney Island closed in November after owner Steve Margeas’s death.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reported a $1.1 billion first-quarter loss as new accounting rules forced it to change the way it accounts for the value of its investments.
Warren Buffett’s conglomerate reported the loss of 46 cents per Class B share on Saturday shortly before its annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. A year ago, Berkshire reported $4.06 billion in net income, or $1.65 per Class B share.

Buffett has long said Berkshire’s operating earnings offer a better view of quarterly performance because they exclude investments and derivatives, which can vary widely.
By that measure, Berkshire reported operating earnings of $5.3 billion, or about $2.14 per Class B share. That’s up from $3.6 billion, or about $1.78 per B share, a year ago.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected operating earnings of $2.08.