Republican Congressman Steve King was in California last week to see prototypes for “the wall” along the southern border. “I thought the prototypes were pretty fancy and I thought that they were expensive,” King says. King, a former contractor, considers the workmanship “great,” but King says the 30-foot-tall sections are not “conducive” to a construction zone that will be hundreds of miles long.  “The top 15 feet costs more than than bottom 15 feet because you have to build the structure into the foundation that’ll stand up against the wind loads and all of the other forces that are out there,” King said. “I’d say instead: ‘Let’s bring a 15-foot wall, put some wire on top and we can build it a lot cheaper and a lot faster,’ but none of these designs are conducive to an effective construction that can build, say, a mile a day.”

Congress has not yet approved funding for completing a wall along the southern U.S. border, but six construction firms were chosen in August to build eight examples of what they would erect if chosen to build the barrier. King has asked for a meeting with President Trump to discuss his concerns about the prototypes. “I’m glad the prototypes are up. The workmanship is terrific. The people are following through on their contracts, but I have a different view on how expansive this should be,” King said. “A 30-foot wall is excessive, in my view.” The government is spending 20-million dollars on the prototypes. Erecting a wall along the southern border was one of the primary promises Trump made during the 2016 campaign. King says Trump needs to appoint someone to oversee the project. “I want somebody that’s looked at the plans, that understands the costs and knows the terrain, that can do the acquisition and understands the politics of trying to get it funded,” King says.

There’s some discussion of linking funding for enhanced border security with providing some sort of legal status to young adults who were children when their parents brought them into the country illegally. Plus Democrats in congress and some Republicans oppose construction of a permanent barrier along the southern border.

(Radio Iowa)

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The Iowa Governor’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Advisory Council has awarded 19 new STEM BEST® (Businesses Engaging Students and Teachers) Partnerships across Iowa. Among them in the Southwest STEM Division, is the Atlantic and IKM-Manning Community School Districts, and the Southwest Valley Middle in Villisca.

The STEM Council’s executive committee voted unanimously last Thursday to award and support 19 of 31 proposed partnerships that each bring to the table a dollar-for-dollar cost sharing commitment and, in some instances, well beyond their fifty percent cost sharing commitment. The Council’s STEM BEST grants themselves derive from a pool of funds that represent both public and private investments in STEM. Funds are to be used for equipping modern collaborative workspaces and training educators in workplace-classroom integration.

STEM BEST Partners transform typical K-12 classroom environments and methods to unite the workplace with the classroom and develop clear pathways from STEM education to STEM careers in the state. From 2014 through 2016, the STEM Council established eighteen STEM BEST Partnerships that exemplify school-business partnerships uniting what is taught and learned in K-12 mathematics, science, technology and engineering classes with what skills, knowledge and behaviors are going to be needed at work.

Gov. Kim Reynolds, co-chair of the STEM Council, said “Iowa companies must be able to hire enough skilled workers so they can grow and innovate, and more Iowans deserve to have the skills needed for rewarding careers. Through STEM BEST, educators and business leaders work together with students to strengthen Iowa’s talent pipeline and close the skills gap. STEM BEST is one of many programs that promise to help reach our Future Ready Iowa goal of 70 percent of Iowa’s workforce having education or training beyond high school by 2025.”

Each selected program submitted an in-depth proposal, considering factors like education driven by industry need, rigorous, relevant and dynamic STEM curriculum and authentic partnerships. These models bring various strengths in community partnerships, district demographics and program focus and will serve as models for others around the state. To learn more about the model and the current eighteen STEM BEST partners, visit www.IowaSTEM.gov/STEMBEST.

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reports that on Saturday, October 21st at approximately 8:15 p.m., officers arrested 18-year old Jayden Anthony Morris, of Clarinda, for possession of a controlled substance believed to be marijuana. Morris was arrested on a traffic stop at 12th & Glenn Miller Drive after K-9 Raiko was deployed and the marijuana was discovered. Morris is being held in the Page County Jail on $1,000 bail. Police reports have been submitted to the offices of Page County Attorney Carl M. Sonksen for review regarding the filing of formal charges.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say three bodies were found inside a car pulled from the Missouri River in Sioux City. Police have not identified the bodies, but they are believed to be those of a missing Sioux City family. The search began Monday afternoon after someone reported that a car had been driven off a road into the water near Larsen Park.

Dangerous water conditions hampered the search. On Saturday a diver battling a current in 20 feet of water found the car several hundred feet downstream from where it had gone in. The diver hooked the car to a winch so it could be brought to shore.