Stories from Thursday, March 30, 2017

It’s about the middle class in Iowa! Many have talked about the bold agenda that Iowa Republicans are advancing this year in the Iowa Legislature. Our efforts have returned a voice to the Iowa taxpayer and limited government that has been unprecedented. ...

  A: Many people are surprised by recent reports that younger Americans rank among the fastest growing segment of the nation’s population to be diagnosed with colorectal cancer, a cancer that starts in the colon or rectum. People in their 20s and 30s were found to experience a sharp uptick – by about 1 to 2 percent per year – for colon cancer and an even bigger rate increase for rectal cancer. ...

The Dickinson County Trails Board has finalized the purchase of the remaining railroad right-of-way from Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation. The future Rail Trail begins west of Superior and will traverse 37 miles through both Dickinson and Osceola Counties, then join the Ed Winkel Trail at Allendorf and continue to Sibley for a total of 43 miles...

On March 14, the Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) met to establish their revenue projections for FY 2017. Their projections provided a troubling budget forecast: the previous estimates were inaccurate by almost $131 million. Not an insignificant amount by any measure...

It was a picture of things to come as the Iowa Senate approved a voter identification plan aimed at protecting the "integrity" of future elections. Debating along party lines, and then voting 26-21 the same way, senators bounced HF 516 back to the House with changes that include shortening the voting period by 11 days; specifying the forms of ID that voters must present at the polls before receiving a ballot; and eliminating straight party voting...