Senator Joni Ernst wants some major changes at the TSA. Ernst questioned reps from the agency earlier today, and said she’s concerned about the number of employees who fly below the radar in background checks. Enrst said it looks like the TSA has management and policy changes to make.
GOP presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson is back in Iowa tomorrow. He’ll tour the state, starting the morning in Urbandale at the Westside Conservative Club breakfast meeting, and then head over to Waterloo, Cedar Falls, and Eldora.
A new era has begun at ISU…Athletic Director Jamie Pollard was excited to introduce former Murray State Coach Steve Prohm as his basketball team’s new leader, but he admitted the search did not make his heart surgeon happy. Pollard hinted that former Coach Fred Hoiberg had given them some time to mull over his replacement.
A plan to renovate a former CenturyLink office space in downtown Des Moines into a studio space for local artists is making progress. Yesterday, city council members heard a proposal to rezone the building from a “general retail and highway commercial property” to a “central business district commercial” area, giving the green light to transform it into an artist studio space. DesMoinesArts is hoping to renovate the building.
Southwest and south central Iowa farmers continue to deal with wet conditions that have slowed the planting progress in the past few weeks. Warmer temperatures and dry weather this week will allow farmers to get back in the fields to finish planting the corn and soybean crop. Right now, 96 percent of the corn crop has been planted, and 88 percent of soybeans are in the ground.
GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio is the latest contender to sign on to speak at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa next month. It’ll be Rubio’s third visit to Iowa since he announced he’s running. He joins speakers like Scott Walker, Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal, and Rick Santorum.
Egg prices have tripled in the past few months, thanks to the bird flu. A carton of a dozen extra large eggs sold for 99 cents before the bird flu hit, and now those eggs have a price tag in the three dollar range. Egg supplies, however, are reportedly holding steady.
Even though a case of the bird flu in Sioux County was confirmed yesterday, it looks like the warmer weather is slowing down the spread of the disease. Ag officials are hoping the start of hot summer weather will kill off the bird flu and allow farmers to focus on clean up.
Luxury apartments are coming to downtown Des Moines, but they’re not going up overnight. City council members approved a proposal from locally-based Nelson Construction to build the apartments on top of the parking garage on 7th street. The $35 million project will include rooftop courtyards. Construction is expected after the garage is redone in 2017.
