Senator Chuck Grassley wants answers into the Planned Parenthood controversial video that surfaced last week. Grassley says he’s not jumping to conclusions just yet. Several Republican presidential candidates have come out against the video…calling it “gruesome.”
GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie is in central Iowa later this week for the first time since announcing he’s running for the White House. Christie will host a town hall meeting on Saturday at Des Moines Area Community College…as well as walk through the Downtown Farmer’s Market earlier that morning. The New Jersey governor’s last visit was in early June…and he has said he will focus his campaign on New Hampshire and South Carolina.
In more caucus news…Republican Ohio governor John Kasich is expected to announce his presidential campaign tomorrow. Kasich has scheduled a town hall meeting on Friday in Des Moines.
A jury has found former Iowa lottery security official Eddie Tipton guilty on two counts of fraud for rigging a Hot Lotto drawing to win more than $14 million in 2010. Tipton now faces up to 10 years in prison…and his case is said to be the first prosecution of someone who tampered with lottery equipment to rig a draw.
More Iowans are spending a larger chunk of their monthly incomes on housing…that’s the story from the latest report by the U of I’s Public Policy Center. The report outlines that a growing number of Iowans spend more than 30 percent of their income on their house or rental space…and that’s considered to be cost-burdened.
Drake University just got a chuck of money from the parent company of Des Moines-based Sammons Financial Group. The group gave Drake a million dollars to create the Sammons Endowed Professiorship in Actuarial Science. The program supports a new or existing professor of actuarial science and will be used to attract outstanding faculty members.
State officials will be launching next month a computerized system aimed at tracking the availability of beds in mental health united throughout Iowa. The Department of Human Services plans to pay a national company more than a quarter-of-a-million dollars to set up and maintain the system for four years.
It’s been a busy couple of weekends for rescue crews on the Raccoon River. At least 18 people had to be rescued Saturday night, with 16 stuck in a tree more than a mile from the Boone Access. Van Meter’s fire chief cautions tubers to go during the day, when they can be spotted, and they can see obstacles.
RAGBRAI kicked off over the weekend…and has already seen two cyclists get hit while racing. A Sioux City woman was arrested for hitting a cyclist on Sunday morning…shortly after the race started. She was also charged with OWI.
The Village Cooperative of West Des Moines is slated to get on the ground this summer. The new senior living complex offers 55 two bedroom homes for residents…and is just south of Mills Civic Parkway and 60th street.
