More than 20 presidential candidates from both sides of the ticket are rolling in to the metro starting tomorrow to pay visits to the state fair. Mike Huckabee and Jim Webb will be in town tomorrow with several events surrounding appearances at the fair. Republican Bobby Jindal will also be in Urbandale tomorrow morning to speak at the Westside Conservative’s Breakfast. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are also campaigning at the state fairgrounds this weekend.
A new report from an ISU economist estimated Iowa’s wind energy sector could produce up to 6,000 new jobs a year as the state starts to hit its carbon-cutting goals. The EPA’s Clean Power Plan is pushing Iowa and other states to move energy sources away from fossil fuels and on to wind and solar.
It doesn’t look like the more than one million turkeys lost in the bird flu outbreak will ruin Thanksgiving dinner this fall. State and local officials held a press conference yesterday near Manson…the first turkey farm in the state to get back in business after being hit by the bird flu. They say turkeys raised here aren’t used for Thanksgiving anyway…so a shortage of turkeys for the holiday shouldn’t be a problem.
Iowa Republicans will pick a new House leader when they meet next week. Kraig Pearson stepped down from his speaker of the house post last week, and also said he won’t be running for reelection. Linda Upmeyer and Josh Byrnes are rumored to be up for the spot.
West Des Moines plays host tomorrow to a cybersecurity symposium to address the increasing threat of computer hackers. The state insurance commissioner and a panel pulled together by Holmes Murphy and Associates will share expertise on proactive measures and strategies. The conference is at the Holiday Inn.
Finalists for the Civil and Human Rights Director post in Des Moines will take part in a community forum tonight at Municipal Service Center. The new director would head the commission that checks out claims of discrimination in the city. The forum is open to the public.
Donald Trump is now leading the field of GOP presidential candidates in Iowa, according to the newest Public Policy Polling. However, Carly Fiorina broke into double digits, putting her into the top five, behind Ben Carson, Scott Walker and Jeb Bush.
A new center aimed at helping laid-off John Deere workers is about to have its grand opening next week. The John Deere Transition Center opens up shop a week from today at Hawkeye Community College Main Campus. More than 13-hundred workers from the company lost their jobs since last fall because of the downturn in Iowa’s agriculture.
Education experts across the state are stepping in to help teachers structure their plans under the new Next Generation science standards. The new standards will be adopted by some schools this fall, while a statewide timeline is in the works to help other schools plan how to execute them. A statewide survey shows 69 percent of the public agreed the Next Generation standards would better prepare students for college and the workforce.
State lawmakers have a busy schedule ahead of them at the next study committee meeting later this month. They’ll talk about funding public schools, oversight of the state’s low income health care program, as well as other issues expected to be on the docket. Interim and study committees will look into these issues before the next session begins.
