Car hits Oskaloosa credit union

Posted on November 17, 2021November 17, 2021 by Rick Watts

The Community First Credit Union in Oskaloosa is closed because of a car accident. The credit union’s building had structural damage due to the accident Tuesday (11/16). A spokesperson for the credit union says no one inside the building was injured. The drive-through windows and ATM are open today, but the lobby is closed.

Xi-Biden talks raise hope for better ties but strains remain

Posted on November 16, 2021 by Rick Watts

By KEN MORITSUGU and AAMER MADHANI

BEIJING (AP) — China on Tuesday welcomed a virtual meeting between President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden as raising hopes for better relations, while the U.S. was more muted on the talks as the world’s two biggest powers sought to ratchet down more than a year of tensions.

The leaders appeared to put aside the language of acrimony in their first formal meeting since Biden took office. Xi welcomed the U.S. leader as his “old friend,” and Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the exchange was candid and constructive.

“If China-U.S. relations cannot return to the past, they should face the future,” Zhao said, calling the meeting “conducive to increasing positive expectations for U.S.-China relations.”

However, both sides held firm to their positions on the issues that divide Washington and Beijing, with Xi warning that the U.S. and Taiwan are playing with fire over the self-governing island that China claims.

The two nations were aiming to end a sharp deterioration in relations that accelerated under former U.S. President Donald Trump and had festered since Biden became president in January. The video conference, which took place Tuesday morning in Beijing and Monday evening in Washington, lasted more than three hours.

Facing domestic pressures at home, both Biden and Xi seemed determined to lower the temperature in what for both sides is their most significant — and frequently turbulent — relationship on the global stage.

“As I’ve said before, it seems to me our responsibility as leaders of China and the United States is to ensure that the competition between our countries does not veer into conflict, whether intended or unintended,” Biden told Xi at the start of the meeting. “Just simple, straightforward competition.”

The White House set low expectations for the meeting, and no major announcements or joint statement were delivered. Still, White House officials said the two leaders had a substantive exchange.

Xi greeted the U.S. president as his “old friend” and echoed Biden’s cordial tone in his own opening remarks, saying, “China and the United States need to increase communication and cooperation.”

The positive tone sets an example for both countries to try to identify common ground rather than find fault with each other, whether on trade, climate change, or geopolitical issues such as Afghanistan and North Korea, said Wang Huiyao, president of the Center for China and Globalization think tank in Beijing,

“I see this dialogue as a stabilizer of the bilateral relation,” he said. “I don’t expect this one summit to bring us back to the good old days, but certainly it stops the downward spiral.”

Xi held a tough line on Taiwan, which Chinese officials had signaled would be a top issue for them at the talks. Tensions have heightened as the Chinese military has dispatched an increasing number of fighter jets near the self-ruled island, which Beijing considers part of its territory.

Xi blamed the tensions on Taiwan seeking to attain independence through reliance on the U.S. and some on the American side using Taiwan as a way to interefere in China, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

“This is extremely dangerous, it’s playing with fire, and they that play with fire will burn themselves,” Xi was quoted as saying by the agency.

Chinese military forces held exercises last week near Taiwan in response to a visit by a U.S. congressional delegation to the island.

The White House said Biden reiterated the U.S. will abide by the longstanding U.S. “One China” policy, which recognizes Beijing but allows informal relations and defense ties with Taipei. But Biden also made clear the U.S. “strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” the White House said.

The relationship has had no shortage of tension since Biden strode into the White House in January and quickly criticized Beijing for human rights abuses against Uyghurs in northwest China, suppression of democratic protests in Hong Kong, military aggression against the self-ruled island of Taiwan and more. Xi’s deputies, meanwhile, have lashed out against the Biden White House for interfering in what they see as internal Chinese matters.

The White House in a statement said that Biden again raised concerns about China’s human rights practices, and made clear that he sought to “protect American workers and industries from the PRC’s unfair trade and economic practices.” The two also spoke about key regional challenges, including North Korea, Afghanistan and Iran.

As U.S.-China tensions have mounted, both leaders also have found themselves under the weight of increased challenges in their own backyards.

Biden, who has watched his poll numbers diminish amid concerns about the lingering coronavirus pandemic, inflation and supply chain problems, was looking to find a measure of equilibrium on the most consequential foreign policy matter he faces.

Xi, meanwhile, is facing a COVID-19 resurgence, rampant energy shortages, and a looming housing crisis that Biden officials worry could cause tremors in the global market.

The U.S. president was joined in the Roosevelt Room for the video call by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and a handful of aides. Xi, for his part, was accompanied in the East Hall of the Great Hall of the People by communist party director Ding Xuexiang and a number of advisers.

The high-level diplomacy had a touch of pandemic Zoom meeting informality as the two leaders waved to each other once they saw one another on the screen, with Xi telling Biden, “It’s the first time for us to meet virtually, although it’s not as good as a face-to-face meeting.”

Biden would have preferred to meet Xi in person, but the Chinese leader has not left his country since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The White House floated the idea of a virtual meeting as the next best thing to allow for the two leaders to have a candid conversation about a wide range of strains in the relationship.

With Beijing set to host the Winter Olympics in February and Xi expected to be approved by Communist Party leaders to serve as party leader next year and then a third term as president in 2023 — unprecedented in recent Chinese history — the Chinese leader may be looking to stabilize the relationship in the near term.

Both leaders gave nods to their history with the other. Biden noted that the two have spent an “awful … lot of time” speaking to each other over the years, and have never walked away “wondering what the other man is thinking.”

But the public warmth — Xi referred to Biden as his “old friend” when the then-vice president visited China in 2013, while Biden spoke of their “friendship” — has cooled now that both men are heads of state. Biden bristled in June when asked by a reporter if he would press his old friend to cooperate with a World Health Organization investigation into the coronavirus origins.

Xi, however, seemed interested in publicly reviving the warmth of the earlier days of their relationship, saying, “I am very happy to see my old friend.”

Despite the tensions, there have been moments of progress in the U.S.-China relationship over the past months.

Last week, the two countries pledged at U.N. climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, to increase their cooperation and speed up action to rein in climate-damaging emissions.

The White House has said it views cooperation on climate change as something in China’s interest, something the two nations should cooperate on despite differences on other aspects of the relationship.

“None of this is a favor to either of our countries — what we do for one another — but it’s just responsible world leadership,” Biden told Xi. “You’re a major world leader, and so is the United States.”

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Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press writer Colleen Long in Washington, D.C., contributed.

No. 14 Iowa State women beat South Dakota State 75-56

Posted on November 16, 2021 by Rick Watts

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Lexi Donarski scored 22 points, Aubrey Joens added 17 and No. 14 Iowa State beat South Dakota State 75-56 on Monday night.

Joens scored the first five points of Iowa State’s 18-6 run to take a 20-point lead early in the third quarter.

Emily Ryan had 12 points, five assists and four steals for Iowa State (2-0).

Iowa State closed the first half on a 14-2 run to take a 36-26 lead at the break. The Cyclones made 9 of 10 free throws compared to SDSU’s one attempt.

Madysen Vlastuin led South Dakota State (1-2) with 14 points. Tylee Irwin added 12 points and Paiton Burckhard 10. The Jackrabbits were held to 33.9% shooting, and did not make a field goal for the final 3:28 of regulation.

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More AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Audit: Governor improperly used COVID funds for salaries

Posted on November 16, 2021 by Rick Watts

By DAVID PITT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A state audit report on government spending released Monday accused Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds of using nearly $450,000 in federal coronavirus relief funds to pay salaries for 21 staff members for three months last year and concealing the spending by passing it through the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

State Auditor Rob Sand said a review of the state’s payroll system shows the money was used to pay the Republican governor’s office staff, but it’s unclear why she had to take federal money to pay the salaries.

“What is not clear, is why these salaries were not included in the governor’s budget set prior to the fiscal year and prior to the pandemic,” he said in the audit report. “Based on this information, we conclude that the budget shortfall was not a result of the pandemic.”

Sand said he had asked Reynolds’ office twice for documentation to support the spending and was told the governor’s staff members during March, April, May and June of 2020 were fully focused on responding to COVID-19 and protecting Iowa but never provided proof of the expenditure on the COVID response.

He wrote Reynolds’ office in October, telling her that paying staff salaries without proper documentation likely wouldn’t get federal approval but said they ignored his suggestion.

Sand said he requested information from the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and was initially provided a spreadsheet listing the governor’s employees with a section labeled FY 2020 Shortfall and the amount of $448,448.86. A subsequent version was sent to him in which the section title was amended to COVID-19 Personnel Costs with the same amount of money.

“That spreadsheet that shows they changed the headers to basically instead of say shortfall to say COVID 19 is a pretty big deal,” he told The Associated Press, suggesting that the attempt by Reynolds’ administration to conceal the use of the federal money was to fill a salary gap.

Alex Murphy, a spokesman for Reynolds, said in a statement that the U.S. Treasury Department had allowed the use of coronavirus relief money to reimburse salaries for governors.

“During this time, the Governor’s staff spent a vast majority of their time responding to the pandemic. In fact, many members of Gov. Reynolds’ staff worked seven days a week out of the State Emergency Operation Center to provide direct support to Iowans,” the statement said. “This has always been our justification for the expense. We are now working with Treasury to provide them documentation, per their request.”

Reynolds earlier addressed the issue in September at a news conference after Laura Belin, publisher of the liberal-leaning online blog Bleeding Heartland, reported on the issue after seeking documents through Iowa’s public records law.

Reynolds said then that the federal coronavirus relief law allowed salaries to be paid for workers whose job requirements were significantly changed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“CARES funding can be used for salaries. That’s very clear in what allowable allocations are,” she said.

Sand said his office looked further into the spending because the Office of Inspector General requested an inquiry. He said the federal agency has reviewed his office’s findings and agreed with them. It could be a problem that Reynolds’ office is trying to come up with documentation after telling the auditor’s office twice that they had no such documentation, Sand said.

“If you’re coming up with documentation after the fact after you’ve said twice you don’t have it, that should be concerning too,” he said.

Sand said the state may be required to repay the money to the federal government.

The audit isn’t the first time Reynolds has been found to have spent federal funds for nonapproved use.

In December 2020, Reynolds had to return $21 million in COVID-19 relief money after using it to upgrade an outdated state information technology system.

The funds were initially allocated for payments related to the state’s contract with Workday, a cloud-based human resources, finance and planning system being implemented to modernize the state’s IT infrastructure. Of the allocation, $4.45 million had already been spent.

Reynolds said U.S. Treasury officials initially assured the state the Workday project was an allowable expense but has now determined the payments were not allowed expenditures under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

Closing arguments in Steven Vogel murder trial

Posted on November 16, 2021 by Rick Watts

Closing arguments are expected Tuesday (11/16) in Sigourney in the murder trial of Steven Vogel. He’s accused of first degree murder and abuse of a corpse in the September 2020 death of Michael Williams in Grinnell. Williams’ remains were found set on fire in a ditch near Kellogg. According to the coroner’s report, Williams had been strangled four days earlier.

A complicated relationship: Biden and Xi prepare for meeting

Posted on November 15, 2021 by Rick Watts

By AAMER MADHANI

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping have slurped noodles together in Beijing. They’ve shared deep thoughts about the meaning of America during an exchange on the Tibetan plateau. They’ve gushed to U.S. business leaders about developing a sincere respect for each other.

The American president has held up his relationship with Xi as evidence of his heartfelt belief that good foreign policy starts with building strong personal relationships.

But as the two leaders prepare to hold their first presidential meeting on Monday, the troubled U.S.-China relationship is demonstrating that the power of one of Biden’s greatest professed strengths as a politician — the ability to connect — has its limits.

“When it comes to U.S.-China relations, the gaps are so big and the trend lines are so problematic that the personal touch can only go so far,” said Matthew Goodman, who served as an Asia adviser on the National Security Council in the Barack Obama and George W. Bush administrations.

White House officials have set low expectations for Monday’s virtual meeting: No major announcements are expected and there’s no plan for the customary joint statement by the two countries at the end, according to administration officials.

The public warmth — Xi referred to Biden as his “old friend” when Biden visited China in 2013 while the then-U.S. vice president spoke of their “friendship” — has cooled now that both men are heads of state. Biden bristled in June when asked by a reporter if he would press his old friend to cooperate with a World Health Organization investigation into the coronavirus origins.

“Let’s get something straight: We know each other well; we’re not old friends,” Biden said. “It’s just pure business.”

Biden nonetheless believes a face-to-face meeting — even a virtual one like the two leaders will hold Monday evening — has its value.

“He feels that the history of their relationship, having spent time with him, allows him to be quite candid as he has been in the past and he will continue to be,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in previewing the encounter.

Biden and Xi, ages 78 and 68 respectively, first got to know each other on travels across the U.S. and China when both were vice presidents, interactions that both leaders say left a lasting impression.

Of late, there have been signs that there could be at least a partial thawing after the first nine months of the Biden administration were marked by the two sides trading recriminations and by unproductive exchanges between the presidents’ top advisers.

Last week, for example, the U.S. and China pledged at U.N. climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, to increase their cooperation and speed up action to rein in climate-damaging emissions.

Monday’s meeting — the two leaders’ third engagement since Biden became president — comes amid mounting tensions in the U.S.-China relationship. The two held long phone calls in February and September where they discussed human rights, trade, the pandemic and other issues.

Biden has made clear that he sees China as the United States’ greatest national security and economic competitor and has tried to reframe American foreign policy to reflect that belief.

His administration has taken Beijing to task over committing human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in northwest China, squelching pro-democracy efforts in Hong Kong and resisting global pressure to cooperate fully with investigations into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.

Tensions have also risen as the Chinese military has flown increasing numbers of sorties near the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of its territory.

Chinese officials have signaled that Taiwan will be a top issue for the talks. Biden has made clear that his administration will abide by the long-standing U.S. “One China” policy, which recognizes Beijing but allows informal relations and defense ties with Taipei. Chinese military forces held exercises last week near Taiwan in response to a visit by a U.S. congressional delegation to the island.

The president intends, in part, to use the conversation to underscore the need to establish “guardrails” in the relationship to ensure that the two sides in the midst of their stiff competition avoid “unintended conflict,” according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on White House planning for the meeting and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The official said the video call is expected to last “several hours,” adding that the White House was hopeful that the two leaders’ seeing each other would allow for greater depth to their conversation than their two earlier calls this year.

Other U.S. presidents have held that bonding with a geopolitical adversary can be a good foreign policy strategy. George W. Bush faced ridicule after his first meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin when he claimed that he had “looked the man in the eye” and “was able to get a sense of his soul.” Bush would go on to host the Russian leader at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, and bring him to his father’s estate in Kennebunkport, Maine, where the 43rd and 41st presidents took the Russian president fishing.

Putin ultimately frustrated Bush and the relationship was broken after Russia’s 2008 invasion of its neighbor Georgia.

Donald Trump went from disparaging North Korea’s Kim Jong Un as “rocket man” to declaring the two “fell in love” in an exchange of letters as the U.S. president unsuccessfully attempted to persuade Kim to give up the regime’s nuclear weapons program.

Biden’s personal approach to foreign policy is in part informed by the fact that he’s been on the international scene for much of the last half-century, author Evan Osnos noted in the biography “Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now.”

“You can drop him into Kazakhstan or Bahrain, it doesn’t matter — he’s gonna find some Joe Blow that he met 30 years ago who’s now running the place,” Julianne Smith, a Biden adviser, told Osnos.

With Beijing set to host the Winter Olympics in February and Xi expected to be approved by Communist Party leaders to serve a third five-year term as president next year — unprecedented in recent Chinese history — the Chinese leader may be looking to stabilize the relationship in the near term.

Slowing economic growth and a brewing housing crisis also loom large for Beijing. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a CBS’ “Face the Nation” interview aired Sunday warned the deepening of Beijing’s problems could “have global consequences.”

At the same time, Biden, who has seen his polling numbers diminish at home amid concerns about the lingering coronavirus pandemic, inflation and supply chain problems, is looking to find a measure of equilibrium on the most consequential foreign policy matter he faces.

Biden would have preferred to hold an in-person meeting with Xi, but Xi has not left China since before the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The virtual meeting was proposed after Biden mentioned during a September phone call with the Chinese leader that he would like to be able to see Xi again.

Late stops let No. 19 Iowa beat Minnesota 27-22, keep Floyd

Posted on November 15, 2021 by Rick Watts

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa quarterback Alex Padilla is described by coach Kirk Ferentz as “even-keeled.”

That was the approach Ferentz and his staff took with Padilla this week as he prepared to make his first career start Saturday against Minnesota.

“I don’t know if anyone on the staff made a big deal about it,” Ferentz said. “We just acted like it was his turn, his time. He is the starter this week.”

The approach worked in the “Battle for Floyd of Rosedale.”

Padilla threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, and No. 19 Iowa withstood three fourth-quarter comeback attempts to beat Minnesota 27-22 and keep the bronze pig trophy for the seventh year in a row.

Padilla, who took over for injured quarterback Spencer Petras in last week’s 17-12 win at Northwestern, completed 11 of 24 passes for 206 yards. He had a 1-yard touchdown dive in the second quarter, then had touchdown passes of 72 yards to Charlie Jones in the third quarter and 27 yards to Keagan Johnson in the fourth.

“Going out there in the first half, seeing the entire crowd in Kinnick for my first start, (I was) just super excited,” Padilla said. “Couldn’t imagine being in this position when I was a kid, but it was something I have always dreamed of.”

How the Hawkeyes’ quarterback situation plays out in the coming weeks is unclear. Petras, the starter since last season, is still dealing with a sore right shoulder, and Ferentz said his status is day-to-day.

“I think the good news is we’ve got two good quarterbacks now that we have faith and trust in,” Ferentz said.

“They have their differences but they both work very hard,” Jones said. “Alex is a young guy and he has done a really good job stepping up while Spence is hurt. Everyone around Alex is helping and encouraging him as much as they can, so he is doing a great job.”

This was Padilla’s game, and Jones was impressed with the pass Padilla threw him for the touchdown.

“First of all, that was a great play for us, and a perfect time for it,” Jones said. “We knew that the defender was going to be playing outside of me, and it was just a double-move route, where you fake the out and go to the post. Alex threw a great ball, right where I could get it and I had a lot of space.”

Even a level-headed player like Padilla can get excited, though, like he did after his touchdown dive.

“First career touchdown, yeah, in front of the fans I was just super excited,” Padilla said. “I might want to calm down a little bit next time.”

The Hawkeyes (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten) led 24-16 before Minnesota’s Tanner Morgan threw a 68-yard touchdown pass to Chris Autman-Bell with 5:28 to play. The Gophers (6-4, 4-3) went for the two-point conversion, but Morgan’s pass was tipped by Iowa safety Dane Belton and fell incomplete.

The Gophers got the ball back at their own 10-yard line with 3:08 left. Morgan was sacked for a 7-yard loss on second down, and his fourth-down pass was broken up by Iowa’s Matt Hankins.

Caleb Shudak’s 29-yard field goal provided the final margin, and then the Hawkeyes’ defense bowed up one more time when Minnesota drove to the Iowa 39. The game ended with Joe Evans sacking Morgan.

Minnesota had a chance to take the lead down 17-16 to start the fourth quarter, but Dragan Kesich’s 53-yard field-goal attempt was blocked by Logan Lee. Five plays later, Johnson took a short pass from Padilla and turned it into a 27-yard touchdown.

The Gophers, who had the ball for 40 minutes, had 189 rushing yards. That was the most this season against the Hawkeyes, who came into the game ranked eighth nationally in rushing defense at 98.6 yards per game. Ky Thomas rushed for 126 yards to lead the Gophers, who haven’t won in Iowa City since 1999.

“They had a really good plan and it took us time to adjust to that,” Ferentz said.

“This is one of the best front sevens in college football,” Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck said. “We wanted to get them in space as much as we could, spread the field a little bit more.”

Matthew Trickett had three field goals for the Gophers. Minnesota’s other touchdown came in the second quarter on backup quarterback Cole Kramer’s 37-yard pass to tight end Ko Kieft.

“You always want touchdowns, I want to make sure I’m clear on that,” Fleck said. “Everybody wants touchdowns. If you could never kick a field goal, great. But you do everything you can to gain as many points as you can to get to the fourth quarter and see where you’re at. You never know how it’s going to go.”

HAWKEYES KEEP FLOYD

The “Battle for Floyd of Rosedale” began in 1935, and the Hawkeyes have a 43-42-2 edge in the series since then. It was Minnesota’s 10th consecutive loss on the road in the series.

“Since I’ve been here, I don’t think we’ve played Iowa like that,” Fleck said. “There’s no moral victories. Who cares? But I care.”

Fleck, who hasn’t beaten Iowa in five tries as Minnesota’s head coach, paused when he was asked what it would take to beat the Hawkeyes.

“A better performance than what we had tonight,” Fleck said.

BIG PICTURE

The Hawkeyes are tied with Wisconsin for first in the Big Ten West, but the Badgers own the tiebreaker because of their 27-7 win over the Hawkeyes on Oct. 30. The Gophers dropped out of what was a four-way tie at the start of the day.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

The Hawkeyes might move up a spot or two, but no big move is in store after they needed to hold on late against the Gophers.

UP NEXT

Minnesota: At Indiana next Saturday.

Iowa: Hosts Illinois next Saturday.

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More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25

Axne is seeking reelection in Iowa’s new third congressional district

Posted on November 15, 2021November 15, 2021 by Rick Watts

BY O. KAY HENDERSON

RADIO IOWA – Congresswoman Cindy Axne, a Democrat from West Des Moines, will seek re-election for a third term in the U.S House in Iowa;s new third congressional district.

Axne, who had been considering a run for governor, said she took some time to make the decision because she wanted to assess where she could “make the most impact” for Iowa.

“What does redistricting look like and how are we going to make sure that Iowa has the best support for what we need? And it took a minute and really look at all these things in conjunction and make sure I made the right decision,”Axne said as she announced her decision during taping of “Iowa Press” which airs tonight on Iowa PBS.

Axne defeated incumbent Republican Congressman David Young in 2018 and she won a 2020 rematch against Young. Four other Republicans have announced they intend to run in the new third congressional district.

“My goal, when I started in my first primary, was to to make sure that I represented Iowans in the best way I thought I could, to make sure that we do three things: put money in their pockets, give our families opportunity and ensure that states like Iowa got to operate on a level playing field with other states,” Axne said. “…I still feel that the best way to address those issues is within the United States Congress.”

Commercials critical of Axne have already begun airing in Axne’s current district. Axne said that shows she’s in “the number one targeted race” for Republicans in 2022.

“This job, for me, is about standing up for Iowans,” Axne said. “That means making sure that we have what they need, but it also means protecting our democracy and I play a pivotal role in both of those areas and I intend to make sure that Iowans have the best voice out there.”

Axne’s decision follows this week’s announcement from Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who — like Axne — lives in the new third congressional district, but will seek reelection in the new first district. In a written statement, Iowa GOP chairman Jeff Kaufmann called Axne is “a big government” Democrat who has spent the past two years “cozying up to Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden.” Axne endorsed Biden before the 2020 Iowa Caucuses and said during the “Iowa Press” taping that she’d be happy to have Biden campaign for her in Iowa in 2022.

“Once we get the infrastructure bill signed into law, the Build Back Better bill signed into law, next year folks are seeing expansion of those child care centers, they’re seeing more money in their pocket because of the earned income tax credit or the child tax credit…when those pieces are put in place and we start moving those agendas forward, we’re going to overcome some of the false narratives that we’re hearing right now,” Axne said.

Axne is the only Democrat in Iowa’s congressional delegation. She’s also among the few House Democrats who won last year in a district that President Trump carried. Her margin of victory in 2022 was about 1.5%.

Striking Deere workers to vote this week on contract offer

Posted on November 15, 2021November 15, 2021 by Rick Watts

BY O. KAY HENDERSON

RADIO IOWA – As the strike at a dozen Midwest John Deere plants enters its second month, union workers are scheduled to vote Wednesday on a modified contract offer from the company.

The UAW issued a statement late Friday, saying the company had made some “modest modifications” in its second contract offer and the union described the tentative agreement as Deere’s “last, best and final offer.” Neither side has disclosed details about the changes.

On November 2, the second tentative agreement between Deere and the UAW was rejected on a 55% to 45% vote by union members. More than 10,000 John Deere employees have been on strike since October 14.

The second tentative agreement would have provided an immediate 10% pay increase, with 5% pay hikes in the third and fifth years of the six-year-long contract, as well as Deere’s promise to provide pensions to future Deere factory workers. Deere executives had indicated that was the maximum the company would offer in terms of new costs.

70 minutes at Astroworld: A countdown to catastrophe

Posted on November 12, 2021 by Rick Watts

By MATT SEDENSKY

Anticipation had been building for hours, but never more than now, as the red numerals on the countdown clock disappeared and the first synthesized notes vibrated. An image of an eagle in a fireball hovered above the stage, a neon red tunnel appeared and eight towers of flames rose to the sky. Leaping from darkness into the glow, rapper Travis Scott emerged, the instant for which tens of thousands gathered before him had waited.

In the thrill of the moment, clamoring for an idol, many pushed forward, thrusting revelers into revelers, closer and closer and closer, until it seemed every inch was swallowed. Then, fighting the compression or seeking escape, people pushed from the front to the back, and new ripples came with it.

What followed last Friday in Houston is clouded by unanswered questions and strikingly different experiences based on where someone stood, which swells of movement reached them, and how they handled the crush. But in the 70 minutes the headliner was on stage in a show that left nine dead, one thing was certain: Nearly everyone felt the waves of humanity, borne of excitement but soaked with risk, as they spread.

“You became an organism,” said 26-year-old Steven Gutierrez of Ellenville, New York, who is 6-foot-2 and 391 pounds but nonetheless found himself struck by the power of the pushes that sent him drifting from his spot. “We’re all one. You’re moving with the crowd. The crowd’s like water. It’s like an ocean.”

The enthusiasm of some 50,000 spectators at the sold-out Astroworld festival was evident from the time gates opened seven hours earlier, when some of the earliest arrivals rushed through entrances with such force that metal detectors were toppled as security guards and police on horseback struggled to keep up. Though the concert grounds hosted numerous acts, Scott, a Houston-born musician who founded the festival in 2018 on the heels of his chart-topping album “Astroworld,” was undoubtedly the top draw. Some fans made a beeline for the stage built solely for the headliner, staking out positions they would hold for hours under the manufactured peaks of “Utopia Mountain.”

As afternoon turned to evening and the countdown clock appeared around 8:30 p.m., the crowd grew denser and denser, attendees said, and the first waves of motion began to ripple.

With five minutes left and latecomers pushing in, it tightened more.

In the final 30 seconds on the clock, the craggy peaks of the stage’s mountain turned to a volcano, and when the moment came, the crowd chanted: “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six …”

Scott appeared. The pushes grew stronger. The first shockwaves of fear emerged.

Eligio Garcia, 18, of Corpus Christi, Texas, figures it was just 40 seconds into Scott’s set that he looked at his girlfriend with concern. They felt heat swaddle their bodies. It became hard to breathe.

Screams echoed, begging: “Please, help me!” Behind him, people were falling. It looked to him like a human whirlpool. They felt the push and his left arm slipped away from her.

In an instant, both found themselves tangled on the ground in a pile of bodies.

They managed to get up, and Garcia said they screamed to nearby production staff for help but got no response. Every way out seemed impossible, but they eventually made their way to safety.

“We gotta get out of here,” he told his girlfriend. “We can’t fall back into this pit.”

Travis Scott’s fans are dubbed “ragers” and are expected to be in constant motion at a show. The rapper, who dreamed of being a wrestler as a child and has said he wants his shows to resemble WWF matches, cheers chaos from the stage and stirs up frantic energy. He even has a gold necklace mimicking a street sign: A jewel-encrusted red circle with a person standing still, a diagonal red slash through the body.

The message is clear: No bystanders at concerts. Ragers only.

And so the show continued, Scott headbanging and shrieking, running through a quick succession of hits.

Some experienced concertgoers in the crowd grabbed whistles around their necks or shouted “Open it up!” to trigger those around them to form mosh pits, circles that were the only voids in the jam-packed horde. Moshers shoved and heaved their bodies against one another in an aggressive ritual toeing the line between dance and violence. Around mosh pits’ perimeter, circles of participants rotated and crowdsurfers took flight.

Moshers want their pits to grow as big as possible. Their outward push, combined with the rotations of participants, can create a swirl of motion that moves through the crowd. It was nothing new to many at the show. But, combined with the push toward the stage, others felt the crowd compress in ways they hadn’t before.

Billy Nasser, 24, of Indianapolis, noticed it a few songs in. His raised arms no longer had room to come down. People were falling. Some stepped on the lifeless body of a passed-out man with his eyes rolled back in his head.

“I had to let him go .. It was every man for himself,” Nasser said. “And that was when I realized how bad it was because I literally had to drop him and no one else would help me.”

As flashpoints emerged in some places, the show went on. Lasers springing from the stage’s tunnel made it look at times like a prism capturing a blaring sun.

Some 530 Houston Police officers were on the scene and their walkie-talkies crackled with a warning: Don’t leave your group. No fewer than 10 officers together. Danger looms.

“We’re having some structural issues that could be catastrophic,” a voice cautioned.

About 22 minutes into his set, Scott seemed to see something in the crowd.

“Make sure he good,” he said. “Walk with him. Take him.”

Around the same time, over police radio, a voice advised: “Folks are coming out of the crowd complaining of difficulty breathing, crushing type injuries. It seems like the crowd is compressing.”

The mass of people continued to tighten in spots, but escape paths remained.

Kevin Perez, a 19-year-old from Davenport, Florida, saw a mosh pit collapse behind him and realized he no longer was controlling his own movement. His forearms felt bound to his chest, his hands clenched in fists near his neck. He tipped his chin toward the sky for shallow breaths.

“It went from like excited to scared,” he said. “People were trying to get out.”

Perez followed a snake of people cutting through the crowd. Others climbed barricades.

In the hindsight of their escapes, the moments of this night would take new meaning.

An opening song entitled “Escape Plan.” T-shirts brandished with “See you on the other side.” A man in the crowd holding a white sign that asked “Will we survive.”

The situation appeared to be worsening, the waves growing stronger, the opportunities to break free fewer.

“It got to the point,” said 21-year-old Jason Rodriguez of Texas City, Texas, “where nobody could move.”

About 28 minutes into Scott’s set, a golf cart with flashing blue and red lights barely inched through the sea.

“There’s an ambulance in the crowd,” the rapper said. “Whoa, whoa, whoa.”

He paused for about a minute. Scott told the audience to raise their hands to the sky. “You all know what you came here to do,” he said, a cue for two men who were picked from the crowd to launch into stagedives.

Scott finished “Upper Echelon” as he hit the 30-minute mark onstage. Houston Police Chief Troy Finner later said this was the point his department noticed attendees “going down.”

At the medical tent, where the capacity was just 10 people, according to permit filings, concern grew. On police radio, word was broadcast: “There’s a lot of people trampled and they’re passed out.”

On the perimeter of the concert area, people were being thrust against metal barricades. Some began to bend.

During the next song, a young woman was captured on video climbing a platform with a cameraman.

“There is someone dying!” she cried. “There is someone dead!”

A young man joined her on the camera platform, screaming: “Stop the show! Stop the show!”

The show went on.

What the rapper could see remains unknown. He soon had a new vantage atop an elevated platform at center stage and said at one point he could see “all the way in the back.” But in videos looking out at the spectators, thousands of glowing phones look like a sky of glittering stars. His attorneys said later he didn’t know about the deaths or injuries until after the show.

As Scott sang from the platform, security guards were seen responding in the crowd, saying “He’s not having a pulse” and “There’s like four people out here without a pulse.” Police say the festival’s promoter, Live Nation, agreed to cut the show short around this time. Inexplicably, though, the concert continued.

Forty minutes had passed since Scott took the stage, and again he briefly stopped.

“We need somebody help. Somebody passed out right here,” he said.

He returned to work shortly, singing lyrics that speak of “standing in the ocean.” Before him, the real-life sea of humanity bubbled with problems. Panic spread.

“I gotta get out! I gotta get out!” Ariel Little cried, her chest throbbing under the crowd’s crush.

“You’re going to get trampled!” Michael Suarez told himself, struggling not to fall.

“I’m going to die in here!” Stacey Sarmiento thought as she tried to escape.

One woman bit a man to make her way through. A man said humans turned to animals as the situation spiraled.

It felt to some as if it couldn’t get worse, but another rush was coming. Fifty-two minutes into Scott’s set, superstar rapper Drake appeared on stage, a surprise that sent the crowd again pushing.

Gutierrez, a hulking former lifeguard, had returned to the crowd after a brief retreat after guiding two people to safety. Now, he was back among them, overwhelmed by the joy of seeing Drake before him.

“You felt the rush to the stage and there was a big push,” he said. “The Drake effect.”

Scott and Drake shared the stage for 14 minutes until, alone again, Scott delivered a final song as the mountain behind him burst with color and fireworks rocketed overhead.

“Make it home safe!” he yelled before jogging offstage.

The ocean receded, baring ground littered with shoes and clothes and trash. A field hospital bloated with the injured. And, from the lips of concertgoers, word of tragedy spread.

___

Sedensky can be reached at msedensky@ap.org and https://twitter.com/sedensky

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Juan Lozano, Jamie Stengle and Robert Bumsted in Houston; Ryan Pearson in Los Angeles; and David Sharp in Portland, Maine.

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