June 25, 2021

Gov Reynolds approves sending Iowa State Patrol troopers to US-Mexico border

Gov. Kim Reynolds has approved sending Iowa State Patrol troopers to the U.S.-Mexico border in response to a request for assistance from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

Reynolds, a Republican, made the announcement Thursday. She said Iowa law enforcement agencies have encountered drugs and weapons that were smuggled across the border by cartels.
. . .
Sgt. Alex Dinkla, a public information officer for the Iowa Department of Public Safety, said the state expects to send 25 to 30 sworn officers to Texas. The troopers are expected to be deployed for about two weeks, he said in a statement.
. . .
Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, both Republicans, sent a letter to all U.S. governors on June 10 requesting assistance. In the letter, they invoked an Emergency Management Assistance Compact that allows states to assist each other in times of disaster or emergency. Both governors have declared emergencies and deployed the National Guard to the border. Abbott has also asked to reallocate $250 million to build a border wall.
. . .
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Idaho Gov. Brad Little, all Republicans, have said they plan to send law enforcement to the border to provide assistance.
. . .
source: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2021/06/24/kim-reynolds-send-iowa-state-patrol-troopers-us-mexico-southern-border-crisis-biden-immigration/7777946002/

Gov Reynolds refused to accept immigrant children last month because "it isn't Iowa's problem, it's Biden's problem".

June 25, 2021

An Iowa County Chooses to Be Named for a Black Professor, Not a Slaveowner

Johnson County selected Lulu Merle Johnson, a Black educator and historian, as its official eponym, replacing Richard Mentor Johnson, the ninth U.S. vice president.

A county in Iowa cut ties on Thursday with a slave-owning U.S. vice president for which it had been named, choosing instead to be named for a professor who was the first Black woman to earn a doctorate in the state.

They shared a surname: Johnson.

Johnson County chose Lulu Merle Johnson, who taught history at several historically Black colleges and universities, as its official eponym after a unanimous vote by the county’s Board of Supervisors. The county, a Democratic bastion, is home to Iowa City and the University of Iowa.

It had been named after Richard Mentor Johnson, the ninth vice president and a Kentuckian who had no known connections to Iowa. He served with President Martin Van Buren, a fellow Democrat, from 1837 to 1841.
. . .
In 1941, she received a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Iowa, becoming the first African American woman in the state to earn a doctorate, according to her biography. She was one of the first Black women in the United States to earn a doctorate in history, said a post on the website of the university, which named a fellowship after her that helps underrepresented minority graduate students.
. . .
source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/24/us/iowa-lulu-merle-johnson-county.html

The entire article is well worth reading. Lulu Merle Johnson was a remarkable woman who overcame racism and sexism to become a pioneer. Richard Mentor Johnson was, as professor Ronald K. McMullen said, a “despicable person” during the board’s meeting.

June 24, 2021

Iowa AG's report reviews dozens of 'overwhelming' sex-abuse complaints against Catholic priests

In Iowa as in the rest of the country, the incidence and duration of sexual abuse by clergy “were overwhelming” and the cover-up “extensive” in earlier decades, a report by the Iowa Attorney General’s Office that was released Wednesday concludes.

A yearslong investigation by the office reviewed nearly 50 complaints of sexual abuse against current and former Catholic priests and other officials, including 17 allegations that had never before been reported.
. . .
All of the allegations against Catholic priests fall outside the state's statute of limitations for criminal prosecution. Some, but not all, of those accused are named in lists each diocese maintains of credibly accused priests. Several were already known to be the subject of dozens of accusations.

Three of the clergy named in complaints remain active as priests. The Rev. John Stack, a priest in Clinton, was suspended in 2013 over allegations of abuse in the 1980s, but was reinstated by the Diocese of Davenport in 2016 after a church trial found the charges not proven. Another, Hicks said, is in the Diocese of Sioux City, although it is not clear from the report who that is.
. . .

Complete story here:https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2021/06/23/iowa-attorney-general-report-details-sex-abuse-complaints-against-catholic-priests-cover-up/5326077001/

BTW - AG Miller is a pro-choice Catholic.