Des Moines Register. February 1, 2019
Roses & thistles: Iowa GOP lawmakers apparently afraid of liberal blogger’s coverage
A thistle to the Iowa House for denying press credentials to Laura Belin, a blogger and top-notch journalist who regularly breaks news.
Though she has covered the Iowa Legislature for more than a decade, this is the first year she applied for formal media credentials. The credentials would allow her space to work and easier access to lawmakers. Belin, who operates the well-known Bleeding Heartland blog, said she suspects the denial is tied to her critical coverage of Republican leaders and policies.
The perceived politics of journalists, which include columnists and editorial writers, should not affect access to media credentials. Neither should whether one works for a newspaper, radio station or is a self-employed blogger. If you report the news, you are a journalist.
This state’s legislative branch should follow in the footsteps of the judicial branch and recognize the 21st-century media landscape. The Iowa Supreme Court updated court rules a few years ago to recognize journalists use laptops and cell phones to report in real time through tweets and blogs during court proceedings. The courts define “news media” as including “any person who regularly gathers, prepares, photographs, records, writes, edits, reports, or publishes news or information about matters of public interest in any medium and who successfully applies to participate in expanded news media coverage and agrees to comply with all court rules.”
The Iowa House - whose members probably read Belin on a regular basis to understand their own bills - should grant her the credentials she deserves.
A rose to Gerald LaBlanc for dedicating so much of his life to preserving the Iowa history captured by Des Moines’ cemeteries and memorials. The former school teacher died recently at age 88, but his accomplishments remain.
LaBlanc was instrumental in efforts to restore Iowa’s Civil War Monument, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument and the Spanish-American War Memorial, all on the Capitol grounds, as well as the nearby Gold Star Monument. He also was involved in the creation of the state’s Korean War Memorial.
He raised thousands of dollars to purchase new markers for graves of Civil War veterans and pioneer infants at Woodland Cemetery and spearheaded the effort to raise $70,000 for the historic arch at the entrance. For 22 years, he led tours there, sharing history with thousands of schoolchildren. Iowans are better connected to our past because of him.
A thistle to Republicans on a special House election contest committee for refusing to open and count ballots that should be tallied to decide who represents District 55.
Democrat Kayla Koether lost to incumbent Republican Michael Bergan by nine votes in the Nov. 6 election, but 29 absentee ballots from Winneshiek County voters remain uncounted. While postal officials determined they had been mailed in time, the ballots did not have postmarks, and there is a dispute about whether the so-called “intelligent” barcodes on the return envelopes meet the legal requirement.
Republicans insist they do not have the legal authority to open and count these ballots. Really? It’s hard to believe they would say the same if a Democrat with a mere nine-vote win was sitting in the chamber right now instead of a member of the majority party.
At the very least, they should now pass legislation defining an “intelligent” mail barcode and clarifying what counts as a postmark on an absentee ballot.
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Sioux City Journal. January 31, 2019.
Iowa should get tougher on abuse of animals
In the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s 2018 annual ranking of states for animal protection laws, only Mississippi and Kentucky rate lower than Iowa.
Our state can and should do better.
One step in the right direction would be passage of a bill designed to increase the penalties for abuse of companion animals, like dogs and cats.
A bill debated, but not passed by the full Legislature last year included these provisions for protection of companion animals: 1) Strengthened penalties for mistreatment based on severity of injuries sustained. 2) Strengthened penalties for persons with previous convictions of animal abuse.
As reported by the The Journal’s Des Moines bureau, the issue is under discussion at the Statehouse again this year. On Tuesday, a Senate subcommittee held a hearing on a bill to increase penalties for abuse of companion animals. Under the legislation, a first-offense conviction resulting in serious injury of an animal would go from a misdemeanor to an aggravated misdemeanor and a second-offense would become a felony.
We can’t conceive of why any reasonable Iowan would oppose legislative action in some form aimed at getting tougher on those who abuse dogs and cats. To this end, we encourage lawmakers in both chambers to send a bill of this kind to Gov. Kim Reynolds for her signature this year.
Moving out of the lowest tier of states for protection of animals should be our goal in Iowa.
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Fort Dodge Messenger. January 29, 2019
Iconic civil rights organization is returning to Fort Dodge
An iconic civil rights organization is returning to Fort Dodge.
A new chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is expected to debut within the month.
Fort Dodge had an NAACP chapter in the past, but it faded out of existence sometime in the 1990s.
Sherry Washington will be the group’s president and Charles Clayton will serve as vice president.
Members of the board include Julia Naylor, a past president of the former NAACP chapter; Fort Dodge Police Chief Roger Porter; Fort Dodge Assistant Police Chief Cory Husske; Jeremey Moore, records and support technician for the Fort Dodge Police Department; the Rev. Michael D. Blackwell; Jesse Ulrich, superintendent of the Fort Dodge Community School District; City Councilman Terry Moehnke; and Ira Shivers, lead chef at TC Mae’s Family Diner.
We believe this group of leaders has the dedication and foresight to prevent the new chapter from falling apart like its predecessor did.
The NAACP was formed in 1909 as a biracial endeavor to advance justice for black Americans. Its mission is to ensure the political, educational and social rights of all people and eliminate race-based discrimination.
“Most people think the NAACP is just for black people,” Shivers said. “Me, myself, before I learned about it, that’s what I thought. Further looking into it, just bringing in different people from different backgrounds, different races, to bring it all together and bring this community back to where we were in the ’80s, ’90s. That’s what I would like to see is more unity. It goes for everyone.”
Political, educational and social rights will remain at the core of the local chapter’s mission. But the new chapter’s leaders want to expand into doing things like putting on a health fair where people could learn about things like the dangers of high blood pressure. Porter is already talking about teaching people about how the Police Department works, and offering some personal safety tips.
We believe having the NAACP in Fort Dodge again will be good for everyone.
To the NAACP, we say welcome back.
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