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Gas prices spike 23 cents in Iowa as vacation season rolls on

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Gas prices spike 23 cents in Iowa as vacation season rolls on


DES MOINES, Iowa – You may have noticed gas prices are a little higher. In fact, gas is nearly a quarter per gallon more expensive this week in Iowa than last, according to AAA. Relief may not be coming until the fall, according to an economist at Iowa State.

Brian Ortner, Public Affairs Specialist for AAA of Iowa and Nebraska, says the cost of a gallon of gas has spiked across the Midwest. In Iowa, the average cost per gallon is $3.61. “We’re 23 cents higher per gallon on average across the state and that’s very similar to what we’re seeing in our neighboring states,” Ortner said.

In neighboring states like Nebraska and Missouri, gas is up 18 cents a gallon. The sticker shock at the pump is most felt in Illinois, where the average gallon costs just under $4.00. Diesel is about 22 cents higher in the Hawkeye state.

Peter Orazem, an economics professor at Iowa State University, says the price increased because demand spikes in the summer as people take vacations, as well as the strength of the dollar.

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“Another factor is that the dollar has been slipping in strength a little bit and oil prices worldwide are denominated in dollars, so as the dollar weakens, the price of gasoline is going to start to rise,” Orazem said.

Orazem says these price hikes won’t last forever. Demand for gas usually drops as it gets cooler out.

“We’re still not where we were even a year ago, and so you could see some additional increases particularly through August if gasoline demand continues to increase and as people are continuing to go on vacations,” Orazem said.

Ortner says if you’re planning to get a road trip in before the summer ends, there are some ways to save.

“If you want to save a few dollars here and there, you still have a summer road trip plan, pack snacks and water with you instead of you know, buying the incidentals when you fuel up at the gas station. Save those dollars, bring it with you,” Ortner said.

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Ortner says one of the best and easiest ways to save on the cost of gas is to make sure you do routine maintenance.

“Proper air pressure in your tires affects, you know, fuel efficiency, and if your tires aren’t balanced or aired correctly, It does have an impact on your fuel efficiency when you’re driving,” Ortner said.

Another thing Ortner says to look out for is car batteries. They have to work just as hard in the summer months as they do in the winter months.

When planning road trips, Ortner said AAA has a free app that can help you find cheap places to fill up along your route. You don’t need to be a AAA member to use it.

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Iowa

67 state boards and commissions being eliminated – Radio Iowa

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67 state boards and commissions being eliminated – Radio Iowa


Eighty-three state boards and commissions are being eliminated or consolidated.

Governor Kim Reynolds recommended even more for elimination, but legislators pared down her list and she has approved the final plan.

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Iowa-Nebraska NAACP president Betty Andrews is raising concerns about shifting power away from the Iowa Civil Rights Commission to a director appointed by the governor. The plan also eliminates several commissions in the Iowa Department of Human Rights.

“It sends a sad, unwelcoming message to communities of color, to people with disabilities and women,” Andrews said, “that civil rights and their interests are not a priority at the highest level of state government.”

Reynolds said have the Iowa Civil Rights Commission be an advisory group rather than a decision-making board makes sense.

“We had a part-time board that was really managing things and it’s just too hard to do that. You need somebody that’s there full time,” Reynolds said. “…It’s just a better way for us to really manage the organization.”

Reynolds sids there’s never been a comprehensive review of all state boards and commissions and it’s a continuation of her efforts to make state government more efficient. A year ago, the legislature approved the governor’s plan to reduce the number of state agencies from 36 to 16.

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New Iowa law flouts U.S. Constitution's Supremacy Clause

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New Iowa law flouts U.S. Constitution's Supremacy Clause


Rick Morain is the former publisher and owner of the Jefferson Herald, for which he writes a regular column.

Where does your primary loyalty lie: as a citizen of America, or as a citizen of Iowa?

Probably seems like a meaningless question. But around the nation, more and more states these days are enacting laws in opposition to those of the federal government, placing the loyalty question front and center. And a growing number of U.S. residents are declaring a preference to honor their state laws above those of the United States.

ORIGINS OF THE SUPREMACY CLAUSE

In terms of settled law, there’s no real dispute: federal law outranks state law. The U.S. Constitution leaves no doubt. Article VI, Clause 2 (the “Supremacy Clause”), reads as follows:

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Even conferring diplomas, I see how Iowa has shut the door on public education

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Even conferring diplomas, I see how Iowa has shut the door on public education



My passion for public education has been, let’s say, exacerbated by the actions of our state legislators.

Recently I had the pleasure of handing diplomas to graduates. I did nothing to help these individuals reach this milestone. I was standing on a stage facing the students, who had surmounted myriad odds to achieve their place on the steps to the stage.

I was facing all the people to the left and right, sitting on bleachers, who had had to beg them to get out of bed to go to school. I was facing all the faculty, who screamed alternately with joy and frustration during the years that culminated in this one hour celebration. All the people in that gymnasium were living witnesses to determination and hope and expectations and sacrifice and silliness and confidence and doubt and, most importantly, to the existence of, the efficacy of, the accessibility of public education.

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Fittingly, the faculty was sitting behind the students. Behind is fitting, because they have been behind these students, lifting them up, reigning them in, pushing them forward, through this challenging journey.

A few of us are born to thrive in academia; the rest of us wrestle our way through the accouterments of education: requirements, curriculum, technology, tuition, new personalities, old habits, textbooks, lectures, traditions and innovations.  

This diploma represents the equivalent of Indiana Jones stepping into space in his quest for the holy grail. 

This diploma has prepared our students for “what if?” What if I take a step and find solid footing? What if I take a step and fall into space? We know that the faculty has prepared them for welding, nursing, growing, teaching, cooking, and dozens of other careers, but our students are stepping out into the space of the real world, a world that is not even close to the predictable environment of public education.

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This diploma is part of hundreds of individuals stories, as varied as the shoes they are wearing, as varied as their DNA.

This is the only time they’ll all look alike, in caps and gowns, not sure if that cap is going to stay on, sweating under the robe. They are sitting closer together than they ever have in this journey through libraries and classrooms and internships and coffeeshops. 

They line up to climb the steps, hand their name card to the dean, who double-checks to make sure she pronounces their name correctly, and they walk a few feet to a person they don’t know who hands them this precious folder. 

I am the person they don’t know. I have not shared a cup of coffee or a beer with any of them. I have never read a single word they have written. I did not help them choose a major, I did not help them find a book, I did not suggest they redo an assignment. I did not hand them tissues as they cried in my office. I did not celebrate with them when they outdid themselves. I did nothing to get them up on that stage.

But I represent everything that is amazing and noble about a folder from Eastern Iowa Community College, from any institution of public education. I serve on the Board of Trustees. How I got on this stage with the “dignitaries” is another journey, that started somewhere. Maybe it started in a one-room country school, one room, two paths, a big bell in the belfry and assorted students, K-8, sitting in that one room with one teacher. I had an eighth-grade education by the time I finished kindergarten. 

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Maybe it started in a Works Progress Administration-built high school whose architectural style required 40 granite steps between creaky wooden floors.

Maybe it started when I sampled and rejected and finally accepted a career in public education. 

Regardless, my passion for public education has been, let’s say, exacerbated by the actions of our state legislators as they have stripped away not only the pillars, but the foundations of public education. They have turned public education, even in the public schools, into a cut-throat competition for — money. Not for students. Not for staff. Not for communities. For profit. We used to confine competition to the playing field, the gym, the court. Now public schools are being forced to compete for services — the services of book sellers, the services of social workers and counselors. Our elected officials have stripped away the kind of funding that probably supported their own educations.  

So, I shook hands with public education. Four Madisons, three Rileys, six Michaels, one Brecken, a couple Brandons and dozens more hands of real people with real names with a real education.  I shook hands with the future. I shook hands that will build, guide, give, teach, save, protect. I shook hands with what has been the pride of Iowa: public education.

Interestingly, there were no legislators on that stage. That is unusual and significant.  You tell me why.  

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Dianne Prichard is on the Board of Trustees of Davenport-based Eastern Iowa Community College.



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