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Podcast Segments:
Iowa Coast to Coast (statewide news)
From KCRG-TV: Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of possible grants for Iowa institutions have been cut as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency -- or DOGE -- cuts federal spending. That’s according to its savings webpage. There are three main agencies eligible for the grants that are being cut. The state Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the University of Iowa. A majority of those grants being cut were for Iowa HHS. It’s losing up to 407 million dollars in eligible grants. The Department of Ag and Land Stewardship is losing roughly 11 million dollars in eligible grants. That money was set aside to buy food for the school and adult care food programs. And 9 million dollars worth of possible grants are going away from the University of Iowa. Some of that money was being used to fund the freedom of expression creative writing program.
From Gray Media: Iowa Republican lawmakers are working to reduce the age to buy and carry a handgun. It’s currently 21, but a bill working its way through the senate lowers it to 18. Richard Rogers with the Iowa Firearm Coalition says state law considers you to be an adult when you turn 18, and he supports the bill. “Both the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and article 1A of the Iowa Constitution guarantee that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. There is no age limit in there,” he said. Rogers says that current state law has some quirks. People who are between 18 and 21 can shoot under adult supervision and they can get a permit if their job requires it. “So you could have a 20-year-old combat veteran who’s a fully accredited peace officer in this state may have a handgun while he’s on duty, performing the duty that require the handgun, and the rest of the time, if he wants to plink in the back yard or something, he has to have his mommy with him,” he said. Connie Ryan with the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa says that people aged 18-20 are responsible for a disproportionate share of mass shootings and school shootings. “Guns remain the number one cause of death for our young people. The number one cause of death for our young people. More guns in the hands of young people at a younger age is a public safety issue,” she said. Ryan also contends that lowering the age could put more young people at harm.
Cauc Talk (talking political news)
From the AP: In a feat of determination, New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker held the Senate floor with a marathon speech that lasted all night and into Tuesday night, setting a historic mark to show Democrats’ resistance to President Donald Trump’s sweeping actions. Booker took to the Senate floor on Monday evening, saying he would remain there as long as he was “physically able.” It wasn’t until 25 hours and 5 minutes later that the 55-year-old senator, a former football tight end, finished speaking and limped off the floor. It set the record for the longest continuous Senate floor speech in the chamber’s history. Booker was assisted by fellow Democrats who gave him a break from speaking by asking him questions on the Senate floor. It was a remarkable show of stamina as Democrats try to show their frustrated supporters that they are doing everything possible to contest Trump’s agenda. Yet Booker also provided a moment of historical solace for a party searching for its way forward: By standing on the Senate floor for more than a night and day and refusing to leave, he had broken a record set 68 years ago by then Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, a segregationist and southern Democrat, to filibuster the advance of the Civil Rights Act in 1957. “These are not normal times in our nation,” Booker said as he began the speech Monday evening. “And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate. The threats to the American people and American democracy are grave and urgent, and we all must do more to stand against them.”
From the AP: Employees across the massive U.S. Health and Human Services Department received notices Tuesday that their jobs were being eliminated, part of a sweeping overhaul designed to vastly shrink the agencies responsible for protecting and promoting Americans’ health. The cuts include researchers, scientists, doctors, support staff and senior leaders, leaving the federal government without many of the key experts who have long guided U.S. decisions on medical research, drug approvals and other issues. “The revolution begins today!” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote on social media as he celebrated the swearing-in of his latest hires: Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the new director of the National Institutes of Health and Martin Makary, the new Food and Drug Administration commissioner. Kennedy’s post came just hours after employees began receiving emailed layoff notices. He later wrote, “Our hearts go out to those who have lost their jobs,” but said that the department needs to be “recalibrated” to emphasize disease prevention. Kennedy announced a plan last week to remake the department, which, through its agencies, is responsible for tracking health trends and disease outbreaks, conducting and funding medical research, and monitoring the safety of food and medicine, as well as for administering health insurance programs for nearly half the country.
Wider Scope
A.Iowa
What’s Good? (good/positive news)
From NBC News: Susan Crawford has won a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, NBC News projects, allowing liberals to maintain their narrow majority on the battleground state’s highest court — and defying Elon Musk after he spent millions of dollars to oppose her. Crawford, a Dane County circuit judge who was backed by Democrats, secured a 10-year term on the court over Brad Schimel, a Waukesha County circuit judge and a former Republican attorney general. As the first major battleground state election of President Donald Trump’s second term, the technically nonpartisan contest drew national attention and became the most expensive state Supreme Court race in U.S. history. The outcome is a setback for Trump and his billionaire adviser, Musk. Trump endorsed Schimel in the final stretch of the race, while Musk injected himself into the center of it, spending huge sums of money, visiting Wisconsin days out from Election Day and frequently posting about the race on his X feed. In turn, Democrats and progressive groups made Musk their primary villain, attacking his influence on the race and his efforts to slash federal jobs and the government through the Department of Government Efficiency.
Factoid of the Week: It's illegal to own just one guinea pig in Switzerland. It's considered animal abuse, because they're social beings and get lonely.
Spencer’s Top 5 Canadian Comedians
1. Norm MacDonald
2. John Candy
3. Jim Carrey
4. Seth Rogen
5. Leslie Nielsen
