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TexasTowelie's JournalCheaper Farm Bureau health policies could turn applicants away for pre-existing issues
Applicants for the Iowa Farm Bureau's new health coverage will be asked whether they've been diagnosed or treated for a range of ailments, including diabetes, heart problems, or mental issues, new documents show.
The company could turn away or charge more to some applicants with pre-existing health problems, company officials acknowledged Wednesday.
The Farm Bureau unveiled details of the new health coverage Wednesday. The policies, which will go on sale Nov. 1, are expected to have lower premiums than standard health insurance policies.
The controversial new plans offer an alternative to health insurance policies, which must comply with the federal Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
Read more: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/health/2018/10/03/iowa-farm-bureau-health-coverage-pre-existing-conditions-obamacare-affordable-care-act/1509879002/
Sen. Cory Booker fires up Iowa Democrats: 'It is a time to get up, to rise up, to speak up'
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker repeatedly brought more than 1,100 Iowa Democrats to their feet Saturday night with a rousing call to get their party and country back on track.
The New Jersey Democrat, a possible 2020 presidential candidate, used a preacher’s cadence to fire up activists at a Des Moines fundraiser for the state party.
"Stay faithful. Stay faithful. Stay faithful," he said, quoting a mantra he learned from a mentor in a subsidized housing complex in Newark.
He recalled becoming discouraged by Republican Donald Trump’s 2016 election as president. But he said he regained his spirit upon seeing hundreds of thousands of women march in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere in the days after Trump’s inauguration.
Read more: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2018/10/07/iowa-sen-cory-booker-democrats-speech-2016-election-donald-trump-iowa-caucuses-president/1552663002/
Trump will make good on a promise to Iowa farmers, open door to year-round E15
After months of false starts, President Donald Trump will tell Iowans on Tuesday during a campaign rally in Council Bluffs that he's opening the door to year-round access to gasoline with higher ethanol blends.
A senior White House official said Monday that Trump directed the Environmental Protection Agency to begin rule-making that allows for year-round use of gasoline with 15 percent ethanol or E15.
The announcement sets off a review that could make E15 available to consumers as soon as next summer.
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E15 is banned during the summer months, based on concerns it contributes to smog, a claim ethanol advocates say is unfounded. Almost all gasoline contains 10 percent ethanol.
Read more: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2018/10/09/donald-trump-iowa-rally-year-round-e-15-fuel-agriculture-council-bluffs-ethanol-white-house-epa/1568235002/
Gov. Reynolds missed deadline and must comply with the Iowa Constitution
In the last few weeks, I witnessed the investiture of an Iowa district court judge and an Iowa Supreme Court justice. The selection of these Iowa judges stood in stark contrast to the politicized selection process unfolding in Washington of our next U.S. Supreme Court justice.
At both Iowa events, the judges and their speakers reminded us all of our merit selection process that has brought all Iowans the most fair-minded and impartial judiciary in the nation. Both ceremonies spoke to the Rule of Law that cloaks our courtrooms as they strive for justice for all.
We’ve had a recent stumble in this process on a technicality – the Iowa Constitution. Within the last few weeks it has been revealed the recent appointment of Judge Jason Besler to the 6th Judicial District by Gov. Kim Reynolds appears to have failed the constitutional mandate that judicial appointments must be made within 30 days after the names are submitted for appointment. The constitution provides “If the governor fails for 30 days to make the appointment, it shall be made … by the chief justice of the Supreme Court.” Gov. Reynolds stated she told a staff member but failed to take any next step to properly appoint her choice to the court. She failed to notify the candidate or notify the proper authority in writing of the appointment. A judicial appointment requires more than just a thought.
These circumstances have led many citizens to fear the legal consequences. It does not take much imagination to visualize a federal action by a convicted murderer complaining the conviction was entered by a judge not constitutionally appointed. It could be argued that after 30 days the governor lost the power or jurisdiction to make the appointment, with the Constitution placing this task with the chief justice. This is analogous to a court losing jurisdiction to decide a dispute that was filed after the statute of limitations had past. A federal court or the Iowa Supreme Court could order a retrial with a different judge – at great human and financial expense – perhaps with a different outcome.
Read more: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/iowa-view/2018/10/08/gov-reynolds-missed-deadline-and-must-comply-iowa-constitution/1537548002/
Erik Paulsen voted to keep Trump's tax returns a secret
Republican U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen is paddling toward reclaiming his seat as quickly as he can, in part by promising to “stand up to” his party “and President [Donald] Trump” if push comes to shove.
Well, last month, he had his chance. He did not take it.
At issue were Trump’s tax returns, which have remained secret and are now back in the limelight. After 18 months of trawling through the Trump family’s financial dirty laundry, The New York Times published a scathing report accusing the sitting president of “dubious tax schemes” and “outright fraud,” helping his parents sidestep taxes, and undervaluing that money so he could siphon as much as possible to himself and his siblings.
A Trump lawyer has called these allegations “100 percent false.” Trump himself described the story as “a very old, boring and often told hit piece.”
Read more: http://www.citypages.com/news/erik-paulsen-voted-to-keep-trumps-tax-returns-a-secret/495222551
Brooklyn Center pastor sexually assaulted a woman under the guise of exorcism
In 2017, Meally Morris Freeman, the pastor of Grace Mountaineer Tabernacle Church in Brooklyn Center, told a woman in his congregation that she had a demon in her body, and that she needed a one-on-one “deliverance” session so he could exorcise it.
The woman in question told police about what happened later, and her name has been left out of the criminal complaint describing what happened during that session, which took place before Bible study. A warning: It is explicit.
The complaint says Freeman began the deliverance session by giving the allegedly possessed woman cups of oil to drink, and after she’d swallowed them down, they began to pray. She then “fell out,” as she put it -- became listless and semi-conscious. She couldn’t remember exactly what had happened. But when she woke up, she noticed her stomach was slick with oil. So was the skin near her breasts. And her underwear was wet.
She says Freeman told her he had indeed “anointed” those areas, but that he hadn’t looked at all of them. In any case, he told her she’d need a second session later that evening -- after Bible study was over. He told her to send her daughter home with a babysitter.
Read more: http://www.citypages.com/news/brooklyn-center-pastor-sexually-assaulted-a-woman-under-the-guise-of-exorcism/495286531
Militarizing Minnesota
On September 24, the Duluth City Council discussed purchasing $82,721 worth of riot gear for the second time. Water Protectors, the NAACP, church representatives, and many others packed the City Council to oppose the riot gear purchase. The decision was tabled for the second time.
It’s an interesting moment in Duluth. Two years ago, the Duluth City Council passed a resolution opposing the use of excessive force at Standing Rock during the DAPL protest. There, over $38 million was spent by North Dakota authorities, who brought in over 1,200 police and national guard from across the country, as well as using Tiger Swan, a paramilitary security force. Now we are talking riot gear for Duluth. As Tara Houska, Honor the Earth’s Campaigns Director noted, there has not been a riot in Duluth for l00 years. Well nearly so.
The last riot in Duluth was the 1920 lynching of three black men Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie. Charged with an unsubstantiated rape on June l5, three young black men who had come to town with a traveling circus were arrested. Word spread through the town, and that evening three of them were taken from jail and lynched by a white mob. Crowd estimates were between l,000 and l0,000 people (apparently they were sort of bad at counting in those days). That was the last riot .
Times are changing, the militarization of police is on the increase, and pressure by Chilean mining and pipeline companies to militarize northern Minnesota is bearing fruit. On June 28, this year, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission issued a rogue decision -- overriding all recommendations of state agencies, tribes and 68,000 Minnesotans, and approved a Certificate of Need for the Enbridge Line 3. During that meeting, Commissioner Tuma asked Enbridge if the company would underwrite the police expenses required to put in the Canadian pipeline. Since then, riot gear requests have increased.
In mid-September, an estimated 40 Fond du Lac tribal police forces guarded an informational meeting for band members on Enbridge’s Line 3 Agreement with the tribe. The controversial decision to sign with Enbridge has been opposed by Tribal Water Protectors and was done without community forums. Debra Topping, an elder, attended the meeting and was handing out literature asking for a referendum vote on the proposal when she was pushed aside, searched, and asked for a tribal ID by the police. Details of the agreement are not public, but the estimated $250 million deal is good money, no question. The deal has committed the Fond du Lac bandto insure the project’s future in their territory. Apparently, that means using tribal police to control tribal members. The question is, at what cost?
Read more: http://duluthreader.com/articles/2018/10/04/14713_militarizing_minnesota
Central Minnesota city council candidate withdraws from race, cites online bullying
BRAINERD, Minn. — Brainerd City Council candidate Christopher Mathison announced Friday, Oct. 5, his decision to pull out of the city council race.
Mathison, who was running against council member Sue Hilgart for the city council at-large seat, cited in an email Friday morning defamation, bullying and threats made toward him as his reasons for leaving the race.
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In follow-up emails, Mathison said the negative remarks and threats came from Facebook posts Friday morning. He said he blocked some of the people's accounts posting the comments but believed some of the posts had since been taken down. He did not identify who the posts came from.
Mathison said many of the comments published on Facebook referred to his mental health and belittled him and his family. It began Friday morning, when photos of Mathison's entry in the Brainerd Dispatch 2018 Voter's Guide were shared on multiple Facebook pages, according to Mathison. He said the photos were accompanied by comments critical of his use of social services for his disability, bipolar disorder.
Read more: http://www.wctrib.com/news/government-and-politics/4509886-central-minnesota-city-council-candidate-withdraws-race-cites
ND ag bankers riding the 'black swan': Soy tariff damage will last up to 5 years, economist says
FARGO — Ag bankers should brace for a "long" ride on a black swan — an unpredictable, unforeseen event with extreme consequences.
The period of soybean price reductions due to the Chinese trade war, initiated by the Donald Trump administration, will have a "long" effect, says a North Dakota State University distinguished professor of agricultural economics.
William Wilson, who consults with agricultural entities worldwide, spoke Sept. 27 at the annual North Dakota Bankers Association's Ag Credit Conference in Fargo at the Holiday Inn.
The average basis for soybeans heading to the Pacific Northwest ports this time of year about $1.30 per bushel on soybeans — that's a premium value over the Chicago Mercantile Exchange price, indicating demand. "Today? Forty (cents). Or, none."
Read more: http://www.wctrib.com/business/agriculture/4509916-nd-ag-bankers-riding-black-swan-soy-tariff-damage-will-last-5-years
Minneapolis cops: We can't investigate Keith Ellison. Maybe other cops can.
The Minneapolis Police Department will not investigate the allegation of domestic abuse against U.S. Rep Keith Ellison but is talking to other agencies that might.
“Due to a conflict of interest, or the appearance of a conflict of interest, the Minneapolis Police Department will not be handling the matter involving Congressman Keith Ellison,” the department said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “The Minneapolis Police Department is in communication with other law enforcement agencies who we may refer this case to.”
Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder said the decision was made out of “an abundance of caution” because Ellison’s son, Jeremiah, serves on the Minneapolis City Council.
That was also the reason given Tuesday, Oct. 2, by the Minneapolis city attorney’s office when it punted any possible review of the case to the Dakota County attorney’s office.
Read more: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/government-and-politics/4509878-minneapolis-cops-we-cant-investigate-keith-ellison-maybe-other
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