110819 504 Michael Bloomberg has reached out to a senior Iowa Democrat in a sign that the billionaire former New York City mayor is planning a presidential campaign. Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack told The Associated Press that Bloomberg telephoned him Thursday evening as reports were emerging that he was weighing a campaign. Bloomberg left a voicemail indicating he plans to run. Bloomberg aides say he has made calls to prominent Democrats but has not made a final decision to run for president.

110819 304 Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, and Colorado Senator Michael Bennet will make appearances in northwest Iowa today and tomorrow. Unlike many of the Democratic candidates, Bennet does not oppose a wall on the border with Mexico if it is part of the larger, modern immigration system. He wrote an immigration bill in 2013 with a similar suggestion. It had 46 billion dollars in border security, not the six billion that Donald Trump wants for a centuries-old

110719 504 The Iowa Supreme Court says it will take an appeal of an Iowa attorney who challenged a 2017 flight Gov. Kim Reynolds and her family took. That flight was on a private jet to a football game in Memphis, Tennessee. Gary Dickey filed a complaint with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board in September 2018, alleging the $2,880 claimed for four seats on the jet in campaign documents underestimated the flight's value. The board dismissed his complaint, saying the estimate was

110719 404 A new committee tasked with making criminal justice reform recommendations to Governor Kim Reynolds met for the first time today. Iowa criminal justice system leaders and stakeholders heard presentations about trends in Iowa’s prison population and the barriers people face when they leave prison. Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg chairs the committee. I think there is bipartisan interest in criminal justice reform. And it’s our challenge to put some meat on that. What does that actually

110719 304 Three Democratic presidential candidates will be visiting Sioux City starting tomorrow. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, and Colorado Senator Michael Bennet will make appearances. Klobuchar will speak at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow at Townsquare Coffeehouse and Kitchen, in Orange City. Saturday at 9:00 a.m., Klobuchar will be at the Sioux City Public Library to take part in a Woodbury County Democratic Party caucus training event. At 5:45 p.m. Friday, Bennet

On The Exchange this week we talk with some of the candidates from this general election. Mayor Bob Scott will talk about his re-election and Rhonda Capron says goodbye to the Sioux City Council after eight years of service. SOHO restaurant and bar owner Julie Schoenherr bested Capron. We will speak with Schoenherr as well. And we hear about the four new Sioux City Community School Board members: Western Iowa Tech Community College Executive Julie Albert, businessmen Taylor Goodvin, and Dan

110719 Noon Governor Kim Reynolds spoke this morning with the task force she’s assembled to come up with a series of criminal justice reforms, according to Radio Iowa. The group’s first meeting comes in the same week as more than 400 inmates in Oklahoma were released after that state’s governor commuted their sentences. In 2016, Oklahoma voters approved a referendum that reduced the sentences for simple drug possession and low-level property crimes. Oklahoma’s governor signed a bill earlier this

110619 504 Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott won another term in office in yesterday’s general election. He picked up almost 70% of the vote over Maria Rundquist. And incumbent council member Rhonda Capron was defeated by the owner of SOHO Julie Schoenherr. Capron was seeking her 3 rd term in office and says she doesn’t plan to run again. Six people were on the ballot for four school board seats. The winners were Dan Greenwell, Juline Albert, Monique Scarlett, and Taylor Goodvin. Current board member

A special convocation at Western Iowa Tech Community college on Tuesday, November 5, 2019 united students, staff and members of the community. The event hosted by the international honor society, Phi Theta Kappa, focused on global issues concerning agriculture. Siouxland Public Media’s Sheila Brummer served as emcee for the event and brings us the sounds and messages from experts and entertainers. The depth of five voices serenaded a group of more than 100 at the Rocklin Center on the campus of

Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott was reelected with 68 percent of the vote. But a few of Iowa’s municipal races are undecided. Some Iowa cities require winners to get a clear majority — or 50 percent plus one — of the vote. In Iowa’s largest city, Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie is seeking a fifth term and got 43.5 percent of the vote — just seven-tenths of a percent ahead of Jack Hatch, a former state legislator who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2014. They will face-off in a run-off in December. A