Week in Iowa

‘HEARTBEAT’ ABORTION LAW: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday she will ask the Iowa Supreme Court to rehear a recent case on the “heartbeat” bill that bans abortions in Iowa at the point a fetal heartbeat can be heard — usually six weeks.

Reynolds said she will ask the state court to lift an injunction on the “heartbeat” law passed by Republican lawmakers in 2018.

The Republican governor’s announcement came in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 24 ruling that overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion in the nation.

Reynolds said she also will ask the Iowa Supreme Court to reconsider a recent ruling that overturned a previous ruling saying the state constitution guarantees the right to an abortion. While a win for Iowa Republicans, the ruling, which came before the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling, still left room for courts to strike down some restrictions.

PARENTS SUE: David and Sabrina Jaramillo Sr. of Cedar Rapids, formerly of Marion, have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Adventureland Park in Altoona about the July 3, 2021, water raft accident that killed their 11-year-old son and seriously injured his 15-year-old brother.

The parents assert in the lawsuit that the amusement park was negligent in its maintenance, operation and training of the employees who ran the Raging River ride, causing the inflatable raft to flip over and submerge the family.

The 55-page lawsuit, filed in Polk County, alleges a number of missteps. The ride is not operating at the park, which has been sold, this summer.

FARM WASTE: U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visited Dan and Debbie’s Creamery in Ely on Tuesday to announce the USDA will award $10 million in grants to universities and private-sector partners to find new uses for ag waste.

“This program will help farmers take field residues and waste products and turn them into value-added products that create wealth and drive economic development in rural areas,” said Vilsack, a former Iowa governor.

He pointed to construction of a $300 million chemical plant in Eddyville in south-central Iowa that will use corn to make fabric and other materials.

They said …

“The Supreme Court’s greatest moments have come when it allows America to embody more perfectly the enduring truth on which it was founded: that all human beings, without exception, are created equal. By that measure, today’s historic decision is clearly one such moment. But the fight for life is not over. As governor, I won’t rest until every unborn Iowan is protected and respected.” — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade

“Iowa Republicans will not stop until they have completely banned abortion without exception. This is an incredibly dangerous action that threatens the health, safety, and future of Iowa women.” — Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls, D-Coralville

Odds and ends

NEW SKATEBOARD PARK: About 75 people showed up for a Thursday open house about a Cedar Rapids plan to relocate the skateboard park at Riverside Park, of C Street SW, to make way for flood control construction.

As plans for a larger “destination” skate park in the Time Check area remain years away from coming to fruition, some members of the local skate community said they were pleased with the plans. It will have concrete rather than steel parts, in line with current skate park standards.

The skate park, built in the 1990s, is slated to be closed after Labor Day through Memorial Day 2023.

California-based Spohn Ranch, a global skate park designer, is drafting plans for the park.

TREE GRANT: The city of Cedar Rapids is seeking a $150,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that would help pay for replanting 1,000 street trees this fall, if it is awarded.

The trees would be part of the ReLeaf plan to replenish the tree canopy lost in the August 2020 derecho’s hurricane-force winds.

The watercooler

RACIAL BIAS LAWSUIT: A federal judge has ordered University of Iowa Athletics to turn over all the materials former players have requested from an “independent and external review” of the Hawkeye football program — including reports on specific coaches.

Several former Hawkeye football players filed a lawsuit in October 2020 against the UI, the Iowa Board of Regents, head football coach Kirk Ferentz, and others, alleging racially motivated discrimination.

The UI hired national law firm Husch Blackwell to conduct an independent and external review of the football program. The former players sought access to the report, but the UI asserted the records were private under “attorney-client privilege.”

Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Helen Adams ordered the UI to release all of the reports’ findings — not just the parts it wants.

PIPELINE MEETINGS: State regulators have scheduled another 13 public information meetings about Navigator Heartland Greenway’s proposal to build and operate a 1,300-mile carbon dioxide pipeline across five Midwest states, including Iowa.

Navigator announced earlier this month its pipeline no longer would go through Linn, Benton, Cedar, Poweshiek and Clinton counties as proposed last year.

In Eastern Iowa, the new route would go through Bremer, Fayette, Buchanan and Delaware counties. meetings in those counties are scheduled Aug. 21-23.

More in the news

REGENT DONATIONS: Members of the Iowa Board of Regents have made monetary and in-kind political donations totaling nearly $339,500 since 2019 — primarily to Republicans, with the majority going either to Gov. Kim Reynolds, who makes appointments to the board, or to the Republican Party of Iowa.

Most of the contributions from current board members have come from three regents: President Michael Richards, David Barker and JC Risewick, who was appointed to the board in June.

State law doesn’t restrict or regulate regent political giving. news

PIG FARM LAWSUITS: The Iowa Supreme Court on Thursday reversed a long-standing precedent that allowed landowners to sue for damages when a neighboring hog farm causes water pollution or odor problems that affect quality of life.

The court concluded, 4-3, that a 2004 decision was wrong.

The earlier ruling established that a portion of Iowa's law providing immunity to livestock farms from neighbors’ nuisance lawsuits violated the inalienable rights clause of the Iowa Constitution. It also found neighbors could sue if they had lived in the area long before the farm began operating, had sustained significant hardship, and did not benefit from the nuisance immunity granted to the livestock farm.

Justice Thomas Waterman wrote in the Thursday decision that “protecting and promoting livestock production is a legitimate state interest and granting partial immunity from nuisance suits is a proper means to that end.”

Gazette staff writers