Gazette Daily News Podcast, April 6

So this is another good news, bad news weather forecast. I’ll start with the bad news because that’s coming the next few days. According to the National Weather Service there will be a chance of rain again on Wednesday, primarily after 1 p.m. Clouds will increase as the day goes on, with a high of 52 degrees. It will also become breezy, with wind gusts as high as 30 mph possible. The overall chance of rain on Wednesday will be 40 percent. Then it will get even colder on Thursday, and there will be a chance of rain and potentially snow again Thursday night. Now the good news is that temperatures should bump up by the weekend, and I am seeing highs in the upper 60s by early next week.

A bill to safeguard residents of mobile home parks against rapid rent and fee increases, and well as adding protections against evictions, passed the Iowa House on Tuesday night despite criticism it had become too watered down to help tenants much.

The bill passed Tuesday includes provisions recommended by the Iowa Attorney General and some that were included in legislation approved by the House with bipartisan support two years ago — only to die on the last day of that legislative session.

HF 2562 would extend several protections for residents of mobile home parks, such as cancellation of rental agreements, rent and utility increases, and protection from retaliation for complaints against the owner or landlord.

It also would require all sales of homes from the park owner be in writing, and include detailed information about the cost and payments.

The legislation is in response to the purchases of mobile home parks around Iowa by venture capitalists and real estate investment trusts that can make what was affordable housing unattainable for people who have lived in the parks many years.

These out-of-state purchases date back years in Iowa, but in 2019 inspired louder opposition from park residents. Support came from some Iowa lawmakers after companies announced sharp lot rent increases and higher utilities charges, but Republicans had balked on adding any protections until this year.

Iowa elections officials are hoping for the prompt resolution of a challenge to Abby Finkenauer’s U.S. Senate nomination paperwork that will determine whether she will be on the primary ballot.

A hearing is scheduled Wednesday in Polk County District Court on the challenge brought by two Iowa Republicans asking that a state panel’s decision to accept the Democratic hopeful’s nominating paperwork be overturned, a move that would result in Finkenauer being taken off the ballot.

In the meantime, county auditors who oversee elections are being advised to proceed with preparing and proofing ballots for the June 7 primary “all the way up to the point of giving your vendor the go-ahead to print,” said Kevin Hall, a spokesman for Secretary of State Paul Pate.

The Republican court challenge arose from the decision by the State Objection Panel to accept Finkenauer’s ballot petitions despite questions about some signatures on her paperwork. As a U.S. Senate candidate, Finkenauer was required by state law to acquire at least 3,500 signatures, including at least 100 signatures each in at least 19 counties.

The ACLU of Iowa is urging Coralville and three other cities in the state to repeal their ordinances against panhandling, saying the measures violate free speech rights.

The organization sent letters Tuesday to the cities of Coralville, Davenport, Dubuque and Bettendorf, saying their ordinances are both unconstitutional and ineffective. With local rules “criminalizing poverty, all they do is drive people further into homelessness,” said Shefali Aurora, staff attorney for the ACLU of Iowa.

The basis for the letters is a 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down content-based regulations of free speech. More than 70 ordinances across the country have been struck down by the courts since 2019, according to the ACLU of Iowa.

Coralville has an ordinance prohibiting “solicitation from persons in motor vehicles,” according to city code.

“No person shall solicit money or other items from a person situated in a motor vehicle that is located on any public street, alley or other public property,” the ordinance says. The change was made in 2004.

Support for this news update was provided by New Pioneer Food Co-op. Celebrating 50 years as Eastern Iowa’s destination for locally and responsibly sourced groceries with stores in Iowa City, Coralville and Cedar Rapids; and you can order online through Co-op Cart at newpi.coop.