Week in Iowa

In the news

GRASSLEY VS. FRANKEN: Democrat Mike Franken, a retired Navy admiral from Sioux City, will face Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley in the Nov. 8 general election.

Franken, 64, won the Democratic primary on Tuesday, collecting 86,372 votes, according to unofficial results. Former U.S. Rep. Abby Finkenauer of Cedar Rapids and Dr. Glenn Hurst of Minden, his competitors, garnered 62,498 and 7,562 votes, respectively.

Grassley, 88, had 143,289 votes to challenger Jim Carlin’s 51,755 in the Republican primary.

CONVERSION THERAPY: Linn County supervisors on Monday are expected to give final approval to banning “conversion therapy” for minors.

The therapy is a widely debunked practice of trying to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of an LGBTQ person into a straight man or woman.

The ban would apply only to rural Linn County, but supervisors are hoping the county’s cities will pass their own bans. In Iowa, only Davenport has a conversion therapy ban.

The supervisors have split 2-1 on the ban, with Democrats Stacey Walker and Ben Rogers in support and Republican Louie Zumbach opposed. Zumbach, a former state lawmaker, said he considers the matter to be a state issue and outside a county supervisor’s purview.

Odds and ends

BUD & MARY’S CANNABIS: Iowa’s first medical marijuana manufacturer and distributor is changing its name, planning a $10 million expansion in Iowa and expanding into Colorado and Michigan.

MedPharm Iowa will become Bud & Mary’s Cannabis Co., showing a shift in the company’s focus from just the medical marijuana allowed in Iowa to recreational marijuana products allowed in some other states.

“We feel like this better reflects our overall company, but it is not meant to suggest that medical isn’t important,” Lucas Nelson, group president, said in an interview Thursday.

The name comes from Nelson’s grandparents, Mary Nelson and R.W. “Bud” Nelson. The Nelsons founded Kemin Industries, a global nutritional ingredient company in Des Moines, in 1961.

GLENWOOD DEATH: A 30-year-old resident of the state-run Glenwood Resource Center died of acute dehydration after facility staff failed to monitor his fluid intake, state inspectors said.

The center, which has a long history of care issues and is scheduled to close in 2024, was fined $10,000 by the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals.

According to state records, the resident who died had a profound intellectual disability and cerebral palsy. He was hospitalized for eight days in November 2021 due to dehydration and kidney injury. Upon discharge, the resident’s doctor ordered the man receive a minimum of 68 ounces of water per day at Glenwood.

They said …

“Grassley has given us the most partisan Supreme Court in all of our lives. He has voted down a series of measures that would have saved people’s lives from a responsible ownership of firearms perspective. He has not been a responsible individual in supporting antitrust legislation.”

— Mike Franken, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, on Republican incumbent Chuck Grassley

“In regard to all these things that I hear people (at events in Iowa) being mad at — the Biden administration, inflation, gas prices, border — I have heard Franken say that he’s with the president on.”

— Sen. Chuck Grassley on Mike Franken, his opponent in Iowa’s U.S. Senate race

Water cooler

BLUE LIGHTS: The streetlights glowing purple and blue along the S-curve of downtown Cedar Rapids’ Interstate 380 — and elsewhere in Iowa — are being replaced.

To date, Iowa Department of Transportation crews have changed 22 streetlight heads in the last three weeks in Iowa and expect to replace at least 100 more.

The blue hue results from deterioration of the inside coating of the LED streetlights, a DOT spokesman said. It’s not harmful, but the DOT wants consistent white light for motorists.

The energy-efficient LED lights, installed in 2018, have a five-year warranty, and the manufacturer said it would honor that warranty.

UI ALCOHOL SALES: University of Iowa athletics made $3 million from alcohol sales in 2021-22 — the first year of fully selling alcohol at games — according to documents obtained by The Gazette via a public records request.

Most of the revenue after sales tax — $2.4 million of the $3 million — came from alcohol sales at UI football games and the spring open practice at Kinnick Stadium.

The biggest days for sales came during three home football games — Sept. 4 against Indiana, Oct. 9 against Penn State and Oct. 16 against Purdue.

More in the news …

IOWA CITY TOURISM: Iowa City is directing $250,000 in pandemic relief funds to spur tourism and economic activity.

The money will go to Think Iowa City, formerly the Iowa City/Coralville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Half the funds will replace the hotel/motel tax revenue that Think Iowa City lost during the pandemic. The other half will be used for tourism and visitor recovery grants, to be launched later this year.

The grants will help fund conferences, tournaments and special events.

MARION WATER: The Marion Water Department is buying land for more wells that will increase water supply and water pressure and open additional areas in the fast-growing city to development.

The department also is building a fourth water tower near Hunter’s Ridge on Marion’s north side and building a $2.8 million facility to remove iron from the drinking water. The iron removal facility, to be working by August, will be at 2351 31st St.

The work is funded by water sales, not tax dollars.

ST. LUKE’S EXPANSION: UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital has announced a $25 million expansion of its heart and vascular center.

Construction is expected to begin sometime this summer on the Cedar Rapids hospital’s Nassif Heart Center.

The project, which will take place over the next two years, will consolidate cardiac and vascular care into the center and expand existing services.

The move will alleviate space constraints and help providers meet the growing demand for services locally, according to St. Luke’s officials.