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Burlington Iowa News West Burlington

CDC Report: 110,197,000 Venereal Infections in U.S.

Click Here: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports there were 19.7 million new venereal infections in the United States in 2008, bringing the total number of existing sexually  transmitted infections (STIs) in the U.S. to 110,197,000.

Virus

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Burlington Iowa Obituaries West Burlington

Obituaries

Karlene Kay Lange, 73, Burlington died Tuesday, March 26, 2013

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Burlington Iowa Nature News Political West Burlington

Eagle killed by wind farm brings federal scrutiny

Click Here:  The wind farm could face a fine of up to $200,000 because it does not hold a federal “take” permit that would allow the incidental death of a golden or bald eagle.

Windmill1

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Burlington Iowa Obituaries West Burlington

Obituaries

Margaret Mary Anderson, 89, Burlington, died Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Dorothy Maxine Harwood, 74, died Monday, March 25, 2013

Billy Jo Sturms, 37, of North Carolina, formerly Burlington died Sunday, March 24, 2013

Robert “Bob” Antone Korf, 60, Burlington died Sunday, March 24, 2013

Karla Christine Pepmeyer, 47, Burlington died Friday, March 15, 2013

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Burlington Iowa News Political West Burlington

Homeland Security Buys MORE Hollowpoint Ammo

Click Here: DHS To Buy 360,000 More Rounds of Hollow Point Ammunition

Arms build-up continues as Congress demands answers
BulletsHomelandSecurity
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Burlington Danville Iowa Obituaries West Burlington

Obituaries

Lillian I. Pentzel, 85, Burlington, died Saturday, March 23

John “ Jack” Joseph Dailey, 73, Burlington, died Friday, March 22, 2013

Phoebe Madaline Lamb, 89, Burlington, formerly Sperry, died Thursday, March 21, 2013

Jerry Jonathan Saldeen, 71, Burlington died Thursday, March 21, 2013

Russ “Half-Pint” Osborn, 59, West Burlington, died Thursday, March 21, 2013

James Rexford Anderson, age 43, Burlington, died Thursday, March 21, 2013

Irene Burcham, 93, formerly of Burlington, died Wednesday, March 20, 2013

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Burlington Iowa News Political West Burlington

Lesson From Colorado: Don’t Trust Your Guns To Democrats

Click Here: When Democrat Gov. John Hickenlooper signed expanded gun control laws on March 20, the lesson for other states was that this is what you get if you give Democrats the reins of power.357-magnum-30701289628285N2I

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Burlington Iowa News Political West Burlington

Homeland Security Refuses to Answer Congress on Bullet Purchase

Click Here: Department of Homeland Security purchased over 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition over the past year – enough to wage a 20 year plus war.

Luke Rudkowski interviewed Congressman Timothy Huelscamp on his decision to vote against the NDAA which was due to the unconstitutionality of the indefinite detention provision. They also discussed Obama’s Disposition Matrix and the large ammunition purchases made by the DHS.

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Burlington Iowa News Political West Burlington

State Issues from Tom Sands

News from the Hill…

This week there has been much more floor action with the passage of several bills.  Also three different budget bills were debated on the House floor.  Approximately half of the budget bills start in the house and half of them start in the Senate.  Three of the budget bills starting in the Iowa House are Education Appropriations, Administration & Regulation and Transportation.  The total appropriations of these three budgets for fiscal year 2014 are as follows, Education $894,926,944, Administration and Regulation $55,120,931 and Transportation $352,840,655.  There will be more money appropriated for Education in the Standings Bill later in session.  The monies appropriated in the Transportation Budget are non-Highway dollars; it is the DOT Commissioners that make the decisions for the monies for new roads, pavement replacement, bridge replacement, etc. and contained in the 5-year plan.  The 5-year plan is not included in this budget.

Second Amendment Rights…

House File 535 is a bill that has the support of the NRA, Iowa Firearms coalition and the law enforcement community in Iowa.  It protects all Iowans by keeping personally identifiable information confidential for those Iowans who choose to obtain a permit to acquire or carry a firearm.  The bill also gives law enforcement another tool to go after criminals who try to purchase a firearm fraudulently and makes the act a class D felony.

 Ways and Means Bills on the Floor…

Two of the bills that passed out of Ways and Means Committee were passed on the House floor this week.  One bill, HF 598, more clearly defines that any all-terrain vehicles that is primarily used for agriculture is exempt from Iowa Sales and Use Tax. This is a good bill for the industry, a good bill for the dealers and a good bill for the Department of Revenue.  The second bill,      HF 599, came from the Agriculture Committee, then went to Ways and Means Committee and was passed on the House floor this week.  This bill raised the cap for the beginning farmer tax credit.  It is extremely difficult for beginning farmers to get started today without the help of a family member.  On the other end of the spectrum, there are older farmers looking to slow down who do not have any family member interested in farming.  This bill helps to link the beginning farmer and the older established farmer together so both can benefit from the tax credit.  This is an expansion of the credit that was started in my 1st or 2nd term.  It has worked well and this makes a great improvement to help more beginning farmers.

Property Tax Bill…

This week in Ways and Means Committee, we passed Governor Branstad’s property tax bill, HSB 150.  The bill establishes equity in the Commercial/Industrial Property Class.  Over a four year phase in period, the taxable value on those two classes would be 80% of their assessed value.  It is presently 100%.  For the Residential Property tax class the bill lowered the present 4% allowable growth cap to 2%.  The bill also provides a standing appropriation of replacement dollars for local governments so they would not be negatively impacted.  We amended this bill in Committee to add more property tax relief across all classes of property by removing more of the K-12 School foundation levee off the backs of property tax payers and placed them at the state.  I am the floor manager of this bill.  This bill has headed to the Appropriations Committee and then will head to the House Floor with a new numb HF609.

Medicaid Integrity…

Iowa is one of a minority of states that does not have a program integrity statue for Medicaid.  HF 553 gives the DHS specific authority to investigate and to regain losses as a result of Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse.  The Federal government will audit our Medicaid dollars and a few years back found some abuse that accounted for several million dollars.  The state had to send those dollars back to the Federal government, but did not have any means in being able to go after the providers that abused the program.  Taxpayers should not be on the hook for private provider’s abuse.  This bill will allow the state to go after any providers to regain losses as a result of Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse.

“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not ot overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”

Abraham Lincoln

For more information on these and other bills:  www.legis.iowa.gov

-Tom Sands

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Burlington Iowa News West Burlington

Tomb Guards Reprimanding Visitors – Arlington Cemetery

A compilation of sentinels acting to keep visitors quiet and respectful.  The sentinels guard Arlington Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.