Gazette Daily News Briefing, May 4
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for Thursday, May 4.
We're jumping from a cold drop last week back up to almost 80 degrees on Thursday. According to the National Weather Service it will be sunny with a high near 79 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area. The wind will remain calm at 5 to 10 mph On Thursday night it will be partly cloudy, with a low of around 51 degrees.
Iowa lawmakers gave final passage to a bill that will open more jobs to teenagers in the state, sending the bill to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ desk to be signed into law.
Senate File 542 would allow minors to stock shelves with items up to 30 pounds and load equipment into motor vehicles at 15, while 16- and 17-year-olds could serve alcohol in restaurants with parents' permission. Fourteen- and 15-year-olds could work later hours, and people over 16 could work the same hours as adults.
The Senate voted 29-18 to pass the bill, with Republicans Charlie McClintock of Alburnett and Jeff Taylor of Sioux Center joining all Democrats in opposing.
Republican supporters have said the bill modernizes Iowa's labor laws and opens new opportunities to young people to earn money.
The bill was amended in the House this week, and matched in the Senate, to remove what minority Democrats saw as some of the most egregious provisions.
The amendment removed language that would have allowed state officials to give waivers to 14- and 15-year-olds to work in jobs currently banned for minors as part of a work-based learning program. It would also require employers to keep minors from being employed by registered sex offenders and require employers to report a workplace harassment incident to the employee's parents and the state civil rights commission.
After its initial denial, the Iowa Utilities Board has preapproved the Duane Arnold Solar projects in Linn County — marking a first for solar projects in Iowa.
Interstate Power and Light Co., an Alliant subsidiary, originally asked the IUB for preapproval of 400 megawatts of solar and 75 megawatts of battery storage, along with their associated lifetime costs and rates. The application included the Duane Arnold Solar projects, the two industrial-scale solar projects that NextEra plans to develop and build near Palo.
In November, the IUB initially denied the application, known as an application for advance ratemaking principles. The board said Interstate Power and Light didn’t adequately consider alternative energy generation options that could make projects cheaper for both the utility and its customers, as required by Iowa Code.
In the meantime, Interstate Power and Light provided the board with more evidence, leading to the change of heart in their decision last week.
According to reporting from the Sioux City Journal, Iowa landowners opposed to liquid carbon dioxide pipelines crossing their property won a legal victory Wednesday, when a judge ruled a state law giving surveyors the right to enter private property is unconstitutional.
Ruling in a Clay County case, District Judge John Sandy said the law violated Iowa's constitution because it does not provide for just compensation for certain damages to landowners for their loss of the right to deny entry onto their land.
In a statement, Navigator said it will appeal the ruling because it deviates from precedents established in surrounding states where judges have recently upheld similar survey statutes.
