People in the tri-state area on Wednesday went about digging out from a severe winter storm.
A blizzard struck Siouxland Tuesday and into Wednesday, clogging roads, closing schools, and forcing some people to work from home. Authorities recommended no travel on roads in the western half of Iowa, and highways in eastern Nebraska were also completely covered.
The National Weather Service in Sioux Falls on Tuesday evening shared a video of whiteout conditions in Sioux County, as winds in the area raged at 55 mph and above.
Some parts of Siouxland received three inches of snow or more. After a year with much less snow than normal, the blizzard conditions were the first of the year in some area counties.
Woodbury County Sheriff Chad Sheehan said there were no traffic deaths from some of the dozens of spinouts or collisions that took place.
Several area towns declared snow emergencies, which will change street parking rules, as city plows seek to clear streets. Rural roads are more covered than state highways.
*Additionally, Iowa would set up a fund for projects for “building resiliency from future disasters,” under a disaster aid bill proposed by the governor’s office.
The proposal from the governor’s office that was aired Tuesday would streamline the process for the state to transfer funds in times of emergency.
Currently, the House and Senate have to approve money taken out of the state economic emergency fund.
However, under the bill, if the governor issues an emergency disaster proclamation, up to 10 percent of money in the account would be allocated to the Department of Management for disaster aid. The executive council would also have to approve the funds.
Molly Severn of the Governor’s Office says the changes are needed so the state can be more nimble in times of disaster. She said that was a lesson learned in 2024, when tornadoes struck and Northwest Iowa experienced severe flooding that impacted residents and businesses.
*In other news, Republicans on the House State Government Committee advanced a new proposal Wednesday that would limit protests and events on the grounds outside the Iowa Capitol.
Anyone wanting to hold an event on Capitol grounds would need a recommendation from a statewide elected official, or from a state House and Senate member. The bill would also prohibit a group from holding more than six events per year outside the Statehouse.
Democratic Representative Sami Scheetz, of Cedar Rapids, said that will limit the rights of Iowans to protest.
“Given the context of what we’ve seen here at the capitol just in the past week, to be voting on an amendment that’s going to make it harder for people to express their first amendment God-given rights, I think that’s something everybody should be voting against,” Scheetz said.
Republican Representative Derek Wulf, of Hudson, said the bill doesn’t limit first amendment rights. Wulf said it gives all groups an equal opportunity to seek permission for outdoor events.
There’s already a process to approve events inside the Capitol, but it doesn’t involve lawmakers.
*Additionally, economists are closely watching how the three biggest importers of agricultural products from the U.S. are responding to an unfolding trade war.
Chad Hart is an Extension economist at Iowa State University.
“In this case, soybeans is a lot more vulnerable to this than corn is because we export roughly half of all the soybeans we grow. We export roughly 12 percent of all the corn that we grow,” Hart said.
China is the largest importer of U.S. soybeans.
After the U.S. doubled its tariffs on Chinese products on Tuesday, China quickly responded with higher import taxes on U.S. soybeans.
The American Soybean Association is urging the Trump administration to reconsider its tariffs and continue negotiations with trade partners. The association’s president said in a press release that American soybean farmers have still not recovered from the 2018 trade war.
*The South Dakota Senate has advanced a bill to completely ban the use of eminent domain for carbon pipeline projects.
The legislation was spearheaded by Republican Karla Lems, who's been a vocal opponent to carbon pipeline projects in the state.
Critics of the proposal call it a ‘kill shot’ to the pipeline project. They say it would lead to conditions that would negatively affect South Dakota’s corn and ethanol markets.
The measure has already passed in the House, so headed to the desk of Governor Larry Rhoden on Wednesday. He has not signaled his position on arguably the biggest topic heading into this year’s session.
