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Iowa health officials confirmed Wednesday a second case of a rare condition that afflicts the nervous system, particularly the spinal cord. The condition is called acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, which attacks the nervous system and can lead to arm or leg weakness and loss of muscle reflexes. It has received increased attention in recent weeks. Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Health said they are following the condition very closely and heeding warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

ALL ABSENTEE BALLOTS REQUESTED BY THESE PARTICULAR DATES: 10/17/18: D-33,331 R-24,856 I-11,882 10/10/16: D-33,717 R-19,175 I-14,331 10/08/14: D-34,123 R-21,910 I-15,005 09/16/12: D-33,084 R-6,399 I-11,345 2016: Loebsack(D)-53.7% Peters(R)-46.2% 2014: Loebsack(D)-52.5% Miller(R)-47.5% 2012: Loebsack(D)-55.6% Archer(R)-42.5%

House Speaker Paul Ryan’s super PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund, announced Tuesday that it reserved $1 million in television ads in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for two-term incumbent Rep. Rod Blum and a mid-six-figure amount for Maria Salazar, who is running against former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala in South Florida’s 27th Congressional District. Just a few months ago, these seats had been written off as flipping from red to blue; however, the combination of strengthening poll results in both districts and a narrowing of the overall enthusiasm gap has put them back into play.

The largest super PAC supporting House Republicans will spend a million dollars on a late advertisement meant to bolster Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa), one of the most vulnerable incumbents facing reelection this year. The Congressional Leadership Fund said Tuesday it would pay for advertising that paints state Rep. Abby Finkenauer (D) as a pawn of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.

10/16/18: D - 35,191 R - 23,511 10/12/16: D - 36,216 R - 23,420 10/22/14: D - 35,897 R - 25,195 09/26/12: D - 35,059 R - 5,703 Blum (R) won in 2016 53.9% to 46.1% Blum (R) won in 2014 51.2% to 48.8% Braley (D) won in 2012 56.9% to 41.7%

Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris of California has scheduled her first campaign trip to Iowa before Election Day, stoking speculation about a potential 2020 presidential campaign. The first-term senator plans stops on Oct. 22-23 in what will be her first visit to nation’s leadoff presidential caucus state since she was elected in 2016. She was last in Iowa when, as San Francisco’s district attorney, she campaigned for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential bid. Harris is among a large group of Democrats, including several senators, who are contemplating a challenge to President Donald Trump. She has won increased attention in recent weeks for...

12, 2018 Hillary Clinton has given up her security clearance in the wake of the scandal over her handling of secret information on her email server, the Senate Judiciary committee revealed Friday. Chairman Chuck Grassley also revealed top Clinton aide Cheryl Mills and four others no longer have clearance. Mrs. Clinton’s clearance expired at the end of August. The others lost their access privileges in September

Declaration could put Iowa Republican at odds with Mitch McConnell Revealing a potentially contentious Republican chasm, Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley told Fox News on Tuesday night that if he still leads the committee in 2020 and a Supreme Court seat becomes vacant, the panel would not consider a nominee. That could put the Iowa Republican at odds with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. McConnell signaled last week that he could reverse himself and consider what would be a third high court nominee for President Donald Trump should a vacancy arise in 2020. The Kentucky Republican famously blocked President...

President Trump chalked up his announcement on boosting ethanol for farmers in Iowa to his record of "promises made, promises kept," while speaking in Iowa Tuesday night. "I made that promise to you during the campaign," Trump said. "I made that promise to you during the primaries. Promises made, promises kept." "We're going with E15 year-round," Trump said early in his speech, admitting that the full announcement would come later in his remarks. The plan would relax Environmental Protection Agency rules that restrict the sale of 15-percent ethanol fuel blends to eight months of the year. The EPA waiver for...

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she was “surprised” that President Trump singled her out during a rally in Iowa but called it part of his “technique of division.” “It’s part of a technique of division rather than uniting people in this great country,” Feinstein said on Wednesday asked about the “lock her up” chants. She added that she was “surprised” that Trump “singled me out for a personal letter I received. This wasn’t anything that was covert or classified.” Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, has come under fire by Republicans for her handling of the letter from...

Two events from the last two days stand out. The first came Monday night with President Trump’s forceful yet compassionate speech at the swearing in of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. The president opened with an extraordinary apology on behalf of the country to Kav­anaugh and his family “for the terrible pain and suffering” they endured during the historically brutal confirmation process. He said the unfounded allegations violated fairness and “the presumption of innocence.” Trump also tenderly addressed Kavanaugh’s young daughters, telling them “your father is a great man, a man of decency, character, kindness and courage.” The event...

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) promised to raise $3 million to support Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to counteract anger over her vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh. "I'm going to help raise $3 million to match that," Grassley told Marth MacCallum during an interview on Fox News Tuesday, when asked what he thought of a fundraising effort against Collins in Maine that has raked in about $3 million. Collins has come under fire from many on the left for supporting Kavanaugh in a narrow confirmation vote, who was accused of sexual assault by Christine Blasey Ford and other women....

FULL TITLE: Trump crowd screams 'Lock her up!' – but it's DIANNE FEINSTEIN and not Hillary Clinton they hate after he blasts California senator who gave Brett Kavanaugh's accuser a national stage A sea of President Donald Trump's supporters chanted 'Lock her up!' Tuesday night during a speech in western Iowa, a full half-hour before the president mentioned Hillary Clinton's name. The crowd of about 7,500 was angry at Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who two weeks ago facilitated the public hearing testimony of Christine Blasey Ford against then-future Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Trump rhetorically elbowed Feinstein at...

Supporters of President Donald Trump recycled a familiar chant on Tuesday during a rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa – one usually reserved for failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Trump criticized Senate Democrats for their outrageous tactics to oppose Justice Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court, specifically mentioning Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Trump accused Feinstein of leaking the identity of Christine Ford to the media — the woman who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault. The audience repeatedly chanted “Lock her up!” after booing Feinstein. Trump chuckled and shook his head as the chants grew louder. “And I think they’re talking about Feinstein,...

COUNCIL BLUFFS — There’s little doubt about the loyalty of President Donald Trump’s biggest fans. The president, whose polling numbers among Republicans show tremendous buoyancy under any circumstances, is scheduled to speak starting at about 6:30 p.m. With thousands in a line that stretched around a strip mall, through the parking lot and around the field house, the doors to the Mid-America Center opened just before 3:30 p.m. Hours before, at 10:30 a.m., a crowd of more than 150 people had lined up outside the Mid-America Center. About 10 of them had camped out overnight. One family of campers took...

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA. - President Donald Trump will deliver a speech at a rally event in Iowa on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018. 6:30CST. Let's all get together and enjoy another fun rally!!!!! List your favorite Trumpisms. Here are a few of mine: 1. The fight with Biden. Blows him over like a feather, shows his muscles 2. When he’s talking about getting tired of winning 3. The story about the Jerusalem embassy 4. Always when he point to the press in the back... 5. Anytime he says something that he follows with, “give me a break.” 6. Blasting the democrats...

...Chuck Grassley has been criticized incessantly and repeatedly throughout the confirmation process. Take a look a selection from a single day’s comment threads on one conservative site: Get Grassly outta there then. They need a man to deal with the anitics that'll be'a'comin' for that show. Grassley needs placed out to a grassy pasture. Is Grassly going to allow the Soros loud mouth demons in the room to make a stink, like he has in former hearings? Grassley has weak knees. There is no way Grassley pulls this off. Imagine the therapy he will need! Grassley is taking his cowering...

**SNIP** In passionate remarks that often had the room of Iowa Democrats on their feet, Booker answered the request, speaking of unity and encouraging voters to fight back. “It is not a time to give up, it’s a time to get up, to rise up, to speak up,” he said. “It’s time for you not to wait for hope, but to be the hope.” Booker, who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, showed the intensity at the Iowa fundraising gala Saturday that he showed during the hearings, when he had a self-described “Spartacus moment,” announcing he would release confidential documents...

Hidden by the rabid anti-Trump media, who were preoccupied with their role in reporting non-stop the coverage of the protesters who were paid to disrupt the hearings for President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was a letter that Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley sent to the attorneys for accuser Christine Blasey-Ford. Chairman Grassley sent the letter on Thursday, the same day as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell moved for cloture to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination to the full Senate where a vote would them be taken (Friday) to open a 30-hour period of comment and consideration before the final confirmation...

snip Rosmann, an Iowa farmer, is a psychologist and one of the nation’s leading farmer behavioral health experts. He often answers phone calls from those in crisis. And for 40 years, he has worked to understand why farmers take their lives at such alarming rates – currently, higher rates than any other occupation in the United States. snip Last year, a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that people working in agriculture – including farmers, farm laborers, ranchers, fishers, and lumber harvesters – take their lives at a rate higher than any other occupation. The...