A ship named after Sioux City will be commissioned as a Navy warship at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland Saturday
Iowa’s junior Republican U.S. Senator Joni Ernst will deliver the principal address at the commissioning ceremony, marking the beginning of the ship’s service. Ernst says it’s an honor for the ship to share a name with the state’s 4th largest city and engage with Iowa’s heritage.
"So we certainly want to share that with the sailors of that ship and make sure they understand how important they are to us," she says.
Ernst is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and says the country needs to build the Navy’s fleet to be better prepared for combat.
Ersnt spoke with Ben Kieffer about the USS Sioux City during this hour of River to River.
During this hour, we also hear from Iowa Public Radio's Kate Payne about undecided legislative races and the future of Iowa Wesleyan University in Mt. Pleasant.
Then, Sybil Soukup of the Humane Society of North Iowa gives an update about the 170 Samoyed puppies that were recused earlier this week, and Stephen Gruber-Miller of the Des Moines Register gives us an update on movement on two collective bargaining cases being considered by the Iowa Supreme Court.