The Democratic National Committee’s early primary calendar does not include Iowa. Longtime columnist Art Cullen shares his misgivings about the decision to shake up Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status on this Newsbuzz edition of River to River. Host Ben Kieffer discusses Iowa’s next step in responding to the calendar, and talks with a Pleasant Hill locomotive engineer about a union contract deal that was decades in the making, but doesn’t address all of the workers' key issues.
Then, IPR Eastern Iowa reporter Zachary Oren Smith details an alternative fuel plant explosion Thursday in Marengo that left multiple people injured and forced residents to evacuate, University of Iowa Public Policy Director Pete Damiano gives tips on the health insurance open enrollment period, and IPR Health Reporter Natalie Krebs shares her reporting on the federal aid available to rural hospitals in the Midwest and why some hospitals don’t want to accept it.
Finally, we groove into the weekend with new music recommendations from Studio One’s Cece Mitchell.
Guests:
- Art Cullen, publisher and editor, Storm Lake Times Pilot
- Ross Grooters, Locomotive Engineer, Co-Chair, Railroad Workers United
- Zachary Oren Smith, IPR eastern Iowa reporter
- Pete Damiano, director, University of Iowa Public Policy Center
- Natalie Krebs, IPR health reporter
- Cece Mitchell, Studio One Host
