Two <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/teenagers">teenagers</a> from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/iowa">Iowa</a> stand accused of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/murder">killing</a> their Spanish teacher last year after she gave one of the teens a bad grade.
Prosecutors allege that Willard Miller and Jeremy Goodale, who were both 16 at the time of the murder, followed Fairfield High School Spanish teacher Nohema Graber to a park where she was known to take daily walks after school and killed her, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/11/02/iowa-students-willard-miller-jeremy-goodale-killed-teacher-nohema-graber-over-bad-grade/">reported</a>.
Earlier in the day on November 2, 2021, Miller met with Graber to discuss the low grade she had given him, court documents reviewed by the Post show.
“The poor grade is believed to be the motive behind the murder of Graber which directly connects Miller,” said the court documents, which were filed by Jefferson County Attorney Chauncey Moulding and Assistant Iowa Attorney General Scott Brown.
The next day, Graber’s body was found hidden under a tarp, wheelbarrow, and railroad ties in the park where she had been walking.
Witnesses reportedly told police they saw two males driving Graber’s van away from the park less than an hour after she had arrived for her daily walk. The vehicle was later found abandoned on a rural road. A witness said they picked Miller and Goodale up from that same road, according to court documents.
Miller allegedly told police he was angry about the low grade Graber gave him, which was dragging down his grade point average. The teenager denied killing Graber but “later stated he had knowledge of everything but did not participate,” claiming a “roving group of masked kids” killed his teacher and forced him to hide the body, court documents said.
Meanwhile, Goodale was allegedly bragging about the murder over Snapchat. Police were given photos of a Snapchat conversation where Goodale allegedly indicated he and Miller were involved in Graber’s murder.
Christine Branstad, attorney for Miller, reportedly claimed in the documents that the search warrants were issued illegally, claiming &#8220;law enforcement failed to provide information to the issuing magistrate to show the informant is reliable or that the information from the informant should be considered reliable.”
The teens, who are now both 17, will be tried as adults, CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nohema-graber-murder-willard-miller-jeremy-goodale-killed-spanish-teacher-over-bad-grade-iowa-prosecutor-says/">reported</a>. Miller’s trial is scheduled to begin on March 20 in Council Bluffs, Iowa, while Goodale’s trial will start on December 5 in Davenport. If convicted, the teens face life in prison.
Graber’s family released a statement after her death describing their loss.
&#8220;To know Nohema was to love her — she was the kind of person every community longs to have in its midst and we were blessed to have her in our lives,&#8221; the family said, according to CBS. &#8220;She lived for her children, her family and her faith. Her next priorities were her job as an educator and the children she taught, her local Parish, and the Spanish-speaking community in Fairfield.&#8221;

USA, New York State, New York City, Crime scene barrier tape

Teenagers Allegedly Killed Spanish Teacher Over Bad Grade, Prosecutors Say

Crime

Iowa

Murder

Teacher

Teenagers

U.S.

Months after an <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/iowa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Iowa</a> high school hosted a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/drag-queen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drag event</a> featuring multiple performers who encouraged students to explore their <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gender-identity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gender identities</a>, one mother — wearing the same outfit as one of the performers — blasted <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">school board</a> members over their alleged failure to address <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/parental-rights-in-education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">parental</a> concerns.
As revealed by a previous <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/drag-queens-perform-at-iowa-high-school-give-students-pointers-on-gender-identity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from The Daily Wire and <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1529171752105828352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1529171752105828352%7Ctwgr%5E1245fdd5d569145283af0929444651141dc38cfa%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailywire.com%2Fnews%2Fdrag-queens-perform-at-iowa-high-school-give-students-pointers-on-gender-identity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">videos</a> captured by Libs of TikTok, the Gay Straight Alliance club at Ankeny High School invited drag queen performers in May for their end-of-year meeting without obtaining permission from administrators. One of the drag queens donned a one-shouldered black leotard and long black boots before performing a provocative dance for students.
Kimberly Reicks, the founder of parental rights group Iowa Mama Bears, noted during public comments at a Monday school board <a href="https://youtu.be/mhHdckokcx0?t=423" target="_blank" rel="noopener">meeting</a> that officials have neglected to provide the results of their investigation. Halfway through her remarks, the mother of seven removed her sweatpants and jacket to reveal the same outfit that the drag queen had been wearing.
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_446678" style="width: 507px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-446678" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-446678 size-large" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Kimberly-Reicks-497x576.jpg" alt="" width="497" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/Kimberly-Reicks-497x576.jpg 497w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/Kimberly-Reicks-259x300.jpg 259w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/Kimberly-Reicks.jpg 757w" sizes="(max-width: 497px) 100vw, 497px" />Kimberly Reicks lectures school board on drag queen show (Image provided to The Daily Wire by Kimberly Reicks)</div>
“Does this outfit make you turn your head? Does this outfit seem appropriate for anybody here to see?” she asked the school board. “This is what the man dressed like in front of our kids. So if this makes your head spin — if this pisses you off in any way, shape, or form — it should. Because I’m embarrassed to stand here in the outfit that I am in today, but I have a point to prove — that this outfit should not be ever accepted in our schools anywhere.”
<iframe loading="lazy" class="rumble" src="https://rumble.com/embed/v1k6dne/?pub=4" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Reicks said during an interview with The Daily Wire that her outfit, which intentionally violated school dress code policies, was meant to provoke school board members toward action.
“It has been over 131 days since I made our school board first aware of this event,” she explained. “We are now 32 days into the new school year and we still have no answers on what the outcome of the investigation was. Nor do we have any new policies to ensure things like this do not happen again.”
Reicks, who said that Ankeny Community School District is “notorious” for dismissing parental concerns, added that she and other parents desire assurances that their children are provided a “safe and secure environment” at school.
“I will do whatever measures I have to, to make sure events like this are addressed and resolved,” she continued. “Even if that means wearing the exact same outfit as the 21-year-old drag queen performer to prove my point.”
Renewed controversy over the May event comes amid <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/huge-money-maker-video-reveals-vanderbilts-shocking-gender-care-threats-against-dissenting-doctors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scrutiny</a> of hospitals that provide “gender transition” services to children via hormone treatments and surgery. Studies <a href="http://www.sexologytoday.org/2016/01/do-trans-kids-stay-trans-when-they-grow_99.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">indicate</a> that as many as 90% of young people who claim a transgender identity, but are not encouraged to socially or medically transition, will no longer call themselves transgender in adulthood.
Footage of the Ankeny High School drag queen event seen earlier this year by The Daily Wire showed that the drag queens had discussed gender identity at length with students. “When I felt like I couldn’t express myself in school, or I felt like I had to look like this at school … I could be whoever I wanted to be,” one performer recounted. “And I started to think, ‘What is gender?’ And I realized that no matter what pronouns you use, you are who you are … I know on the inside that I am who I am.”
The Daily Wire requested comment from Ankeny Community School District; this article will be updated with any response.

Drag Queen

Mom Blasts School Board Over Drag Show For High Schoolers While Wearing The Same Outfit The Drag Queen Wore

School Dismisses Parental Concerns About Drag Show. Mom Comes To Board Meeting Dressed In Same Outfit The Drag Queen Wore.

Drag Queens

Gender Identity

LGBTQ

Parental Rights in Education

An <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/arizona" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Arizona</a> woman who sabotaged the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/dakota-access-pipeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dakota Access pipeline</a> and set fire to equipment to protest the controversial project was sentenced by a federal judge Thursday to six years in prison.
Ruby Katherine Montoya, 32, who used a cutting torch to damage the oil pipeline in Iowa in 2016 and destroyed equipment over the next year, was also ordered to pay $3.2 million in restitution, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fires-crime-iowa-dakota-access-pipeline-11f0b30fc86fa2326d8e09fe526d9157" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Associated Press reported</a>.
“The sentence imposed today demonstrates that any crime of domestic terrorism will be aggressively investigated and prosecuted by the federal government,” U.S. Attorney Richard Westphal said in a statement.
Montoya, who conspired to damage an energy facility, worked with Jessica Reznicek to sabotage the pipeline and equipment used to work on it. In 2016, they torched a bulldozer and other heavy equipment in central Iowa, according to authorities. Reznicek was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2021 after pleading guilty to similar charges. That sentence was upheld on appeal in June.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Woman gets six years in prison for damaging Dakota Access pipeline <a href="https://t.co/BXdZpatrdJ">https://t.co/BXdZpatrdJ</a>
&mdash; The Globe and Mail (@globeandmail) <a href="https://twitter.com/globeandmail/status/1573130923507613696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 23, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Native Americans and environmentalists fought the $3.8 billion, 1,170-mile pipeline, which was completed in 2017. The opposition was similar to that faced by the Keystone XL pipeline, which President Joe Biden ordered stopped shortly after taking office.
Opponents, most of whom are against fossil fuels of any kind, claimed the pipelines pose a danger of oil spills. Some landowners also opposed the use of eminent domain to build the Dakota Access pipeline, and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe claimed it passed over sacred lands. Even though the pipeline has been operational for five years, opponents are still demanding that the Biden administration shut it down.
Pipeline proponents say moving oil via pipelines is safer than by rail, creates jobs and boosts U.S. domestic energy production at a time when fuel prices have spiked.
The Dakota Access pipeline starts in the Bakken Formation shale oil fields in North Dakota and carries up to 750,000 barrels of oil per day south through South Dakota and Iowa and to a terminal in Illinois.

Environmental Activists Call On Biden Administration To Cancel Oil Pipeline Projects

Woman Who Sabotaged Dakota Access Pipeline Gets 6 Years In Prison, $3M Fine

Woman Who Sabotaged Dakota Access Pipeline Gets 6 Years In Prison

Dakota Access Pipeline

Environmentalism

Fracking

A sex trafficking victim who killed her alleged rapist was <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2022/09/13/pieper-lewis-speaks-sentencing-killing-alleged-rapist-des-moines-sex-trafficking/10358999002/">sentenced</a> Tuesday in an Iowa court to five years supervised probation, 1,200 hours of community service, and was ordered to pay $150,000 restitution to the family of the alleged rapist.
Pieper Lewis, who is now 17 years old, killed 37-year-old Zachary Brooks of Des Moines, Iowa, in June 2020, when she was 15 years old, after Brooks allegedly raped her numerous times. The teen stabbed the man more than 30 times, according to authorities.
“Well, Ms. Lewis, this was the second chance you asked for,&#8221; Polk County District Judge David M. Porter said Tuesday. &#8220;You don’t get a third. Do you understand that?”
Judge Porter also said the court was &#8220;presented with no other option&#8221; then to force the teen to pay restitution to Brooks&#8217; family thanks to Iowa law. The state also does not have a safe harbor law, the Associated Press <a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/national-international/iowa-teen-who-killed-her-accused-rapist-ordered-to-pay-his-family-150k/2834106/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a>.
The teen pleaded to involuntary manslaughter and willful injury, both of which were punishable by up to 10 years behind bars, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/judge-orders-iowa-teen-trafficking-victim-pay-150k-restitution-family-rapist-she-killed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a>. Judge Porter deferred the prison sentences; if the teen violates her probation, she could serve out the 20 years.
Lewis was adopted out of foster care at age three by Billy and Leslie Lewis. She reportedly struggled and ran away from home on three occasions. Before she ended up with Brooks, she was taken in by a musician, 28, who is not named and has not been charged with a crime. The man, whom Lewis considered her boyfriend, allegedly sex-trafficking the minor to Brooks.
Police and prosecutors have not disputed that Lewis was sexually assaulted and sex trafficked, though prosecutors said Lewis killed Brooks while he was sleeping, and therefore not an immediate threat, the AP reported.
&#8220;I took a person&#8217;s life,&#8221; Lewis <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/judge-orders-iowa-teen-trafficking-victim-pay-150k-restitution-family-rapist-she-killed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in court. &#8220;My intentions that day were not to just go out and take somebody’s life. In my mind, I felt that I wasn&#8217;t safe, and I felt that I was in danger, which resulted in the acts. But it doesn&#8217;t take away from the fact that a crime was committed.&#8221;
The teen hopes to become a juvenile justice advocate.
&#8220;My story can change things,&#8221; Lewis <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2022/09/13/pieper-lewis-speaks-sentencing-killing-alleged-rapist-des-moines-sex-trafficking/10358999002/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;My story has changed me. The events that took place on that horrific day cannot be changed, as much as I wish I could. That day a combination of complicated actions took place resulting in the death of a person, as well as a stolen innocence of a child.&#8221;

Police car

Sex-Trafficked Teen Who Killed Her Alleged Rapist Sentenced And Fined

Sex-Trafficked Teen Pieper Lewis, Who Killed Her Alleged Rapist, Ordered To Pay $150K In Restitution To The Deceased's Family

A previously deported <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/illegal-immigration">illegal alien</a> has been sentenced to four months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release after re-entering the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/united-states">United States</a> and stealing an American&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/social-security">Social Security number</a> for employment purposes.
Maria Julia Diaz-Ventura, 34, pleaded guilty in May to illegally re-entering the U.S. after being deported in 2017. The Guatemalan national was also found guilty of using another person&#8217;s Social Security card for employment forms in Waterloo, New Hampton, Lime Springs, and Cedar Falls, Iowa, in 2021. She also claimed to be a U.S. citizen, NBC 7 <a href="https://www.kwwl.com/news/waterloo/previously-deported-woman-living-in-cedar-falls-sentenced-after-using-fraudulent-social-security-card/article_d6e27f86-136b-11ed-94fb-576f906ce063.html">reported</a>.
She was sentenced to prison on Wednesday.
Diaz-Ventura&#8217;s arrest comes as the nation deals with one of the worst illegal immigration crises in decades. Data indicates that in the fiscal year 2021, authorities encountered 1.7 million migrants. In the first eight months of the fiscal year 2022, over 1.5 million migrants were apprehended, <a href="https://www.risch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2022/7/report-president-biden-is-responsible-for-the-crisis-at-the-southern-border">according</a> to Senator James Risch (R-ID) and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The Biden administration has <a href="https://cis.org/Arthur/Disclosures-Biden-Has-Released-Nearly-105-million-SW-Border-Migrants-US">released</a> at least 1,049,532 into the U.S. interior. Those figures do not include the number of illegal aliens who evaded authorities entirely.
To help solve the problem, border states like Arizona and Texas have begun <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/texas-arizona-have-bussed-more-than-2500-migrants-to-d-c">busing</a> illegal immigrants to blue cities and states.
In Washington, D.C., Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/d-c-mayor-calls-for-national-guard-to-deal-with-influx-of-illegal-migrants">said</a> in late July that she has asked for the National Guard to be deployed to help handle the influx of illegal immigrants coming into the nation’s capital.
Bowser described the situation as a “growing humanitarian crisis” of “people who are seeking asylum coming across the country to get to their final destinations,” saying that Washington, D.C., would “continue to pursue federal involvement.”
“We’ve had a number of discussions,” she added. “We’ve facilitated FEMA’s involvement with a million-dollar grant that has now been increased to work with a lead nonprofit agency. We’ve facilitated using those grant funds to set up respite center in a neighboring jurisdiction and I’ve also asked the Secretary of the Army to deploy the D.C. National Guard to help lead that effort.”
In New York City, Democrat Mayor Eric Adams recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-york-city-mayor-warns-everyones-block-is-going-to-be-impacted-by-influx-of-illegal-aliens">warned</a> that the influx of illegal immigrants will impact every block and the daily way of life throughout the Big Apple.
In 2021, then-candidate Adams told voters that he “would make sure” that “undocumented New Yorkers are being given the support they need, so that their families no longer live in the shadows of the American dream, but are part of that dream.” Now that more of those individuals have arrived in New York City, the Democratic mayor is imploring help from all New Yorkers to keep that promise alive while stating they will be a “burden” on the system.
“If there was ever an all-hands-on-deck moment, this is it. This is it,” Adams noted. “Our system … was inundated with … you know, those who were seeking shelter because of the callousness of those other states that pushed them out. We’re here. We’re receiving them and everyone is going to have to be on board and we can’t have of the historical, ‘I believe people should be housed but just don’t house them on my block.&#8217;”
Similar to the Diaz-Ventura case, an illegal alien named Pedro Hernandez-Romero, a Mexican national, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/previously-deported-illegal-alien-pleads-guilty-to-covid-relief-fraud-other-charges">pleaded</a> guilty in July in federal court to using the identity and Social Security number of an American citizen after illegally re-entering the United States after deportation. According to Eyewitness News, Hernandez-Romero <a href="https://www.pahomepage.com/news/crime-courts/man-pleads-guilty-to-identity-theft-covid-relief-fraud/">received</a> around $26,000 in Pennsylvania Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits as part of its state COVID relief program.

border patrol

Previously Deported Illegal Alien Sentenced Four Months In Prison After Re-Entering Country, Identity Fraud

Illegal Immigration

A parents advocacy group is suing an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/iowa">Iowa</a> school district for allegedly hiding children&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/transgender">gender transitions</a> from parents.
<div>
Parents Defending Education is suing the Linn-Mar Community School District near Cedar Rapids over so-called &#8220;gender support plans,&#8221; which the group says were concealed from parents.
&#8220;Nearly a century of Supreme Court precedent makes two things clear: parents have a constitutional liberty interest in the care, custody, and control of their children, and students do not abandon their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate,&#8221; states the <a href="https://defendinged.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Parents-Defending-Education-V-Linn-Mar-Community-School-District.pdf">lawsuit</a>, which was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.
The Linn-Mar district is &#8220;flouting both of these constitutional guarantees,&#8221; the lawsuit claims, by allowing children to make &#8220;fundamentally important decisions concerning their gender identity without any parental involvement and to then hide these decisions from their parents.&#8221;
Students as young as 12 can work with their school to put together a &#8220;gender support plan&#8221; under a district <a href="http://policy.linnmar.k12.ia.us/policy/50413-r-administrative-regulations-regarding-transgender-and-students-nonconforming-gender">policy</a> dubbed “Transgender and Students Nonconforming to Gender Role Stereotypes.”
&#8220;Any student in seventh grade or older will have priority of their support plan over their parent/guardian,&#8221; the policy states.
Parents cannot be alerted about their child&#8217;s gender identity change unless the student explicitly gives his or her consent, the district says.
&#8220;The district shall not disclose information that may reveal a student&#8217;s transgender status to others including but not limited to other students, parents, and school staff unless legally required to do so (such as national standardized testing, drivers permits, transcripts, etc.), or unless the student has authorized such disclosure,&#8221; says the policy.
The policy also specifies that gender support plans will be kept in the student&#8217;s &#8220;temporary&#8221; records rather than their permanent records.
Parents Defending Education argues that the district made this move on purpose so that &#8220;records related to the gender support plan will never be accessible to parents&#8221; since parents have the right to access their children&#8217;s permanent records <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html">under</a> the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Additionally, school staff and other students must use students&#8217; preferred pronouns.
&#8220;Every student has the right to be addressed by a name and pronoun that corresponds to their gender identity,&#8221; the school&#8217;s gender policy states.
&#8220;An intentional and/or persistent refusal by staff or students to respect a student’s gender identity is a violation of school board policies,&#8221; the gender policy says, citing the district&#8217;s Anti-Bullying and Anti-Harassment <a href="http://policy.linnmar.k12.ia.us/policy/104-anti-bullyingharassment-policy">policy</a>, Equal Education Opportunity <a href="http://policy.linnmar.k12.ia.us/policy/1051-equal-educational-opportunity">policy</a>, and the district’s Title IX <a href="http://policy.linnmar.k12.ia.us/policy/1043-prohibition-discrimination-andor-harassment-based-sex-title-ix">policy</a>.
Students can be suspended or even expelled, and staff can be fired for violating those policies.
“Linn-Mar’s gender policy demonstrates a deep contempt for the constitutional rights of its students and families,” said Parents Defending Education President Nicole Neily in a <a href="https://defendinged.org/lawsuits/parents-defending-education-files-federal-lawsuit-challenging-linn-mar-community-school-districts-parental-exclusion-and-compelled-speech-policies/">statement</a>.
“It has been clearly established by the federal court system over the past 100 years that parents have a right to direct the upbringing of their children, and we are proud to fight on behalf of our members to put a stop to these unconstitutional policies,” Neily said.
The school board <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h-BQ5BEaO8">voted</a> for the policy in April despite passionate opposition from parents who showed up to the school board meeting to protest it.
&#8220;Look at your track record, guys. You&#8217;ve been whining about enrollment rates, and you wonder why?&#8221; a mom said, adding that she is calling on the board members to resign.
&#8220;You&#8217;ll unethically hide information from parents because someone can say &#8216;I&#8217;m a girl&#8217; while having a penis or a boy while having a vagina, and that has to be followed,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You&#8217;re blatantly refusing to keep them safe, to educate them, and to keep them children.&#8221;
&#8220;Please vote no,&#8221; pleaded a dad.
</div>

Rally Held In Support Of Transgender Community

Parent Group Sues Iowa School District For Allegedly Hiding Children’s Gender Transitions

Parent Group Sues Iowa School For Allegedly Hiding Children’s Gender Transitions

Education

Gender Pronouns

Transgender

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/missouri">Missouri</a> resident who swam in an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/iowa">Iowa</a> lake has been infected by a rare and extremely lethal brain-eating amoeba, health officials said.
The unidentified patient, who is hospitalized in Missouri, swam at Lake of Three Fires State Park before being stricken with Naegleria fowleri, an infection so rare there were just 154 known cases in the U.S. from 1962 to 2019, according to the CDC. Of those infected, only four people are known to have survived.
&#8220;It’s strongly believed by public health experts that the lake is a likely source, but we are not limiting the investigation to that source and it’s not confirmed,&#8221; Lisa Cox, spokeswoman for the <a class="gnt_ar_b_a" href="https://health.mo.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}">Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services</a> told the <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2022/07/08/brain-eating-amoeba-naegleria-fowleri-infects-missouri-man-iowa-lake-of-three-fires-beach-closed/10011648002/">Des Moines Register</a>. &#8220;Additional public water sources in Missouri are being tested as well.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Beach closed after brain-eating amoeba confirmed <a href="https://t.co/VC2v1ZCXKb">https://t.co/VC2v1ZCXKb</a>
&mdash; Fox News (@FoxNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/1545872938477535232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 9, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Authorities believe the swimmer, who is in intensive care, was likely exposed to the amoeba in the Iowa lake over the last two weeks of June, though they didn&#8217;t have specific dates.
Naegleria fowleri is typically found in warm freshwater, including lakes, rivers, and ponds. It can &#8220;cause a rare, life-threatening infection of the brain called primary amebic meningoencephalitis,&#8221; Missouri health officials said in a news release.
Humans can be infected when water containing the amoeba enters through the nose, usually during swimming or diving in lakes and rivers. Once in the body, the amoeba makes its way into the brain, where begins attacking tissue. Symptoms include fever, stiff neck, vomiting, seizures, severe headache, altered mental status, and hallucinations, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Human Senior Services.
The agency recommends using nose clips when swimming in fresh water, not submerging your head in &#8220;hot springs and other untreated thermal waters&#8221; and not participating in &#8220;water-related activities in warm freshwater during periods of high-water temperature.&#8221;
In May, a man in Pakistan died and another became seriously ill after they were <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/brain-eating-amoeba-pakistan-naegleria-fowleri-cases-infection-1703795">infected with the brain-eating amoeba</a>.
The infection cannot spread from one person to another and cannot infect people who simply drink contaminated water, health officials said.

Naegleria brain-eating amoeba

Rare Brain-Eating Amoeba Strikes Swimmer At Iowa’s Lake Of Three Fires

Rare Brain-Eating Amoeba Strikes Swimmer At Iowa's Lake Of Three Fires

Health

Missouri

Swimming

Overwhelming majorities in four states want more transparency regarding children’s school curriculums, according to new polling provided exclusively to The Daily Wire.
Most registered voters in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and Louisiana agreed that parents should be able to compare curriculums between schools prior to enrolling their children so they can find the best learning environment for their child, polling from the Goldwater Institute showed.
About 87% of Louisiana voters agreed that parents should be able to compare curriculums beforehand, along with 72% in Missouri, 71% in Iowa, and 64% in Kansas.
Notably, that includes hefty majorities in every state of adults in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, who are more likely than older adults to have school-aged children. Of adults from 35 to 44, 85% in Louisiana, 75% in Missouri, 78% in Iowa, and 74% in Kansas said they supported parental curriculum access before enrollment.
The polling surveyed between 500 and 768 voters in each state and was conducted in late March and early April by Sherpa Public Affairs. Each state’s survey had between a 3.5% and 4.4% margin of error.
Curriculum transparency has become a hot-button issue for many parents across the country in the last year.
In March, the Iowa legislature <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.carrollspaper.com/news/local-legislators-speak-on-education-bills-requiring-more-transparency-from-public-teachers/article_533ce478-bf24-11ec-9d67-6774907de7ed.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">considered</a> several versions of a bill that would have required public schools to give parents access to their classroom materials and library catalogs.
Around the same time, Missouri <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/politics/2022/06/09/missouri-ag-demands-springfield-public-schools-provide-student-surveys-document-portal-race-gender/7556679001/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">considered</a> a similar “parents’ bill of rights,” one version of which would have allowed parents to sue public school districts for violating parents’ rights to access school curriculums.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.wftv.com/news/local/happening-this-morning-gov-desantis-speak-daytona-beach/IBOZKTZXXFD37KGVALI5RQW4EM/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> a curriculum transparency bill in late March, while bills in other states have stalled.
Some parents have found themselves in nightmare situations over this issue. When Rhode Island mom Nicole Solas asked her school district what her kindergartener would be learning, she got sued by a major teachers union.
“When I called the school and asked, they said that they don’t call children &#8216;boys’ and ‘girls,’” she <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/our-childrens-education-is-not-a-game-we-need-academic-transparency/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “They said that they refrained from using gendered terminology in the classroom, and that they embed the values of gender identity into the classroom at every grade at an age-appropriate level. When I asked about Critical Race Theory, they said that they teach 5 year olds on the first Thanksgiving, this ridiculous question where they say, ‘What could have been done differently on the first Thanksgiving?’”
The school district informed Solas that the public records she requested on the curriculum would cost $74,000, and she was sued by the nation’s largest public-sector teachers union, the National Education Association.
Even public school teachers have spoken out about the transparency issues they have observed.
Kali Fontanilla was a high school English language teacher in the Salinas, California, school district when she <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/teacher-blows-the-whistle-on-critical-race-theory-in-california-schools/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blew the whistle</a> on Critical Race Theory (CRT) content in her classroom.
During the pandemic lockdown, Fontanilla was sharing the online remote learning platform with her fellow teachers and noticed that her students were failing their required ethnic studies course, including about 50% of the boys. When she looked at the curriculum, she was alarmed to find what she described as “Critical Race Theory 101 for my students,” including the definition of critical race theory, implicit bias, and inherent racism.
“I think what has happened is our public school systems and the curriculum makers have gone unchecked for so long,” Fontanilla told The Daily Wire. “And we just let it happen like that frog in a boiling pot and it’s slowly heating up. We didn’t even realize, and now the water is boiling and we’re like, our kids are being damaged currently. And so we need to do a lot of work to undo all of this garbage that’s in our schools right now, and on top of it, our kids are failing.”
Eventually, Fontanilla resigned from her teaching position and started her own fully accredited academy, the <a href="https://www.thinkexodus.org/about">Exodus Institute</a>, which includes a K-12 online school.

MPs Pressure PM To Announce Plan To Reopen Schools

Poll: Overwhelming Majorities In Four States Want More Curriculum Transparency

Kansas

Louisiana

Poll

Public Schools

Teachers Unions

The Iowa Supreme Court overturned a four-year-old decision on Friday, ruling that the state&#8217;s constitution does not protect the right to an abortion.
The decision comes as the <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/homeland-security-issues-terror-alert-warning-over-potential-violence-due-to-pending-supreme-court-abortion-decision-border-surge/">United States Supreme Court</a> prepares to <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/dobbs-case-adds-new-hope-to-2022-march-for-life/">release its decision</a> in Dobbs v. Jackson Women&#8217;s Health Organization — which could result in a reversal of landmark abortion cases Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey — and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/17/politics/iowa-supreme-court-abortion-state-constitution-ruling/index.html?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twCNN&amp;utm_content=2022-06-17T19%3A41%3A16&amp;utm_term=link">opens the door</a> for the Iowa legislature to introduce more restrictive regulations or a complete abortion ban if that occurs.
The Iowa court, which has shifted to the Right in recent years, <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2022/06/17/iowa-supreme-court-abortion-law-ruling-planned-parenthood-kim-reynolds/7646049001/">overturned</a> a 2018 decision stating that abortion was a protected fundamental right under the state constitution&#8217;s due process clause. The ruling also struck down a law that would have imposed a 72-hour waiting period for all abortions.
Friday&#8217;s ruling came pursuant to a 2020 law that would enact a 24-hour waiting period — a statute that was blocked by a lower court until Friday.
&#8220;Although we overrule (the 2018 decision), and thus reject the proposition that there is a fundamental right to an abortion in Iowa’s Constitution subjecting abortion regulation to strict scrutiny, we do not at this time decide what constitutional standard should replace it,&#8221; Justice Edward Mansfield wrote in the majority opinion, noting that the 2018 ruling &#8220;insufficiently recognizes that future human lives are at stake.&#8221;
Governor Kim Reynolds (R-IA) issued a statement on the ruling on Friday, saying, &#8220;Today’s ruling is a significant victory in our fight to protect the unborn. The Iowa Supreme Court reversed its earlier 2018 decision, which made Iowa the most abortion-friendly state in the country. Every life is sacred and should be protected, and as long as I’m governor that is exactly what I will do.&#8221;
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Every life is sacred and should be protected, and as long as I’m governor that is exactly what I will do.
&mdash; Gov. Kim Reynolds (@IAGovernor) <a href="https://twitter.com/IAGovernor/status/1537805062742892545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Chief Justice Susan Christensen <a href="https://who13.com/news/ap-top-headlines/iowa-court-abortion-not-protected-by-state-constitution/">disagreed</a> with overturning the 2018 decision, arguing that because the state legislature had already begun the constitutional amendment process — in order to clearly state that abortion is not a fundamental right — the court should have simply allowed the legislative process to work in its own time.
&#8220;If the majority truly wants to leave this issue to the will of the people, it should let the people have their say through the ongoing constitutional amendment process,&#8221; she said.
As Iowa law stands, abortions are banned after 20 weeks. A fetal heartbeat law was struck down in 2019, and the state does not have a &#8220;trigger law&#8221; in place that would go into effect should Roe be struck down in the near future.

Supreme Court Releases Opinions

Iowa Supreme Court Says State Constitution Does Not Protect Abortion Rights

Iowa Supreme Court: State Constitution Does Not Protect Right To Abortion

Abortion

Lawsuit

Supreme Court

A student club at Ankeny High School in Ankeny, Iowa, hosted a drag event on Monday that featured multiple performers — at least one of whom delivered a speech intended to help students navigate their gender identity.
The high school’s Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) club hosted the performers after school for their end-of-year meeting without authorization from administrators, Ankeny Community School District’s communications team confirmed to The Daily Wire.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/Ankeny_Hawks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Ankeny_Hawks</a> brought in drag queens to perform for students during school. The drag queens also spoke to students about gender identity and expression. <a href="https://t.co/6PFv4QcIgx">pic.twitter.com/6PFv4QcIgx</a>
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1529171752105828352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The Daily Wire obtained images and videos of the event from a public Facebook post via screen capture before they were removed. In one video, a drag queen explained to students that drag helped the performer with the “very beginning stages” of a gender identity “journey.”
“When I felt like I couldn’t express myself in school, or I felt like I had to look like this at school… I could be whoever I wanted to be,” the performer said. “And I started to think, ‘What is gender?’ And I realized that no matter what pronouns you use, you are who you are… I know on the inside that I am who I am.”
<div id="attachment_386673" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-386673" loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-386673" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Ankeny-Drag-Queens-300x133.png" alt="" width="300" height="133" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/05/Ankeny-Drag-Queens-300x133.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/05/Ankeny-Drag-Queens-1024x454.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/05/Ankeny-Drag-Queens-768x341.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/05/Ankeny-Drag-Queens.png 1296w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Two drag queens and one drag king perform for Ankeny High School students and discuss gender identity (photos and videos obtained by The Daily Wire via Facebook).</div>
Ankeny Community School District said in its statement that “performers from the Central Iowa Youth Pride Pageant were invited to share a drag performance.”
Although the GSA is an approved school club, the performance “did not follow the correct protocols prior to the meeting,” the statement added. “This performance was after school and localized to the students participating in the club. It was not approved by the building administration, and it is currently under investigation.”
The Daily Wire asked the district on Tuesday whether the performers were required to undergo any form of background check before they entered school premises, whether taxpayer dollars were given to the performers, and whether parents gave their children permission to attend the event. Ankeny Community School District has not yet provided a response to these questions.
Libs of TikTok alleged that <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1529210113847721984?s=20&amp;t=CKa8c4yuC5wVBcyyprabDw">students also performed</a> during the event. The Daily Wire asked the district about the claim on Wednesday morning; no response has yet been received.
The performer who spoke to the students about gender identity added that one&#8217;s gender identity may vary over time.
&#8220;I feel like sometimes I do identify as a male,” the performer said. “I feel like sometimes I’m more in the middle of the spectrum — not one or the other. That’s where I am right now.”
The Daily Wire recently reported on a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-cant-believe-this-just-happened-parents-furious-after-drag-queen-dancers-hosted-at-pennsylvania-high-school">similar drag event</a> held last month at Hempfield High School in Landisville, Pennsylvania. The school&#8217;s Gay Sexuality Alliance club hosted multiple drag queens at the high school without parents’ knowledge, parents said. The club&#8217;s co-adviser shared the performers’ Instagram handles with her students — thereby giving students a way to reach out privately to the drag queens. All four accounts included sexually suggestive content.
A deluge of parents and taxpayers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/they-are-actively-grooming-children-parents-confront-school-board-over-drag-show-as-more-staffers-placed-on-leave">confronted Hempfield school board members</a> at a board meeting on May 10.
“Some of you have tried to make us feel insignificant,” parent Meridith Hilt told the board. “Our concerns have been 100% validated … they are actively grooming children.”
“Our schools are overreaching and indoctrinating our children, which has created confusion and stress in the most vulnerable,” parent Stacy Hernandez added. “It’s a form of child abuse, and it’s about indecency in our schools and lack of leadership.”

Drag Queens Perform At Iowa High School, Give Students Pointers On Gender Identity

Drag Queens Perform At Iowa High School And Give Students Tips On Gender Expression Without Administrators' Permission

Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst introduced a new bill on Tuesday that would allow border states to obtain unused materials to construct a border wall.
The BUILD IT Act would allow the materials to be used by states like Arizona and Texas to construct their own barriers along the nation&#8217;s southern border.
“We are witnessing a crisis of historic proportions at our Southern border under the Biden administration. President Biden’s refusal to take action at the border has been a disaster, but his decision to cancel border barrier projects that were already underway is literally costing taxpayers billions,” Ernst said in a <a href="https://www.ernst.senate.gov/news/press-releases/washingtons-still-billing-taxpayers-for-a-border-wall-so-ernst-says-lets-build-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.
“Here’s a simple solution, Mr. President: let’s put these materials to use, let’s end the taxpayer-funded waste, let’s stop the unprecedented flow of illegal migrants, and let’s build it!” she added.
Ernst also addressed the new legislation with reporters on Tuesday.
&#8220;Taxpayers have already paid $350 million for the concrete, steel, and fencing that is now sitting idle. Why not let states who want to build the wall access these unused materials?&#8221; Ernst <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/may/24/sen-joni-ernst-floats-plan-let-states-build-border/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> reporters.
“That’s right folks, taxpayers are being billed to protect piles of rusting materials,” she added.
Fellow Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley also added his support to Ernst&#8217;s effort in a <a href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-joins-ernst-on-new-bill-allowing-states-to-continue-border-wall-construction" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> on Tuesday.
“President Biden has made a laundry list of irresponsible policy decisions that have led to complete chaos at our southern border, including his decision to halt construction of the border wall. This has not only cost taxpayers safety and security, but it’s also costing them nearly $3 million per day,” Grassley said.
“We are a welcoming nation, but a country without a border isn’t a country. Our bill will allow states to take an important step toward fixing this unprecedented border crisis by continuing construction of a border wall,&#8221; he added.
The BUILD IT Act has the support of the Federation for American Immigration Reform and is also co-sponsored by Sens. Ted Cruz (TX), Rick Scott (FL) Roger Marshall (KS), and Steve Daines (MT).
President Joe Biden signed an executive order on his first day in office to stop construction on the border wall. Since that time, the federal government has reportedly been paying contractors more than <a href="https://www.lankford.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/GOBM%20Interim%20Report%20on%20Border%20Wall.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$3 million per day</a> to protect the unused materials, according to data from the Minority Staff of the Government Operations and Border Management.
According to Grassley&#8217;s statement, roughly one-quarter of a billion dollars in taxpayer-funded materials are sitting on the southern border.
In February, Texas obtained 1,700 panels originally designed for the Trump border wall to use in Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s effort to “secure the border.”
“After Biden halted construction of Trump’s border wall hundreds of unused wall panels were left at construction sites,” Abbott tweeted.
“Texas has obtained 1,700 of those unused panels to help build the wall,” he added. “They had been declared surplus–now they secure the border.”
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After Biden halted construction of Trump’s border wall hundreds of unused wall panels were left at construction sites.
Texas has obtained 1,700 of those unused panels to help build the wall.
They had been declared surplus&#8211;now they secure the border.<a href="https://t.co/qWkexB3pP4">https://t.co/qWkexB3pP4</a>
&mdash; Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) <a href="https://twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX/status/1493817619341791241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Abbott previously <a href="https://twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX/status/1471899869719810055" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> in December that Texas is building its &#8220;own border wall&#8221;.
“Biden allows open border policies and refuses to enforce laws passed by Congress to secure the border and enforce immigration laws,” Abbott tweeted. “Texas is stepping up to do the federal government’s job.”

Joni Ernst

‘Let’s Build It!’: GOP Sen. Joni Ernst Introduces Bill To Transfer Border Wall Materials To States

GOP Sen. Joni Ernst Introduces Bill To Transfer Border Wall Materials To States

Border Crisis

Border Wall

Southern Border

An object fell and hit Democrat President Joe Biden during a speech that he delivered on Tuesday about trying to lower costs for American families amid the skyrocketing inflation rates that Americans have experienced during Biden&#8217;s presidency.
While it was not completely clear what the object was that hit Biden, speculation was rampant online that a bird had defecated on the president.
Biden &#8220;was delivering a speech Tuesday in Menlo, Iowa &#8212; within what he described as a barn of some sort &#8212; where POTUS was talking about infrastructure, inflation and figuring out a way to lower costs for Americans &#8230; all in the framework of the farming industry,&#8221; TMZ <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2022/04/12/president-biden-gets-pooped-on-by-bird-during-inflation-speech/?adid=social-twa">reported</a>. &#8220;While he was talking about seeing the work they do there and giving these folks praise, something fell down from above &#8212; and it wasn&#8217;t a little miracle &#8230; it was fowl poo.&#8221;
Donald Trump Jr. responded to the incident by tweeting out a video of it, writing: &#8220;Even the birds know. Apparently a bird just s*** on Biden in Iowa. That bird speaks for anyone who’s filled their tank or gone shopping in the last 18 months.&#8221;
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Even the birds know. Apparently a bird just shit on Biden in Iowa. That bird speaks for anyone who’s filled their tank or gone shopping in the last 18 months. <a href="https://t.co/fYeoWM9Nep">pic.twitter.com/fYeoWM9Nep</a>
&mdash; Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1513991320318222347?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 12, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;We are all the bird that pooped on him,&#8221; former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Monica Crowley tweeted.
&#8220;Biden is still speaking, oblivious to the bird s*** on his lapel,&#8221; Free Beacon Executive Editor Brent Scher tweeted. &#8220;Truly amazing stuff.&#8221;
RNC Rapid Response Director Tommy Pigott tweeted: &#8220;When even birds know your lies about inflation are full of it.&#8221;
Bloomberg White House correspondent Justin Sink claimed that it wasn&#8217;t bird poop that landed on Biden&#8217;s shoulder, but &#8220;bits of corn flying around from the corn silo.&#8221;
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(it was bits of corn flying around from the corn silo; the event was indoors) <a href="https://t.co/CZwSJZvf1o">https://t.co/CZwSJZvf1o</a>
&mdash; Justin Sink (@justinsink) <a href="https://twitter.com/justinsink/status/1514003029057585154?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 12, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;The event was indoors,&#8221; he added.
Editor&#8217;s note: This article has been expanded to include additional information.

US-POLITICS-BIDEN

WATCH: Something Falls On Joe Biden, And It Appears To Be Bird Poop

Joe Biden

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