Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen is meeting the people who are working to battle wildfires across the state. Pillen and other state officials met with volunteer firefighters in Brady yesterday. The Brady Fire Department is the headquarters for the crews fighting the Cottonwood Fire, which has burned 131-thousand acres in Dawson and Lincoln counties.
Governor Jim Pillen signing an executive order that waives trucking conditions. Pillen signed the order Monday that gets rid of weight limits and load restrictions on truckers moving supplies to farmers and ranchers affected by the wildfires. Pillen spoke about the state's wildfire response Tuesday and said the state is working to support those affected by the fires. He also said his office has "already talked to the White House governmental affairs team and told them what happened and where we would be."
A bill restricting the governor's powers during a public health emergency is stalling in the Iowa Senate. Along with prohibiting the governor from requiring vaccinations during a health emergency, House File 2694 would also prevent the governor from closing churches, regulating activity in a private residence, closing private businesses, or changing elections procedures. The legislation passed the Iowa House with a 67 to 23 vote, but a Senate subcommittee chair has called for an amendment to remove the bill's prohibition against the governor requiring vaccinations during a health emergency.
A fallen soldier from Nebraska is posthumously promoted. The U.S. Army posthumously promoted Sergeant First Class Noah Tietjens to Master Sergeant as of March 1st.Tietjens, a Bellevue native, was killed in a drone strike in Kuwait on March 1st.Funeral services for Tietjens will take place March 28th.
The bodies of two Iowa soldiers killed in an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait on March 1st return home today. A private dignified transfer is scheduled for this afternoon for Sergeant Declan Coady and Major Jeffery O'Brien at the Iowa Air National Guard base in Des Moines. Funeral services will be held this weekend -- Major O'Brien's at Valley Church in West Des Moines, and Sergeant Coady's at The Bridge Church in Johnston.