Council to discuss letter regarding Amtrak funding
OTTUMWA — The Ottumwa City Council during Tuesday's meeting at Bridge View Center is anticipated to authorize a letter from mayor Rick Johnson to several of Iowa's congressional delegation regarding funding from Amtrak service next year.
The letter, addressed to Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, as well as Reps. Marianette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn, discusses concerns about the potential lack of funding as part of the next federal budget.
Amtrak, which is subsidized by the government, operates the California Zephyr, one of two long-distance trains that runs through Iowa. Ottumwa is one of the stops on the route, which stretches from Chicago to Emeryville, California, near San Francisco.
However, without financial support, the route could be discontinued under U.S. Code if Congress fails to provide funding for train service. So far, the Trump Administration has not indicated if there will be funding available.
"Amtrak has not submitted a grant request for FY 2026 yet and has signaled it may not submit one at all," Johnson said in his letter. "It is critical that Amtrak be funded in 2026 so they can continue to operate their passenger trains across southern Iowa.
"Amtrak is a key component of economic vitality in southern Iowa and the number of travelers using Amtrak continues to increase every year as airplane travel becomes more restricted and more expensive."
Ottumwa was the third-most popular stop in Iowa according to Amtrak's most recent figures from fiscal year 2024. The Ottumwa stop featured 8,719 riders, and the only two stops with higher ridership were Osceola (13,194) and Mount Pleasant (9,128), which bracket the Ottumwa stop to the west and east, respectively, on the California Zephyr.
Also, Amtrak has been reconstructing the depot's platform and other making other improvements to the station since 2022, which initially cost about $14 million.
"Without Amtrak service to and from Ottumwa, the results would be catastrophic to both our local economy as well as reduced tourism travel across southern Iowa," Johnson said in the letter.
Also, the council is expected to establish fees for various permits, which will be effective July 1.
The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m.
Wapello County Board of Supervisors
The supervisors will meet in regular session Tuesday at the courthouse to discuss minor items, but will later enter a work session to discuss the makeup of the EMS advisory council, which was tabled two weeks ago amid frustration over favoritism from City of Ottumwa officials, who were concerned the council wasn't constructed to meet the community's needs.
The regular meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. in the third-floor courtroom/board room, but the work session will be at 10 a.m. in the supervisors' office on North Court Street.
Two weeks ago, the supervisors adopted a resolution to declare EMS as an essential county service, which was also intended to kickstart the creation of the advisory council and the work to begin assessing the county's needs.
However, the creation of the list was tabled for more discussion over concerns regarding the representation, specifically the lack of law enforcement officials among the 14 council members.
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Chicago Tribune
32 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Aldermen call for hearing into Chicago police response to ICE demonstration
Members of the City Council's Latino Caucus are calling for an investigation into how Chicago police responded to the Wednesday demonstration outside a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement office in the South Loop, where federal agents detained immigrants and clashed with aldermen. Twelve of the 14 aldermen in the caucus signed a letter condemning the high-profile showdown at 2245 S. Michigan Ave. The council's Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights — which Latino Caucus Chair Ald. Andre Vasquez leads — will hold a hearing 'to examine the extent of ICE's misconduct and determine whether the Chicago Police Department played any role in (Wednesday's) actions,' according to the letter. In a Wednesday evening statement, the Police Department denied that officers aided the federal agents. 'We condemn in the strongest terms ICE's unlawful detainment practices,' the statement from Latino Caucus members read. 'We stand united in calling for a full investigation into the conduct of ICE agents involved in this operation and for the immediate release of all individuals detained under these unlawful circumstances.' Vasquez told the Tribune the committee later this month hopes to call Chicago police Supt. Larry Snelling and Mayor Brandon Johnson's deputy mayors Garien Gatewood and Beatriz Ponce de Leon, who oversee community safety and immigration rights, respectively. He cited 'conflicting' information on the events at the ICE office and said 'we just want to make sure that protocols are being followed properly related to CPD.' Johnson on Thursday sidestepped questions on whether he had full confidence in the police response or whether it was appropriate for City Council to probe CPD's actions. 'Look, I think it's important that we assess the entire situation,' the mayor said while speaking to reporters at a National Immigrant Heritage Month event. 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His choice to tap Snelling for the top cop role in 2023 was widely lauded, especially from pro-law enforcement types who worried about his earlier 'defund the police' rhetoric before he ran for mayor. Johnson has since had Snelling's back publicly as Chicago sees a drop in crime, though the superintendent has broken with the mayor on the issue of ShotSpotter and a pending teen curfew ordinance in City Council. Ald. Jessie Fuentes, a progressive who participated in the Wednesday demonstrations, told the Tribune, 'We are concerned with police officers' prolonged appearance inside of the office where individuals were detained by ICE.' 'When CPD arrived and realized what the situation was, the responding Commander should have gotten his officers out and briefed the community,' Fuentes wrote in a text. 'Instead the Responding Commander was rude to electeds, did not coordinate his officers properly and now the perception is CPD was working with ICE.' A statement from The Resurrection Project, an immigrant advocacy group, alleged that at least 20 immigrants were detained by ICE during their check-ins — and echoed Fuentes' misgivings on CPD. 'We are deeply concerned to see that Chicago police provided material assistance to ICE, making this mass deportation possible by blocking traffic and providing initial crowd control,' the Wednesday statement said. 'The only people they protected were federal agents tearing our community members away from the people who love and depend on them. This kind of collaboration is an apparent violation of the Illinois Trust Act that degrades public trust in law enforcement.' By Wednesday afternoon, elected officials, including Alds. Anthony Quezada, Byron Sigcho-Lopez, Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez and Fuentes had joined the growing number of protesters at the ICE office. 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Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Inside the 'notorious' Canadian shopping mall on a U.S. trade irritant hit list
Robert Whalen spends countless hours combing through stalls and stores for counterfeit goods and knockoff brands at the Pacific Mall in Markham, Ont. The large mall in suburban Toronto has long held a reputation as a place to find fake-branded footwear, apparel, electronics, phone cases and other goods. So much so that it has faced widely publicized police raids, parliamentary hearings and an untold number of sting operations conducted by private investigators on behalf of the world's biggest brands during the past couple of decades. 'I have to say that mall made me a lot of money as an investigator because I was there all the time,' the former police detective turned private investigator said. 'I'm not there very often anymore because it's relatively cleaned up.' Yet even as Whalen and others working against counterfeiting say the problem has subsided, Pacific Mall retains its reputation as an oasis for counterfeit goods, at least according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), which is responsible for developing and promoting that country's foreign trade policies. The USTR once again placed Pacific Mall on its list of 'Notorious' marketplaces this year, alongside such websites as ThePirateBay and physical marketplaces like the Huaqiangbei Electronics Malls, a shopping tower in Shenzhen, China. Landing on the USTR list doesn't carry a uniform or inherent penalty, but Pacific Mall's latest showing comes in the midst of a tense U.S.-Canada relationship, when any irritant can take on enhanced significance as the two countries reset the framework that has governed trade for the past 30 years. 'A lot of the rights holders, the brands, see it as sort of emblematic of the issues that they face in Canada on an annual basis,' Travis Johnson, legislative affairs counsel at Washington, D.C.-based International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC), said. The IACC recommended the USTR place the Pacific Mall on this year's Notorious list, as the non-profit has done for much of the past decade, because it thinks counterfeit apparel, footwear, consumer electronics and other luxury goods remain an intractable problem there. 'Cease-and-desist letters served on vendors at Pacific Mall are generally ignored; assistance from law enforcement to pursue known bad actors was described as 'inconsistent, at best,' and the mall's management is said to be 'largely disinterested in taking the steps necessary to monitor compliance among their tenants,' Johnson said in an October 2024 letter to the USTR. In other words, the Pacific Mall has become a stand-in for a broader problem in Canada, which is a lack of intellectual property (IP) enforcement by the country, despite some saying the mall is no longer the hub for counterfeit goods it once was. Even Johnson said IP enforcement at the mall has improved at times, though those efforts have fluctuated over time. The Pacific Mall may be the only Canadian marketplace specifically named by the USTR, but the agency also placed Canada on its watchlist of 18 countries with poor IP enforcement in a special report released earlier this year. Others on the list include Algeria, Guatemala and Pakistan. They are all one step below the 'Priority Watch List,' which includes eight countries such as China, Mexico and Russia. Canadian border agents hold ex-officio authority to seize counterfeit goods, but do not consistently use it, according to the USTR. It also said stream ripping, a way to illegally watch movies online, is rampant and illicit piracy devices are widely available. 'A top trade priority for the administration is to use all possible sources of leverage to encourage other countries to open their markets to U.S. exports of goods and services and to provide adequate and effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights,' the USTR said. An Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report in May said counterfeiting is a growing problem worldwide, accounting for US$467 billion in global trade, according to the latest figures, which date from 2021. China 'continues to be the primary source of counterfeit goods,' the OECD said, although other regions are beginning to significantly contribute to the problem. Recently, counterfeiting has expanded to new categories of goods that pose unique risks to public health, including 'automotive parts, medicines, cosmetics, toys and food,' the OECD said. It also said counterfeit goods are 'becoming a major source of income for organized criminal groups.' It is not the first time Canada has landed on the USTR's watchlist of countries because of its level of IP enforcement, or lack thereof, but the upshot of the report appears to be resonating more loudly in other countries in an era when U.S. President Donald Trump has made bold proclamations about reinventing global trade. For example, in Vietnam, which was placed on the USTR's watchlist, Reuters reported that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has 'urged the country's anti-counterfeit task force to devise new ways to fight fake goods, trade frauds and smuggling.' By contrast, Prime Minister Mark Carney has focused much of his attention on breaking down barriers such as interprovincial trade friction and reducing Canada's dependence on the U.S. A spokesman for the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) said the agency refers intercepted counterfeit shipments to either the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or Health Canada for enforcement actions under their respective mandates. But if no action is taken, the CBSA detains the goods so that a representative of the brand owner can pursue private litigation. If the owner does not wish to do so, the goods are released to the importer. Through September 2024, the CBSA had detained 202 shipments valued by the importer at around $38,000. The number of detained shipments in 2021 surpassed 1,000 and hit a peak value of more than $400,000 in 2022. Those don't seem like big numbers, but Harley Lewin, a U.S. lawyer who has long represented brands battling counterfeiters, said Canada has always posed a dilemma for some brands. 'On the one side, the brands don't like to spend a lot of money up there because the market just isn't that big,' he said. 'But on the other side, there is a certain, let me put it this way, lack of enthusiasm on the part of Canadian law enforcement to institute investigations on their own.' Some lawyers said the bulk of IP enforcement falls on them and that Canada's laws are not strong enough. Lorne Lipkus, co-founder of Lipkus Law LLP, said a brand that believes it has identified counterfeit merchandise can obtain a court order asking the vendor to preserve the evidence — the fakes or counterfeits — for a court action, which could be a motion for judgment or a trial. 'We have to advise them that it is voluntary in nature, that I cannot force them to give up the product or the documents,' he said, 'but if they do not, the court could hold them in contempt of court, and that contempt of court could result in fines or imprisonment.' The problem, Lipkus said, is that many vendors who sell counterfeit merchandise employ underage people who are paid in cash and do not have identification on them, which makes it difficult to enforce any court actions. Part of what has made Pacific Mall particularly difficult to deal with, he said, is its legal structure as a condominium corporation, which means each stall has a separate owner, perhaps more than one, often overseas. In other words, there isn't a central owner leasing out space as there would be at some other malls. But Lipkus, who estimated he has served 1,000 orders on vendors at the Pacific Mall starting in the late 1990s when it first opened, said there has been an arc to the mall's fraud problem. Although there is no central management, there is a company responsible for managing the mall that at times has taken an interest in rooting out counterfeiting. He said the current management started doing that about a year or two ago. Now, fake goods are no longer displayed as brazenly as they once were there, such as when more than 30 police officers raided the mall in 2018 and seized thousands of goods. 'Anybody who knew anything about the Pacific Mall at that time knew that it was the hotbed for counterfeit products,' Lipkus said. 'Tour buses would pull up on a regular daily basis with tourists who would go in there just to buy counterfeits.' But things have changed over time. Lipkus's firm, and others, have sent private investigators into the mall and served orders on vendors they believed were selling counterfeits, often bringing civil lawsuits to enforce their actions. Mall management has sometimes helped reinforce the message by telling vendors they need to take such investigations and suits seriously. The cumulative effect of brand enforcement and the commitment of the mall's management has resulted in a cleaner mall from a counterfeiting perspective, Lipkus said. 'My gut reaction, and I know this might surprise you, is that I really feel that there are some people at Pacific Mall (now) who do not like having a reputation of selling counterfeits; (they) do not want that,' he said. 'They want to be known for selling good, quality merchandise.' Lipkus does not even think it's the worst marketplace in Canada as far as counterfeiting goes, with that distinction going to an unnamed flea market in Quebec. Yet, the mall's reputation lives on. In May, he travelled to San Diego for an annual conference hosted by the IACC and fielded a question specifically about the Pacific Mall while speaking on a panel. 'My answer was that when I first started doing work on Pacific Mall, I had no trouble finding 200 places with counterfeits,' he said. 'Now, there's not 100, there's not even 50, so whatever it is, it's significantly reduced.' The problem may be receding to the point that it's almost forgotten about. Philip Duchen, president of the condo board that oversees the mall, said he was unaware of the USTR report placing the Pacific Mall on the notorious list. 'To my mind, it's dropped off the radar screen,' he said. 'It's not something that … I was consciously aware of. I didn't, wouldn't even know how we would have known that the Trade (Representative) would have published an article.' Duchen said his board has been focused on helping its vendors move through the difficult economic periods that both accompanied and followed the pandemic, when shopping in brick-and-mortar retail stores fell to new lows. 'I can't tell you how many tears have been shed in meetings that I've had with people just trying to survive,' he said. Whalen, the private investigator who still visits Pacific Mall around once a month, if not more frequently, to hunt for counterfeits, said the food court — where you can find hand-pulled noodles, soup dumplings and other interesting cuisine — always makes the trips worthwhile. U.S. ambassador says Trump will benefit Canada Tariffs take Detroit and Windsor to verge of break-up But he said there are no longer stores openly selling fakes. 'Counterfeits are not hard to find, but it's harder now to find them in big groups,' Whalen said. 'I actually kind of like the Pacific Mall story because it's one that has worked.' • Email: gfriedman@ Sign in to access your portfolio
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Small businesses say they are already feeling the pain of tariffs: survey
Small business owners say they face mounting pressure from tariffs — which have exacerbated existing struggles with gaining access to new funding because of policy uncertainty, according to a Goldman Sachs survey released Thursday. More than a third of small businesses (36%) said they feel negatively impacted by tariffs, with another 38% anticipating adverse effects in the future, the study found. Of those impacted or expecting impacts, a striking 77% of small business owners attribute their concerns primarily to the uncertainty stoked by President Trump's tariff policies, the survey found. 4 Small business owners surveyed by Goldman Sachs say they face mounting pressures from tariffs. insta_photos – The survey was done by Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices — the Wall Street firm's national advocacy initiative designed to help entrepreneurs engage directly with policymakers. The results underscore challenges posed by Trump's constantly changing tariffs. The administration has imposed a universal 10% levy on most nations, while hitting major trading partner China with a 30% tariff, while it negotiates better deals with all the countries. There are also additional 25% tariffs on imported automobiles and car parts and a 50% levy on steel. Jessica Johnson-Cope, who runs the Bronx-based private security firm Johnson Security Bureau, noted the pressing reality facing small firms. The third-generation business provides services on construction sites, a sector sensitive to fluctuating trade policies. 'I anticipate that the prices of uniforms will increase because our vendors import them,' Johnson-Cope told The Post via email. 4 More than a third of small businesses (36%) are already feel negatively impacted by tariffs with another 38% anticipating adverse effects in the future. AFP via Getty Images 'I also expect a big hit when we purchase a new armored truck. Had we purchased it last year, a new truck would have cost approximately $150,000. Now, the price will probably be closer to $200,000.' She said tariffs are causing direct disruptions through increased prices as well as indirect challenges through delayed projects. 'Some of our construction customers are postponing pending projects until there is a greater level of certainty around the tariffs,' she said. The uncertainty over trade policy is compounded by broader anxieties centered around access to capital. The survey reported that 81% of small businesses seeking loans or credit lines in the past year encountered difficulty securing affordable financing. High interest rates have led 49% of small businesses to halt expansions and 41% to restrict new business endeavors, the survey found. 4 President Trump has argued that tariffs are necessary to spur domestic manufacturing. AFP via Getty Images Johnson-Cope detailed a personal experience illustrating these struggles. 'Several years ago, a slow-paying client nearly bankrupted us. Without access to affordable capital, we had to take out a high-interest loan just to stay afloat,' she told The Post. 'That expensive debt limited our ability to grow — we couldn't expand or pursue new opportunities, and our future growth was effectively stalled.' Tax policy complexities further compound these challenges, with 82% of small business owners believing the federal tax code favors large corporations. Johnson-Cope and her peers call for straightforward, predictable policies, highlighting that 'when the tax code is overly complex or constantly changing, it makes long-term planning difficult.' Despite these considerable obstacles, optimism persists. The Goldman survey showed that 75% of small businesses remain upbeat about their trajectory, with 72% forecasting growth in 2025. Many are incorporating artificial intelligence to boost efficiency, although 42% lack the resources and expertise for successful deployment, according to the survey. 4 Despite uncertainty surrounding tariffs, three in four small business owners say they anticipate growth this year. olezzo – Johnson-Cope told The Post that addressing tariffs, capital access and tax simplicity is crucial. She emphasized the critical need for small businesses to have a consistent voice in policymaking. 'Small businesses are the engine of the American economy. We are job creators, innovators, and the heartbeat of our communities — we deserve for our voices to be heard, not just as a one-off for a single piece of legislation, but day in and day out as policymakers craft ideas that can limit or expand our chance to grow,' Johnson-Cope said. The Post has sought comment from the White House.
