Did the Vatican ever respond to the parish merger appeal? Your Call the Courier questions

Q: How is Jared Kushner allowed to negotiate with foreign companies when he is not a government employee?

A: Kushner – President Donald Trump’s son-in-law – was appointed by Trump to be a U.S. Special Envoy for Peace Missions in February. Kushner was a senior adviser to Trump in his first term, where he negotiated agreements in the Middle East. There are special envoys for multiple causes and countries and none of these people have to be elected.

Q: Steve Schmitt, city councilman for Waterloo, is claiming that he only voted in favor of the budget of one time in his years of serving on the council. In a previous Call the Courier several years ago, they had said that he had never approved or voted in favor of a budget. Can you clarify?

A: We never reported that Steve Schmitt voted against every budget. When he was on the City Council from 2007 to 2019, he voted to approve the budget once in 2014. He began his new term in January and voted against this year’s budget. 

Q: Why is it taking so long to get that guy that masterminded the 9/11 attacks to get a trial for him? 

A: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has been imprisoned since 2003 and at Guantanamo Bay since 2006. A judge recently set a trial date for June 5, 2028, for him and three others charged in the Sept. 11 attacks. However, lawyers think it may never happen because he confessed while being tortured, which included 183 sessions of waterboarding. 

Q: Do the people who work at the Waterloo golf courses play golf for free?

A: Yes. 

Q: Did the Vatican ever respond to those people and various communities and churches that petitioned not to make the changes in the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Dubuque?

A: Not yet. The parishes in the area archdiocese appealed the restructuring plan in July. The Vatican does not have a specific timeline on responding to appeals. A story about a similar appeal in the St. Louis Archdiocese published by Crux, a publication covering The Vatican, said that parish’s appeal was not decided on until a year later.

Q: What is the best way to get tickets for the Field of Dreams baseball game next year? 

A: Individual tickets for the game between the Kansas City Royals and Boston Red Sox are not on sale yet. However, VIP packages can be reserved by visiting onlocationexp.com/mlb/mlb-field-of-dreams-tickets. Once individual tickets are on sale, fans should buy them through MLB. 

Q: When a college football player gets a scholarship to play football and then they transfer to another college, does that scholarship also transfer or what happens? 

A: No, the player would lose their scholarship, but could receive one from the school he transfers to. 

Q: We are wondering when they’re going to tear down the house at 1104 Riehl Street.

A: The city of Waterloo does not own this property, Noel Anderson, the city’s community planning and development director said. The city has a committee that looks at abandoned or dilapidated houses and reviews addresses to see if they meet requirements to be demolished or rehabilitated. 

Q: I was wondering, where have all the robins gone? I haven’t noticed any around in my yard for at least two, three weeks. I’m sure they don’t fly south.

A: We couldn’t find an exact answer but it seems many people on social media bird watching groups are also seeing fewer robins. Maybe your yard has fewer worms than they would like and they have moved on to berries.

Q: There’s a political commercial on TV saying that some unnamed company that makes fertilizer gave Rob Sand $13 million in contributions. What was the name of that company and did they actually give him $13 million for his campaign? 

A: There are a lot of facets to address in Zach Lahn’s new campaign ad. Lahn states a company gave Sand $13 million. This is not entirely true. Five of his family members, who all are part of Lauridsen Group Inc., donated a total of $13 million under each of their own names – not the company. This number includes contributions given during Sand’s state auditor run beginning in 2018. Lauridsen Group itself does not make fertilizer, but owns several companies, such as Boyer Valley, that processes animal byproducts that are turned into organic “high-nitrogen fertilizer” which is not the same as nitrate fertilizer as the ad states. The Department of Natural Resources did find that one of the Lauridsen Group’s company facilities in Lytton violated state water quality laws in 2018 with discharged water including elevated E. coli and ammonia nitrogen that drained into a creek, leading to a consent decree. As for the claim the company was caught polluting drinking water, the DNR in 2018 said there was evidence suggesting municipal wells in Harlan were affected by releases at one of these companies' sites and groundwater monitoring was needed. In 2020, the DNR said monitoring was no longer needed. Sand’s campaign responded to Lahn’s campaign saying that the facility did not have an impact on drinking water. However, the DNR never stated that the facility did or did not affect groundwater in its letter.

Call (319) 291-1550 to leave a voicemail or email newsroom@wcfcourier.com with your question.