State and Regional News

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ proposed bill to increase penalties for those who attack the police has yet to be introduced at the Statehouse, but it’s already facing strong opposition from Des Moines leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement. In her Condition of the State address, Reynolds said cities such as Minneapolis, Portland and New York have “embraced the attacks on law enforcement, and now their violent crime rates are rising for the first time in a generation. ...

Several crime victims and their advocates joined more than a dozen other Iowans who spoke Thursday against a legislative proposal to reinstate the death penalty in Iowa. Clinton native Christy Wolfe’s two younger sisters, Susan and Sarah, were killed by a neighbor in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 2014. She read a statement from their mother, who wrote that while Pennsylvania had the death penalty, the family was “relieved” when the jury did not impose it on the man convicted of the crime...

A medical assistance relief fund has been established for longtime Spencer High School Band Director and local musician Jack Ryan. Ryan has been diagnosed with cancer, melanoma in the chest area, a very aggressive and advanced stage cancer, and is in the Des Moines area receiving treatment and living in a care center facility near his niece, Jaci...

In her first Condition of the Judiciary message, Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen introduced herself as “Suzy,” disclosed that she used to be called the “Cookie Judge,” and described her two main post-COVID priorities for Iowa’s court system, both of which involve keeping children with their families...

An Iowa man was jailed early Saturday on charges accusing him of taking part in the riot at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump. Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek said officers assisted the FBI in arresting 41-year-old Doug Jensen on Friday night at his home on the south side of the city...

John and Kathi Hinn of Spirit Lake are safe and sound after a fire consumed a portion of their home Friday morning. But, if their morning had been just a few minutes different, the day might have been marked by tragedy. “Had I gone to work when I was supposed to, John would have burned up,” Kathi Hinn said. “It was that fast.”...

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds ended limits on sports and recreational gatherings as of Friday on a day when the state recorded 59 additional deaths caused by the coronavirus. Reynolds announced Thursday night that she would end restrictions on the number of fans who can attend high school sporting events. Spectators still must wear masks and adhere to social distancing rules at indoor events...

Newly-elected 4th District Congressman Randy Feenstra was sworn in just in time to experience the most frightening incident inside the Capitol in generations. “Today is a very sad day in our nation’s history. While every American has a First Amendment right to free speech, which includes the right to peacefully protest, violence is never the answer,” Feenstra said of a pro-Trump mob’s assault on the building during the counting of presidential electoral votes Wednesday. ...

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said she’s “not happy” with the speed of COVID-19 immunizations in the state’s long-term care facilities. During a meeting with reporters on Thursday, she acknowledged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s partnership with CVS and Walgreens to immunize Iowans in nursing homes isn’t moving quickly enough. Reynolds said she is participating in a call with the CEOs of Walgreens and CVS to discuss it on Thursday...

Buena Vista County Conservation Board (BVCCB) recently stocked Gabrielson Park-Gustafson Lake just south of Sioux Rapids, Iowa with approximately 1,000-1,500 rainbow trout for the public to catch throughout the ice fishing season. This is the second time trout have been stocked in Buena Vista County in recent years. ...

Iowa Democrats said Wednesday they want to legalize cannabis and regulate it at the same level as alcohol. So far, no Republicans, who hold the majority in the Legislature, have publicly supported the measure. Nearly 40 Democrats, ranging from city council members to Iowa state senators, signed on in support of legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana and expunging the criminal records of Iowans who have been previously charged in misdemeanors for marijuana possession...

Deposed western Iowa Congressman Steve King threw a flurry of hail mary resolutions hours before leaving office. Announced on the final day of the year, King’s resolutions would declare that the House impeachment of President Trump never happened, and “refurbish American Exceptionalism” by changing laws on immigration, abortion, taxation and numerous other issues, including repealing Obamacare. ...

The Sioux Rapids Historical Society has several projects moving forward, according to a presentation to Buena Vista County Supervisors recently. The newest is to move the 1850s cabin once occupied by the county’s most prominent pioneer, Abner Bell. A concrete foundation will be constructed west of the theater/museum, eventually with a structure to surround and protect the cabin. The cabin is now out of sight between buildings, and resting on bare ground, with rot starting to consume the wood...

A federal judge has rejected an argument by Tyson Foods that is is not liable in the death of a worker in Iowa because it was following federal guidance when it kept meatpacking plants open during the coronavirus pandemic. Tyson was sued in August  by the family of Isidro Fernandez, who worked at the company’s plant in Waterloo, after he died April 26 from complications of COVID-19...

An area native lost her home, but not hope, in Hurricane Sally. Remembering the timbre of the howling winds and the creaks and groans of her home as it attempted to withstand Hurricane Sally still haunts Sarah Johannsen nearly a month after the storm leveled her Milton, Florida, home. Johannsen, a 1998 Spencer High School graduate, lost her home, some of her belongings, but never her gratitude for all that remains...

One of the Tyson Foods managers fired for betting on how many workers would contract COVID-19 at an Iowa pork plant said the office pool was spontaneous fun and intended to boost morale. Don Merschbrock, a former night manager at the plant in Waterloo, Iowa, said he was speaking in an attempt to show that the seven fired supervisors are “not the evil people” that Tyson has portrayed...

Clay County Public Health Coordinator Colette Rossiter stands in front of the large capacity, ultra-cold freezer on loan from Spencer Ag Center. When national news shared that the vaccines being developed for COVID-19 would need to be kept at ultra-cold temps, especially the Pfizer vaccine which needs to be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius, Clay County Public Health Coordinator Colette Rossiter got a helpful phone call. ...

Six days being held behind locked doors in the hospital. A 12-year-old in handcuffs. A child held in seclusion for not complying with hospital staff. Wait times stretching into years to access appropriate services. Driving hours to access services in western Iowa. A parent driven to the brink of suicide by the lack of support for her two special-needs adoptive sons during the pandemic...

A total of 267 cultural organizations and 152 artists serving 118 Iowa communities will receive a share of $7 million in COVID relief grants announced by the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. The department’s Iowa Arts & Culture Recovery Program received more than 550 requests totaling more than $36 million by the Dec. 11 deadline...

Craig Williams, newly-elected Iowa Senator for area District 6, has been appointed to several key committees for the session beginning January 11. The Republican from Manning will serve on Ag & Natural Resources, Appropriations, Commerce, Government Oversight and Local Government committees...

Congressman-elect Randy Feenstra declined to refer to Democrat Joe Biden as president-elect during a public-television appearance.Feenstra is a Republican who will represent the 4th Congressional District in northwest Iowa. He said he looks forward to Jan. 6, when the House of Representatives will consider what in the past has been a largely ceremonial confirmation of the Electoral College results...

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ administration is using $10 million in federal pandemic relief funds to pay the salaries of state police officers, who have played only a small role in Iowa’s virus response. The expense is listed in a state report as going toward “State Government COVID staffing” at the Iowa Department of Public Safety. The report claims the money will support payroll expenses for employees “whose services were diverted to a substantially different use as a result of COVID-19.”...

Former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has spent years, if not decades, telling his fellow Democrats they needed to do more to aid rural communities and reach out to them. But he has often lamented that no one listened. Now, he’s going to try again...

With the year nearing its end the Clay County Board of Supervisors have hosted a number of organizations for their annual reports and updates. Clay County Fair CEO Jeremy Parsons was one of those on hand Tuesday morning, thanking the board for their support and revisiting the year of 2020...

Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Brian Schatz (D-HA) applauded the Senate passing their Cannabidiol and Marijuana Research Expansion Act, a bill to encourage scientific and medical research on marijuana and its compounds including cannabidiol, or CBD...

After serving as president and chief executive officer of the the Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation since August 2014, Kiley Miller announced he is resigning from the organization effective February 2021. Trees Forever, located in Marion, announced its board of directors has appointed Miller as its incoming executive director...

Tyson Foods fired seven plant managers in Waterloo following an independent investigation into allegations that they privately wagered money on the number of workers who would be sickened by COVID-19. In a statement on Wednesday, Tyson CEO Dean Banks said the firings were “based on the findings” from the investigation, though those details were not released...

Environmental groups that want the state to regulate farm pollution running into waterways took their arguments to the Iowa Supreme Court on Wednesday. Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and Food & Water Action sued the state over pollution in the Raccoon River. ...

A group of about nine preschool children waited anxiously near a playground-replica of the Queen II in East Lake Park recently. The youngsters were to help cut the ceremonial ribbon to officially recognize the new park — and help break in all the new equipment...

With slightly lower than normal precipitation in November, northwest and west central Iowa continue to show signs of significant dryness and drought, according to the latest Water Summary Update. Precipitation totaled 1.88 inches or 0.17 inch below normal statewide in November. ...

By CLARK KAUFFMAN Iowa Capital Dispatch In perhaps another indication of how 2020 has been a year most people want to forget, Iowans spent a record amount of money on liquor this past year. The increase came during the 2020 state fiscal year, which ran from July 1, 2019, through the end of June this year — a period that includes the first four months of the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in stores, bars and taverns operating under tight restrictions...

Echoing President Trump’s assertion that “every legal vote” must be counted in the 2020 election, Gov. Kim Reynolds said Thursday that Iowa didn’t have the opportunity to join a lawsuit that seeks to delay certification of the election results. The lawsuit, filed by Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday, alleges Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia made unconstitutional changes to their laws prior to the 2020 election, according to the Wall Street Journal. Paxton alleges the states violated their own election laws by changing voting procedures to process mail-in ballots.Election experts have said the lawsuit has little chance of success. ...

The dredging process at Cherokee’s Spring Lake began last week and will continue as long as funds last. According to Duane Mummert, Cherokee Parks Superintendent, the City of Cherokee has allocated $10,000 to the project with another $8,750 donated by concerned local citizens wanting the dredging to include more of the lake...

While the first round of COVID-19 vaccines will go to health care workers and those in longterm-care facilities, a new report from the Iowa Department of Public Health outlines other “critical populations” who also should be considered for vaccinations prior to the general public...

Iowa is likely to see a second straight surge in cases of a fatal deer disease this winter, a state veterinarian said. In an interview, Dr. Rachel Ruden of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said the state’s confirmed cases of chronic wasting disease doubled last season and now stands at 91...

The Cherokee Area Economic Development Corporation (CAEDC) has introduced a countywide “Chair of Honor” program that will recognize our Nation’s military Prisoners of Wars (POW), Missing in Action (MIA), and their families. CAEDC will be collaborating with Hussey Seating Company of North Berwick, Maine on the project...

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said Wednesday he supports a new federal stimulus package, but he balked on big-ticket aid to state and local governments. “I do not support a massive amount of money for state and local relief connected with COVID, or as another excuse for when business is down and revenues are not coming into the states,” said Grassley, Iowa’s Republican senior senator. ...

Since the summer, Drew Martel said people are increasingly calling the state’s crisis hotline, Your Life Iowa. Adults and teens are calling and texting counselors about depression and anxiety. Some are reporting isolation and distress caused by the pandemic...

The Fairfield Pioneers 4-H Club assembled a lighted holiday display called “2020 The Year Pigs Flew” outside Pleasant View Nursing Home in Albert City. The club raises funds by managing can recycling in Albert City. The youth voted to purchase and assemble a menagerie of lighted farm animals to bring some holiday joy to the residents at Pleasant View. ...

During a statewide address last week, Gov. Kim Reynolds expanded face mask requirements across the state in light of a spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. But she excluded one of the state’s most populated indoor facilities: School buildings...

A pair of Spirit Lake residents were booked into the Dickinson County Jail Nov. 18 on multiple drug charges after police responded to a report of gun shots. Spirit Lake Police officers were called to 1502 Memphis Avenue Lot 23 around 10:26 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18. The address was listed as the residence of 28-year-old Shyanne Ranee Delgado in the subsequent criminal complaints...