Category Archives: Iowa

DeSantis secures endorsements on visit to Iowa in preparation for likely 2024 bid

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Florida governor lands in crucial early-voting state in Republican nomination process after weeks of lagging behind Trump

Florida’s rightwing governor, Ron DeSantis, has rolled out a hefty list of endorsements from Iowa lawmakers as he visited the crucial early-voting state on Saturday in an attempt to garner support for his potential Republican presidential campaign.

The pro-DeSantis Super Pac Never Back Down announced endorsements from 37 Republican Iowa state senators and representatives, including the Iowa senate president, Amy Sinclair, and the state house majority leader, Matt Windschitl.

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Iowa teens plead guilty to beating Spanish teacher to death over grade

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Prosecutors recommend that Willard Miller, 17, receive 30 years to life and Jeremy Goodale, 18, 25 years to life for 2021 killing

Two teenagers in Iowa charged with beating their high school Spanish teacher to death over a poor grade have pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

On Tuesday, Willard Miller and Jeremy Goodale admitted killing Nohema Graber, 66, at Fairfield high school.

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Ron DeSantis visits Iowa as presidential bid speculation intensifies

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Rightwing governor of Florida – and most likely rival to Trump for the 2024 nomination – promotes his book in the early voting state

The Republican Ron DeSantis greeted fans in Iowa on Friday, marking the Florida governor’s first visit this election cycle to the early voting state and intensifying speculation over when he might announce his 2024 presidential bid.

DeSantis delivered remarks to a full crowd at a casino in Davenport on Friday morning, and later appeared in Des Moines with the governor of Iowa, Republican Kim Reynolds, to promote his new book, The Courage to be Free.

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Iowa teen saves man and dog after vehicle falls into icy lake

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Joe Salmon, 17, was ice fishing when he saw a Jeep driven by Thomas Lee, 83, drop through the ice under a highway bridge

A 17-year-old, three-sport athlete from Iowa has earned acclaim as a hero after jumping into an icy lake to save a man in his 80s and a dog who were trapped in a car that had fallen in the water over the weekend – a dramatic rescue caught on camera by a drone.

The teen, Joe Salmon, was ice fishing with his mother and watching snowmobile races on East Okoboji Lake when he saw a Jeep driven by 83-year-old Thomas Lee drop through the ice under a highway bridge at about 3pm on Saturday, the local sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.

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New York woman found breathing at funeral home after being declared dead

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The 82-year-old was pronounced dead at a Long Island nursing home, only to be discovered alive and then taken to a hospital

An 82-year-old woman was pronounced dead at a New York nursing home only to be found breathing three hours later at the funeral home where she had been taken, authorities said.

It was the second time in about a month something of the sort has happened in the US, according to officials.

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Two students killed and a teacher injured in ‘targeted shooting’ in Iowa

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Three suspects arrested following the incident at Starts Right Here, an educational program helping at-risk youth in Iowa

Two students were killed on Monday and a teacher was injured in what police said was a targeted shooting at a school in Des Moines, Iowa, that is dedicated to helping at-risk youth. Three suspects were arrested.

The shooting was at an educational program called Starts Right Here that is affiliated with the Des Moines school district.

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‘Can I go back to my regular job?’: US sports reporter’s weather dispatch goes viral

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Mark Woodley was sent by Iowa TV station to report on the bitterly cold conditions – and he did not like it that much

As a huge winter storm battered the US, a short-staffed TV station in Waterloo, Iowa dispatched a sports reporter to describe the scene outside.

Footage of Mark Woodley’s increasingly stressed video reports for KWWL, from a bitterly cold and snow-covered highway, duly went viral, registering 27m views by Saturday.

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Iowa police chief charged with fraud for allegedly selling machine guns for profit

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Bradley Wendt bought more than 90 machine guns and hosted public shootouts, charging participants to fire the guns

An Iowa police chief faces fraud charges for allegedly buying and selling machine guns for personal profit, despite stating the purchases were related to department business.

Bradley Wendt, 46 and the police chief of Adair, Iowa, bought more than 90 machine guns between 2018 to 2022, claiming the weapons would be used for “the official duties and responsibilities of the Adair police department”, the justice department said.

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US National Weather Services warns of ‘widespread’ winter storm hazards

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More than 15 million people under winter advisory while several areas in midwest and Great Plains face intense snowstorms

More than 15 million people are under a winter advisory as of Tuesday, as several areas in the midwest and Great Plains face intense snowstorms, Axios reported.

Storm warnings are in effect across a dozen states, including parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana and South Dakota.

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Iowa teen who killed alleged rapist escapes custody

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Pieper Lewis could face up to two decades behind bars for violating probation she was ordered to serve at a correctional facility

An Iowa sex-trafficking victim who at age 15 killed her alleged rapist escaped custody on Friday, violating the probation she was ordered to serve at a correctional facility after pleading guilty to manslaughter, according to reports.

Pieper Lewis, who is now 18, could face up to two decades behind bars after this alleged probation violation. Authorities have issued a warrant for her arrest, the Des Moines Register newspaper reported.

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Appeals court temporarily halts Biden’s student debt cancellation scheme

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Program has been paused as the court considers a motion filed by six Republican-led states

Joe Biden’s plan to cancel billions of dollars in federal student loans has been temporarily halted by a federal appeals court as it considers a motion from six Republican-led states to block the program.

The eighth circuit court of appeals issued the temporary stay on Friday, ordering the Biden administration not to act on the program while it considers the appeal.

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Republican Chuck Grassley vows to vote against a national abortion ban

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The longest-tenured US senator joins a growing chorus of conservative lawmakers opposed to such a restriction

The longest-tenured Republican in the US Senate has pledged to vote against a national ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy which a prominent fellow party member and chamber colleague proposed last month, joining a growing chorus of conservative lawmakers opposed to that idea.

Chuck Grassley, who’s been one of Iowa’s senators since 1980 and is seeking an eighth term in his seat during November’s midterms, expressed his opposition to such a ban during a televised debate Thursday night with his Democratic challenger Mike Franken.

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Fears of violence against pro-choice protests intensify amid wave of attacks

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Use of teargas and arrests by police and targeting by anti-abortion activists disrupts demonstrations in multiple states

Fears over police violence and attacks by anti-abortion activists have been growing following a wave of incidents at demonstrations against the US supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, which upheld the constitutional right to an abortion.

Across the country, hundreds of thousands of people have gathered at protests objecting to the ruling. The protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful but some have seen incidents of police violence – including attacks on protesters – and an incident of a car driving dangerously through marchers.

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Iowa: man kills two women and then himself in latest US shooting

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The women were shot dead outside a church in Ames moments after Joe Biden urged Congress to ban assault weapons

A man has shot and killed two women in the parking lot of a church in Iowa and then turned the gun on himself, police said, adding three more dead to the national toll from a series of recent shootings that have rocked the United States.

The Iowa shooting took place on Thursday shortly after president Joe Biden delivered a major address on gun violence in the wake of mass shootings in Buffalo, New York; Uvalde, Texas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, in recent weeks.

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Trump holds Iowa rally as poll in early voting state shows strong support

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Donald Trump returned to Iowa on Saturday for a campaign-style rally, on the heels of a poll showing strong support in the state which traditionally kicks off presidential elections.

Trump has not announced a second run for the White House.

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Where the buffalo roam: world’s longest wildlife bridge could cross the Mississippi

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Conservationist aims to replace old bridge with bison preserve, benefiting environment and spotlighting Indigenous history

Between Iowa and Illinois, spanning the only stretch of the Mississippi River that flows from east to west, sits an exhausted 55-year-old cement bridge. Each day 42,000 cars drive across the ageing structure, which is slated to be torn down and replaced.

But when Chad Pregracke looks at the bridge, he has a different vision entirely – not an old overpass to be demolished, but a home for the buffalo to roam.

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‘He made a connection’: how did Trump manage to boost his support among rural Americans?

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Despite overall defeat, Trump boosted his support in the Iowa heartland and some say sounded the death knell for the ‘country club Republican’ party there

Just a few months ago, Neil Shaffer thought Iowa was lost to Donald Trump.

“I was worried. We were in the midst of Covid and the economy wasn’t doing so good and Trump wasn’t handling the Covid interviews very well, and I was thinking this is gonna be a bloodbath,” said the farmer and chair of a county Republican party in the north-east of the state.

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US election roundup: Trump and Biden swing through battleground states

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Both candidates to campaign in Minnesota and Wisconsin while president rails against supreme court over North Carolina ruling

The two US presidential candidates swung through northern battleground states on Friday amid signs that the coronavirus pandemic was once more threatening to overcome hospital capacity in several US regions.

Donald Trump was due to hold a succession of airport rallies in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, while Joe Biden was scheduled to have drive-in rallies in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

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‘I’m more for Trump than I was before’: president clings to narrow lead in Iowa as Biden closes in

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In a county that flipped dramatically from backing Obama to supporting Trump, there are signs of danger for the president

When Aaron Schatz surveys the wreckage of 2020, he finds himself doing surprisingly well.

Profits on his Iowa dairy farm are up thanks to coronavirus. The pandemic feels a distant threat, and Schatz has yet to wear a mask. Black Lives Matter protests are an annoyance but really someone else’s problem.

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