IN CEDAR RAPIDS MONDAY, POLICE SAY OCCUPANTS OF ONE VEHICLE FIRED SEVERAL SHOTS AT ANOTHER, SENDING THE TARGETED CAR OFF THE ROAD AND LEADING TO ONE SERIOUS INJURY. INVESTIGATORS WERE GATHERING EVIDENCE DEEP INTO THE EVENING NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF 42ND STREET AND COUNCIL STREET NORTHEAST. IN ADDITION TO THE INJURED PERSON TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL, SEVERAL OTHER PEOPLE WERE IN THE CAR WHICH CRASHED. AUTHORITIES DID NOT IMMEDIATELY RELEASE DETAILS ABOUT THE OTHER VEHICLE INVOLVED IN THE INCIDENT.
IOWA REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIRMAN JEFF KAUFMANN SPOKE TO REPORTERS ABOUT SEVERAL TOPICS DURING A CONFERENCE CALL MONDAY. DISCUSSING THE RACE BETWEEN REPUBLICAN SENATOR JONI ERNST AND DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGER TERESA GREENFIELD, KAUFMANN WAS INDIGNANT ABOUT THE MONEY BEING SPENT ON CAMPAIGN MESSAGES. MUCH OF THE MONEY SPENT ON THAT RACE, AND OTHERS, IS COMING FROM GROUPS THAT ARE SEPARATE FROM THE FORMAL CAMPAIGNS. SUPREME COURT DECISIONS EQUATING MONEY WITH SPEECH HAVE PREVENTED REFORMS INTENDED TO CONTROL CAMPAIGN SPENDING.
KANSAS STATE FOOTBALL COACH AND WATERLOO NATIVE CHRIS KLIEMAN AGREED TO A CONTRACT EXTENSION THROUGH THE 2026 SEASON ON MONDAY. THE DEAL INCLUDES INCENTIVES AND RETENTION BONUSES, DESPITE K-STATE’S COVID-19 SITUATION THAT FORCED THE UNIVERSITY TO FURLOUGH UP TO 1,500 FACULTY AND STAFF. KLIEMAN WILL RECEIVE A BASE SALLARY OVER 3 MILLION DOLLARS EACH YEAR.
EARLY VOTING BEGAN IN IOWA ON MONDAY. MORE THAN 642 THOUSAND ABSENTEE BALLOT REQUESTS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED BY ELECTION OFFICIALS ALREADY. THAT’S ONLY 50 THOUSAND SHY OF THE STATE’S 2016 RECORD, AND AUTHORITIES EXPECT TO BREAK THAT RECORD IN THE FOUR WEEKS BEFORE VOTING DAY IN NOVEMBER. A.J. HEFF OF CEDAR RAPIDS CAST HIS BALLOT AT A DRIVE-UP VOTING SITE AND SPOKE TO OUR COVERAGE PARTNERS AT CBS2 WITHOUT EVER STEPPING OUT OF HIS VEHICLE. MANY COUNTIES HAVE SET UP REMOTE VOTING SITES, IN ADDITION TO MAKING PROVISIONS FOR EARLY VOTING AT COUNTY COURTHOUSES.
FROM HARVESTING VOTES TO HARVESTING IN A MORE TRADITIONAL SENSE…LAST WEEK, IOWA FARMERS BROUGHT IN ONE QUARTER OF THE STATE’S SOYBEAN CROP WITHIN A SEVEN DAY PERIOD. MONDAY’S USDA CROP REPORT INDICATED THAT OVER 55 PERCENT OF IOWA SOYBEANS HAVE BEEN HARVESTED ALREADY THIS FALL. IT’S JUST THE SECOND TIME IN 15 YEARS THAT FARMERS HAVE BEEN PAST THE 50 PERCENT MARK BY OCTOBER 4TH. WHEN IT COMES TO CORN, 25 PERCENT HAS ALREADY BEEN GATHERED, WHICH IS ALSO WELL AHEAD OF THE TYPICAL TIMELINE.
THE WATERLOO FIRE DEPARTMENT WILL HAVE MORE PERSONNEL IN THE COMING YEARS. MONDAY NIGHT, THE CITY COUNCIL APPROVED THE RECEIPT OF A ONE MILLION DOLLAR GRANT FROM THE FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY TO HIRE FOUR FIREFIGHTERS. THE FEDERAL MONEY WILL COVER SALLARIES AND BENEFITS THROUGH 2023. WATERLOO CURRENTLY EMPLOYS OVER 100 FIREFIGHTERS, ALTHOUGH ITS STATION ON ANSBOROUGH AVENUE WAS CLOSED FOR SEVERAL WEEKS DUE TO UNDERSTAFFING.
CEDAR FALLS PLANS TO ADD ANOTHER ROUNDABOUT. THIS ONE WILL BE AT THE INTERSECTION OF GREENHILL ROAD AND MAIN STREET. THAT’S JUST A BLOCK FROM THE CITY’S NEW PUBLIC SAFETY BUILDING AND AN AREA WHICH HAS SEEN OTHER DEVELOPMENT IN RECENT YEARS WITH THE ADDITION OF A NEARBY GROCERY STORE AND GAS STATION. THE DESIGN WILL ALLOW FOUR LANES OF TRAFFIC TO PASS ON GREENHILL ROAD AND TWO LANES ON MAIN STREET. CURRENTLY A LEFT TURN LANE REDUCES WESTBOUND GREENHILL TO ONE LANE. THE CEDAR FALLS CITY COUNCIL APPROVED THE PROJECT BY A 6-1 VOTE MONDAY.
YOU WOULDN’T EXPECT IOWA REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIRMAN JEFF KAUFMANN TO AGREE WITH THE POSITIONS TAKEN BY DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES. MONDAY DURING A CONFERENCE CALL, KAUFMANN CRITICIZED THE WAY DEMOCRATS ARE CAMPAIGNING IN 2020. DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, THERE HAS BEEN LESS IN-PERSON CAMPAIGNING AND FEWER TRADITIONAL CAMPAIGN EVENTS. AS A RESULT, INCREASING AMONTS OF MONEY FROM CANDIDATES IN BOTH PARTIES HAS BEEN SPENT ON POLITICAL ADS FOR BOTH TRADITIONAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA.
IF YOU’RE PAYING FOR AN UNEXPECTED HOME REPAIR, STATE OFFICIALS KNOW HOW YOU FEEL. IOWA WILL SPEND OVER 800 THOUSAND DOLLARS ON REPAIRS TO A VARIETY OF FACILITIES. THE MONEY APPROVED YESTERDAY WILL FIX A BURST PIPE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, DAMAGE FROM A LIGHTNING STRIKE AT IOWA STATE, AS WELL AS STORM DAMAGE TO STATE BUILDINGS IN DES MOINES. FOR GOOD MEASURE, 100 THOUSAND DOLLARS WILL BE SPENT ON DAMAGE TO STATE VEHICLES.
