The Clinton County Recount Board finished its counting of all ballots from Election Day over the weekend and found Democrat Rita Hart netted 2 votes. This puts Republican Marianette Miller-Meeks up 6 votes in the entire 2nd Congressional District, confirming this as the closest congressional race in Iowa history, and in the country this year…a six vote margin out of 394-thousand cast. The next step in the district’s recount is the state canvass and certification, set to happen today. Both candidates have 20 days from then to contest the results, which would likely take the race to the court system. If a candidate decides to contest the results, a contest court would be convened. That has never happened in Iowa for a congressional race.
Deere & Co. does not plan more staffing cuts in this fiscal year. There are no one-time employee separation charges included in the company’s 2021 fiscal year forecast, Deere officials said during Wednesday’s earnings call. Deere’s net income in fiscal year 2020, which ended Nov. 1, was negatively affected by impairment charges and employee-separation costs of $458 million. That follows at least two rounds of buyouts for salaried employees in that fiscal year, and layoffs of salaried workers in the last quarter as part of Deere’s operating model transformation, called smart industrial redesign. Deere’s earnings report beat analyst expectations. Deere forecasts fiscal year 2021 net income to be higher, between $3.6 billion to $4 billion, because of higher crop prices and renewed optimism in the ag sector.
Thousands of streetlights still need to be repaired in the Cedar Rapids area nearly four months after they were broken when a derecho tore through Iowa. Mayuri Farlinger, director of operations for Alliant Energy in the region, did not have an estimate as to how long it’ll take to repair the lights. The utility prioritized restoring power to homes and businesses after the Aug. 10 storm. Streetlight repairs began at the end of October and crews have been out in “full force” to repair them. The company’s crews and contractors have fixed hundreds of streetlights. Alliant says it has 12 two-person crews dedicated for streetlight repairs in every quadrant of the city.
A former Waterloo woman has died a week after she was pulled from Lake Michigan. Family members said 21-year-old DeNae Nash, a former standout basketball player at East High School, was visiting a friend in Chicago when she somehow ended up in the water. Nash died last Tuesday at University of Chicago Medical Center after she was removed from life support, according to her obituary and social media posts from family. She graduated from high school in 2018.
Authorities are looking for the vehicle that hit a man and fled the scene in Des Moines Thanksgiving night. Emergency responders found the pedestrian with critical injuries when they arrived at the scene shortly after 9 p.m. The Des Moines Police Department said in a news release that he was transported to a hospital where he later died from those injuries. Witnesses described the vehicle as a dark- colored, SUV-style vehicle. Evidence indicates it will have front-end damage, including a broken headlamp.
A woman accused of embezzling from the Webster City Chamber of Commerce has entered a plea of guilty. 40-year-old Leah Rae Mulholland of Webster City has admitted to a charge of theft in the first degree as part of a plea agreement. Investigators say while working as a financial and administrative assistant for the Chamber, Mulholland wrote 247 unauthorized checks worth almost $150 thousand and made more than $1,500 in unauthorized purchases with the Chamber’s debit card. Her sentencing is scheduled for January 11, 2021.
Claims a security guard was facing threats at the Department of Human Services office were proven false by a Black Hawk Sheriff’s Office investigation. The findings were shared by Sheriff Tony Thompson at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. He launched the probe after Supervisor Craig White said people would wait for the guard after she got off work, frustrated that DHS offices are not providing in-person services during COVID-19. He said he had to check on the guard every day to make sure she was safe. The security guard works in the lobby of the Pinecrest Building on Independence Avenue, which provides welfare, income, and health care assistance to residents. The same building houses the county health department. Thompson said the security guard said frustrated visitors have called her “racist” and other terms and complained about the office being closed, but she does not think the comments are directed at her. Thompson said his office closed the investigation.
A HyVee Drugstore on the southwest side of Cedar Rapids was robbed at gunpoint just before 5 o’clock Saturday afternoon. Police say they were called to the HyVee on 6th Street SW, where witnesses said the suspect displayed a handgun, demanded cash and fled on foot. The suspect is described as a black male wearing a hoodie and a black mask. Authorities believe the suspect is likely the same individual involved in a robbery at the HyVee on Mount Vernon Road in Cedar Rapids the day before, on Friday.
Police say Perkins Restaurant and Bakery in Cedar Rapids was robbed at gunpoint around 8 o’clock Wednesday night. Police say the suspect entered the restaurant, displayed a handgun at the front counter, demanded money, got an undisclosed amount of cash and left the scene in a black SUV heading westbound on 33rd Avenue SW. The suspect is described as a black male, between 20 and 30 years of age, 5’8” tall, with a thin build, wearing a black sweatshirt with the hood pulled up, blue jeans and a black face mask. No injuries were reported. Authorities say it is unknown at this time if the robbery is connected to a recent robbery at a Subway restaurant nearby.
A Bellevue, Nebraska, man was jailed after a lengthy chase that crossed back and forth across the Iowa-Nebraska line. The 34-year-old suspect is accused of a long list of crimes. The chase began shortly after 2 o’clock early Thanksgiving morning when Council Bluffs officers stopped a truck, but the driver took off on Interstate 480 and drove into Nebraska, reaching speeds of more than 100 mph. The truck later crossed back into Iowa, then back to Nebraska again. Troopers pulled in front of the truck in Omaha; that’s when the driver got out and tried to run but was caught.
