One person has died following a house fire in Waterloo early yesterday morning. Waterloo Fire Rescue crews responded to a home in the 400 block of Sunnyside Avenue shortly after midnight. Fire was seen coming from a first-story window, smoke coming from the second floor. Three adults and three children were hospitalized, and we now know one of the adults died. Two of the people had to be rescued from an overhead porch, another also evacuated by fire officials. It took crews nearly 20 minutes to put out the fire.
Iowa has started tracking the COVID-19 deaths of people who were diagnosed with the virus but not tested, a change that could add hundreds more deaths to the state’s count. Iowa Department of Public Health Interim Director Kelly Garcia said yesterday that Iowa now accepts clinical diagnoses from doctors and not just positive virus tests when attributing a death to coronavirus. The change removed 433 deaths from the system but added 610, providing an initial net gain of 177 deaths and raising the state’s toll to 2,898. Some of the removed cases could be added back in once the proper coding methodology is applied.
The University of Northern Iowa announced yesterday that fans will not be allowed to attend the men’s and women’s basketball doubleheader on Saturday or the women’s game against Iowa State next Tuesday. Parents of basketball student-athletes will be allowed to attend. All men’s and women’s basketball games will be broadcast on News/Talk 1540 KXEL, including tonight’s men’s game at Richmond, with air time at 4:30 p.m., and the early tip off at 5.
The Tri-County Drug Enforcement Task Force in Waterloo, the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and the FBI say they are continuing to investigate a drug distribution case. The FBI says on October 30, seven search warrants uncovered 82 pounds of methamphetamine, 10 pounds of marijuana, 1.5 pounds of heroin, $28,000 in cash, and 2 guns. No arrests have been made at this time. The warrants were served in and around Jefferson, Waterloo, and Van Horne.
Cedar Rapids Police officers were sent to St. Luke’s Hospital Monday night after a man showed up with a gunshot wound. A 23-year old man was being treated for a non-life threatening injury. This is an ongoing investigation. If you have any information regarding this or any crime, contact Linn County Crime Stoppers.
A north Iowa man is facing a number of charges in Cerro Gordo County ranging from theft to ongoing criminal conduct. 26-year-old Austin Stokka, from Kanawha and Forest City, is being held in the Cerro Gordo County Jail on charges of felony theft, burglary, unauthorized use of a credit card and ongoing criminal conduct. Stokka was in possession of multiple items stolen from different agencies, according to court documents. He’s accused of making multiple trips, dating back to September, to Alter Recycling where he sold large amounts of copper wire for more than $2,000. He was also found to be in possession of a stolen vehicle. The vehicle was spray-painted a different color and had its VIN number taken off of it.
Governor Kim Reynolds will hold a news conference this morning at 11:00 a.m., her office announced yesterday. We’ll monitor it and bring you updates later today. Reynolds had been holding twice weekly news conferences for most of the last month. This is the only news conference her office has confirmed for this week.
A suspect has been arrested, charged with attempted murder for a shooting in Cedar Rapids on November 5. Investigators say 27-year-old Dushaun Scott shot a 34-year-old man near 15th St. and 1st Ave. East that day at about 10:09 p.m. Scott was already in custody at the Linn County Jail on other charges and was informed of the additional charge yesterday. Police say two shell casings were found during their investigation into the shooting and through a search of the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network it was determined that the gun was in Scott’s possession. The victim was shot while he was on the front porch of a home in the 400 block of 18th Street SE, according to police. The victim reported seeing Scott approach him and ask for a job, then showed a handgun before shooting the victim and running away from the home. About an hour after the shooting, Scott was arrested and accused of an armed robbery at Smokin’ Joes in Cedar Rapids.
Facebook is set to build another data center in Altoona. The 668,000-square-foot building will be near Facebook’s current data center complex. The Altoona City Council approved the site plan Monday night. In May of 2019, Altoona and Facebook agreed to a 20-year deal in which Facebook would pay $3 for every new square foot of construction instead of paying property taxes. Crews are finishing construction on Facebook’s fifth Iowa data center.
An 18-year-old woman from Creston died early yesterday morning in a collision in Union County. The Iowa State Patrol says it happened at around 5:45 a.m. on Highway 34 a mile west of Creston. Authorities say Alexis Rounds lost control of her SUV due to road conditions and spun, crossing over the centerline and into the path of a semitruck driven by 64-year-old Gregory Powell of Diagonal. Rounds died at the scene, Powell was apparently uninjured. Conditions were foggy early yesterday morning and there were reports of slick roads in the area due to freezing fog.
