POLICE RESPONDED TO GUN SHOTS ON WATERLOO’S WEST SIDE EARLY THIS MORNING. INITIAL REPORTS INDICATED SOME PROPERTY DAMAGE BUT NO INJURIES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD NEAR ELMWOOD CEMETERY. THE CALL CAME IN AFTER 3 A.M. AUTHORITIES ARE INVESTIGATING.
IOWA AGRICULTURE SECRETARY MIKE NAIG VISITED THE KXEL STUDIOS AS PART OF A TRIP TO WATERLOO THIS WEEK. DESPITE THE DIFFICULTIES OF 2020, INCLUDING THE PANDEMIC, THE DERECHO, AND THE DROUGHT, NAIG SAYS THERE IS A LOT TO LOOK FORWARD TO WHEN IT COMES TO CONDITIONS FOR PRODUCERS IN 2021. HEAR MORE OF THE INTERVIEW WITH IOWA AG SECRETARY MIKE NAIG THIS WEEKEND DURING THE IOWA BUSINESS REPORT, SATURDAY MORNING AT 7 AND SUNDAY MORNING AT 11.
THE UNI PANTHER WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM PLAYS ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT GAMES IN PROGRAM HISTORY TONIGHT. THE PANTHERS ARE IN THE SEMIFINALS OF THE WNIT AND MEET OLE MISS IN MEMPHIS. THE REBELS’ ONLY LOSSES THIS SEASON CAME IN CONFERENCE GAMES AGAINST THEIR SEC RIVALS. LIVE PANTHER PREGAME COVERAGE ON KXEL BEGINS AT 6:45.
THE WATERLOO BLACK HAWKS ARE ON HOME ICE AT YOUNG ARENA. THE HAWKS HOST THE FARGO FORCE AT 7:05.
AMARA ANDREWS OFFICIALLY ENTERED THE CEDAR RAPIDS MAYORAL RACE WITH A CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCEMENT THURSDAY. OUR COVERAGE PARTNERS FROM TV-9 WERE ON HAND. ANDREWS HOLDS AN EXECUTIVE ROLE IN THE TRANSPORTATION DIVISION AT TRUE/NORTH COMPANIES, AS WELL AS A LEADERSHIP POSITION IN THE GROUP ADVOCATES FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE. SHE IS ONE OF FOUR CANDIDATES, INCLUDING INCUMBENT CEDAR RAPIDS MAYOR BRAD HART.
IOWA HOLDS A PROMINENT PLACE IN AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. STATE AG SECRETARY MIKE NAIG REITERATED THE IMPORTANCE OF TRADE, MARKET, AND FARM POLICY DURING AN INTERVIEW WITH KXEL’S JEFF STEIN. NAIG CALLED THE CHALLENGES OF THE PAST YEAR UNPRECEDENTED WHEN IT COMES TO THEIR IMPACT ON IOWA AGRICULTURE. HEAR MORE OF THE INTERVIEW WITH NAIG DURING THE IOWA BUSINESS REPORT AT 7 A.M. SATURDAY OR REBROADCAST AT 11 A.M. SUNDAY.
MIKE POMPEO IS IN IOWA TODAY. THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SECRETARY OF STATE VISITED A CONSERVATIVE GROUP IN URBANDALE. SOME SEE THE APPEARANCE AS LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR A POTENTIAL POMPEO PRESIDENTIAL RUN IN 2024. SEVERAL OTHER POTENTIAL 2024 GOP CANDIDATES REPORTEDLY HAVE PLANS FOR TRIPS TO IOWA AND OTHER EARLY NOMINATING STATES THIS SPRING. IT ALSO REMAINS POSSIBLE THAT FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP COULD RUN AGAIN DURING THE NEXT CYCLE.
FARMING AND AGRIBUSINESS ARE FIELDS WHICH REQUIRE A CERTAIN DEGREE OF NATURAL OPTIMISM. IOWA AGRICULTURE SECRETARY MIKE NAIG TALKED THIS WEEK ABOUT SOME OF WHAT PRODUCERS ARE HOPING TO OVERCOME DURING THE YEAR AHEAD [AUDIO :22]. HEAR MORE FROM NAIG’S VISIT TO THE KXEL STUDIOS DURING NEXT HOUR’S KXEL NEWSCAST.
SCARY MOMENTS FOR A WORKER AT THE UNIVERSITY IF IOWA HOSPITALS AND CLINICS IN IOWA CITY ON THURSDAY MORNING. SHORTLY AFTER 10:30 YESTERDAY, THE UNIDENTIFIED PERSON FELL DOWN A SHAFT AND INTO THE TUNNELS BELOW THE FACILITY. THE DROP WAS APPROXIMATELY 20 FEET. IT TOOK MORE THAN 40 MINUTES FOR IOWA CITY FIRE CREWS TO EXTRACT THE WORKER, WHO DID HAVE INJURIES. THE NATURE OR SEVERITY OF THOSE INJURIES WAS NOT REVEALED.
A MAN PREVIOUSLY CONVICTED FOR DRUG CRIMES AND MISSING FROM A TRANSITIONAL PROGRAM FOR TWO MONTHS LED POLICE ON A CAR CHASE WEDNESDAY. THE PURSUIT BEGAN IN JANESVILLE AND MOVED INTO BUTLER COUNTY BEFORE ANDREW ENGLER WAS ARRESTED. ENGLER’S VEHICLE ALLEGEDLY CONTAINED DRUGS AND DRUG PARAPHERNALIA.
ANOTHER CHASE LED THROUGH PARTS OF FOUR COUNTIES LAST NIGHT. THE IOWA STATE PATROL SAYS A MAN IN A STOLEN MASERATI REACHED SPEEDS OF UP TO 150 MPH IN POLK, MARSHALL, JASPER, AND STORY COUNTIES. DRIVER JOHN BURGOYNE WAS EVENTUALLY ARRESTED MORE THAN TWO HOURS AFTER HE WAS ALLEGEDLY CLOCKED AT 97 MILES PER HOUR ON INTERSTATE 35.
