The Monday morning news headlines from the KXEL NewsCenter:
A correctional officer was assaulted by an inmate at Anamosa State Penitentiary Saturday morning. It happened just before 7:30. The officer was handing out medications to inmates on a cellblock when one of the inmates began assaulting the officer by placing her in a chokehold. She was able to use personal safety defensive techniques until additional staff and another inmate were able to respond and take control of the attacking inmate. The officer was taken to a hospital after suffering bruises and was released. The inmate was not seriously injured.
Four people were injured during a brawl outside a downtown Waterloo club. Waterloo Police were called to Flirt’s Gentlemen’s Club at 319 Jefferson Street just before 1:30 early Saturday morning, where a crowd of 15-20 people had gathered around a group that was fighting. Two victims were transported from the scene to the hospital, while two other victims were later taken by private vehicles to the hospital. Police say the victims had “severe lacerations,” but that the injuries were considered non-life-threatening. The incident is still under investigation.
Waterloo Police are investigating the robbery of three pizza delivery drivers in the same neighborhood in just four days. The most recent incident happened around 8:45 Friday night. The incidents have happened in the 1200 and 1300 blocks of Ravenwood road. No arrests have been made in the robberies and police are still investigating.
The Waterloo Black Hawks completed the 2020-2021 United States Hockey League regular season on a three-game upswing capped by Saturday’s 6-3 win at Young Arena against the Des Moines Buccaneers. The Hawks finished with a 22-30-1 record, including a 14-12-1 mark on home ice. The Hawks will add a group of new prospects for next season during the USHL Draft in late May; season tickets for next year are available now at waterlooblackhawks.com.
An Iowa electric power provider has announced new plans for a huge solar farm in eastern Iowa. Central Iowa Power Cooperative officials say the farm will be near Coggon in Linn County and will provide 100 more megawatts of power to CIPCO members. The solar field will begin operations in 2022, and is projected to create 350 construction jobs at its peak. News of the new project follows the utility’s construction of a more than 300,000-panel solar power farm south of Wapello. That 100-megawatt facility covering 800 acres in Louisa County began delivering power to the Iowa grid last month.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has hired her health policy adviser as the state’s Medicaid director. Reynolds praised Elizabeth Matney as a health policy expert and “dynamic member of my team” in announcing Friday she would lead the program, which oversees care for more than 700,000 poor and disabled Iowans. Matney replaces Mike Randol, who left as Medicaid director last August. She will begin work as director on June 1.
Police in Davenport say a 12-year-old boy was killed and another boy injured after they were shot from a passing vehicle as they rode their bicycles on a city street. The shooting happened Thursday afternoon, killing 12-year-old Devell Johnson. Police say Johnson and three others were riding bicycles on Marquette Street when a black sport utility vehicle pulled up and someone inside fired several shots at the group. Officers at the scene chased down and arrested an 18-year-old who had also been riding his bicycle with the group. Police say he was arrested after he was found with a gun, but that he was not involved in the shooting of the boys.
Iowa public safety officials say the state is building a wrought iron fence around Terrace Hill, the historic Des Moines mansion that serves as the governor’s private residence. Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephan Bayens said in a statement Friday that Iowa is one of the few U.S. states without perimeter security fencing around the governor’s residence. He says repeated threats against elected officials, including Reynolds, have been widespread and alarming. Reynolds and her husband Kevin live in the 18,000-square-foot Victorian mansion just west of downtown Des Moines. Iowa Department of Public Safety spokesman Sgt. Alex Dinkla says the fence, to be completed in the next few months and will be in keeping with the historic nature of the property.
