From the Associated Press (11:20 a.m.):
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A state audit finds that Iowa’s privatized Medicaid system has illegally denied services or care to program recipients, and both private insurance companies managing the system have violated terms of their contracts with the state. Auditor Rob Sand on Wednesday released the report from his investigation that examined a six-year period from 2013 through 2019. He says his investigators found a massive increase in illegal denials of care under privatized Medicaid. Iowa Medicaid Director Elizabeth Matney rejected the report’s conclusions, arguing Sand was making an “apples to oranges comparison” that mischaracterized the current program.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The first black chair of Iowa’s Democratic Party says he received a series of racist messages, including a lynching threat, after writing a newspaper op-ed criticizing former President Donald Trump and the state Republican officials who stood with him at a recent rally in Des Moines. Ross Wilburn reported the threatening phone and email messages to police. The messages came after The Des Moines Register published Wilburn’s op-ed on Oct. 8, the day before thousands of Trump supporters gathered for the rally. Several carried Confederate flags. A group that monitors threats says Wilburn’s experience is part of an uptick in racist and intimidating communications aimed at black leaders.
FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) – A Fort Madison man has died after being found with a stab wound in his apartment complex. Fort Madison police were called Tuesday afternoon to the apartment complex and found the man lying in an upstairs hallway. KHQA-TV reported the man was rushed to a hospital, where he died. Police say the stabbing appeared to be an “intentional homicide.” The name of the man who died wasn’t immediately released.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An Omaha woman has died, more than a week after she was shot at a Des Moines bar. Police say officers were called to a shooting at the High Dive Bar just before 1 a.m. Oct. 10 and found two people with gunshot wounds. Both were taken to a hospital. A 27-year-old man was treated and quickly released. A 26-year-old woman was hospitalized in critical condition and died Tuesday. Police didn’t release the names of those injured. The death was the eight homicide in Des Moines this year.
NEWTON, Iowa (AP) – A plant closing in the central Iowa town of Newton will mean the loss of more than 700 jobs. TPI Composites makes wind blade turbines for wind energy. Several media reports cite a notice on the state workforce development website saying the plant will lay off 710 workers by Dec. 31. The Des Moines Register has reported that TPI supplied wind turbine blades to General Electric. TPI previously warned of not having business lined up for next year, blaming various economic factors. TPI is among the largest employers in Jasper County.
HAZLETON, Iowa (AP) – An investigation continues after an eastern Iowa accident that killed two people. The accident happened Monday afternoon near Hazleton in Buchanan County. The Iowa State Patrol said a 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis driven by 40-year-old Nicholas Johnson of Oelwein apparently crossed the center line and struck a 2006 Toyota Sienna driven by 70-year-old John Friend of Davenport. Friend and Johnson died in the accident, and a third person was flown by air ambulance to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. A third vehicle was struck by debris from the crash.
