From the Associated Press (11:20 a.m.):
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire said she has introduced a bill to address a so-called “pink tax” in the military, a reference to the higher prices women service members often pay for their uniforms. Hassan, a Democrat, and Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, of Iowa, recently introduced the bill together. Hassan said the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office found that women paid more for their uniforms than men. The bill would require the Department of Defense to develop consistent criteria for determining which uniform items are considered “uniquely military,” so as to reduce differences in out-of-pocket costs across services and by gender.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The wife of the Des Moines school district’s superintendent is raising eyebrows with her $400 donation to a local school board candidate’s campaign. School board experts and government watchdogs say the donation Jami Bassman Ahart made is legal but it raises ethical questions because the school board will be making decisions about Superintendent Tom Ahart’s future employment. Bassman Ahart told the Des Moines Register that she donated to Shelley Skuster’s campaign because she believes they share the same values because both women adopted their children, who attend schools in the district. Officials say the donation doesn’t appear to violate any campaign finance rules, but it is an uncommon situation.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Authorities have identified the 21-year-old man who was shot and killed in northeast Des Moines Friday morning. Police said Sunday that Kalvyn Roy Kline was killed in the shooting. A day earlier, police said 27-year-old Darren Antwon Diggs had been charged with first-degree murder and robbery in connection with the shooting. Gunfire was reported shortly before 6 a.m. Friday. Officers who responded to the area found Kline with gunshot wounds. The officers attempted to save Kline’s life but he died at the scene. Police have said Kline and Diggs knew each other, and the shooting appears to have been motivated by a drug-related robbery.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A 69-year-old man is dead after getting out of a vehicle to check damage to a car that had just hit a deer. The Iowa State Patrol says Steven Kohli of Iowa City was on the side of the road Friday evening checking damages to the car when the driver of another car hit him. The Des Moines Register reports both cars were traveling south on Interstate 35 near New Virginia, Iowa. No other injuries were reported.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – State licensing boards in Iowa overseeing doctors, pharmacists and more than 30 other professionals can no longer reveal information about investigations that allege wrongdoing or improper behavior by a professional. The Iowa Supreme Court said Friday that the Iowa Board of Medicine violated an Iowa law in 2013 when it released details of a doctor’s alleged unprofessional behavior before a final determination was made. The court’s decision ends decades of public reporting of professional misconduct allegations by state licensing boards. The Iowa Freedom of Information Council is calling on the Iowa Legislature to fix the law so patients and consumers can make informed decisions about physicians or other professionals.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A Council Bluffs woman was fatally shot in her home early Friday, and police are searching for a 28-year-old man in the killing. Police say officers called to a home just before 3:30 a.m. Friday found 24-year-old McKayla Glover with a gunshot wound. She was rushed to a hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, where she died. Police say they’ve identified a 28-year-old man as a person of interest in the shooting and were trying to find him. No arrests in the killing had been made by midday Friday. Police did not offer details on what led up to the shooting.
