From the Associated Press:
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Legislature has passed a bill that requires businesses to allow employees to seek medical and religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccine mandates. It also guarantees that employees who are denied exemptions and are fired due to their decision not to receive a COVID-19 vaccine are eligible for unemployment benefits. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who opposes mask and vaccine requirements, called for legislative action on vaccine mandates and indicated she would sign the bill. Republicans insisted the bill will help workers keep their jobs but Democrats complained it has no enforcement or penalties for companies that fire workers anyway. They supported it because it does guarantee workers unemployment.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A woman won a $2.2 million judgment against a Sioux City woman’s health clinic that she says fired her because she was injured at work. Jurors found that Siouxland Women’s Health Care fired Susan Bothwell in April 2018 days before she was scheduled to have surgery. Boutwell worked at the clinic for 28 years when she told the clinic she planned to file a workers’ compensation claim. She was told she would not be given a chance to return to work after the surgery and she could file for unemployment. An attorney for the clinic said it would file motions asking that the verdict be set aside, or that a new trial be scheduled.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Legislature has passed the second redistricting plan after the first one was rejected, ensuring the state continues decades of nonpartisan drawing of congressional and legislative districts. The plan passed the Senate 48-1 with one senator absent and the House 93-2. Republicans in the Iowa Senate rejected on a party-line vote the first plan drawn by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency during a one-day session on Oct. 5. Republican Sen. Roby Smith says the second set of maps weren’t perfect but were improved by creating more compact and more balanced population deviation among congressional and legislative districts.
McCALLSBURG, Iowa (AP) — The Story County Sheriff’s Office has launched a criminal investigation into questionable spending of public money in the town of McCallsburg after a state audit identified tens of thousands of dollars improperly spent or not collected. The audit released Thursday says investigators identified more than $47,510 in utility bills that were improperly reduced or not collected for dozens of the towns approximately 400 residents, including for accounts for the homes of Mayor Chris Erickson and Councilwoman LeAnne Hazen. Auditors found that Erickson made no utility payments for his home for nearly two years from 2017 to 2019, and that Hazen made no payments for 18 months. Both Erickson and Hazen are up for re-election on Tuesday.
PEOSTA, Iowa (AP) — The mayor of Peosta in eastern Iowa has resigned just days ahead of an election is which he is the only candidate on the ballot. The Telegraph Herald reports that Mayor Jim Merten submitted a resignation letter to city officials on Tuesday, citing “recent and unexpected changes in my life” that would keep him from serving. He did not go into further detail. Merten will appear on the ballot Tuesday for another four-year term and was running unopposed. Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem John Kraft will temporarily step into the mayoral role until there is a permanent solution.
FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — A Webster County jury has convicted an Eagle Grove man in the 2020 shooting deaths of two men during a celebration of life gathering. The jury on Wednesday found 56-year-old Michael J. Shivers guilty in the June 16, 2020, deaths of 25-year-old Jamael Cox and 47-year-old Tyrone Cunningham, both of Fort Dodge. The Fort Dodge Messenger reports the shooting happened about 4:45 a.m. after people had gathered at a home to celebrate the life of a woman. Prosecutors say the party became tense and that Shivers fired a rifle toward another man, causing others who were armed to begin shooting. Cox and Cunningham were caught in a crossfire and died. Two women were wounded but survived. Shivers will be sentenced Dec. 13.
