From the Associated Press (11:20 a.m.):
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say one person has died as a powerful storm system swept across the Great Plains and Midwest amid unseasonably warm temperatures, bringing hurricane-force wind gusts and spawning reported tornadoes in Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota. It’s a weather outbreak that experts described as extremely unusual for December. The Iowa State Patrol says a semitrailer was struck by high winds and rolled onto its side in eastern Iowa on Wednesday evening, killing the driver. There were more than 20 tornado reports Wednesday in the Plains states, scattered through eastern Nebraska and Iowa. More than 400,000 homes and businesses were without electricity Thursday morning in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and Kansas.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa is posting 823 COVID-19 hospitalizations and 130 more deaths as virus activity remains high throughout the state. Iowa public health officials reported Wednesday that 14 children age 11 or younger are among those in hospitals. All are unvaccinated. Another five children between age 12 and 17 are hospitalized and all but one are unvaccinated. The Iowa Department of Public Health also reported 20 people between age 20 and 29 are in the hospital with only one of those patients fully vaccinated. State officials also reported another 130 deaths, raising the state total to 7,680. More than 500 people have died since Nov. 1, reflecting an average of about 12 deaths a day from COVID-19.
NEW YORK (AP) – The former Facebook manager who startled the world this fall by leaking tens of thousands of internal documents and accusing her former employer of caring more about money than about public safety has a book deal. Little, Brown and Company announced Thursday that it had acquired Frances Haugen’s memoir, which it said would offer “a critical examination of Facebook.” The book does not yet have a title or release date. Haugen’s prominence has been cited as a sign of a rising wave of Big Tech whistleblowers. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has disputed her accounts, calling them a “false picture” of the company.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A new monthly survey of bankers in rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states shows the economy remains strong in the region, but some bankers said they are worried about how inflation will affect farmers. The overall economic index slipped from November’s 67.7 to 66.7 in December but any score above 50 suggests growth. The report released Thursday said high inflation is a concern as land costs and the price of supplies farmers need are expected to keep growing next year. Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) – A 64-year-old Davenport man has been found not guilty of homicide by vehicle due to reckless driving in the death of a man who he hit with his vehicle and dragged under his car. A judge on Tuesday did find Mark Blackwood guilty of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death. Investigators said Blackwood hit 60-year-old Eric Johnson, of Rock Island, on Jan. 18. Johnson was dragged about 2,050 feet after the crash. District Court Judge Mark Fowler found that prosecutors proved Blackwood knew he hit Johnson, but did not prove Blackwood knew Johnson was under the car when he kept driving.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – A Cedar Rapids teenager accused of killing his parents will undergo psychiatric exams before legal proceedings against him continue. Court documents filed Monday say District Court Judge Ian Thornhill ordered a competency evaluation for 17-year-old Ethan Alexander Orton. Thornhill said Orton’s defense team submitted enough information to support their belief that Orton has a mental illness. Orton is charged as an adult with two counts of first-degree murder in the fatal stabbings of his parents, 41-year-old Misty Scott Slade, and 42-year-old Casey Orton, at their home on Oct. 14. He has pleaded not guilty.
