From the Associated Press:
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man and his Minnesota son have pleaded guilty to a charge of civil disorder related to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, admitting that they entered the building through a broken window and pushed through a police line once inside. Both 51-year-old Daryl Johnson, of St. Ansgar, Iowa, and 29-year-old Daniel Johnson, of Austin, Minnesota, made social media posts noting their participation in the insurrection. They admitted guilt in a video hearing Tuesday. They’re likely to get up to six months in prison at their April 12 sentencing. They agreed to pay restitution of $2,000 each to help defray the $1.5 million in damage to the Capitol.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa has surpassed 8,000 deaths from COVID-19 as virus infections increased and significantly more children were hospitalized with the virus. The Iowa Department of Public Health on Wednesday posted 19,049 confirmed positive cases in the past week, and the state’s seven-day moving average of positive cases stood at 2,416 per day, the highest level since November 2020. Total deaths in Iowa rose to 8,019, including 161 additional deaths that date back as far as Oct. 13. Dr. Dan Diekema, an infectious disease specialist at University of Iowa Health Care, says the omicron variant is now Iowa’s dominant strain, comprising up to 90% of cases.
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A national Muslim civil rights group is calling for state and federal hate crime investigations into the vandalism of a northeastern Iowa mosque captured on the building’s security cameras. The video shows what appears to be a middle-aged woman vandalizing the Al-Noor Islamic Community Center in Waterloo on the evening of Dec. 28. The Courier reports that the woman first used snow to draw crosses — a widely recognized Christian symbol — on the mosque’s windows before graduating to scrawling profanities aimed at Islam and Muslims on the mosque’s walls using some type of oil-based substance. On Wednesday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement calling for local, state and federal authorities to launch their own hate crime investigations into the vandalism.
CRESCENT, Iowa (AP) — A 60-year-old ski and sledding attraction in western Iowa has been sold to Pottawattamie County for $3.5 million. The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reports that the county’s purchase of Mt. Crescent Ski Area, which sits adjacent to Hitchcock Nature Center, was finalized on Dec. 30. The money for the purchase came from a $1.4 million Iowa West Foundation grant and federal pandemic stimulus funds. Former owners Korby and Samantha Fleischer will manage the attraction through the remainder of the current season and have the option to continue managing for at least two years.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Waterloo Democratic Rep. Ras Smith announced he will suspend his campaign for Iowa governor. Smith, who in June 2021 became the first person to announce his run for governor, on Wednesday cited a “drastic disconnect between the current political system and the people” in explaining his decision to drop his campaign. Smith is serving his third term representing an area of Black Hawk County. He has chaired the Legislative Black Caucus. His decision leaves Deidre DeJear as the highest-profile Democrat remaining in the race. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds hasn’t announced her plans but is expected to seek reelection.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A county attorney with a long history in Republicans politics has announced she’ll run for Iowa attorney general. Guthrie County Attorney Brenna Bird said Tuesday that Iowa needs someone who will “stop Joe Biden and the radical socialists in DC.” Bird says she’s heard from many Iowans about the need for new leadership in the attorney general’s office, held for most of the past four decades by Democrat Tom Miller. Bird has a long resume of serving Republican politicians. She was chief of staff for former U.S. Rep. Steve King and served as the staff lawyer for former Gov. Terry Branstad. She was elected county attorney for Guthrie County in 2018. She ran against Miller in 2010 and lost.
