From the Associated Press:
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa House has overwhelmingly approved a bill that expands the biofuels market in Iowa by requiring gas stations to sell fuel with higher blends of ethanol unless they obtain an exemption because of inadequate equipment. The bill passed 81 to 10 on Wednesday with nine House members absent. It now moves to the Senate. The bill requires existing gas stations that have compatible equipment to offer E15 — a blend of gasoline with 15% ethanol — from at least one pump by 2026. Stations must meet the new mandate if they can upgrade equipment with state-funded grants within certain cost limits. After next January, any new gas stations or those that install new tanks, pumps and hoses must offer E15 from at least half of their available pumps.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police say they don’t know why a 36-year-old man walked into a neonatal intensive care unit at a Des Moines hospital and fed a baby that wasn’t his before leaving. Adam Wedig was charged on Monday with two counts of criminal trespass. Police say Wedig got into the NICU unit at MercyOne on Dec. 28 and bottle fed a baby. KCCI-TV reports Wedig had no connection to the child and police say he did not intend to harm the baby. Police Sgt. Paul Parizek says Wedig did not offer police any possible motive for his actions.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — An arrest warrant has been issued for a Cedar Rapids man after he failed to appear in court last week on a charge accusing him of harassing a Linn County prosecutor. The Gazette reports that 34-year-old Marcus Alan DeVore was charged in December with third-degree harassment. Investigators say he contacted Assistant Linn County Attorney Monica Slaughter on Dec. 22 with the intent to threaten or intimidate her. Investigators say that although he was warned not to contact Slaughter again, he continued to send her Facebook messages that included “vulgar, threatening, alarming and intimidating language and emojis.” Prosecutors say DeVore was upset over the conviction of his friend, Drew Blahnik, for second-degree murder in the 2018 stabbing death of 31-year-old Chris Bagley.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The number of people being treated for the coronavirus in Iowa hospitals and those needing intensive care has continued to decline. Health care officials had predicted the omicron variant, which is the dominant strain in the state, would likely subside in February after Iowa reached its peak virus spread in mid-January. Iowa Department of Public Health Data released Wednesday shows 794 people in hospitals, down from 929 a week ago. There were 109 COVID-19 patients being treated in intensive care units, down from 165 on Jan. 26. Iowa officials reported another 156 deaths that occurred between Oct. 10 and Jan. 27. Iowa’s death total is now at 8,657.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is reaching out to Republican as well as Democratic Senate Judiciary Committee leaders as he works to gain GOP support for his Supreme Court nominee. Biden met Tuesday at the White House with the top members of the panel that will get the first crack at the nominee — Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois and Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa. Winning Republican votes will be a challenge in a Senate that has been bitterly divided over the past three confirmations. Confirmation of Justice Stephen Breyer’s replacement will be a test for Biden after much of his policy agenda has run aground.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A former lottery computer technician serving a 25-year prison sentence for ongoing criminal conduct by rigging computers to win lottery jackpots for himself, friends and family will be released from an Iowa prison on parole after serving nearly five years. Eddie Tipton was granted release by the Iowa Board of Parole on Jan. 20 and will be allowed to live in Texas, a board document says. Tipton pleaded guilty in 2017 and was ordered to repay restitution to Colorado, Wisconsin, Kansas and Oklahoma. He appears to owe the four states about $1.6 million and could be ordered to prison in Wisconsin if he fails to pay the $400,000 he owes the state by September 2026.
