From the Associated Press (11:20 a.m.):
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) – Large numbers of geese and pelicans have been found dead along the Mississippi River in eastern Iowa, and wildlife biologists aren’t sure what’s killing them. The Quad-City Times reports that the carcasses of more than 20 Canada geese were recently discovered at Nahant Marsh along the river in Davenport, and more were found along the city’s South Concord Street. About two dozen dead American white pelicans were found months ago in the river around Bettendorf upstream from Davenport. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources collected many of the carcasses for testing, but DNR wildlife biologist Curt Kemmerer said nothing was conclusive. Some biologists say low river levels could be the culprit, noting that harmful bacteria and mold could grow in more shallow waters.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – A March trial date has been set in a 2020 shooting that killed a pregnant woman and her unborn child in Cedar Rapids. The trial of Johnnie Osborne IV, 27, is set to begin on March 29. The Gazette reports he is charged with first-degree murder, termination of pregnancy during a forcible felony, attempted murder and willful injury in connection with the May 1, 2020 shooting. Prosecutors say Osborne shot his girlfriend, Asia Grice, 25, in her head in a Cedar Rapids apartment and her unborn child did not survive. Grice’s friend, Keonna Smith was also shot and seriously injured.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Lee Enterprises effort to repel a hostile takeover got a boost this week when a judge ruled the newspaper publisher could ignore two director nominations from the Alden Global Capital hedge fund. But Alden said it will press the fight by urging shareholders to vote against Lee’s Chairman Mary Junck and one other longstanding board member at the company’s March 10 annual meeting. Late last year, Lee rejected Alden’s $24 per share offer to buy the company because it said the roughly $141 million bid “grossly undervalues” the publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Tulsa World, Richmond Times-Dispatch and dozens of other newspapers.
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – Three people who were attending a monster truck rally in Waterloo were taken to a hospital Saturday night with symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. Waterloo Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Ben Petersen told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier that truck exhaust was assumed to be the source of the carbon monoxide that sickened the spectators. The three people became ill around 9 p.m. Saturday when the crowd was filing out of the National Cattle Congress complex at the end of the event. The monster truck rally featured several top trucks including Bounty Hunter, Scarlet Bandit, Rat Attack and Hot Tamale.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The nation’s egg producers are in the midst of a multibillion-dollar shift to cage-free eggs that is dramatically changing the lives of millions of hens in response to new laws and demands from restaurant chains. In a decade, the percentage of hens in cage-free housing has soared from 4% in 2010 to 28% in 2020, and that figure is expected to more than double to about 70% in the next four years. The change marks one of the animal welfare movement’s biggest successes after years of battles with the food industry. The transition has cost billions of dollars for producers who initially resisted calls for more humane treatment of chickens but have since fully embraced the new reality.
DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Greyhound Park in Dubuque officials say 58 jobs will be lost when Iowa’s last greyhound racing park closes in May. The Iowa park will have a last season from April 16 to May 15, with 10 races each day. The park is one of four greyhound racing facilities still operating in the country, with another one in Arkansas also scheduled to close by the end of the year. In 2018, Florida residents approved a constitutional amendment to eliminate greyhound racing at the end of the 2020 season. That was a blow to the Dubuque facility, which shared many dogs with Florida venues.
