From the Associated Press:
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials have agreed to pay a group of attorneys nearly $5 million in a case that showed staff wrongly kept boys at a state-run school in isolation chambers and restraints. The Iowa Appeals Board on Tuesday approved the payment to attorneys for former students of the Iowa Boys State Training School in Eldora. The former students earlier won a lawsuit against the state over their mistreatment. The school houses boys who have committed crimes. During the trial, witnesses testified that students were often kept in isolation for weeks or put in device called “the wrap” that left them immobilized for up to five hours.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Farms that raise turkeys and chickens for meat and eggs are on high alert, fearing a repeat of a widespread bird flu outbreak in 2015 that killed 50 million birds across 15 states and cost the federal government nearly $1 billion. The new fear is driven by the discovery announced Feb. 9 of the virus infecting a commercial turkey flock in Indiana. The 29,000 turkeys in the flock were killed to prevent spread of the virus. The poultry industry and government officials say they have plans to more quickly stop the spread and are advising producers to take precautions, since the virus strain is potentially deadly to commercial poultry. Egg, turkey and chicken prices could rise and availability could drop if birds at enough farms were to be infected.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The foundation of the late Des Moines businessman and philanthropist, Richard Jacobson, has announced a $70 million gift to the University of Iowa for a new hospital to be built across from Kinnick Stadium. The donation is the largest in the university’s 175-year history. The Richard O. Jacobson Foundation announced the gift Tuesday to go toward the new University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics patient care tower. The hospital will bear Jacobson’s name, pending approval from Iowa’s Board of Regents. The new facility will feature single inpatient rooms, state-of-the-art operating rooms and intensive care unit beds in an effort to address capacity issues, rising health care demands and aging facilities.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The last of four defendants in the case of shooting that killed a woman and injured others at a New Year’s party in Sioux City has pleaded guilty. The Sioux City Journal reports that 21-year-old Liliana Gutierrez pleaded guilty Monday to a reduced aggravated misdemeanor count of accessory after the fact for serving as the getaway driver for three men who fired a barrage of bullets into a Sioux City after midnight on New Year’s Eve 2020. The shooting killed 18-year-old Mia Kritis and wounded three others. Police say Gutierrez drove Christopher Morales, Carlos Morales and Anthony Bauer to the house, where they fired at least 27 shots in the house, then drove them away. As part of the plea deal, Gutierrez agreed to a seven-year prison sentence.
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.
