From the Associated Press (11:20 a.m.):
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The National Weather Service says Des Moines has seen a near 50-year record for snow fall with the latest winter storm to move through the state. The service says 5.2 inches of snow was recorded Thursday at the Des Moines International Airport. That tops the 5.1 inches recorded on the same day in 1975. The weather service says Polk City, about 13 miles north of Des Moines, also recorded 5.2 inches of snow Thursday. Other Iowa communities saw a range of snow totals, from around 1 inch to 4.5 inches in Indianola and Pella.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Legislature has sent a bill to Gov. Kim Reynolds that creates a 3.9% flat tax in four years, eliminates taxes on retirement income and lowers taxes for corporations at an estimated cost of nearly $2 billion when fully implemented in a state with an annual $8 billion budget. Republicans in the House and Senate on Thursday negotiated a compromise agreement and passed it through the Senate and House in a few hours sending it to Reynolds, who had proposed a 4% flat tax. Iowa will join about 10 other states with a flat tax when she signs it.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller says dramatic increases in the price of farm fertilizers have prompted him to look into the causes and whether farmers have been subjected to unfair practices. Miller on Thursday said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and other state attorneys general are committed to helping conduct market research to assess the soaring prices. For example, anhydrous ammonia, a corn fertilizer, is up more than 300% from last year. Miller says the market study findings could lead to further investigation. The Fertilizer Institute, an industry trade group, says prices farmers pay are subject to a complex web of global supply chain and demand factors.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The parents of a child who was fed and changed by a stranger in a neonatal intensive care unit at a Des Moines hospital are suing the hospital and the man. Police say the man entered the NICU at MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center and fed and changed the baby in December. The child was not injured. The child’s parents were not in the area at the time. The man, Adam Wedig, has been charged with misdemeanor trespassing. The parents say in their lawsuit that MercyOne did not have adequate security for the unit. A spokeswoman said the hospital could not comment on the lawsuit.
SEYMOUR, Iowa (AP) – A former Iowa dog breeder accused of violating federal animal welfare laws scores of times over several months last year has been charged in Wayne County with several animal neglect counts. Television station KCCI reports that 26-year-old Daniel Gingerich was charged with two counts of animal neglect with serious injury or death and four counts of animal neglect with injury. The misdemeanor counts are related to dead and sick dogs that had been in Gingerich’s care. Last November, a federal judge permanently barred Gingerich from selling, breeding or brokering dogs in an agreement that ended the U.S. Agriculture Department’s lawsuit against Gingerich, who also agreed to give up 514 dogs kept in various locations around the state.
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – Officials say one person has died in a house fire in Waterloo. The Courier reports that the fire broke out Wednesday afternoon in a duplex between the Cedar River and Rooff Park. Firefighters called to the scene arrived to find smoke coming from the two-story structure’s windows. Officials say an adult died in the fire, but have not released the victim’s identity. Waterloo’s city fire marshal is investigating to determine the cause of the blaze.
