From the Associated Press (11:20 a.m.):
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Three directors at newspaper publisher Lee Enterprises have been reelected over the objections of the hedge fund that has been trying to buy the company since last fall. Lee says its chairman, CEO and lead independent director were all reelected as expected at its annual meeting Thursday, with each receiving support from more than 70% of the votes cast. Alden Global Capital had urged shareholders to vote against two of those directors after a judge blocked its effort to nominate its own directors. Alden, which already owns more than 200 newspapers, probably won’t abandon its effort to buy Lee after this latest setback, but it wasn’t immediately clear what the New York-based hedge fund might try next.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has launched her campaign for a second full term at a rally in Des Moines, touting her conservative agenda of cutting taxes, personal freedom from mandates and school choice. The Republican governor made the announcement Wednesday night at a rally in Des Moines. Reynolds’ announcement comes about a week after she gave the GOP response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. Reynolds will likely face Democrat Deidre DeJear in the November general election. A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll published March 5 shows Reynolds leading DeJear among likely voters, 51% to 43%.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa man who saw his 2013 murder conviction overturned faces a new murder charge for a stabbing death at a Johnston fast food restaurant earlier this week. The Des Moines Register reports that 55-year-old Spencer Antowyn Pierce, of Des Moines, was arrested Tuesday and charged with first-degree murder and burglary in the Monday fatal stabbing of 20-year-old Jermaine Whitaker Moses at a Johnston Sonic Drive-In. Police say Pierce attacked Moses and another man when they arrived for work at the restaurant. Pierce was convicted of first-degree murder and drug counts in 2013, along with his girlfriend, in the shooting death of 35-year-old Steve Harmon. But the Iowa Court of Appeals overturned his murder conviction in 2015, ruling there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him of murder.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Des Moines police say they have arrested six teenagers in a shooting outside a school that killed a 15-year-old boy and seriously injured two teenage girls. Police say gunshots fired Monday afternoon outside East High School came from several shooters from multiple vehicles. Police said Tuesday that those arrested range in age from 14 to 17. Police identified the 15-year-old killed as Jose David Lopez of Des Moines. Police say he was the intended target of the shooting. He was not a student at East. Police say the other two shot were females aged 16 and 18, who both attend East, and were in a group that included Lopez.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa House Democratic leader and the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee are accusing the committee’s chairman and House Speaker Pat Grassley of violating ethics rules that prohibit lobbyists from working for the state. House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst and Rep. Mary Wolfe said Tuesday that Judiciary Committee Chairman Steven Holt hired Republican attorney Alan Ostergren to assist with an investigation. Ostergren says Wolfe and Konfrst are playing politics and that he’s not an employee of the state but an independent contractor. Ostergren is registered as a lobbyist. He signed an agreement dated March 1 to work for the committee for $400 an hour, up to $2,000 a month or more.
HOUMA, La. (AP) – A Swiss company’s cruises along the length of the Mississippi River are a step closer to reality – its new 386-passenger ship has touched water for the first time. Viking River Cruises of Basel celebrated the “float out” of the Viking Mississippi on Monday at Edison Chouest Offshore’s LaShip shipyard in Houma, Louisiana. Two U.S. companies already offer cruises up and down the river. American Queen Voyages, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has three paddlewheel cruise boats on the river. American Cruise Lines, based in Guilford, Connecticut, has five boats on the Mississippi and plans to launch a sixth late this year. Viking says its ship will make its first voyage in June.
