From the Associated Press:
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – An Oklahoma man has been sentenced to five years in prison for the beating death of his brother-in-law outside a Sioux City motel. 36-year-old Jordan Kaesemeyer, of Marlow, Oklahoma, was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty in September to involuntary manslaughter for the June 2020 death of Justin Morrison, also of Oklahoma. Assault and willful injury counts were dismissed in exchange for his plea. Police say the two men were staying at the Palmer House Motel when they fought and Kaesemeyer kicked Morrison in the face with a steel-toed work boot. Morrison refused to get medical attention and was later found dead on his motel bed.
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – Authorities are investigating whether heating equipment caused a large fire at the site of an amusement park being constructed in Waterloo. Firefighters were called to the Lost Island Theme Park site Thursday night. Officials said the fire destroyed an entrance shelter for one of the rides. Park owner Eric Bertch said it appears some temporary heating caught a blanket on fire. The $100 million addition to the Lost Island Water Park is tentatively scheduled to open in May or June. Bertch said the fire will not delay the park’s opening. No one was injured in the fire.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A state panel responsible for tracking Iowa revenue trends says growth continues at a good pace but that tax changes signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds last week could reverse that trend beginning next year. The Revenue Estimating Conference said Thursday that state revenue will grow 4.3% this year, bringing in net receipts of $9.17 billion. For next year, however, the growth is expected to reverse as the Republican-crafted tax cuts kick in, resulting in tax revenue falling 0.2% to $9.16 billion. The revenue decline is due to the estimated loss of $236 million in tax revenue. By 2024, that revenue decline is expected to reach $561 million, or a 2.1% drop to $8.96 billion.
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.
