From the Associated Press:
MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — Less than six months after dropping the mascot “Mohawks,” the Mason City School Board has approved a student-led suggestion to adopt the name “River Hawks.” The Globe Gazette reports that the board unanimously approved the name change Monday night. The name was presented by members of the Mason City High School student senate after a vote of the student body saw more than 61% select River Hawks over two other contenders — the Majors and the Monarchs. The previous mascot was retired in November, following examples across the country of schools and sports teams dropping offensive names and mascots that either pull from or pervert Native American culture.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police say two southeast Iowa teenagers used a baseball bat last fall to kill their high school Spanish teacher, and one of them then described in social media posts how they followed the woman, carried out the attack and hid her body. On Tuesday, a judge also rejected defense lawyers’ requests that the media be excluded from a hearing later this week at which the teens will seek to be tried in the juvenile system rather than in adult court. Jeremy Goodale and Willard Miller, both 16, are charged with murder in the death of Fairfield High School Spanish teacher Nohema Graber. Her body was found Nov. 3.
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Police in Waterloo say a man has died after being shot early Tuesday in a residential neighborhood. The Courier reports that police were called shortly after 4 a.m. to an address just west of Washington Park and found a 41-year-old man wounded. Police say he had been shot in the abdomen. Paramedics took the man to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police have not released the man’s name and have not announced any arrests or suspects in the case.
ARGYLE, Iowa (AP) — The Animal Rescue League of Iowa says it has removed hundreds of animals from the same rural Lee County property where it rescued 42 dogs in February. The organization said in a news release that it helped remove 225 dogs, barn animals, reptiles and small animals from the home last week. It says the animals were living in “horrendous” conditions. In February, the organization removed 42 dogs and puppies and 41 hamsters from the same property. The Des Moines Register reports a man and woman from the Argyle area were charged with seven counts of animal neglect on March 7, before the latest rescue.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas agriculture officials say more cases of avian influenza, more commonly called bird flu, have been found in the state. The Wichita Eagle reports that the Kansas Department of Agriculture has confirmed the disease in a backyard home-farm flock of birds in rural Sedgwick County and a similar backyard flock in rural Dickinson County. The cases were confirmed by the national Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa. Officials say the affected areas have been quarantined and the affected flocks will be culled to prevent the spread of the disease. Nearly 13 million chicken, turkeys and other birds have been or are set to be killed in the U.S. because of the bird flu.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines police say two people were injured in a shooting outside a bar. Police Sgt. Paul Parizek said the shooting occurred about midnight Saturday at a Whisky River bar. One man was taken from the bar to a hospital with a gunshot wound. Parizek says he is expected to survive. A second person later walked into a West Des Moines hospital with a minor gunshot wound that Parizek says occurred in the same shooting. Parizek says the shooting stemmed from a dispute at the bar. No arrests have been made as the investigation continues.
