From the Associated Press:
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Two Republicans have asked a judge to remove Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer from the June primary ballot. They claimed Thursday that a state panel wrongly rejected their challenge to her nomination papers earlier this week. Kim Schmett and Leanne Pellett, who have served as Republican county officials, challenged a decision by the State Objections Panel on Tuesday to reject their challenge of Finkenauer. The former congresswoman from Dubuque is seen as the frontrunner in a three-person race for the Democratic nomination and the right to face Republican Sen. Charles Grassley. Schmett and Pellett argued Finkenauer hadn’t gathered enough signatures to qualify for the primary ballot. The panel rejected their challenge on a 2-1 vote.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Federal officials are funneling more money to rural water projects in several states as the Biden administration looks to put a dent in growing infrastructure needs amid drought and climate change. The U.S. Interior Department announced Thursday that $420 million will be spent on projects in New Mexico, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa. The work includes construction of water treatment plants, pipeline connections, pump systems and reservoirs to provide drinking water to rural and tribal communities. The largest share — $160 million — will go toward an ongoing project designed to provide water for about 70,000 people in eastern New Mexico.
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man charged in the killing of a 10-year-old Davenport girl will see his trial moved out of Scott County. The Quad-City Times reports that a judge on Wednesday granted a request by Henry Dinkins’ lawyers for a change of venue. A new venue for Dinkins’ trial has not yet been selected. Dinkins pleaded not guilty last year to first-degree murder and kidnapping in the death of Breasia Terrell. Prosecutors say Dinkins took the girl from a Davenport apartment complex in July 2020, fatally shot her and hid her body in rural eastern Iowa. The girl’s disappearance prompted a monthslong search that ended when two people fishing near DeWitt discovered her remains in a pond.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republican state election officials in several states are having to defend their records as they face challengers from within their own party who either outright deny that Democrat Joe Biden won the presidency or raise unsubstantiated claims that elections are not secure. Those claims have wide appeal with the Republican base. If those challengers go on to win, it raises the prospect that the nation’s voting process will become further politicized. Some incumbent secretaries of state who previously denounced attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential results are now agreeing fraud is a problem, as a way to help them steer though the GOP nominating contests.
BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — An Iowa man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for fatally shooting a pregnant woman at a Bellevue home last year. The Omaha World-Herald reports that 25-year-old Nicholas Holliday, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was sentenced Tuesday in Sarpy County District Court after he pleaded no contest to manslaughter and second-degree assault of an unborn child. Police investigators have said Holliday was showing a gun to people in the home on May 30 and was handing it to 21-year-old Madyson Dennis, of Omaha, when it discharged. The bullet killed Dennis, who was three months pregnant.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines police have charged four more teenagers with murder in the March 7 shooting death of a 15-year-old outside a Des Moines high school. Police on Tuesday charged the teens about three weeks after arresting six other people in the death of Jose David Lopez and the shooting of two teenage girls who survived. Like those arrested earlier, the additional suspects were charged with first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. The shooting happened along the edge of the East High School campus, near downtown Des Moines. Investigators made the latest arrests after reviewing surveillance videos and interviewing suspects and their acquaintances.
