From the Associated Press (11:20 a.m.):
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Siemens Gamesa wind-energy plants in Hutchinson, Kansas, and Fort Madison, Iowa, will close down while the company waits for new orders. Officials with the company announced Friday that most employees at the two plants will be laid off. The blade manufacturing plant in Iowa will close in June, followed by the Kansas plant in July. Siemens said 171 people work at the Iowa plant, with 92 in Kansas. The company said it is possible the plants could reopen if market conditions improve. The Iowa plant manufactures wind turbine blades. The Kansas plant manufactures nacelles, which house the turbine’s generating components.
PRAIRIE CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa is the first state in the nation to require most gas stations to sell fuel with at least 15% ethanol under a bill signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds. Reynolds signed the bill Tuesday on a farm near Prairie City, about 20 miles east of Des Moines. The Republican governor signed the bill on a flatbed wagon backed by tractors and corn planters, highlighting what she called a victory for Iowa farmers and biofuels advocates. The ethanol industry consumes about half of Iowa’s corn crop. The state leads the nation in corn and ethanol production. Most gas sold in Iowa and across the country is blended with 10% ethanol.
ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — Police in suburban Des Moines are investigating the shooting death of a 4-year-old girl. The Ankeny Police Department says in a news release that officers were called Monday morning to a home for a report of the shooting. Officers and fire department paramedics arrived at the home and found the child with a gunshot wound. Medics began treating the girl and rushed her to a hospital, where she died from her injuries. Police have not given any details about how the girl was shot, but said detectives were interviewing family members, neighbors and witnesses.
WEBSTER CITY, Iowa (AP) — A jury has convicted a man of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of an Iowa State Patrol trooper last year. The jury on Monday also convicted 42-year-old Michael Lang of attempted murder and assaulting a police officer for his actions on April 9, 2021, that killed patrol Sgt. Jim Smith. He faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Smith was shot as he led a tactical team into Lang’s home to arrest him following Lang’s assault of another officer during a traffic stop that day. Smith was a 27-year patrol veteran.
An outbreak of avian flu is forcing farmers to cull their flocks and leading to concerns about even higher food prices. While it doesn’t pose a significant threat to humans, the outbreak is prompting a new wave of some of the same conspiracy theories that emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts who study misinformation say claims that the avian flu is a bioweapon or an elaborate hoax reflect a deepening distrust of the media and scientific experts. For poultry farmers and animal health officials in affected states, however, the flu poses a threat that’s all too real for both their animals and their local economies.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Abby Finkenauer’s bid to clinch the Democratic nomination for a U.S. Senate seat in Iowa wasn’t supposed to be so fraught. She built a wunderkind reputation in the Legislature before toppling a Republican congressman in 2018. She was the second-youngest woman elected to Congress, helping Democrats retake control of the House that year. But her Senate campaign faced unexpected trouble last month when, at least for a moment, it appeared she wouldn’t be allowed to compete in the June 7 primary. A judge found errors in her nominating petitions after Republican activists challenged her filings. Some Democrats blame her for quickly blaming political motivations and not acknowledging her campaign’s organizational mistakes.
