From the Associated Press:
BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Burlington, Iowa, has agreed to pay $5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the mother of a man who was shot to death by police five years ago. The settlement announced Thursday comes nearly five years after Officer Chris Chiprez fatally shot 27-year-old Marquis Jones. Police stopped Jones on Oct. 1, 2017, for allegedly playing music too loudly, and police say he ran away with a gun in his hand. Chiprez said in reports that he thought Jones was armed when he shot him. But lawyers for Jones’ mother say evidence showed Jones had dropped the gun yards away and was nearly prone on the ground when he was shot.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sixteen states and Puerto Rico are jockeying for early slots on a new Democratic presidential primary calendar, offering presentations for party bosses on why they deserve to go first — or at least close to it. Iowa has held the leadoff position since 1972, but technical glitches undermined its Democratic caucus two years ago. That sparked clamor for change. States are pressing their case over three days of Democrats’ Rules and Bylaws Committee meetings. The full Democratic National Committee plans to vote in August. It could opt to alter the current order of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — or keep it the same.
AMES, Iowa (AP) — The men’s hockey club at Iowa State University has been suspended for the next academic year. University officials announced Thursday an investigation found the club engaged in alcohol abuse, personal humiliation and hazing against new or rookie members. An investigation also found the club coerced money from new members for admission, continued membership and status in the club. A separate investigation found Recreation Services staff and the club’s coaches did not understand or have appropriate oversight of student complaints and club finances. The club’s players, parents and alumni denied the allegations and said they would explore all options for responding to the suspension.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa attorney general’s office says a state Supreme Court decision that requires a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion won’t take effect until next month, but the state’s main abortion provider says it will immediately require the waiting period. A spokesman for the Iowa attorney general’s office on Wednesday said last week’s ruling would not take effect until the case has been returned to the lower court judge for further action, likely around July 8. After the ruling, Planned Parenthood North Central States officials had said the organization would immediately implement the waiting period. Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Emily Bisek says despite the attorney general’s belief that the waiting period wasn’t required yet, it would stick by its decision.
YARMOUTH, Iowa (AP) — Crews have recovered the body of a man who was buried by piles of grain and debris from a collapsed grain silo in southeastern Iowa. The collapse happened just before 8 a.m. Tuesday at a grain elevator at Yarmouth. Des Moines County emergency management officials announced the man’s body was found about 1:15 p.m. Wednesday. Mediapolis Fire Department Deputy Chief Jeff Kerr told the Hawk Eye that two men had just unloaded a semitrailer full of grain when they heard a loud bang and began running as the silo partially collapsed. One of the men escaped. The name of the man who died has not been released.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A heartwarming tradition launched at Iowa home football games five years ago is getting another feel-good layer. The University of Iowa announced Wednesday that patients at UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital will get to pick the songs that accompany the Hawkeye Wave, at which fans attending games at Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium wave to patients at the adjacent hospital. The plan was announced two months after the university sought to have Hawkeye fans vote for the next song to accompany the Hawkeye Wave. The fans, in turn, suggested letting the kids pick. Now at every Iowa home game this year, the hospital’s Kid Captain — a Children’s Hospital patient who is is picked to be honored at each Iowa football game — will help select a new song to accompany the Hawkeye Wave.
