WATERLOO, Iowa (KXEL) – Former President Donald Trump maintains a large lead in the final NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll before the Iowa Caucuses. Trump leads among likely GOP caucusgoers with 48%. For the first time in this poll, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley is in second place, at 20%. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is in third at 16%, while businessman Vivek Ramaswamy is in fourth with 8%. Both DeSantis and Haley are within the margin of error. The poll was conducted over the past week. 705 likely Republican caucusgoers were surveyed for it. The overall margin of error came in at plus-minus 3.7 percentage points. 68% of likely caucusgoers said they have made their mind up, while 25% said they still have not decided who they will support. 82% of former President Trump’s supporters have made their minds up, while 64% of DeSantis supporters and 63% of Haley supporters have. The Caucuses begin tonight at 7 p.m.
PERRY, Iowa (KCRG) – A central Iowa high school principal critically hurt in a shooting that killed a middle schooler earlier this month has died from his injuries. Dan Marburger passed away Sunday morning, according to an update on a GoFundMe page that had been set up to help with medical costs. He had been hospitalized for ten days after protecting staff and students during the Jan. 4 shooting. Marburger had been Perry High’s principal since 1995. The Iowa Department of Public Safety called his actions heroic, saying in a release Marburger “acted selflessly and placed himself in harm’s way in an apparent effort to protect his students.” Two additional school staffers and four students were hurt in the shooting; 11-year-old Ahmir Joliff died after being shot three times by 17-year-old Dylan Butler. Butler turned the gun on himself and died by suicide, according to the Iowa State Medical Examiner.
DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI/KCRG) – For at least the second time in as many days, the Iowa State Patrol has caught a driver going over 90 mph while the state was experiencing blizzard conditions. The State Patrol used a “rolling eyes” emoji in a Facebook post on Friday after a trooper stopped a driver going 92 mph in a 70 mph zone in Northern Iowa. “Most would assume we wouldn’t have any high speed posts today, right!?! WRONG. Trooper Waalkens stopped this out-of-control driver on I-35 in Northern Iowa today. Ridiculous and unacceptable.” Another post was made on Saturday, this time about someone caught going 94 mph. “Most people would say that 94 MPH is unbelievable during a blizzard. Unfortunately, these speeds are still happening…” they said in the post.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (Iowa’s News Now) – With the continued cold blanketing eastern Iowa, leaders at the University of Northern Iowa have announced no in-person classes on Tuesday. The campus will also be at reduced operations because of the extreme cold. Remote and online classes will go on as scheduled. Professors of in-person classes have the option of holding their classes online, but only if students are notified in advance.
