From the KCRG-TV9 Newsroom:
It’s Black Friday, with eastern Iowa stores banking on this initial rush of holiday shoppers. The National Retail Federation predicts shoppers will increase their spending in November and December by up to 3.5% from last year. Adobe Digital Insights reports online sales have beaten expectations by spending more than $77 billion online this month.
One person is dead and two others are hurt after a semi and SUV crashed and shut down Highway 151 yesterday afternoon in Dubuque County. The highway was shut down at the Skyline Drive intersection southwest of Dubuque for several hours. Officials say the driver of the SUV died at the scene. A passenger in that vehicle was airlifted to the hospital. The driver of the semi suffered minor injuries.
A fire destroyed a hoop building in Independence. This happened late Wednesday night at the 1900 block of Jamestown Avenue. The cause of the fire in the storage building is still under investigation.
Construction is planned to start early next year on an estimated $12 million customer convenience center for the Dubuque Metro Landfill. Part of that new facility aims to prevent fires from improperly disposed batteries. Fires caused by batteries coming into contact with the landfill’s mechanized equipment happen nearly every day at the Dubuque landfill. A $4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy will help pay for the battery recycling and collection hub.
The Iowa and Iowa State football teams and their fans will have to brave the cold in their last games of the regular season. For the Hawkeyes, it’s expected to be 19 degrees by the 6:30 p.m. kickoff against the Nebraska Cornhuskers tonight. This would be the third coldest game at Kinnick Stadium, dating back to 1970. Iowa State will host Kansas State on Saturday, and they’ll face similar temps–with it expected to be 18 degrees by the 6:30 p.m. kickoff. That would put it around the 6th coldest game at Jack Trice Stadium. The Iowa women’s basketball game last night was significantly warmer. They played in the Cancun Challenge, where the temperature was in the mid 70’s. They won 69-62 against Rhode Island.
