WATERLOO, Iowa (KCRG) – One person has been taken to the hospital following a shooting in Waterloo Wednesday evening. The shooting took place at the 300 block of Lester Street. Waterloo Police Captain Aaron McClelland reports one person was shot and taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. There are no arrests at this time.
DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – An audit by the Iowa Secretary of State’s office found 277 non-citizens voted, or are registered to vote. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said the agency was able to compare data from the federal SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) program and the self-reported non-citizen data received from the Iowa Department of Transportation to get that number. Pate said having access to data from the SAVE program allowed his office to reduce the former estimate of 2,186 potential non-citizens to 277 confirmed non-citizens. The audit found 35 non-citizens had cast ballots that were counted in the 2024 General Election, and five non-citizens had attempted to cast ballots that were rejected. Some of the ballots were normal ballots cast at a polling place on Election Day, and others were absentee ballots. A total of 22 non-citizens registered to vote, but did not vote in the 2024 election. Pate said these non-citizens will be turned over to the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and Iowa Department of Public Safety for investigation and next steps. Pate also said his office is pursuing legal action against the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). That legal action comes after Pate said the USCIS denied his office’s request for clarifying data about the non-citizens.
DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Media Iowa Capitol Bureau) – The Iowa House passed a bill Thursday to make human smuggling a crime. The bill’s sponsor says it will protect both citizens and noncitizens alike. The bill makes it a felony to hide an undocumented person from police or transport them in an attempt to conceal them from law enforcement. The bill had bipartisan support. The bill requires that someone in violation of the law have intent to conceal someone from police. A similar bill passed the Iowa House last year, but the Senate never took it up.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – A court declined to enter a temporary stay of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission’s decision to issue a gaming license to Linn County. Riverside Casino and the Washington County Riverboat Foundation filed the petition challenging the gaming license in February after the IRGC voted to approve the license. Linn County needs the license to be approved for the Cedar Crossing Casino that’s now already under construction in Cedar Rapids. In the petition, Riverside Casino and the Washington County Riverboat Foundation argued the IRGC did not consider how a Cedar Rapids casino would hurt the Riverside Casino. The petition argued there would be “irreparable injury,” including loss of revenue and layoffs at the Riverside Casino, as well as a significant impact to the nonprofits which receive money from the casino every year if Cedar Rapids is allowed to have a casino. In the ruling, the court said it acknowledges financial concerns and real-life consequences of those concerns, but concluded the court could not determine if the petitioners would suffer “irreparable injury” if a temporary stay is denied. Further, the court said it is not convinced that layoffs are likely to occur before the court issued its decision.
