TAMA, Iowa (KCRG) – Records obtained through open records requests show public safety spending surged while the city’s fund balance dropped, and it comes as top city leaders resigned. After The Des Moines Register reported on Tama’s finances, KCRG-TV9’s I-9 team filed open records requests to verify the numbers and track what’s happening inside City Hall. The records show a surge in public safety spending, a drop in the city’s fund balance, and multiple resignations. State-required annual financial reports show Tama’s public safety spending — including police, fire, and EMS — more than doubled between 2021 and 2025. It climbed from about $1.01 million to about $2.54 million. Over the same period, the city’s total fund balance fell from a high of about $5.68 million in 2022 to about $3.82 million in 2025. Internal city documents from this fiscal year show the police overtime budget has already exceeded its limit, raising questions about spending controls. As financial pressures grew, upheaval at City Hall followed. Records show Mayor Brian Hanus resigned in March. The city attorney also resigned, and the city’s EMS administrator resigned as well. A new mayor, former Council member Danny Robinson, was sworn in earlier this week.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Everyone is safe after a porch fire according to the Cedar Rapids Fire Department. At 8:50 Wednesday night, crews got a call about a house fire on the 1300 block of C Street Southwest. When they arrived they found flames inside an enclosed porch. Crews worked quickly worked to put out the flames. Everyone home at the time was able to get out safely. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
NEWTON, Iowa (KCCI/KCRG) – A Newton man charged in connection to a grooming sting last year is now facing new sex abuse charges after police say he possessed more than 30 images and videos of suspected child sexual abuse. 21-year-old Ryan Hammen is charged with sexual exploitation of a minor, possession depiction of a minor in sex act, and grooming. According to court documents, a family member found the images on Hammen’s phone and reported them to police on March 26. The 17-year-old involved admitted to sending the images through Snapchat after Hammen requested them. Court documents show Hammen was arrested on March 23 and admitted to police he had sexually abused a second teenage victim, separate from the 17-year-old who sent the images. Last August, police arrested Hammen after he used Snapchat to solicit an undercover officer posing as a 15-year-old girl and attempted to meet her for sex. In February, Hammen pleaded guilty to solicitation of a minor. Hammen’s sentencing is scheduled for April 20.
DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has filed a lawsuit against Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, alleging the platform harms children. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Polk County District Court. The attorney general’s office alleges Meta intentionally designed Instagram to be addictive, mainly for young users, harming children’s mental and physical health. The lawsuit alleges Instagram falsely claims it only contains “infrequent” or “mild” content related to drug use, sexual content, and nudity, a claim that leads to an app rating approved for teens and younger users. However, the lawsuit claims Instagram allows uncontrolled “sexual content and nudity, alcohol, tobacco, and drug use and references, and mature/suggestive themes on the Instagram platform, including readily accessible hardcore pornography.” The lawsuit also claims third-party investigations found the platform promotes or allows child pornography, sexual extortion of teenagers, and open dealing of opioids and other drugs. The attorney general’s office is seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions requiring Meta to change or stop its alleged deceptive statements about the frequency and severity of harmful content on Instagram, including drug and alcohol content, sexual content, nudity, mature themes, and profanity. The office is also seeking action on Instagram’s inaccurate age ratings and deceptive public assurances in the platform’s Community Guidelines.
