GREENFIELD, Iowa (KXEL) — At least five people died and at least 35 more were injured due to tornadoes in Iowa Tuesday. The Iowa Department of Public Safety said Wednesday that four people had been killed in the Greenfield area in Adams. Officials did not release the names of those killed in the storm as relatives were still being notified. Authorities said previously a woman in a vehicle, perhaps a storm chaser, had been killed by a tornado about 25 miles from Greenfield. People as far as 100 miles away from Greenfield posted photos on social media of family photos, yearbook pages and other items that were lifted into the sky by the tornado.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – A new program offered through Coe College in partnership with the Eastern Iowa Airport and Revv Aviation will soon have students taking to the skies. The new aviation management program will give students a four-year degree in running an airport. It will also give students the option to attend a new flight school. Coe College plans to have to program open to students for the fall 2025 semester. The program will offer students a bachelor’s degree focusing on different aspects of running an airport. Students who qualify through the flight school can get certified as a commercial pilot. The flight school does come at an additional cost on top of tuition for the four-year degree.
DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) – Just a day after jurors began deliberations in the murder trial of the man accused of killing Taiwan Jackson, they brought back a guilty verdict. On June 4, 2022 at 6:58 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 1900 block of Central Avenue for a report that a subject had been shot. Police say video surveillance showed Keywani Evans shooting Jackson from behind him in the back of the head, and then two more times while on the ground. Jurors in the case began deliberating Tuesday after the defense rested its case and attorneys from both sides delivered closing arguments. On Wednesday, the jury found Evans guilty of Murder in the First Degree and Robbery in the First Degree. The murder charge carries a mandatory life in prison sentence. He will be officially sentenced at a later date.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Iowa’s Insurance Commissioner said he’s concerned about the number of insurance companies that have left the state because of severe weather and the increasing costs to repair the damage. Damage from the 2020 derecho totaled more than $10 billion. It was the costliest thunderstorm in US history, and that expense was one of the reasons finding homeowners insurance has become a challenge. Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen said five companies pulled out of Iowa in the last year because of the losses from several severe storms and the increased cost of construction materials to repair all that damage. Ommen said to try and fill the gap, the state has added 13 mutual companies. Those are insurance companies created and owned by the people who come together to insure themselves. He said the mutual insurance companies had helped offer more options in the state.
