From the Associated Press:
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa panel responsible for resolving lawsuits against the state has agreed to pay nearly $400,000 in attorney and expert witness fees as part of a settlement in a lawsuit in which University of Iowa officials reversed a decision to eliminate the women’s swimming program. Men’s swimming, gymnastics and tennis also were eliminated. The State Appeal Board voted Monday to pay $399,989 to five attorneys and three expert witnesses. Iowa Solicitor General Jeff Thompson says the payment was part of a court-approved settlement. Members of the women’s swimming and diving team sued last year, alleging the decision to eliminate the program violated a federal law that bars sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs.
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Police are investigating the fatal shooting of a man outside the Elks Lodge in Ames where a Halloween party was being held. Police say 23-year-old Stashaun Brown, of Des Moines, died from his injuries in the late Friday night shooting. Officers were called just before midnight Friday to the lodge for reports of shots fired in a crowd of about 100 people. Investigators believe a group of people had been fighting before the confrontation escalated into gunfire. Arriving officers found Brown with a gunshot wound. Police say he was taken to an area hospital, where he died early Saturday. No other injuries were reported, and no arrests have been made.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new monthly survey of business leaders in nine Midwest and Plains states shows significant jumps in employment and inventories since September, but confidence in the economy over the next six month remained at a dismal low. The overall index for October of the Creighton University Mid-America Business Conditions released Monday rose to 65.2 from September’s 61.6. Any score above 50 on the survey’s indexes suggests growth. But the survey’s business confidence index, which looks ahead six months, failed to budge from 37 recorded in September. The monthly survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
State and local election officials are hoping for a smooth election on Tuesday to demonstrate that voting is secure and tallies are accurate. The off-year elections come after a year of falsehoods surrounding the 2020 presidential election, Republican-led ballot reviews and new voting rules passed by GOP lawmakers. Some of the new voting restrictions imposed by Republicans will be in place for elections in Florida, Georgia and Iowa. False claims about the 2020 presidential election have led to local election officials being targeted with harassment and threats. Many of them have been trying to be transparent about the many security steps they have in place.
MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — Union workers at farm-equipment maker Deere & Co. would get wage increases of 10% if they ratify a tentative contract reached over the weekend. The upfront pay would be followed by 5% raises in the third and fifth years of the tentative contract. Terms of the deal were posted Sunday on the United Auto Workers website. The agreement next goes to a vote of union members. The deal would cover more than 10,000 Deere & Co. workers in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Running for a school board seat is getting expensive in Iowa given the current intense interest in how schools are responding to the coronavirus pandemic and teaching history. The Des Moines Register reports that the 58 candidates running for school board seats in the Des Moines area’s seven largest school districts have collectively raised more than $180,000 for the Nov. 2 elections. In the last two elections, all the candidates in those same districts raised less than $35,000. Several candidates raised over $10,000 apiece for their races, which is something no candidate did in the 2017 and 2019 elections.
