From the Associated Press:
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah’s state Senate passed rules this week limiting where the press can go to report in statehouses, marking the latest move by Republican state lawmakers nationwide who are peeling back access to chambers after the pandemic provided new accessibility. Rules governing where journalists can work vary across the nation’s 50 statehouses. But in states such as Utah, Kansas and Iowa, reporters who have been accustomed to reporting from the floor of legislative chambers are being restricted to public galleries. Lawmakers argue that creating formal rules brings needed clarity and allays security concerns. Newspaper executives and press advocates have opposed the changes, arguing they inhibit accountability reporting and limit transparency.
MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Muscatine police say an anonymous tip led to the rescue of 42 dogs that were living in a mobile home. Police said Thursday that a Muscatine animal control officer who investigated the tip found a couple was living with the dogs in unsanitary and overcrowded conditions. The conditions were considered unsafe because of excessive animal waste in the home and because the dogs did not have access to adequate food and medical care. The animals were rescued from the home last week. The investigation is continuing. No charges have been filed. The dogs are being cared for by the Muscatine Humane Society.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A second arrest has been made in the shooting death last year of an Illinois teenager whose body was found in a car that had crashed in Cedar Rapids. The Gazette reports that 41-year-old Stacey Shanahan, of Davenport, was arrested on suspicion of being an accessory and obstruction of prosecution in the July 2021 death of 15-year-old Tyliyah Whitis, of Peoria, Illinois. Police say Shanahan drove her son and his friend, 19-year-old Marshawn Jackson, from Cedar Rapids to a Davenport hotel after the shooting. Jackson was charged last week with first-degree murder and weapons count in Whitis’ death.
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Officials say firefighters found deadly levels of carbon monoxide inside a Waterloo event complex that was hosting a monster truck rally where dozens of people were sickened. The Courier reports that levels of more than 300 parts per million were detected Saturday inside the National Cattle Congress grounds’ Hippodrome. Waterloo Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Bill Beck said levels higher that 50 ppm would warrant an evacuation. The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission says sustained exposure to levels over 200 ppm could cause death. Television station KWWL reports that local hospitals reported that 77 people from the event were treated in their emergency rooms. Another battalion chief, Ben Petersen, said he assumed exhaust from the trucks was the cause of the high levels.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new monthly survey of bankers released Thursday says the strength of the economy in rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states continues to drive farmland prices and farm equipment sales higher. The overall economic index for the region grew to 61.5 in February from January’s 61.1. Any score above 50 suggests growth. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss, who oversees the survey, says the region is benefitting from a combination of solid grain prices, low interest rates and strong agricultural exports. The survey covers Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa House has passed a tax cut proposal that would move the state to a 4% flat income tax over four years and repeal all state taxes on retirement income beginning next year. The plan approved Wednesday is similar to one backed by Gov. Kim Reynolds except it does not include her proposed corporate income tax cut. Democrats unsuccessfully attempted to amend the bill to increase benefits to Iowans with lower to middle class incomes or provide additional money for child care. The bill passed 61 to 37. It drains $1.6 billion from state revenues by the sixth year. Democrats predict future program cuts or tax hikes but Republicans say the state will have adequate revenue to fund the priorities of Iowans.
