A fire Thursday evening at the Lost Island Theme Park, currently under construction at the south edge of Waterloo, destroyed a shelter building where future customers will stand in line to board a ride. No injuries were reported, and no workers were on site when the fire broke out. Officials with the park say temporary heating may have caught a blanket on fire. Even though that structure was completely destroyed, officials say the fire will not delay the park’s “soft opening” around Memorial Day since it was contained to one area of the park.
From the Associated Press:
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A state panel responsible for tracking Iowa revenue trends says growth continues at a good pace but that tax changes signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds last week could reverse that trend beginning next year. The Revenue Estimating Conference said Thursday that state revenue will grow 4.3% this year, bringing in net receipts of $9.17 billion. For next year, however, the growth is expected to reverse as the Republican-crafted tax cuts kick in, resulting in tax revenue falling 0.2% to $9.16 billion. The revenue decline is due to the estimated loss of $236 million in tax revenue. By 2024, that revenue decline is expected to reach $561 million, or a 2.1% drop to $8.96 billion.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Three directors at newspaper publisher Lee Enterprises have been reelected over the objections of the hedge fund that has been trying to buy the company since last fall. Lee says its chairman, CEO and lead independent director were all reelected as expected at its annual meeting Thursday, with each receiving support from more than 70% of the votes cast. Alden Global Capital had urged shareholders to vote against two of those directors after a judge blocked its effort to nominate its own directors. Alden, which already owns more than 200 newspapers, probably won’t abandon its effort to buy Lee after this latest setback, but it wasn’t immediately clear what the New York-based hedge fund might try next.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has launched her campaign for a second full term at a rally in Des Moines, touting her conservative agenda of cutting taxes, personal freedom from mandates and school choice. The Republican governor made the announcement Wednesday night at a rally in Des Moines. Reynolds’ announcement comes about a week after she gave the GOP response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. Reynolds will likely face Democrat Deidre DeJear in the November general election. A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll published March 5 shows Reynolds leading DeJear among likely voters, 51% to 43%.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man who saw his 2013 murder conviction overturned faces a new murder charge for a stabbing death at a Johnston fast food restaurant earlier this week. The Des Moines Register reports that 55-year-old Spencer Antowyn Pierce, of Des Moines, was arrested Tuesday and charged with first-degree murder and burglary in the Monday fatal stabbing of 20-year-old Jermaine Whitaker Moses at a Johnston Sonic Drive-In. Police say Pierce attacked Moses and another man when they arrived for work at the restaurant. Pierce was convicted of first-degree murder and drug counts in 2013, along with his girlfriend, in the shooting death of 35-year-old Steve Harmon. But the Iowa Court of Appeals overturned his murder conviction in 2015, ruling there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him of murder.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican U.S. senators are imploring the Biden administration to reverse course and allow the transfer of Poland’s MiG fighter jets to the Ukrainians to fight the Russian invasion. Forty GOP senators signed onto a letter from Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa and Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah urging President Joe Biden to answer the plea from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for more planes. “Send them the planes,” Romney said. The Pentagon has rejected a surprise offer from Poland to transfer the Soviet-era planes to NATO, saying such action could run a “high risk” of escalating the war.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines police say they have arrested six teenagers in a shooting outside a school that killed a 15-year-old boy and seriously injured two teenage girls. Police say gunshots fired Monday afternoon outside East High School came from several shooters from multiple vehicles. Police said Tuesday that those arrested range in age from 14 to 17. Police identified the 15-year-old killed as Jose David Lopez of Des Moines. Police say he was the intended target of the shooting. He was not a student at East. Police say the other two shot were females aged 16 and 18, who both attend East, and were in a group that included Lopez.
