From the Associated Press:
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Avian flu has been confirmed in a backyard flock of birds in central Illinois. State Agriculture officials said Saturday that the flock is non-commercial and the affected premises in McLean County have been quarantined. Officials add that birds on the property will be depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease. The Illinois Agriculture department is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on a joint response. Similar infections have been reported across the United States in recent weeks. Bird flu was detected earlier this month in a backyard flock of ducks and chickens in western Iowa. The flock was described as small and noncommercial.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A 23-year-old man has pleaded guilty to shooting and killing another man inside a crowded Iowa City apartment last year. Sammy Imaedeen Hamed pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree murder. He was originally charged with first-degree murder in the Feb. 12, 2021, death of 19-year-old Quincy Russom during a robbery. Police say Hamed was one of several people inside the apartment when Russom was shot, and the shooting was not reported for more than 30 minutes. Hamed must serve a minimum of 35 years of a 50-year sentence before being eligible for parole. He will be sentenced May 6.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State and federal officials say a third case of bird flu has been identified in Iowa in a flock of about 919,000 egg-laying chickens. The newest location is in Taylor County in southwest Iowa. It is the first case in Iowa this year in an egg laying facility. Previous cases were in an outdoor flock of ducks and chickens in Pottawattamie County in western Iowa and in a flock of 50,000 turkeys in Buena Vista County in northwest Iowa. The presence of the virus is troubling for poultry producers in Iowa, the nation’s leading egg producer. Since the first infection in the U.S. this year in Indiana on Feb. 9 the virus infected backyard and commercial flocks in 12 states.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Oklahoma man has been sentenced to five years in prison for the beating death of his brother-in-law outside a Sioux City motel. The Sioux City Journal reports that 36-year-old Jordan Kaesemeyer, of Marlow, Oklahoma, was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty in September to involuntary manslaughter for the June 2020 death of Justin Morrison, also of Oklahoma. Assault and willful injury counts were dismissed in exchange for his plea. Police say the two men were staying at the Palmer House Motel when they fought and Kaesemeyer kicked Morrison in the face with a steel-toed work boot. Morrison refused to get medical attention and was later found dead on his motel bed.
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Authorities are investigating whether heating equipment caused a large fire at the site of an amusement park being constructed in Waterloo. Television station KWWL reports that firefighters were called to the Lost Island Theme Park site Thursday night. Officials said the fire destroyed an entrance shelter for one of the rides. Park owner Eric Bertch said it appears some temporary heating caught a blanket on fire. The $100 million addition to the Lost Island Water Park is tentatively scheduled to open in May or June. Bertch said the fire will not delay the park’s opening. No one was injured in the fire.
SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) — An Iowa man has died in a crash on Interstate 80 in western Nebraska. The Omaha World-Herald reports that the crash happened Wednesday afternoon near Sidney. The Nebraska State Patrol says 69-year-old John Jessen, of Des Moines, Iowa, was a passenger in a car hit by a semitrailer in snowy and icy conditions, the Omaha World-Herald reported. Jassen was a passenger in a car driven by Martha Mae Jessen, also of Des Moines. Nebraska State Patrol investigators said the crash happened when the Jessens’ westbound car came to a stop in the right lane of the interstate, then backed into the left lane — and into the path of the semi — in an apparent attempt to get onto an exit ramp.
