From the Associated Press (11:20 a.m.):
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Supreme Court has for the first time formally recognized transitional alimony, a new type of support that may be considered in divorce cases. The court said transitional alimony may address an inequity not addressed by the other recognized categories of support. The Iowa court’s decision came at in the case of a Dubuque physician who appealed an Iowa Court of Appeals decision that had awarded his ex-wife $1.2 million in alimony over 12 years. The Supreme Court ruled that factors in the marriage supported the need for an alternative to traditional alimony.
CLINTON, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa State Patrol has identified four people killed in a two-vehicle crash in eastern Iowa earlier this week. The Clinton Herald reports that all were over the age of 80, and the two drivers killed in the Wednesday head-on crash were in their 90s. The patrol says the crash happened on Iowa Highway 136 a couple of miles northwest of Clinton when an eastbound car driven by 90-year-old Donald Bartels collided with a westbound minivan driven by 94-year-old Benjamin Ehrhart. Both died, as did two passengers in the minivan identified as 91-year-old Donna Ehrhart and 81-year-old Phyllis Krogman. All were from Clinton. A third passenger in the minivan who has not been identified was seriously injured.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Legislature has been trying for a decade to make it illegal for animal rights groups to sneak cameras into livestock barns to report animal abuse, but courts frequently rule the laws unconstitutional. On Monday, a federal judge again struck down an Iowa law in the latest case pitting the right of farmers to protect their property from trespassers against activists who want to show consumers how farm animals are treated. The March 2019 law created a trespass charge punishable by up to a year in jail for those who use deception to gain access to a farm to cause physical or economic harm. The temporary court order prevents enforcement, and is expected to soon become permanent. The state can appeal.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An 18-year-old student who was shot in the head in a shooting outside a Des Moines school that killed one teen and injured another is making what her family and doctors say is a remarkable recovery. Kemery Ortega’s parents tell the Des Moines Register she was rushed into emergency surgery on March 7 after the shooting at East High School, and doctors warned that her prognosis didn’t look good. Thirteen hours after the surgery, she opened her eyes and waved at her mother. Doctors said Ortega might struggle with speech, memory loss, or personality changes due to her injuries. But her mother, Miriam Montiel Tllez, says Ortega is speaking and writing normally and walking when she has the strength to do so.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – For years Americans have been told autonomous technology was improving and that driverless vehicles were just around the corner. Finally they’re here, but to catch a glimpse of them, you’ll need to go to a farm. Beginning this fall, tractors that can plow day or night with no one sitting in the cab will come off the John Deere factory assembly line in Waterloo, Iowa. The development follows more than a decade-long effort by the world’s largest farm equipment manufacturer, and marks a milestone for automation advocates, who for years have been explaining why driverless cars aren’t quite ready for prime time. Deere isn’t releasing the cost of the tractor. It plans to operate the tractors on 10 to 50 farms by this fall.
