From the Associated Press:
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s persistent flirtation with another White House run is doing little to discourage other potential Republican candidates from stepping up their activity in Iowa, the state that will formally launch the nomination process. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo quietly finished his fifth trip to Iowa last week, and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley is planning a statewide trip this summer. Former Vice President Mike Pence is expected to visit western Iowa this weekend. Pence’s trip is particularly notable since he spent the better part of four years in lockstep with Trump. It provides further evidence that Pence is considering his political future without regard to Trump’s plans.
INDIANOLA, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for the 2018 shooting death of a Cambridge woman. The Des Moines Register reports that 22-year-old Jaquarious Scoggins was sentenced last week after pleading guilty in January to second-degree murder for the death of 25-year-old Mercedes Wathen. Scoggins must serve a minimum of 35 years before he’s eligible for parole. Scoggins was originally charged with first-degree murder in Wathen’s death. Police have said officers and medics called to a home just south of Des Moines on April 2, 2018, found Wathen’s body. She had been shot in the head.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is launching a $6 billion effort to rescue nuclear power plants at risk of closing, citing the need to continue nuclear energy as a carbon-free source of power that helps to combat climate change. A certification and bidding process opened Tuesday for a civil nuclear credit program that is intended to bail out financially distressed owners or operators of nuclear power reactors. It’s the largest federal investment in saving financially distressed nuclear reactors, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The first round of awards will prioritize reactors that have already announced plans to close. A dozen U.S. reactors closed in the past decade before their licenses expired.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The new owners of an Iowa amusement park say a water ride where a boy died last year will not reopen this summer. Bill Lentz, general manager of Adventureland in Altoona, said the park officials are still discussing whether the Raging River ride will ever reopen. Eleven-year-old Michael Jaramillo died and his brother and father were injured after their raft capsized, trapping them in the water. Plentz said the new park owner, Palace Entertainment, has hired the ride’s original maker, Intamin Amusement Rides, to exam what steps would be needed to make the ride safe. That review could take several months.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a second suspect in a deadly Iowa nightclub shooting is in custody in Illinois. The U.S. Marshals Service said 29-year-old Dimione Jamal Walker was arrested on Monday in the Chicago suburb of Matteson. He is a suspect in the shooting April 10 at the Taboo Nightclub and Lounge in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The U.S. Marshals said law enforcement officers in Iowa determined Walker had fled the state the day after the shooting and investigators received information last week that he was in the Chicago area. Another man, 32-year-old Timothy Rush, has been charged with second-degree murder and other counts in the shooting.
ARMSTRONG, Iowa (AP) — A former Armstrong police officer has been charged with dozens of crimes, making him the latest in a string of former town officials to face criminal charges in the last 14 months. Radio station KILR reports that former Armstrong officer Benjamin Scheevel was charged earlier this month with 84 felony and misdemeanor counts — some dating back to 2016. The counts include stalking of at least two women, non-felonious misconduct in office, assault and unauthorized dissemination of criminal history data. He also faces counts of obstruction, theft and tax evasion. The case is being prosecuted by the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, which is also pursuing cases again other former Armstrong officials, including the former mayor, police chief and several town clerks.
