From the Associated Press:
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Details are emerging about a Wisconsin congressional candidate who was found with a loaded gun in his carry-on bag at an Iowa airport last year. Republican Derrick Van Orden, who is seeking the seat being vacated by Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, Van Orden was cited in August for having a loaded 9mm Sig Sauer handgun in his bag at the security screening checkpoint at the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, airport. Van Orden entered a guilty plea in December. A magistrate ordered him to pay $360 and show he had taken a firearms safety course. The Journal Sentinel reports that he was also fined an undisclosed amount by the Transportation Security Administration. Van Orden’s campaign says he brought the gun to the airport checkpoint by mistake.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Three Iowa teenagers were shot and injured after some uninvited guests showed up to an after-prom party. Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek said about 200 people were at the party before the shooting was reported around 12:30 a.m. Sunday. Two 18-year-old men and a 17-year-old girl were wounded in the shooting, but they are all expected to survive. All three teens were being treated at local hospitals Sunday. Parizek said the shooting happened during a fight that broke out after a group of uninvited guests arrived at the party, and several shots were fired. No arrests were immediately reported Sunday morning, and police did not identify the victims.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A 41-year-old central Iowa man faces charges alleging that he took part in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building. Chad Heathcote, of Adel, was arrested Wednesday on is charged with two federal felonies: entering and remaining in a restricted building with intent to impede or disrupt an official proceeding and disorderly or disruptive conduct in the Capitol. Court records don’t indicate whether he has an attorney. In charging documents, an FBI agent said witnesses came forward about Heathcote after he bragged in social media postings about being at the Capitol that day and was identified in photos shown in television reports. Agent Tyler Johnson said Heathcote’s cellphone data also indicated that he was inside the Capitol.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Bird flu is killing an alarming number of bald eagles and other wild birds, with many sick birds arriving at rehabilitation centers unsteady on their talons and unable to fly. The latest bird flu outbreak of has led to the culling of about 37 million chickens and turkeys in U.S. farms since February, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed 956 cases of bird flu in wild birds, including at least 54 bald eagles. The number of wild birds that have died from the virus is likely significantly higher. University of Georgia researcher Rebecca Poulson, who has been studying avian influenza for 15 years, says the wild bird death toll in this outbreak is “unprecedented.”
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A NASA climate research scientist who has spent much of her career explaining how global food production systems must adapt to a changing climate was awarded the World Food Prize at a ceremony at the U.S. Department of State in Washington. Cynthia Rosenzweig, an agronomist and climatologist, was recognized Thursday for innovative modeling of the impact of climate change on food production. She is a senior research scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. The $250,000 World Food Prize Foundation award recognized Rosenzweig efforts to draw together scientists from around the world from many disciplines to advance methods for improving predictions of the future performance of agricultural and food systems as the global climate changes.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Democrats have begun making their case for why the Iowa caucus should remain the first step in the party’s presidential nominating process. The state party submitted a letter of intent to the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, promising to make changes in response to criticism of past events, including to make it more inclusive. State Democratic officials expressed optimism even while acknowledging they face skepticism from many national counterparts who have long questioned why Iowa and New Hampshire — both largely rural states with overwhelmingly white populations — should begin the nomination process. The Democratic National Committee decided last month to stop automatically allowing Iowa to hold the first presidential tilt.
