CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – A longtime officer with the Cedar Rapids Police Department died this week following a surgery. David Zahn, 59, died on Thursday, December 15, at his home due to surgery complications. He served on the Cedar Rapids Police Department for decades, along with a six-year run as the city’s Public Safety Commissioner. A funeral mass will take place at St. Pius X Parish on Wednesday, December 21, at 2:00 p.m.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The head of the Iowa Democratic Party plans to step down in the wake of a vote by the national party to put the South Carolina primary ahead of Iowa’s caucuses. Ross Wilburn announced Saturday that he won’t run for re-election as party chairman in January. In addition to losing their first-in-the-nation status, Democrats lost several key races last month as Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley cruised to re-election and two longtime Democratic office holders lost their positions. The next chairman will lead Iowa Democrats as they decide whether to comply with the national party’s decision or follow a state law that requires the caucuses to be held at least eight days before any other presidential nominating contest.
MARENGO, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials have ordered a company to clean up and stabilize its shingle recycling plant where an explosion and fire last week that injured around a dozen people and forced the evacuation of nearby homes. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources issued the emergency order Friday to C6-Zero, requiring it to immediately stabilize hazardous conditions at the Marengo plant, to remove all solid waste on-site and to clean up contaminated soil and water. The order also details an unsuccessful 19-month effort by the department to inspect the plant and get information from C6-Zero and its owner, Howard Brand, about its operations.
OXFORD, Iowa (KCRG) – A fire to a semi-truck in Iowa County delayed drivers on eastbound Interstate 80 on Sunday evening, according to officials. At around 6:35 p.m., the Williamsburg Fire Department and several other agencies were sent to the report of a fire to the semi near mile marker 230, close to the exit for Oxford on eastbound Interstate 80. Firefighters arrive within minutes to discover the fire in the trailer of the truck. Efforts were made to keep the fire from spreading to the cab of the semi. Firefighters remained on the scene for over an hour to extinguish the flames and clear the scene.
