From the Associated Press at 11:20 a.m.
WALFORD, Iowa (AP) – The Linn County Sheriff’s department says a man and woman died in a crash shortly after a deputy stopped pursuing a vehicle. The department said officers received a call Wednesday about a domestic dispute involving a woman trying to jump out of vehicle. A deputy saw the vehicle speeding and tried to stop it but the vehicle fled. The deputy eventually stopped the pursuit and about a minute later saw debris flying. The department says the vehicle hit a dump truck in Walford. The man and woman were thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene. Their names have not been released. The dump truck driver was not injured.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa saw 30 more deaths caused by the coronavirus in the past week as data showed more children and young adults were getting infected and more people were being treated in hospitals. The state Department of Public Health reported Wednesday that in the past week the state’s death total climbed to 6,337 and there were 8,404 new confirmed virus cases. More young people were testing positive, with 29% of the positive tests in the past seven days among children aged 17 and under. That’s up from 22% the previous week. Hospitalizations in Iowa climbed nearly 10% from the previous week to 578.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has announced that $100 million of the nearly $1.5 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds allocated to the state will go to build news homes. The Des Moines Register says Reynolds announced the plan Wednesday during a stop in Cedar Rapids. She says the federal funds plus $230 million in tax credits allocated by the Iowa Legislature over five years will help developers build 36,450 new housing units to help address a growing shortage of housing in Iowa. The $100 million will go to several existing programs, including $10 million for the Homes for Iowa. The vast majority – $65 million – will fund housing tax credit programs to help cover the increased costs of building materials.
SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa (AP) – A preservation group has raised enough money to buy and preserve 50 acres on the East Lake Okoboji shoreline in northwest Iowa. The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation announced Tuesday it had raised $8.2 million to buy the land near Spirit Lake. The Sioux City Journal reports the land being purchased includes 2,020 feet of natural shoreline, which is the last undeveloped and privately owned stretch along the lake. The foundation plans to begin an ecological restoration of the shoreline but will allow low-impact public use, including trails that connect to an adjacent state park.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A 34-year-old Iowa City man has been convicted of second-degree murder after prosecutors said he intentionally drove the wrong way on an interstate and collided with another car, killing a man from Texas. Stephen Lucore was found guilty by a judge Tuesday in the 2019 crash that led to the death of 64-year-old Robert Sawyer, of Nocona, Texas. Prosecutors said Lucore drove the wrong way on Interstate 80 between Tiffin and Oxford and crashed into a vehicle driven by Sawyer’s son. Prosecutors said Lucore told authorities he was driving east in the westbound lanes without lights in an effort to kill himself.
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) – Marshalltown Community Schools will become the new owners of the city’s historic Orpheum Theater for the basement-bargain price of $1. The Times-Republican reports that the district’s school board on Tuesday unanimously approved a letter of intent to buy the theater on Main Street. The school district will pay the current owners, Iowa Valley Community College District, $1 for the building at closing, set for June 16 or sooner. The theater closed last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Iowa Valley Community College District Chancellor Kristie Fisher says she’s proud the theater will remain an educational facility.
