DES MOINES (IRN) – Iowa homebuilders will have more leeway on how much topsoil they place in yards. The Des Moines Register reports that the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission approved a rule Tuesday that strips out a 4-inch requirement for topsoil coverage on development lots. While the change takes out the definitive requirement for how much topsoil needs to be in a yard, it prohibits developers from removing topsoil from a lot.
JESUP, IA (IRN) – A young black bear died Sunday after being struck by a vehicle near Jesup. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports that the bear was found on U.S. 20, and appeared to have died after being struck by a vehicle sometime after sunset. DNR officials don’t know what type of vehicle struck the bear or who was driving. It’s not clear whether the bear was one of the animals spotted near the Dubuque area in recent weeks. DNR officials believe at least two bears – and possibly as many as three – have been roaming the region.
DECORAH, IA (IRN) – A 71-year-old man has been killed in an eastern Iowa tractor accident. KCCI-TV reports that passers-by noticed the overturned tractor Sunday afternoon in a rural Decorah field. Officials say it appears the tractor’s brakes gave out as it was going up a hill, and the tractor then slipped backward and flipped, trapping Raymond Ransom underneath.
CEDAR RAPIDS (IRN) – The suspect in last week’s bank robbery at Community Savings Bank in Cedar Rapids faces additional charges. KCRG-TV reports that after 31-year-old Lemarkis D. Hobson was booked at the jail on charges related to the bank robbery, deputies discovered two plastic bags of a white substance believed to be crack cocaine in Hobson’s medical boot.
DES MOINES (IRN) – Rainfall amounts of two to three inches were common across much of the state on Monday. The National Weather Service reports that 5.4 inches of rain fell near Saylorville in central Iowa. Minor flooding is expected today for parts of the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers, the English, Iowa, Cedar, East and West Nishnabotna, as well as the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
WINFIELD, IA (IRN) – A Winfield girl who was reportedly abducted on Friday is now considered a runaway. KCII radio reports that according to Winfield Police, after receiving credible information from a family member, they no longer believe 16-year-old Karyn Renee Mehaffy was abducted. Officials were told Monday that Mehaffy and the suspect, 20-year-old Wilfredo Martinez Gonzalez, were seen driving in separate vehicles in Indiana.
DES MOINES (IRN) – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey said Monday the bird flu outbreak ranks as Iowa’s worst animal health emergency and could cost federal and state agencies up to $300 million in the cleanup, disposal and disinfection process on top of the sizable losses being incurred by producers. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that the flu has led to the deaths and euthanizing of more than 32.7 million commercial layers and turkeys on 76 farms in 18 Iowa counties.
IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – Since the world’s largest Ebola epidemic began in West Africa more than a year ago, the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics has spent more than $640,000 preparing to treat an Ebola patient. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that hospital officials say such expenses are necessary preparation. The state has yet to see an Ebola patient.