BURLINGTON, IA (IRN) – An Iowa resident has been given five years of probation for scamming money from a South Carolina woman she met on a military oriented dating website. The Hawk Eye newspaper reports 46-year-old Doris Warth, of New London, was ordered to pay $11,000 in restitution. Warth convinced a South Carolina woman she was engaged to a serviceman in Afghanistan who needed money to get out of a legal jam, and the woman sent her money.
SHEFFIELD, IA (IRN) – West Fork school officials in Sheffield will move to correct a tax levy error they said caused the district to over assess property taxpayers nearly $340,000 since 2013. The Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier reports for the past three years, the district’s levy was set at $1 per $1,000 in property valuation, rather than the allowed 67 cents per $1,000. To correct the error, the district will reduce the levy over the next two years.
HAMDEN, CT (IRN) – A new Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll shows Donald Trump gets 25% of Iowa likely Republican Caucus participants in a too-close-to-call race with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas who is at 23%. Cruz’ support is double his support from four weeks ago. Dr. Ben Carson has 18%, with Senator Marco Rubio of Florida at 13%.
DES MOINES (IRN) – Gov. Terry Branstad has pardoned two turkeys as part of an annual Thanksgiving tradition in Iowa, according to the Des Moines Register. Branstad issued the special proclamation Monday outside Terrace Hill in Des Moines for two turkeys named Zoey and Spike. The Des Moines Register reports Branstad’s grandchildren were present during the pardon. They chased the birds through the snow.
DES MOINES (IRN) – Des Moines police were called to a fatal crash in a residential neighborhood west of downtown Monday after a vehicle travelling up to 100 mph hit a pole. KCCI-TV reports 22-year-old Scalicity Perez was killed and driver Troy Mure Jr. was hospitalized. The damage to the car was so severe that police couldn’t identify what make or model it was. Perez is the mother of four children.
DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – One person is dead after a fire at a three story apartment complex in Davenport Monday night, according to KWQC-TV. The fire started on the 2nd floor of the building. Firefighters entered an apartment and quickly extinguished the fire, before finding the deceased person inside. The building was evacuated.
LELAND, IA (IRN) – A furnace malfunction could be to blame for an explosion that sent one man to the hospital in Leland. KIMT-TV reports firefighters responded to the scene to find a garage on fire from an apparent explosion. Winnebago County deputies say one man, who has not been identified, was injured when he attempted to start his furnace and it exploded. He was life-flighted to Mercy Medical Center in North Iowa for his injuries.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (IRN) – Iowa egg farms are gradually recovering from the bird flu that destroyed 25 million of the state’s egg-laying hens this spring. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that Iowa egg production during October was 753 million eggs. That’s up 2 percent from September but down 47 percent from a year ago. Iowa, typically by far the nation’s leading egg producer, fell behind Ohio where hens laid 18 million more eggs last month.