DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Republican State Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix of Shell Rock has announced his resignation as Majority Leader and State Senator. A video on the liberal website Iowa Starting Line appears to show Dix flirting and kissing a female lobbyist at a Des Moines bar. The video came from an anonymous person who witnessed the interaction and recognized Sen. Dix from media reports.
DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Des Moines man is in jail after he threatened to kill a woman and tried to burn down a home. WHO-TV reports 38-year-old Antonio Starks faces multiple charges in the incident. Police were called to the home around 1:15 a.m. Monday on a report that Starks was assaulting a woman. When officers arrived, Starks was pouring gas in a children’s bedroom. Starks then threw the gas can at officers and lit a bed in the room on fire. Starks ran at police and they were able to detain him. The fire was extinguished quickly.
FORT DODGE, IA (IRN) – A Newell, Iowa woman has died after she fell from a pickup truck and was hit by a car Friday night near Fort Dodge. The Iowa State Patrol reports 29-year-old Sarah Jensen fell from the truck driven by 31-year-old Joshua Jensen, also of Newell. She was then struck by a car driven by a Joplin, Missouri woman.
AMES, IA (IRN) – An Iowa State psychology professor’s research on the behavioral effects of video games suggests that President Donald Trump is within reason to believe graphic depictions of violence in video games can lead to more aggressive behavior. KCCI-TV reports professor Craig Anderson says, “when you look at all the research, it is clear that habitually playing violent video games is a causal factor for later physical, aggressive behavior.”
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A small plane crashed at the Eastern Iowa Airport Sunday afternoon in Cedar Rapids, according to KCRG-TV. The plane touched ground, then flipped on its top. No one was injured.
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A woman and two children were rescued from a sinking car in the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids on Sunday. KGAN-TV reports when rescue crews arrived on scene, they found the woman and two children in ski boats. They had been rescued from the sinking car. All three were hospitalized, and there is no word on their conditions.
BLOOMFIELD, IA (IRN) – Play it Forward. That’s the program the Bluegrass Music Association of Iowa has created, according to KTVO-TV. It’s a non profit organization that provides instruments to kids, giving them a chance to become musicians. 12-year-old Maddy Warning has been playing the guitar for over a year now, all thanks to this organization. And now, her younger sister Abby has picked up the same instrument. Their hard work isn’t going unnoticed. Abby and Maddy will be performing in the 16th annual Bluegrass Show on March 24th.