AMES, IA (IRN) – A December report of a drive-by shooting in Ames was actually a false report, according to KCCI-TV. Police found 36-year-old Tracy Marie Flores with a gunshot wound to the leg, and she said she was the victim of a drive-by shooting. Police determined the drive-by shooting never happened, and it was actually an accidental shooting. As a result, Tracy Marie Flores and Rafael Angel Flores are both facing multiple charges.
DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa’s unemployment rate remained steady at 2.9 percent in January.
Iowa Workforce Development reports the rate of 2.9 percent compares favorably to a 4.1 percent national rate.
DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A controversial video has ended Republican Bill Dix’s career in the Statehouse. Dix resigned Monday as Senate majority leader and as a state senator after a video posted on the political blog Iowa Starting Line showed him kissing and flirting with a lobbyist at the Waveland Tap in Des Moines. The lobbyist is Lindsey McCune, with the Iowa League of Cities. The Des Moines Register reports that McCune is registered as a lobbyist on more than 200 bills this year that originated in the Senate while led by Dix. Senate Republicans will select a new leader Wednesday.
DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines firefighters worked late Monday night to extinguish a fire that gutted a house. KCCI-TV reports the house was for sale, and the owner said they had plans to close the sale today. The house had been occupied by squatters. No one was injured.
IOWA (IRN) – The flu has peaked in Iowa, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. The number of flu-related hospitalizations and doctor visits have both dropped for a fourth straight week. So far, 207 Iowans have died from the flu this year.
DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Department of Agriculture wants to save the Monarch butterfly. They announced Monday they will plant milkweed on up to 830,000 acres of land. The plant is the only place were female monarchs lay their eggs. In the last 20 years 80% of the monarch butterfly population in the United States has disappeared because of loss of habitat and pesticide drift.