DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – Dubuque County has less than two months left in its mask mandate, but that’s still too long for the mayor of Sageville, Wayne Kenniker. Kenniker says, “I think it is very important that, at this point in time, that the mandate be rescinded…at the very least, people need to know when it is going to be rescinded.” Kenniker said he is also worried that as the temperatures warm masks will make kids miserable at school.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – One of two women injured in a shooting on Court Avenue in Des Moines credits a stranger with saving her life. Grace Reeves suffered a collapsed lung and two broken vertebrae after a bullet entered her arm and exited her back. Reeves says,”I heard a big bang…I didn’t really feel anything.” When Reeves hit the floor, a woman, who asked to remain anonymous, dragged her into the bar to avoid the group of people stampeding out of the building. The woman used a sweatshirt to stop the bleeding until medics arrived.

IOWA (IRN) – Iowa will continue to send four representatives to the U.S. House, though our population growth lags behind most of the country. The state’s population stood at nearly 3,200,000 in 2020. That represents a 4.8% growth, compared to 2010 — a figure driven largely by population growth in Iowa metro areas. Estimates say Des Moines grew 15.3%, and Iowa City 13.4%.

IOWA (IRN) – Monday’s latest crop report from the USDA showed cooperative weather allowing farmers to catch up on planting across the state of Iowa. 20 percent of Iowa’s corn has been planted, just one day behind the five-year average. Warming temperatures allowed farmers to catch up following a cool mid-April period.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A Cedar Rapids man is memorializing Iowans lost to COVID-19 with a visual remembrance of the human toll the pandemic has taken. Dennis Turner, a painter, started planting small, white flags in his front lawn nearly a year ago, with each flag symbolizing one Iowan who died from COVID-19. As of Monday, more than 5,900 flags had been placed.