DOWS, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation announced Thursday that it is assisting the Wright County Sheriff’s Office in a homicide investigation. DCI officials said deputies were called to a residence in Dows for an unattended death Tuesday. First responders found an unresponsive man later identified as Mario Salvador Lopez. His death is being investigated as a homicide.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Yesterday the Iowa Department of Public Health announced that an 81-year-old woman with underlying conditions is the first influenza-related death to occur during the 2021-2022 season.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Des Moines Police Department is investigating a shooting on the east side that left four people injured Wednesday night. All suffered minor injuries.

MOLINE, IL (IRN) – John Deere executives say the company won’t return to the bargaining table with striking workers because it won’t offer a better contract than one they rejected that included immediate 10% raises. Pressure on the union to reach a settlement will mount the longer workers go without pay. The disputed contract would cover more than 10,000 Deere workers at 12 facilities in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Neal Smith, a World War II bomber pilot who became a successful lawyer before representing Iowa for 36 years in Congress, has died. Smith was first elected in 1958 and remained until 1995, a tenure that made him Iowa’s long-serving U.S. House member. Smith was known as a quiet but effective leader whose greatest accomplishments revolved around the approval of federal funding for dams and reservoirs that safeguarded cities from flooding and created much-used lakes for recreation. He was 101-years-old.