OTTUMWA (IRN) – Police are searching for a man who failed to appear at his verdict in a murder trial. The Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation and Iowa State Patrol are seeking the public’s assistance in locating Gregory Allen Showalter Sr. Showalter has an arrest warrant for Failure to Appear – Murder in the First Degree. The case was being held in Wapello County District Court. Showalter was not present when the jury found him guilty Friday.

DES MOINES (IRN) – Governor Kim Reynolds announced that Iowa’s corporate tax rate will drop to 7.1 percent from 8.4 percent for tax year 2024. The Governor’s 2022 tax bill, HF2317, includes the formula to reduce the corporate tax rate when net corporate income tax receipts exceed $700 million. For fiscal year 2023, net corporate income tax receipts exceeded $838 million, triggering a drop of 15.5 percent.

AMES (IRN) – Ames police are seeking details about a shooting. On Thursday, the Ames Police Department responded to a report of a shooting on Tripp Street. Responding officers located one male victim who is being treated at an area hospital. The status of the victim is currently unknown. An investigation is ongoing, and while it appears to be an isolated incident, this is the second shooting in less than a month in the same general location.

DECORAH (IRN) – Two areas of the state are now in exceptional drought, the highest category from the U.S. Drought Monitor Report. All of Allamakee, Winneshiek, and Howard Counties, and portions of Mitchell, Benton, and Tama Counties are suffering from some of the worst drought conditions in Iowa in several years. Twenty-five percent of the state is now in extreme drought or worse as well.