WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst needed assistance from a fellow senator after choking on her lunch Thursday. NBC News reports Senator Rand Paul performed the Heimlich Manuever on Iowa’s junior senator during a Republican event. Ernst did not require further medical attention.

IOWA – A major publisher and state association are uniting in a lawsuit against the state around a law banning books in school libraries. WHO-13 reports Penguin Random House and the Iowa State Education Association are challenging Senate File 496, claiming the new law violates the 1st and 14th Amendments. Several popular authors have joined the suit as well, and are aiming to block enforcement of the bill before it goes into effect January 1st.

CLIVE – A Clive man has pled guilty to federal charges of wire fraud. According to court documents, Zachary James Flaherty used his position as an insurance agent and annuity salesperson to defraud elderly individuals out of their retirement savings. Flaherty admitted to engaging in a scheme to defraud some of his clients. Flaherty told one of the victims he would invest proceeds from the sale of her house on her behalf and for her benefit. That individual wrote two checks, totaling $170,000, to a company Flaherty owned, which he used to purchase a boat and other automobiles.