DES MOINES – Iowa lawmakers have hit the second major deadline of the 2024 session, and many bills that had some momentum will no longer be considered at the end of the two-year general assembly. KCRG-TV reports a Senate bill that would allow Iowa state agencies to hire their own outside accounting firms instead of State Auditor Rob Sand conducting those failed to gain support in the Iowa House, while the Senate Judiciary Committee did not take up a House bill that requires non-citizens to document status to receive public assistance. Another measure that would cap the amount travel nurses can charge Iowa hospitals and nursing homes also failed to gain support.

BLOOMFIELD – A longtime felon who has defrauded several customers for more than a decade received twenty years in prison this week. The Des Moines Register reports Bloomfield-area contractor and 48-year-old Jeremey Lawson was sentenced for four felony counts of burglary in Davis County. Prosecutors reached a plea deal after Lawson and accomplice Michael Diedrick broke into several local businesses and robbed the local Amish community. Court records indicate Lawson has racked up convictions and civil court judgments indicating dozens of incidents of construction fraud and theft in Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri.

RED OAK – The Iowa DNR is assessing the impact that 1,500 tons of liquid nitrogen fertilizer is having following a spill reported near Red Oak this week. New Cooperative reported the thousands of gallons of material was discharged into a drainage ditch, then into the East Nishnabotna River. The release occurred due to a valve left open on an aboveground storage tank overnight. . Dead fish were observed in the East Nishnabotna near the Missouri border. The extent of the fish kill is still being determined.

DES MOINES – An award-winning star at Waukee High School joined her men’s basketball team counterpart as the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. Drake University’s Katie Dinnebier earned the honor Wednesday evening. KCCI-TV repots Dinnebier was Iowa’s Miss Basketball in 2021, leading Waukee to a state title, and has continued as a key player for the Bulldogs over the past three seasons. She joins fellow Waukee graduate Tucker DeVries in sweeping the Player of the Year category for Drake.