WASHINGTON D.C. – Iowa will have a new senator after the 2026 election. CBS News reports Joni Ernst will not seek a third term in Washington D.C. Ernst faced criticism for initial opposition to President Donald Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense and for saying “we are all going to die” in response to a constituent critical of her support of cuts to Medicaid. Current U.S. Representative Ashley Hinson appears to have interest in running in the primary; four Democrats are competing to potentially oppose her.

DAVENPORT– A Waterloo man was sentenced to 168 months in federal prison for Attempted Enticement of a Minor to Engage in Illicit Sexual Activities. According to court documents, in October 2023, 47-year-old Gabriel Keith Usher began messaging over the internet with an undercover officer posing as a 15-year-old minor. Within days, Usher professed his love for the minor and suggested sexual acts they could engage in. In October 2024, Usher was sentenced in Black Hawk County, Iowa to five years in state prison on unrelated state charges of enticing a minor under age 16 and sexual exploitation of a minor.

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Des Moines man and reported member of the Black P Stones criminal street gang was sentenced on this week to 262 months in federal prison for his participation in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl. According to public court documents, in the spring of 2024, law enforcement learned that 44-year-old Kevin Stanley Harris, Jr., was a high-level fentanyl dealer operating in Des Moines. Following a seven-month investigation, law enforcement confirmed that Harris traveled to and from Chicago to obtain large quantities of fentanyl for redistribution in Des Moines. Harris was arrested on December 18, 2024, the same day thirteen federal search warrants were executed, which resulted in the seizure of approximately 610 grams of heroin/fentanyl mixture.