DES MOINES – Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.4 percent in February, the same as in January and down slightly from 3.5 percent one year ago. The U.S. unemployment rate increased to 4.4 percent in February. The total number of unemployed Iowans decreased to 58,700 in February from 59,100 in January.

DES MOINES – Iowa House Republicans passed a bill to ban warrant resolution clinics. WHO-13 reports House Study Bil 780 was introduced on Wednesday and passed committee meetings on Thursday. A warrant resolution clinic was held in Des Moines on April 3rd, which helped 50 people resolve low-level, non-violent warrants. The bill was created in part due to one of those participants, 46-year-old Sharneeka Evans, who one week later was charged with first-degree murder for the death of 36-year-old Ashley Hall.

IOWA – Multiple severe thunderstorms were reported from the western border of the state through central Iowa on Thursday. A tornado was spotted near Mitchellville, according to the National Weather Service, and multiple wind gusts up to 70 MPH were reported in Lamoni. Storm damage was spotted in southern Iowa as part of the line of storms.