DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Republican Adrian Dickey won the special election Tuesday to replace Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in Iowa Senate District 41. Senate District 41 covers part of southeast Iowa, including Ottumwa, Fairfield, Bloomfield and Keosauqua. Dickey’s victory does not change the balance of power in the Senate. The seat opened when Republican Miller-Meeks stepped down after she was confirmed the winner in Iowa’s Second Congressional District. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – State Auditor Rob Sand confirmed Tuesday that his office will review allegations that Gov. Kim Reynolds provided state COVID-19 resources to a company owned by one of her campaign donors instead of area businesses that needed the resources. IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – An inmate in the Iowa prison system died, likely due to the novel coronavirus and other preexisting conditions on Tuesday. Harold Arthur Duncan, 89, died at around 11:12 a.m., according to the Iowa Department of Corrections. Duncan was in prison since January 2004 for a life sentence from a first-degree murder conviction in Clay County. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa State Patrol said seven Iowa Department of Transportation plows and one patrol cruiser were damaged by drivers during the winter storm Monday and Tuesday. The trooper in the patrol car was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa’s unemployment rate fell to 3.1% in December, the second-lowest rate in the country.

IOWA (IRN) – A major winter storm hit much of Iowa yesterday and today, causing hundreds of traffic accidents across the state. Several cities in Iowa reported snowfall in excess of 14 inches. Des Moines received 10.3″ on January 25th. That’s a one day record snowfall for the date. The previous record was 10.0″ on January 25th 1895. MUSCATINE, IA (IRN) – A man is in custody after an incident at a Muscatine bar on Saturday. Police located one 25-year-old male who had suffered stab wounds. Another stabbing victim, a 37-year-old woman, had been taken to a local hospital via a personal vehicle. Police arrested Alejandro Antonio Flores, 23, of Letts. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Cedar Rapids police are investigating the death of a woman over the weekend. Shelley Lange, 52, was found inside her apartment after she reportedly fell. She was found with traumatic injuries and was taken to the hospital where she later died. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Republicans in the Iowa Senate said they have changed their policy for participants in virtual subcommittee meetings after an incident that was “pornographic in nature” during a Monday morning hearing. The incident momentarily interrupted a virtual subcommittee meeting for the governor’s wide-ranging education bill. Approximately 280 people attended the online meeting. Sen. Amy Sinclair stopped the meeting to say people who appeared without either a face or a name would be removed.

MASON CITY, IA (IRN) – A 20-year-old Mason City man was arrested Sunday for shooting an occupied vehicle. Parker Holland-Dunn, 20, is facing a felony criminal mischief charge along with an assault charge after he discharged a shotgun into two of a vehicle’s tires and front fender rendering them useless. He also smashed the windshield and side mirror of the same window. PLEASANT HILL, IA (IRN) – A Pleasant Hill man has been charged with attempted murder after police say he severely beat his roommate. Officers found 30-year-old Dezrien Vance covered in blood when they responded to a reported fight. Inside the apartment, the victim was lying unconscious on the floor in a pool of blood. Vance allegedly threw the victim to the ground and kicked the victim in the head. He also hit the victim with a vacuum cleaner hard enough to break the vacuum and hit the victim with a frying pan hard enough to dent the pan. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police have arrested a man with multiple warrants Sunday afternoon. The department had been called to a home six times in two days in reference to Daniel Phillip Garretto harassing a resident. People told police they saw Garretto with a shotgun. Garretto was reportedly threatening to shoot police officers and commit ‘suicide by cop’ if confronted by officers. Each time, he was able to slip away. IOWA (IRN) – There is a Winter Storm Warning for much of central and eastern Iowa today. Heavy snow and blowing snow are expected. Total snow accumulations of 8 to 12 inches with a few pockets of higher amounts possible. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Two Iowa County Dispatchers helped a father deliver a baby on Sunday. Dispatchers Jaime Ochs and Makayla Coon were able to guide the dad with instructions over the phone so he could help the mother deliver the baby. The Sheriff’s Office says Ochs is a seasoned dispatcher and Coon has been on the job five months and is still training.

AMES, IA (IRN) – The woman found dead Friday morning near an Iowa State University sorority was the daughter of Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Margaret Chutich and Allina Health CEO Penny Wheeler. Olivia Chutich, 21, was found unconscious in the parking lot at Delta Delta Delta Sorority at Iowa State before 10 a.m. Friday. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police are investigating two shootings in the city early Saturday morning that left one man with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the leg. Dozens of shots were fired. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Cedar Rapids Police are investigating an attempted ATM theft Thursday. Someone had attempted to steal an ATM by wrapping chains around the machine. Police say the suspect truck that was involved also hit a car in the parking lot. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Democratic Party announced Saturday that it has elected Rep. Ross Wilburn as the party chair. Wilburn is the first Black person to be elected as the Iowa Democratic Party’s chair.

AMES, IA (IRN) – A 21-year-old Iowa State University student was found dead in a sorority parking lot Friday morning. Olivia Chutich was found mid morning, and had apparently had laid there since the early morning hours. Police are investigating. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Democrats in the Iowa House on Friday asked that a Republican legislator be removed from committee assignments because of his claims about election fraud and what some saw as threatening language about guns. Rep. Dean Fisher posted that the widespread mistrust of elections and that blame is “laid solely at the feet of the Democratic party.” He alleged “shady practices, and outright cheating” in Democratic led states and cities. Fisher also wrote, “We will survive. Remember, our side has the guns.” CLEAR LAKE, IA (IRN) – A north-central Iowa venue best known for hosting the last concert of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson before the trio died in a 1959 plane crash is now a National Historic Landmark. The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake is Iowa’s 27th National Historic Landmark, joining a list that includes the American Gothic House in Eldon and the gold-domed State Capitol. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines has announced its newest addition: a 6-foot, 125-pound giraffe. The male calf was born Monday to Skye, a 6-year-old giraffe that has lived at the zoo since 2015. The father is Jakobi, a 15-year-old giraffe that has sired several calves over the years. Beginning Jan. 28, the zoo will release several possible names and will ask the public to vote on their favorite.