54-YEAR-OLD SHARON HANGARTNER DISAPPEARED BEFORE DAWN ON SUNDAY MORNING. HER BODY WAS DISCOVERED LATE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON BY AUTHORITIES SEARCHING NEAR A PARK IN HIAWATHA. AN ANNOUNCEMENT FROM CEDAR RAPIDS POLICE SAYS THEY WERE ABLE TO POSITIVELY IDENTIFY HANGARTNER. THEY ALSO SAY THAT THERE IS NOT BELIEVED TO BE ANY ACTIVE TREAT TO PUBLIC SAFETY. STATE MEDICAL OFFICIALS IN ANKENY WILL PERFORM AN AUTOPSY TO ESTABLISH MORE FACTS ABOUT THE DEATH.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SPOKE TO A CROWD OF SUPPORTERS AT DES MOINES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LAST NIGHT. COVERING A VARIETY OF TOPICS DURING HIS TIME AT THE LECTERN, THE PRESIDENT CRITICIZED SOCIAL MEDIA FOR WHAT HE ARGUES IS DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT OF NEGATIVE POSTS ABOUT HIS CAMPAIGN. TRUMP ALSO SPENT CONSIDERABLE TIME TALKING ABOUT FARM ISSUES. HE SAID AT ONE POINT THIS YEAR HE STOPPED TAKING CALLS FROM IOWA SENATOR JONI ERNST DUE TO HER CONSTANT ADVOCACY FOR THE ETHANOL INDUSTRY. AND THE PRESIDENT SAID HE WANTED IOWA TO MAINTAIN ITS FIRST-IN-THE-NATION CAUCUS STATUS.
THE IOWA SUPREME COURT CONFIRMED A DIRECTIVE USED TO INVALIDATE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ABSENTEE BALLOT REQUESTS MAILED TO VOTERS PRE-FILLED WITH PERSONAL INFORMATION. THE RULING WEDNESDAY REJECTED A DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGE THAT ARGUED THE RULE FROM REPUBLICAN SECRETARY OF STATE PAUL PATE WAS UNCONSTITUTIONAL. AUDITORS IN THREE COUNTIES –INCLUDING LINN AND JOHNSON COUNTIES – DEFIED PATE’S GUIDANCE. THAT LED COURTS TO INVALIDATE THEIR PRE-FILLED FORMS UNDER SUIT FROM PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S CAMPAIGN.
SHOOTING IN CEDAR RAPIDS LED TO A POTENTIALLY GREATER DANGER IN A SOUTHEAST SIDE NEIGHBORHOOD WEDNESDAY EVENING. POLICE SAY A SHOT HIT A GAS METER AT A HOME NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF 23RD STREET SOUTHEAST AND BEAVER AVENUE. THERE WAS A LEAK WHICH RESULTED, BUT UTILITY AND FIRE CREWS RESPONDED TO SECURE THE SITUATION. THERE WERE NO INJURIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE SHOOTING OR THE GAS LEAK. CEDAR RAPIDS POLICE ARE STILL INVESTIGATING AFTER COLLECTING EVIDENCE AT THE SCENE.
WATERLOO IS REBRANDING MANY OF ITS DOWNTOWN LOADING ZONE PARKING AREAS. AS SOON AS THIS WEEKEND, THOSE SPACES COULD HAVE SIGNAGE WHICH LABELS THEM “GRAB AND GO” ZONES. JESSICA RUCKER IS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF MAIN STREET WATERLOO AND TALKED ABOUT THE CHANGES THIS MORNING DURING KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL. THE DROP-OFF/PICK-UP ZONES PROVIDE 15-MINUTE FREE PARKING OPPORTUNITIES. WATERLOO’S GRAB-AND-GO PARKING SPOTS WILL BE ENFORCED FROM 9 TO 5, MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, WITH A $20 TICKET FOR THOSE WHO TAKE A SPOT FOR MORE THAN 15 MINUTES.
A COURT HAS TOLD THE FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION TO RESPOND TO CONNECTIONS BETWEEN JONI ERNST’S OFFICIAL SENATE CAMPAIGN AND THIRD-PARTY POLITICAL GROUPS. SUCH GROUPS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO COLLABORATE WITH OFFICIAL CANDIDATE CAMPAIGNS. AN EMAIL FROM A PERSON ASSOCIATED WITH JONI FOR IOWA REQUESTED A $50,000 DOLLAR GIFT TO AN OUTSIDE GROUP SUPPORTING THE SENATOR’S REELECTION.
WATERLOO NATIVE AND FORMER IOWA WRESTLING COACH DAN GABLE WILL RECEIVE THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM. THE NEWS BROKE ON WEDNESDAY, AND PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP MADE REFERENCE TO IT LAST NIGHT WHEN HE ADDRESSED A CROWD DURING A RALLY IN DES MOINES. FOLLOWING GABLE’S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP CAREER AS AN ATHLETE AT IOWA STATE, HE WON GOLD DURING THE 1972 MUNICH OLYMPICS, THEN WENT ON A LONG AND SUCCESSFUL CAREER LEADING THE IOWA HAWKEYE WRESTLING PROGRAM. THE 71-YEAR-OLD WAS IN DES MOINES DURING LAST NIGHT’S CAMPAIGN EVENT. HEAR MORE OF THE PRESIDENT’S COMMENTS FROM HIS TRIP TO IOWA DURING NEXT HOUR’S KXEL NEWSCAST.
SPEAKING OF COLLEGE ATHLETICS, WILL UNI, IOWA, OR IOWA STATE HAVE THE CHANCE TO ESSENTIALLY PLAY AN NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT HOME GAME IN THE SPRING OF 2023? IF THE PANTHERS, THE HAWKEYES, OR THE CYCLONES MAKE THE FIELD, THEY MIGHT NOT HAVE TO GO FAR. DES MOINES WILL BE ONE OF THE HOST SITES FOR FIRST AND SECOND ROUND TOURNAMENT GAMES DURING THE 2023 EVENT. MEANWHILE, AN NCAA ANNOUNCEMENT ALSO INDICATED SEVERAL CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTS WILL BE HELD IN CEDAR RAPIDS IN THE COMING YEARS. THAT INCLUDES THE NCAA DIVISION III BASEBALL FINALS AND THE DIVISION II WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS IN 2023.
WATERLOO IS RECEIVING FEDERAL MONEY TO REDUCE LEAD. THE $3.4 MILLION GRANT IS COMING FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT. MORE THAN 100 HOMES IN WATERLOO WILL BENEFIT FROM THE LEAD-MITIGATION PROGRAM. LEAD EXPOSURE IS PARTICULARLY HAZARDOUS TO CHILDREN AND THE UNBORN.
