AUTHORITIES IN CEDAR RAPIDS ARE INVESTIGATING THE FIRST FATAL SHOOTING OF 2021. SHORTLY 2 A-M ON SUNDAY MORNING, A MAN ARRIVED AT MERCY MEDICAL CENTER WITH A GUNSHOT WOUND. EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE COULD NOT SAVE THE MAN. THE VICTIM’S IDENTITY WAS NOT IMMEDIATELY RELEASED BY CEDAR RAPIDS POLICE. THEY ALSO HAVE NOT PUBLICLY PROVIDED MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE NATURE OR LOCATION OF THE SHOOTING. TIPS ABOUT THE INCIDENT CAN BE PROVIDED TO LINN COUNTY CRIME STOPPERS AT THE TOLL FREE NUMBER 1-800-CS-CRIME.
STATE SENATOR ROB HOGG OF CEDAR RAPIDS IS NOT A METEOROLOGIST BUT THE EFFECTS OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC LOOKS LIKE A RAINY DAY TO HIM. HOGG AND OTHER SENATE DEMOCRATS SAY THEY WOULD LIKE TO PUT STATE SURPLUS AND EMERGENCY FUNDS TOWARD FOOD ASSISTANCE FOR IOWANS WHO ARE FOOD INSECURE. IN AN ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT THE EFFORT, HOGG SAID THE SENATE DEMOCRATS PLAN WOULD BOOST DEMAND AT LOCAL GROCERY STORES AND FOR PRODUCTS GROWN BY IOWA FARMERS. THE IOWA LEGISLATIVE SESSION BEGINS NEXT MONDAY.
BETWEEN NOW AND THEN, THE UNI PANTHER WRESLING PROGRAM WILL BE ON THE MAT FOR THEIR FIRST DUAL MEET. NORTHERN IOWA’S WRESTLING SCHEDULE WAS RELEASED YESTERDAY. THE PANTHERS WILL BE IN BROOKINGS, SOUTH DAKOTA FOR DUAL MEETS WITH BOTH SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AND NORTH DAKOTA STATE NEXT SUNDAY. OKLAHOMA WILL BE THE FIRST VISITING SQUAD TO COME TO CEDAR FALLS ON JANUARY 24TH. THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP WILL BE THE FIRST WEEKEND OF MARCH IN TULSA, OKLAHOMA.
AUTHORITIES IN VINTON DO NOT BELIEVE THERE IS ANY THREAT TO THE PUBLIC, BUT THEY DON’T YET KNOW ALL THE DETAILS ABOUT THE DEATH OF AN 84-YEAR-OLD MAN THERE. JAMES HOWARD BRIGHT LIVED JUST OUTSIDE OF TOWN. HIS BODY WAS FOUND IN HIS HOME ON SATURDAY MORNING. THE BENTON COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT, THE STATE PATROL, AND THE DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION ARE ALL TAKING A ROLL IN THE DEATH INQUIRY. A WELFARE CHECK ON BRIGHT LED TO THE DISCOVERY OF HIS BODY.
HOW WILL EVANSDALE PICK A NEW MAYOR? THAT QUESTION COULD BE RESOLVED DURING TONIGHT’S EVANSDALE CITY COUNCIL SESSION. IN MID-DECEMBER, FIRST TERM MAYOR TROY BEATTY SUBMITTED HIS RESIGNATION. BEATTY INDICATED THAT HE WILL BE MOVING AWAY FROM THE CITY TO TAKE A NEW JOB OUT OF STATE. THE POSITION COULD BE FILLED BY A COUNCIL APPOINTMENT OR THROUGH A SPECIAL ELECTION. TONIGHT’S CITY COUNCIL MEETING IN EVANSDALE BEGINS AT 6 P-M.
NEW MEMBERS OF CONGRESS WERE SWORN IN ON SUNDAY. FIRST DISTRICT IOWA CONGRESSWOMAN ASHLEY HINSON SPOKE WITH OUR COVERAGE PARTNERS AT TV-9 ON HER FIRST OFFICIAL DAY REPRESENTING NORTHEAST IOWA. HINSON STUCK A BIPARTISAN TONE. THREE OF FOUR HOUSE MEMBERS FROM IOWA ARE IN THEIR FIRST TERM: HINSON, MARIANETTE MILLER-MEEKS, AND RANDY FEENSTRA. THIRD DISTRICT CONGRESSWOMAN CINDY AXNE IS THE ONLY DEMOCRAT AND THE ONLY IOWAN REELECTED TO THE HOUSE THIS CYCLE.
RESIDENTS IN WASHINGTON, IOWA, WERE LITERALLY RATTLED THIS MORNING WHEN A BUILDING EXPLODED BETWEEN 4 AND 5 A-M. INJURIES WERE REPORTED FROM THE SCENE, WHICH WAS A HOME IN THE 11-HUNDRED BLOCK OF EAST WASHINGTON STREET. IN ADDITION TO THE SITE OF THE BLAST, THERE WAS DAMAGE TO OTHER NEARBY BUILDINGS. SOME RESIDENTS HAD TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES AS PART OF THE EMERGENCY RESPONSE. INITIAL REPORTS FROM AUTHORITIES INDICATED THAT TWO PEOPLE WERE TREATED FOR NON-LIFE-THREATENING INJURIES.
NET FARM INCOME IS AT A SEVEN YEAR HIGH. HOWEVER, APPROXIMATELY 40 PERCENT OF THOSE DOLLARS ARE THE RESULT OF GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES ACCORDING TO THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE’S LATEST FARM INCOME FORECAST. FARMER CHALLENGES IN 2020 INCLUDED THE IMPACT OF TRADE DISPUTES, DROUGHT AND STORM DAMAGE, AND LOW PRICES FOR CORN, LIVESTOCK, AND OTHER COMMODITIES. FARM CASH RECEIPTS ARE FORECAST TO BE THE LOWEST IN MORE THAN A DECADE. FARMERS ARE EXPECTED TO RECEIVE $46.5 BILLION FROM THE U.S. GOVERNMENT.
CEDAR RAPIDS STATE SENATOR ROB HOGG WOULD LIKE IOWA TO PROVIDE MORE MONEY FOR FOOD SUPPORT AND RECENTLY TALKED ABOUT HIS PLAN ON KXEL. HOGG SITED THE STATE’S 305 MILLION DOLLAR SURPLUS AS A SOURCE OF FUNDING. HEAR MORE FROM ROB HOGG DURING NEXT HOUR’S KXEL NEWSCAST.
