Latest Iowa Headlines

All the headlines from our Iowa Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Iowa Jury Awards Nearly $12M in Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

Aug 7 2015 // An Iowa jury has awarded nearly $12 million to an Indianola woman who said in a lawsuit that her former co-workers at a toy company subjected her to graphic sexual comments and other harassment. The jury awarded $11.9...

Iowa School Building Closed Due to Asbestos

Jul 10 2015 // The main building at Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been closed as officials deal with the presence of asbestos. A contractor working in the building raised concerns with the Iowa Natural Resources...

90% of Cars at Central Iowa Auto Shop Destroyed in Flood

Jul 6 2015 // A Clive, Iowa, auto repair business reported that 90 percent of the vehicles on its property have been ruined by a flash flood. Acheson Auto Works, which backs up to Walnut Creek, was flooded early on June 26, destroying...

Iowa Governor Extends Bird Flu Disaster Proclamation

Jul 1 2015 // Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has extended a state of disaster emergency through July 31 in response to the bird flu outbreak in the state. The declaration was the second extension of the original disaster proclamation. It...

Court: Iowa Universities Can’t Be Sued for Unpaid Insurance Fees

Jun 25 2015 // Iowa’s three public universities cannot be sued for allegedly refusing to pay their share into a state program that subsidizes insurance for Iowa residents who have health risks, the Iowa Court of Appeals has...

Iowa Egg Farm Sued After Bird Flu Disrupts Supply

Jun 25 2015 // A food supplier claims an Iowa egg farm breached a contract after bird flu disrupted the supply of eggs. Michael Foods Egg Products Co., a subsidiary of St. Louis-based cereal-maker Post Holdings Inc., filed a lawsuit in...

Warm Weather Bringing Relief from Record U.S. Bird-Flu Outbreak

Jun 12 2015 // There’s relief ahead for U.S. poultry farmers suffering through the worst ever domestic outbreak of bird flu. As the weather warms, there’s likely to be fewer instances of the disease, which has already left 47...

Ex-Iowa Deputy Gets 13 Years in Arson for Insurance Case

Jun 12 2015 // A former sheriff’s deputy in Jones County, Iowa, has been given 13 years in prison for fraud linked to a fire he set at his vacant home. Prosecutors say 50-year-old James Plower, of Olin, was sentenced in U.S....

Construction of 2 Flood Barriers in Iowa City Almost Finished

Jun 10 2015 // Workers are finishing up two multimillion dollar flood barriers in Iowa City even as residents welcome a break from flooding that has hit the area in past years. Forecasters with the National Weather Service predict a less...

Economic Report Suggests Slower Growth in Midwest

Jun 2 2015 // Slower economic growth is likely through the end of the third quarter this year for nine Midwestern and Plains states, according to a report issued on June 1. The survey report says the overall Mid-America Business...

What States Are Doing to Battle Bird Flu Threat

May 31 2015 // Indiana is training 300 prisoners to kill infected chickens and banning bird shows at county fairs. Mississippi is considering road barricades and planning biosecurity measures. Iowa is trying to figure out how to deal...

Petersen Inducted into Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame

May 29 2015 // W. Harold Petersen, founder of Petersen International Underwriters, has been inducted into the Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame. A pioneer of and advocate for the disability insurance industry, Petersen was one of five...

Dubuque, Iowa, Repeals City Park Sledding Ban

May 27 2015 // The Dubuque City Council has repealed a section of city ordinances that banned sledding from some city parks. On Jan. 5 the council voted to prohibit sledding, skiing and inner tubes on all but two city properties. The...

Government’s Bird Flu Response Upsets Some Iowa Farmers

May 26 2015 // Iowa farmers who have been dealing for weeks with thousands of rotting dead chickens are frustrated by the government’s response to the Midwest bird flu outbreak. Several chicken and turkey farmers expressed their...

Iowa Jury Awards Injured Ex-High School Football Player $1M

May 13 2015 // A jury in Iowa has awarded a former Bedford High School football player almost $1 million in a case involving the school’s response to head injuries. The Des Moines Register reports 18-year-old Kacey Strough had a...

Iowa Twister Was EF1: Weather Service

May 13 2015 // National Weather Service crews were dispatched to assess the damage caused by a tornado that tore through Lake City, Iowa, uprooting trees, ripping apart the roof of a high school and leaving shreds of pink insulation...

Iowa, South Dakota Towns Assessing Tornado Damage

May 12 2015 // Residents of the tornado-ravaged Iowa and South Dakota towns are beginning to assess property damage after twisters hit on Sunday. In South Dakota, the Tripp-Delmont School District called off classes on May 11 because...

Bird Flu Found in 5 more Northwest Iowa Farms

Apr 29 2015 // The deadly bird flu virus was found in an egg-laying flock with 3.7 million chickens in northwest Iowa in addition to four more poultry farms, state agriculture officials said. The virus will now cost Iowa egg producers...

Bird Flu ‘Catastrophe’ Growing in Midwest

Apr 24 2015 // Deadly bird flu swelled in the poultry industry in Minnesota and neighboring Wisconsin amid speculation that winds may be carrying virus particles into facilities housing turkeys and chickens. “This is a catastrophe...

Declarations

Apr 20 2015 // Big Step Forward “This will be a big step forward in the city’s overall resiliency efforts as we prepare to deal with the future of extreme weather.” —New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on the Federal...