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Iowa early News Headlines: Sunday, March 25th 2018

News

March 25th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 5:00 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s governor has announced that she’s fired the director of the Iowa Finance Authority over a sexual harassment complaint. Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Saturday in a news release that Dave Jamison has been fired, effective immediately. The written release says Reynolds’ office was made aware Friday night of “credible allegations of sexual harassment against Director Jamison.” Reynolds has named IFA Chief Programs Officer Carolann Jensen as interim director.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican authorities say autopsies indicate an Iowa couple and their two children died from inhaling toxic gas at a rented condo on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, but there was no sign of foul play or suicide. The prosecutors’ office in the Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo said Saturday that the type of gas and its source had not yet been identified. Photos released by the office showed investigators in anti-contamination suits examining gas connections to a stove in the condo in Tulum.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The family of a Des Moines police officer killed in a 2016 wrong-way crash is blaming the design of an interstate interchange in a new lawsuit. The Des Moines Register reports that the family of Officer Susan Farrell is suing the cities of Waukee and West Des Moines, as well as several contractors. The lawsuit says the cities and contractors were negligent in opening the Interstate 80 interchange west of Des Moines before basic safety features were finished.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Downtown Des Moines is anticipating an unprecedented wave of hotel construction, including a 330-room Hilton that opened this week. The Des Moines Register reports that the city expects a surge of 951 hotel rooms in the next few years, which is a nearly 50 percent increase from the rooms currently available. Des Moines didn’t add any new downtown hotel rooms between the opening of Des Lux Hotel in 2000 and the Hyatt Place in 2010. A city official says this is Des Moines’ “catch-up phase.”