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Iowa/Regional News Headlines: Monday, March 23rd, 2020

News

March 23rd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

CHICAGO (AP) — America’s young people have grown up with school shootings, social media pressures, climate change and terror attacks. But the coronavirus pandemic could test a generation in ways they have never faced. One expert likens the impact to that of the Great Depression. As they’re being asked to study at home and distance socially to help their more vulnerable elders, how will they cope?

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa health officials have confirmed 22 new coronavirus cases in the state. The Iowa Department of Public Health said Sunday that the state now has 90 cases of COVID-19. Johnson County reported five new cases of COVID-19, and Tama County reported 3 new cases. The new virus cases include two new cases in each of the following counties: Cerro Gordo, Dubuque, and Harrison counties. The counties of Dallas, Kossuth, Linn, Poweshiek, Scott, Sioux, Washington and Woodbury counties each reported one new case of the disease. For most people, COVID-19 causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City woman who schemed with her husband to illegally harbor a 17-year-old Guatemalan girl in what authorities have called a human trafficking case has been sentenced to a year in prison. The Sioux City Journal reports that 40-year-old Amy Francisco was sentenced Friday in Sioux City’s federal court. She pleaded guilty in November to the single count. Her husband, 38-year-old Cristobal Francisco-Nicolas, pleaded guilty in December to federal counts of smuggling and unlawful possession of identification documents. Prosecutors say Francisco-Nicolas helped smuggle the girl and her father from Guatemala to Sioux City. The girl was found wandering Sioux City streets last June and told police she had been repeatedly raped by Francisco-Nicolas before she escaped.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Police have made two arrests in a fatal January shooting in Cedar Rapids — including the arrest of a teen injured in the shooting. Cedar Rapids police say in a news release Saturday that a 17-year-old male was arrested Friday evening for the Jan. 24 shooting that killed 18-year-old Andrew Gaston and injured a 16-year-old boy with him. The 17-year-old was arrested on suspicion of voluntary manslaughter and other counts. The 16-year-old boy injured also was arrested on suspicion of robbery and other counts. Police say the shooting happened when Gaston, the 16-year-old and another person arranged to meet with the 17-year-old to buy marijuana, then ambushed the 17-year-old in a plot to rob him.