Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press
MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — The family of a man charged in the 1994 killing of a 20-month-old boy has issued a statement expressing sympathy with the child’s family and asking the media to respect its privacy. The Mason City Globe Gazette reportsthe family of 37-year-old Michael Jason Cisneros issued the statement yesterday. Cisneros is charged with first-degree murder in the death of John Joseph Snyder Jr.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The number of people reporting a food-borne intestinal illness believed to have come from a contaminated vegetable is now at 134 in Iowa and Nebraska as new cases continue to surface. Iowa has reported 81 cases of cyclosporiasis spread across 25 counties. The Iowa Department of Public Health says at least five people have been hospitalized.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in Des Moines say they have made the largest heroin bust in the city’s history. Des Moines police say they seized 11 pounds of heroin and three pounds of methamphetamine from a pick-up truck Saturday on Interstate 80. The Des Moines Register reports that’s more than 440 times as much heroin found in the city last year.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials at a Des Moines zoo say a 16-year-old female lion has died of cancer. KCCI-TV reports that Gavivi died after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer in 2012. The lion was born in 1997 and came to the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines in 1999.