(Radio Iowa) – Police say four people were shot — two of them fatally — in two separate incidents in Des Moines last (Monday) night. Police were called about 6 PM to the banks of the Des Moines River where the body of a 43-year-old Des Moines man was found, shot to death. Investigators say it was a homicide.

About two hours later, three people were shot on the capitol city’s east side and one of them died, a 40-year-old man from Des Moines. Two other men, ages 27 and 32, sustained non-life threatening gunshot injuries. No names were released in either case and there’s no word on any arrests. These are Des Moines’ 5th and 6th homicides of the year.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is questioning the head of the U-S Department of Veterans Affairs about reports of inconsistent inspection practices and a lack of quality controls at veterans homes nationwide.  “It’s not directed just to any specific instances,” Grassley says. “It’s kind of an accumulation of a lot of concerns we’ve had.”

Those concerns include the pandemic and reports that show more than 14-hundred residents and staff of V-A homes nationwide have died of COVID-19. The V-A spends about one-billion dollars a year on state-run homes for veterans. The homes are only required to do one annual safety inspection. “Since there’s a lot of tax dollars goes into this,” Grassley says, “we have a responsibility to make those tax dollars keep our promises to our veterans.”

Grassley, a Republican, says it appears the standard of care at many state veterans homes “falls well short” of those required by other government-supported nursing homes. He says, “Americans deserve answers and our veterans deserve better.” “The lack of oversight by the VA seems to be a problem that’s not being carried out the way it should be,” Grassley says. “This is a letter to get answers to some specific questions.”

A POLITICO report says nearly 14-hundred V-A residents and 40 staff have died from COVID-19 in 110 state veterans homes. In the worst case, 110 deaths were reported at a 126-bed veterans home in New York. It’s unclear how many veterans, if any, have died from COVID at the Iowa Veterans Home. This summer, it was reported that two residents of the home in Marshalltown who were housed in the COVID unit had died. I-V-H officials said both veterans had “significantly compromised health conditions” and thus, they weren’t listed as COVID deaths.

(Waterloo, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Department of Corrections, Tuesday, said 30-year-old Devin Dewayne Smith, who was convicted of Robbery 2nd and other charges in Black Hawk County, failed to report to the Waterloo work release facility Monday night, as required. Smith is a black male, 6-feet 2 inches tall. He height 6’2″, and weighs 167 pounds. Smith was admitted to the work release facility on May 26, 2021.

Persons with information on Smith’s whereabouts should contact their local police.

Devin Smith (IA DOC photo)