Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 4:55 a.m. CST
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A former nursing home worker has been given two to five years’ probation for abusing a nursing home resident. The Courier reports that 61-year-old Michael Ritchie Kane, of Westgate, pleaded guilty earlier this month to dependent adult abuse with injury. In exchange for his plea, Kane was granted a deferred judgment, meaning the offense will come off his record if he successfully completes probation. Kane had worked at Ravenood Specialty Care in Waterloo, and investigators say that in June 2018, he pinched and punched a resident there, attempted to suffocate the patient and threatened to shoot him.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — At least one death in eastern Iowa is being blamed on a winter storm that slicked Interstate 80. The Iowa State Patrol reports a westbound semitrailer on I-80 crashed early Saturday morning in Cedar County east of Iowa City. The Patrol says roads were completely covered in ice when the semitrailer left the road and overturned, killing a passenger in the truck. The victim’s name had not been released by late Saturday afternoon. The storm system brought high winds and snow to much of Iowa Friday overnight into Saturday. Around 2 inches fell in areas of eastern Iowa, including Davenport.
HOUSTON (AP) — Authorities blame severe storms sweeping across southern portions of the U.S. and into the Midwest for the deaths of at least 11 people, including two first responders. High winds, tornadoes and unrelenting rain have battered large swaths of the country. Officials say a police officer and a firefighter in Lubbock, Texas, were killed Saturday after being hit by a vehicle at the scene of a traffic accident. Hundreds of thousands of people were left without power from Texas to Ohio, sections of flooded highways were closed in Oklahoma and Arkansas and hundreds of flights were canceled at Chicago’s airports.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Supreme Court Acting Chief Justice David Wiggins says he’s retiring, a vacancy that will give Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds an opportunity to build an even more conservative court. The 69-year-old Wiggins says Friday he will retire March 13. He was appointed to the court by Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack in 2003. He was named acting chief justice in November after the unexpected death of Chief Justice Mark Cady. Wiggins is one of the two remaining Democratic appointees on the seven-member court. Reynolds just received the names of three nominees Thursday to fill Cady’s vacant seat.