(Mitchellville, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Corrections reports 58-year-old Julia Ann Cox was pronounced dead due to natural causes at 10:10 a.m. on Thursday, December 21, 2023 in a hospice room of the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women.

Cox had been serving a 7-year maximum term for the crime of Abuse of a Corpse and Accessory After the Fact from Poweshiek County. Her sentence began on April 5, 2022.

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) released the following video wishing Iowans a Merry Christmas:

DES MOINES – Today, Gov. Kim Reynolds released her annual Christmas video message to Iowans.

(Radio Iowa) – The three member state panel that sets the estimate of state tax collections lawmakers use to draft the state budget has just two members today. David Underwood, a C-P-A from Clear Lake, has retired from the Revenue Estimating Conference.  “I started this in another century and that really seems like a long time,” Underwood said last Wednesday, “but I have spent about a third of my life serving on this committee.”

Underwood was appointed to the Revenue Estimating Conference by Governor Terry Branstad — in September of 1997. For the past 26 years, he’s primarily been a mediator between tax estimates from the executive and legislative branches of state government.

“People kind of warned me in the beginning that I was probably going to get a lot of political pressure,” Underwood says. “I never did.” State law says the two other members of the panel, one appointed by the governor and one employed by the legislative branch, will choose Underwood’s replacement.

Underwood was the chief financial officer of a Mason City company that makes doors and windows when he was appointed to the Revenue Estimating Conference. After retiring from that job, he became a business consultant.

(Radio Iowa) – A Northern Iowa man is dead and his wife is hospitalized after a house fire in the town of Burt. Brian Wilson reports.

(Albia, Iowa) – A teenager from southeast Iowa was injured when the vehicle crashed Thursday night in Monroe County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 1999 Dodge RAM pickup driven by 21-year-old Trevor Joe Gundrum, of Eddyville, was attempting to elude law enforcement when the pickup left the road and entered a field. The pickup entered a pond in the field before it came to rest. The incident happened at around 8:05-p.m. near 1802 695th Avenue, near Albia.

Three occupants of the pickup were able to get out of the vehicle. CPR was performed on one of the passengers, 17-year-old Trenton Larry Gundrum, of Oskaloosa, before he was flown by LifeFlight to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines. Trevor Gundrum was taken into custody.

A second passenger in the vehicle released at the scene.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Schools are still preparing to pull books of their shelves before the new year in accordance to Senate File 496. The law passed last spring bans any books in school libraries that describe or visually depict a sex act – the only exemption is religious books like the Bible. KCRG reports, with just over one week until the deadline, some educators and administrators remain frustrated with the lack of guidance in the law itself and worry about potential penalties if they miss a title.

Many schools like Iowa City, and College Community have partial lists. Titles including To Kill a Mocking Bird, Handmaid’s Tale, and Ulysses are on some of these lists. Smaller schools, while dealing with smaller libraries, are also still working to compile a list. Solon’s process includes going through each title in their libraries to determine age appropriateness and how it relates to the upcoming law.

As the deadline draws closer, many have expressed uncertainty and anxiety surrounding possible penalties for not removing any book that might meet the criteria.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — When it comes to keeping the roadways safe during the holidays, organizations like AAA are stepping up to help prevent impaired drivers getting behind the wheel.

Beginning Friday at 6 p.m. and running through 6 a.m. on Jan. 2, AAA will activate their “Tow-to-Go” service in Iowa and Nebraska. The service will offer a free, confidential ride and tow to safety of up to 10 miles for one person and their vehicle.

AAA emphasizes the program is meant to be a last resort for those who didn’t plan ahead. Additionally, it may not be available in rural areas or during severe weather conditions.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Two people were arrested on separate charges Thursday, in Mills County. The Sheriff’s Office reports 32-year-old Henry Talamantez, Jr., of Council Bluffs, was arrested on two counts of Theft in the 2nd Degree. His bond was set at $10,000. And, 25-year-old Devin Donta Sattizahn, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, on a warrant for Failure To Appear on an original charge of Domestic Abuse Assault. Bond was set at $3,000.