CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – The Iowa State Patrol said the daily death rate on Iowa’s roads for 2023 was 20% higher than the 5-year average.

Last year, the state of Iowa teamed up with several other states to try and reduce the number of fatalities, but the Iowa State Patrol says it hasn’t worked. State Trooper Bob Conrad said they were seeing more people not just speeding, but hitting the triple digits. The state patrol has had numerous social media posts showing cars it pulled over going in excess of 100-mph, like a car just outside Dubuque clocked at 115-mph, or a driver in Johnson County who was traveling at 123-mph. In the first two months of the year, the patrol has written 117 tickets to drivers going more than 100-mph, and a speed that’s leading to deaths.

Trooper Conrad said it boiled down to distracted driving; people not noticing how fast they’re going. With warmer weather approaching, the Trooper worries about how many more people won’t be able to make it home safely.

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI] — A former Des Moines news anchor has lost an age discrimination lawsuit after an eight-day trial in Polk County District Court. Sonya Heitshusen had been at WHO-TV for 17 years when, she says, she was denied an on-air contract in 2020. In August 2021, she filed an age and gender discrimination lawsuit against WHO-TV and its parent company, Nexstar Media Group, Inc., challenging what she called a widespread practice of removing older, female staffers from the air because of their looks. Station news director Rod Peterson and general manager Bobby Totsch were also named in the suit.

Nexstar, however, characterized Heitshusen’s firing as a reduction in its workforce. The lawsuit went to trial in Polk County last week, with the jury returning a verdict in favor of the defendants on Wednesday afternoon. It’s unclear if she will appeal the verdict.

Heitshusen is currently the public information officer for the Iowa Auditor of State.

[Updated] (Radio Iowa) – Iowans could pay extra for a license plate that bears the message “don’t tread on me” if a bill that’s cleared the Iowa House becomes law. The new specialty license plate would feature the image of the Gadsden Flag, with its coiled rattlesnake on the left side of the plate. Representative Jeff Shipley of Birmingham is among the 60 Republicans who voted for the bill. “Giving the Gadsden flag the respect it deserves as a symbol which memorializes our American history and the fight that we had to fight to get our liberty,” Shipley said. The Gadsden Flag design dates back to the Revolutionary War. The snake on the flag features 13 rattles that represent the 13 colonies that revolted against Great Britain.

“I can’t think of anywhere in the world where individual rights, individual sovereignty has been more cherished and respected than here in the great State of Iowa,” Shipley said, “so I think having this display on our license plate will be another great addition to the right fabric of our state.” The fees from these specialty plates would be distributed as grants to groups that promote education and training about the right to keep and bear arms. Democratas like Representative Dave Jacoby, of Coralville, say that means the money will go to the National Rifle Association. “The bill itself diverts tax dollars from a 500% fee increase to a private organization with political agendas,” Jacoby said.

Democrats unsuccessfully proposed a series of alternatives to finance things like children’s mental health services or anti-discrimination programs instead. House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst.  “There are problems in this state, there are issues this state is facing,” Konfrst said, “and we are spending time on a new license plate to fund the NRA.” Shipley, the only lawmaker to speak in favor of the bill during House debate, says the plate recognizes the right to keep and bear arms is a sacred value. “There are a lot of men and women who support the Second Amendment, practice the Second Amendment, exercise their freedom,” Shipley said, “and those people tend to contribute to the public safety we enjoy as Iowans.”

The bill now goes to the Iowa Senate, where a similar bill was introduced last year. About a dozen states sell Gadsden Flag specialty license plates, including Missouri and Kansas. The Gadsden Flag design dates back to the Revolutionary War. The snake on the flag features 13 rattles that represent the 13 colonies that revolted against Great Britain.

 DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI]  — Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds says President Joe Biden “has been a disaster for our country” and that she is endorsing former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Reynolds made the announcement Wednesday on her X (formerly known as Twitter) account. She had previously endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ahead of the Iowa Republican Caucus.

Trump had criticized Reynolds in 2023 after she did not endorse him, and again when she endorsed Ron DeSantis saying “it will be the end of her political career.”

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Court of Appeals is upholding discipline imposed on a University of Northern Iowa professor for plagiarism. A university investigation committee found communication and media professor Gayle Pohl committed plagiarism in a book chapter she published in 2017. The committee rejected the possibility that problems in her writing were honest errors. It recommended five sanctions that included prohibiting her from applying for promotion to full professor. Pohl asked for a judicial review on a variety of claims, including allegations of bias and a lack of substantial evidence.

The Court of Appeals upheld the U-N-I committee’s findings, saying its decision making, and resulting discipline against Pohl was not illogical, unreasonable, arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion.

(Radio Iowa) – A report finds more than two dozen Iowa hospitals are still not compliant with the three year old federal price transparency requirements. The report by the non-profit Patient Rights Advocate reviewed 43 Iowa hospitals. It found 60 percent were not compliant with the Hospital Price Transparency Rule. The founder of the non-profit, Cynthia Fischer, says when hospitals don’t comply, Iowans could end up paying much more for their medical care.

“The hospitals that were not fully compliant were missing significant amounts of the information that would help people be able to make sure their bills were right or shop upfront,” Fischer says. The feds have issued fines to 14 hospitals nationwide so far for non-compliance. No Iowa hospitals have been fined.

(Radio Iowa) – During the pandemic, some Iowans chose not to vaccinate themselves or their children, which has led to a gradual rise in some diseases that were long thought eliminated in the state and nation. Brian Simmons, an infection preventionist with Gundersen Health System, says there have been isolated cases of measles in Iowa in recent years, but no outbreaks. Measles can be easily spread when a person who’s infected breathes, coughs or sneezes, and it can lead to severe complications, even death. Simmons says it’s not necessarily a concern, but people need to be aware as it’s very contagious. The vaccine is highly effective, he says, but some people continue to campaign against getting the shots.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has voted to require teenagers to have a parent’s permission to use social media accounts. If the bill becomes law, social media companies must give a parent access to their minor child’s Instagram, SnapChat or other accounts and the ability to shut down those accounts. Federal law currently prohibits anyone under the age of 13 from having their own social media account. Representative Charley Thomson, a Republican from Charles City, led House debate of the bill.

“I believe this is an important step forward for parental rights in Iowa,” Thomson said. “It still permits parents to have some supervision over their children, while the children can have the social media accounts with monitoring.” Thomson says some teens have been harassed on social media and subjected to what’s called “sexploitation” on social media — without their parent’s knowledge and with devastating consequences.

“It’s a very sad situation…almost a homicide, because some of these bad actors have to encouraged he suicide victims to commit suicide,” Thomson says. The bill passed the House on an 88-to-six vote and goes to the Senate for review. The House approved another bill targeting the use of artificial intelligence to embed real images into pornographic content.

Representative Helena Hayes of New Sharon says they’re commonly called “deep fakes.” “These A.I. generated images are a more modern take on revenge porn without a defendant needed to obtain compromising photographs of the intended victim,” Hayes says.

The House unanimously approved a separate bill to specifically crack down on deep fakes that manipulate the images of children.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak, today (Wednesday), arrested a man on an assault charge. 37-year-old Tyce Samual Watts, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 1:25-p.m. in the 100 block of West Corning Street, for Domestic Abuse Assault – Impeding Air/Blood Flow, Causing Bodily Injury, a Class-D Felony.

Watts was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held without bond, pending an appearance before a magistrate.

(Sioux City, Iowa) – A man who was found with a firearm after being a convicted felon, was sentenced February 29, 2024, to 10 years in federal prison. 34-year-old Kevin DeWolf, of Denison, received the prison term after a September 21, 2023, guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a felon. Shortly after being indicted for the firearm charge, DeWolf set a vehicle on fire in Crawford County, attempting to fraudulently collect the insurance proceeds.

DeWolf was previously convicted of manufacture, deliver, or possess with intent to manufacture or deliver controlled substance, in the Iowa District Court for Crawford County, Iowa on or about July 15, 2022. DeWolf also has a prior assault conviction.

DeWolf was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand and was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime. DeWolf is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ron Timmons.