A state board has finally approved long-standing plans for a new outpatient facility in Cedar Rapids and a psychiatric hospital in Bettendorf. For the past two years, a Tennessee-based firm called Strategic Behavioral Health has been trying to get approval from state regulators to open a 72-bed psych hospital in Bettendorf. On Thursday, the Iowa […]Powered by WPeMatico
The mayor of the northeast Iowa town of McGregor, struck by a tornado Wednesday night, says damage to the city’s downtown is likely even worse than what many people initially thought. Harold Brooks says it’s still unclear how many buildings on Main Street were destroyed. “They’re finding out that there are hardly any businesses that […]Powered by WPeMatico
A Muscatine man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison on child pornography charges. Thirty-six-year-old Casey John Blain of Muscatine pleaded guilty to both possessing and distributing child pornography. A judge has ordered him to pay $12,500 in restitution in addition to serving 12 years in a federal prison. The National Center for Missing and […]Powered by WPeMatico
The state’s unemployment rate increased slightly last month, to 3.2 percent. “One thing we see as you come into the summer months is new entrants into the job market,” says Cory Kelly, a spokesman for Iowa Workforce Development. “All of our college graduates come in, so that increases the unemployment rate.” Nearly 54,000 Iowans were unemployed in […]Powered by WPeMatico
Members of two Iowa environmental groups are asking state leaders to enact stricter guidelines for confined animal feeding operations, or CAFOs. Erica Blair, an organizer with Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, went with members of Food and Water Watch, to deliver petitions this week to the state Environmental Protection Commission. Blair says the so-called Master […]Powered by WPeMatico
A dancing style that got its start on the streets of the Bronx in the mid-1970s is still very much alive in Iowa. Dozens of the top breakdancers from across the Hawkeye State are competing in Des Moines tomorrow in what’s dubbed Iowa’s Illest Breakdance Battle. Organizer Tae Kim admits many of the competitors weren’t even […]Powered by WPeMatico
A central Iowa dentist who admits he used his patients’ prescription drugs faces up a decade in federal prison. Thirty-eight-year-old Shawn Michael Kerby has pleaded guilty to one count of obtaining hydrocodone by misrepresentation along with one gun-related charge. He’ll be sentenced in November. Kerby has admitted he was a drug addict who wrote prescriptions […]Powered by WPeMatico
A Minnesota woman has been sentenced to nearly three decades in prison for a sex crime involving a nine-year-old relative. Forty-nine-year-old Cynthia Mitteness of Mayer, Minnesota, was arrested last July after authorities learned of “explicit” text messages sent by Mitteness and a registered sex offender in central Iowa. Mitteness ultimately pleaded guilty to “conspiring to […]Powered by WPeMatico
A Jefferson man is jailed on charges including attempted murder after an altercation last week. Twenty-three-year-old Niko Lee Rice was taken into custody by the Jefferson Police Department Wednesday. According to authorities, officers were called to the scene of a physical altercation on Thursday, July 13 in Jefferson around 5 p.m. after a neighbor reported […]Powered by WPeMatico
