Latest Iowa Headlines
All the headlines from our Iowa Topic Page, ordered by recency.
What States Are Doing to Battle Bird Flu Threat
May 31 2015 // Indiana is training 300 prisoners to kill infected chickens and banning bird shows at county fairs. Mississippi is considering road barricades and planning biosecurity measures. Iowa is trying to figure out how to deal...
Petersen Inducted into Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame
May 29 2015 // W. Harold Petersen, founder of Petersen International Underwriters, has been inducted into the Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame. A pioneer of and advocate for the disability insurance industry, Petersen was one of five...
Dubuque, Iowa, Repeals City Park Sledding Ban
May 27 2015 // The Dubuque City Council has repealed a section of city ordinances that banned sledding from some city parks. On Jan. 5 the council voted to prohibit sledding, skiing and inner tubes on all but two city properties. The...
Government’s Bird Flu Response Upsets Some Iowa Farmers
May 26 2015 // Iowa farmers who have been dealing for weeks with thousands of rotting dead chickens are frustrated by the government’s response to the Midwest bird flu outbreak. Several chicken and turkey farmers expressed their...
Iowa Jury Awards Injured Ex-High School Football Player $1M
May 13 2015 // A jury in Iowa has awarded a former Bedford High School football player almost $1 million in a case involving the school’s response to head injuries. The Des Moines Register reports 18-year-old Kacey Strough had a...
Iowa Twister Was EF1: Weather Service
May 13 2015 // National Weather Service crews were dispatched to assess the damage caused by a tornado that tore through Lake City, Iowa, uprooting trees, ripping apart the roof of a high school and leaving shreds of pink insulation...
Iowa, South Dakota Towns Assessing Tornado Damage
May 12 2015 // Residents of the tornado-ravaged Iowa and South Dakota towns are beginning to assess property damage after twisters hit on Sunday. In South Dakota, the Tripp-Delmont School District called off classes on May 11 because...
Bird Flu Found in 5 more Northwest Iowa Farms
Apr 29 2015 // The deadly bird flu virus was found in an egg-laying flock with 3.7 million chickens in northwest Iowa in addition to four more poultry farms, state agriculture officials said. The virus will now cost Iowa egg producers...
Bird Flu ‘Catastrophe’ Growing in Midwest
Apr 24 2015 // Deadly bird flu swelled in the poultry industry in Minnesota and neighboring Wisconsin amid speculation that winds may be carrying virus particles into facilities housing turkeys and chickens. “This is a catastrophe...
Declarations
Apr 20 2015 // Big Step Forward “This will be a big step forward in the city’s overall resiliency efforts as we prepare to deal with the future of extreme weather.” —New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on the Federal...
$26.2M Flood Mitigation Grant Approved for Burlington, Iowa
Apr 16 2015 // City officials in Burlington, Iowa, announced it will be able to build flood walls and other barriers to keep the Mississippi River at bay during flood events. The city has been awarded a $26.2 million grant from the state...
Ratings of Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Co. of Iowa Downgraded
Apr 8 2015 // A.M. Best has downgraded the financial strength rating to A- (Excellent) from A (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating to “a-“from “a” of Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company of Iowa (FMH),...
Feds Wants Egg Executives Punished for Salmonella Outbreak
Apr 8 2015 // A federal judge in Iowa should consider the “widespread harm” done by a major 2010 salmonella outbreak and the food safety lapses that preceded it in sentencing two egg industry executives whose company was...
Jaffray Named Chief Financial Officer at Iowa-Based United Fire Group
Apr 7 2015 // Insurer United Fire Group Inc., based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, appointed Dawn M. Jaffray as chief financial officer, effective April 27, 2015. Jaffray brings more than 27 years of experience to UFG, including extensive...
Leaders in Iowa City Consider Tougher Vehicle Impound Law
Apr 6 2015 // Motorists in Mason City, Iowa could soon have their vehicles impounded for any one of 10 violations, including some misdemeanors. The City Council will consider an impound ordinance at its meeting Tuesday night, the Mason...
Iowa Lawmakers Back Measure Protecting Cities from Sledding Claims
Apr 1 2015 // Lawmakers in the Iowa Senate and House have approved legislation that would protect cities from liability if people are injured while sledding in public parks. The bill passed 48-0 in the Iowa Senate. and had previously...
Iowa High Court: Insurer not on Hook for Leak at Shopping Center
Apr 1 2015 // The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that an insurance company is not on the hook for a 2010 leak at Waterloo shopping center that damaged a store. In a split decision on March 20, the high court sided with State Farm...
Iowa’s Farmers Mutual Hail, John Deere Insurance Close Acquisition
Apr 1 2015 // Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company of Iowa (FMH) announced its acquisition of Illinois-based John Deere Insurance Company and John Deere Risk Protection Inc. is complete Headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, FMH has...
Iowa Urged to Toughen Rules on Teen Driving
Apr 1 2015 // A safety research organization is urging Iowa to toughen its rules for teenager driver’s licenses. The Des Moines Register reports that a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says Iowa could cut its...
Iowa Man: City Should Pay for Tear Gas Damage at Rental Home
Mar 26 2015 // A Marshalltown, Iowa, man says the city should pay for damage to his rental property caused by a police department SWAT team during its search for a murder suspect. Ron Iole told the Marshalltown City Council that he filed...
