State News


  • Local

    No more Kum & Go? New owner Maverik of Utah retiring famous brand

    Will Kum & Go have come and gone by next year? One new report claims that’s the plan by the store’s new owners. The Iowa-based convenience store chain Kum & Go—a brand occasionally mocked outside of the Midwest for its mildly salacious name—was bought by Utah-based Maverik last year. Maverik said in August it would…


  • Politics

    Report: Perry shooter made racist post before killing

    The Perry High School shooter made a racist social media comment minutes before opening fire on students and staff at the rural Iowa school.


  • Politics

    Trump tells Iowa crowd US Civil War could have been negotiated

    Donald Trump told a jam-packed crowd he thinks the US Civil War could have been solved through negotiation and that without it we wouldn’t know who Abraham Lincoln was. Trump made the remarks Saturday—on the third anniversary of the attack on the US Capitol by his supporters—during a rally at the DMAAC Newton Campus about…


  • Politics

    West Des Moines teen arrested after making school shooting post

    An 18-year-old West Des Moines resident was arrested after sharing a Snapchat post about shooting up a school the same day as a nearby school shooting in Perry. According to the criminal complaint, Lakeeve Fort made a post asking “Should I shoot up the school??” with a thumbs up and a thumbs down emoji. The…


  • Politics

    Perry principal stable after being shot while protecting students

    Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger’s daughter said he tried to talk Dylan Butler down before the 17-year-old gunman shot the longtime administrator and five others at the school on Thursday. Claire Marburger shared this tidbit in a public Facebook post to let everyone know her father was in stable condition.  “As I heard of…


  • Local

    Perry students share thoughts on school shooting during vigil

    Some students were there for band practice, others for a breakfast program, and some never got into the building before shots rang out at Perry High School around 7:30 a.m. on Thursday. At a vigil held Thursday evening, following a morning school shooting that ended with two dead and five injured, students who were there—or…


  • Local

    Casey’s staff shelters students fleeing Perry school shooting

    A Casey’s General Store in Perry became a place of refuge for several students Thursday morning after a gunman opened fire at nearby Perry High School. Store Manager Jocelyn Kirchner said she received a call at 7:30 a.m. about what was transpiring at the high school. Several students had fled from the facility and went…


  • Local

    UPDATE: Sixth-grader killed in Perry shooting identified

    A sixth-grader is dead and six others injured—one critically—after a school shooting at Perry High School in Perry, Iowa. On Friday, authorities identified 11-year-old Ahmir Jolliff as the slain child. His cause of death was three gunshot wounds. The incident happened just after 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, the first day back for students.…


  • Politics

    Insulin prices plunge for Iowans due to Biden’s American Rescue Plan

    Eli Lilly, Sanofi, and Novo Nordisk’s price cuts are expected to benefit many Iowans who need insulin to survive. The companies first announced the moves last year, as a response to an American Rescue Plan provision that threatened to penalize them if they kept prices high.


  • Politics

    Judge blocks most of Iowa law banning some books in schools

    DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked key parts of an Iowa law that bans some books from school libraries and forbids teachers from raising LGBTQ+ issues. Judge Stephen Locher’s preliminary injunction halts enforcement of the law, which was set to take effect Jan. 1 but already had resulted in the…