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Iowa early News Headlines: Thursday, May 10th 2018

News

May 10th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A top aide to Gov. Kim Reynolds has been hired by Apple months after helping promote a controversial $208 million incentive package for the company’s planned Iowa data center as a good deal for taxpayers. Tim Albrecht resigned as Reynolds’ deputy chief of staff, then began in March as a manager of strategic initiatives for Apple. The governor’s office says Albrecht’s position is “unrelated” to the $1.3 billion complex the company is building outside Des Moines.

MT. PLEASANT, Iowa (AP) — Federal immigration officials have raided a precast concrete manufacturing plant in southeastern Iowa. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers took 32 people at Midwest Precast Concrete in Mount Pleasant into custody Wednesday on suspicion of immigration violations. The agency says those detained came from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — Health officials in northern Iowa have confirmed seven cases of whooping cough in Cerro Gordo County. Mason City television station KIMT reports that the Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health says it’s investigating instances of the highly contagious disease in the Mason City Community School District and among staff at a local McDonald’s restaurant.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa agency that promotes affordable housing has suspended the use of employee credit cards that were issued outside the state’s normal program. The move by the Iowa Finance Authority comes as the agency faces investigations into allegations of sexual harassment and questionable financial practices by its former director, Dave Jamison. Documents show that 21 employees of the agency had been issued Visa credit cards through Wells Fargo to cover travel, meeting and other expenses.