Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST
BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — A racial equity group is urging the city of Burlington to sever ties with a bank because of an official’s racist Facebook post. The Hawk Eye reports that the Black Leadership Council is outraged that Burlington is still doing business with Farmers & Merchants Bank & Trust after a vice president, Lisa Walsh, used a racist slur against Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in a November Facebook post. The Walsh family owns 53% of the bank. Walsh has been placed on administrative leave. Burlington Mayor Jon Billups told The Hawk Eye that he has been discussing the issue with F&M.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Another 71 people died in Iowa of the coronavirus and there were more than 1,400 new confirmed cases of the virus. The state Department of Public Health reports that in the last 24 hours as of Thursday morning, the additional deaths raised the total number of virus-related deaths to 3,739. There were 1,425 new confirmed cases, increasing the total to 272,444. Data from Johns Hopkins University shows that in the past 14 days, Iowa has reported 691.7 new confirmed cases per 100,000 people. That ranks the state 40th nationally during that period.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A cat named Lottie has been reunited with his Des Moines owners just in time for Christmas after he went missing nearly five years ago. The Des Moines Register reports that 37-year-old Kara Hanlon figured the cat had died until she got a letter in the mail saying otherwise. The Animal Rescue League’s animal control division had picked up Lottie and identified him by scanning his microchip. She got him back Monday. Hanlon described it as a “Christmas miracle,” noting that the last picture she snapped of the cat was taken in 2015 while he sat in a Christmas gift bag.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — According to an Associated Press investigation, Iowa’s attorney general hasn’t convicted a police officer for improperly using force since at least 2004, which was the earliest date for which records are available. Attorney General Tom Miller’s office only pursued charges against two officers out of 35 force cases it reviewed, and both of them were ultimately acquitted. Police officers often aren’t charged when someone ends up dead. Laws often shield officers and give them the benefit of the doubt for a dangerous and unpredictable job, and juries can be reluctant to convict. But prosecutors who have a history of declining to charge police are now facing scrutiny of their records following a summer of mass protests calling for accountability.
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