CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Officials say a man’s body has been found on the southwest side of Cedar Rapids. The body was found around 2:45 p.m. Sunday outside an empty commercial building that is used to handle overflows from a homeless shelter. Officials are investigating what they say is an unattended death. The man’s name hasn’t been released.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Creston Police report several arrests took place over the weekend. At around 6-p.m. Saturday, 27-year old Scott Draman, of Creston, was arrested for Theft in the 5th Degree. He was subsequently cited and released on a Promise to Appear in court. 20-year old Natalie Eslinger, of Creston, was arrested at around 12:35-a.m. Saturday, on two counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drugs. She was transported to the Adams County Jail and later released on $3,300 bond.

At around 6:30-p.m. Friday, 68-year old Richard Cunningham, of Creston, was arrested for Theft in the 5th Degree. He was subsequently cited and released on a Promise to Appear in court. A little after 3-p.m., Friday, Creston Police arrested 26-year old Joshua Jones, of Shenandoah, for Domestic Abuse. Jones was later released on a $1,000 bond. Creston Police arrested 26-year old Anthony Cross, of Creston, at around 10:30-a.m. Friday. Cross was taken into custody on a Union County warrant for Failure to Appear on an original charge of a Controlled Substance Violation. His bond was set at $10,000.

And, at around 9-a.m. Friday, 33-year old Maxine Burton, of Thayer, was arrested in Creston for Driving While Suspended. She was later released from the Adams County Jail on a $300 bond.

A group that operates a website about the Jodi Huisentruit case says they’ve discovered search warrants were recently executed tied to the case of the missing Mason City television anchor. John Vansice has claimed he was the last person to see Huisentruit alive, saying that she stopped at his house the night before her disappearance in 1995. Vansice moved to Arizona more than 20 years ago. The website “FindJodi.com” says that search warrants were issued on March 20th of last year for two vehicles belonging to Vansice.

Jodi Huisentruit

The warrants were sealed the next day and were resealed in October of last year for an additional year. Mason City police say the search warrants are part of their ongoing investigation in the case. Huisentruit disappeared from the parking lot of her Mason City apartment building on June 27th, 1995.

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The City Council in Sioux City is considering more than $12 million in assistance for a $56 million project to convert two historic downtown buildings into luxury apartments and a nearly 150-room hotel. Developer Lew Weinberg and St. Louis-based developer Restoration St. Louis plan to turn the former Warrior Hotel and Davidson buildings into a Marriott brand hotel.

The Sioux City Journal reports that the financial package would include a partially forgivable $5 million loan, a portion of the city’s share of hotel-motel taxes generated by the facility, property tax incentives, and reduced rates for city ramp parking.

The council could vote on the package today (Monday).

Harry Hillaker, Iowa’s state climatologist for the past three decades, is stepping down this week. “March 22 will be my last day in the office and basically it’s been, gosh, almost 37 years I’ve been working in this office,” Hillaker said. The state climatologist monitors weather activity to compile monthly and annual reports about precipitation totals, shifts in temperatures, and other climate-related data. Iowa’s only other state climatologist, Paul Waite, hired Hillaker. “He hired me to do a little, three-month long research grant,” Hillaker said. “It’s almost 37 years later and I’m still here. That research grant led to one thing and then another, and then another, and I’ve been here all that time.”

Harry Hillaker

Waite was Iowa’s state climatologist from 1976 to 1988, when Hillaker took the job. Hillaker plans to do some traveling, but will keep Iowa as his home in retirement. He’s looking forward to digging deeper into the state’s historical weather data. “There is still a lot of work to be done with that,” Hillaker said. “There’s a lot of stuff I’d like to do that I never had time to do with the regular job, so I’m hoping to do some of that with retirement.”  The state climatologist’s office is part of the Iowa Department of Agriculture.

(Radio Iowa)

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a traffic stop at around 10:30-p.m. Sunday, resulted in the arrest of a Villisca man. 31-year old Jerome Powell Burch was charged with Driving While License Suspended, and Interference with Official Acts. Burch was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

First Daughter Ivanka Trump, a senior advisor to President Trump, is scheduled to visit Iowa today (Monday). Ivanka Trump and Governor Kim Reynolds will visit a center in Waukee where high school students gain professional experience by working on high-tech projects for local businesses. It’s the same center Apple C-E-O Tim Cook visited last August.

Last Friday, Ivanka Trump said in a written statement she and Reynolds “have worked closely on a number of workforce development initiatives.” Trump said her visit to Iowa is meant to “highlight how important” workforce development and the president’s infrastructure plan are to “unleashing the economy and promoting…prosperity.”

Ivanka Trump and Iowa’s governor will host a roundtable discussion today (Monday) with some of the students working on high-tech projects for local Iowa businesses. Educators and state officials will also be part of the discussion.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Police in Davenport are investigating after an 80-year-old woman fell victim to a scam artist who claimed he was checking water meters. KCRG-TV reports that Velma Holmes answered a knock on her door Thursday from a man claiming he was with Iowa American Water Co. She took him to the basement to show him her meter. The next day she realized money and valuables worth $20,000 were missing, including her wedding ring.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A member of the Iowa Legislature has reunited with the daughter she released for adoption 47 years ago. On a Saturday morning this year, State Rep. Marti Anderson’s phone rang, and her daughter, Shellie Price Wardlaw, was on the other line. Wardlaw tells the Des Moines Register that she found Anderson after taking a DNA test through Ancestry.com in January, which identified a maternal match. Anderson had taken the same test in December. Anderson says she hopes to make up for lost time.

CORNING, Iowa (AP) — Federal loans will help utilities in Iowa and Missouri upgrade electric lines in rural parts of those states. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced $276 million in loans to help rural utilities improve the efficiency and reliability of their networks.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — If you bought a Powerball ticket in Pennsylvania for Saturday’s drawing, you may be holding a piece of paper worth $457 million. Powerball officials say a single winning ticket was sold in Pennsylvania that matches all of the winning numbers: 22-57-59-60-66 and Powerball 7. The specific location where the winning ticket was sold has not been announced.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Police in Davenport are investigating after an 80-year-old woman fell victim to a scam artist who claimed he was checking water meters. KCRG-TV reports that Velma Holmes answered a knock on her door Thursday from a man claiming he was with Iowa American Water Co. She took him to the basement to show him her meter. The next day she realized money and valuables worth $20,000 were missing, including her wedding ring.

Experts encourage residents to make sure a company name is on the car of anyone who comes to the home. Iowa American Water Co. says their employees always carry a company-issued photo identification and will never enter a customer’s home demanding access or a payment to avoid shutting off water.