DES MOINES – Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart received a strong vote of confidence from the Democratic State Central Committee at their meeting this (Saturday) morning as she was overwhelmingly elected to a second term as the chair of the IDP.

In a statement from the the IDP, officials say before she was elected, Hart shared her Forward: Victory 2026 plan, which outlines a path to victory for Iowa Democrats in 2026. The plan was endorsed by Iowa Auditor Rob Sand, Iowa Democratic House Leader Jennifer Konfrst, and Iowa Democratic Senate Leader Janice Weiner.

Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart during an appearance on Iowa Press, on Iowa PBS (file photo)

“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the Iowa Democratic Party for a second term and look forward to implementing a plan that I shared publicly today to help Democrats build a foundation for success in 2025, 2026, and beyond.

The 2024 election did not go how I nor any Democrat in Iowa wanted, but the IDP is stronger than it was two years ago. I am looking forward to continue building on the strong foundation we’ve put in place during the last two years so Democrats in Iowa can win.”

(Adair, Iowa) – A joint, Legislative Meeting of the Adair-Casey and Guthrie Center Community School District Boards of Education will be held beginning at 5-p.m., on Monday, Jan. 6th. The meeting will take place in the AC/GC Junior High Media Center, in Adair.

No other details were released.

WATERLOO, Iowa (KCRG) – Friday (Jan. 3rd) was the last day of work for 80 John Deere employees in Davenport. The layoff will impact the John Deere Davenport Works location, which builds tractors and farming equipment. John Deere announced the layoffs on Oct. 16th. The company cited recent low demand and challenging market conditions. Deere announced a net income of $7 billion for the 2024 Fiscal Year, a 16 percent drop from the year before.

However, the layoffs don’t stop there. Monday will be the last day for 112 employees at the Waterloo works location. These layoffs were announced on Dec. 3rd.

So far, more than 1,700 John Deere employees across Iowa have been laid off since the start of last year, with most of them in Waterloo.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Anti-hazing groups are applauding a new federal law President Biden signed last week. The “Stop Campus Hazing Act” makes it so schools need to report when a hazing incident happens on campus and education of hazing awareness and prevention. This law comes after the University of Iowa suspended the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity for a hazing incident in November.

Iowa City Police said they were responding to a fire alarm that had been pulled when they arrived, they found 56 fraternity pledges blindfolded and food splattered on them. Organizations said they hope this law will give parents a better idea of when a hazing incident will occur. Todd Shelton, Executive Director of the Hazing Prevention Network tells KCRG-TV hazing doesn’t necessarily belong to any particular organization or any team on the U-of-I campus.

The Indiana-based nonprofit works to educate people about the harms of hazing and how to prevent it on college campuses, high schools, workplaces, and sports organizations. Shelton said the “Stop Campus Hazing Act” will help bring some transparency to the issue. The law will make it so schools need to report when a hazing incident happens on campus during its annual security report under the federal Clery Act. All three public colleges in Iowa already have methods of reporting hazing on campus but now all post-secondary schools are required to keep it posted for five years.

Shelton said the law sheds more light and education on hazing and how to prevent it but said now they want those committing the crimes of hazing to be held accountable, specifically in incidents where physical and serious harm took place. In Iowa, that’s considered a simple misdemeanor.

(Nevada, Iowa) — A Story County man has been charged after allegedly pretending to be a Vietnam veteran in November. WHO-TV reports, that according to court documents, on November 4th, 64-year-old Dennis Leyone Buchman, of Nevada (Nuh-VAY-duh) Iowa was gifted a quilt of valor from the American Legion Auxiliary for his supposed service as a Marine infantryman in the Vietnam War from 1969-1973.

However, those same court documents say Buchman was only nine years old in 1969. A criminal complaint states that Buchman was also accused of getting a free meal on Veteran’s Day at the Good and Quick convenience store in Nevada after portraying himself as a military veteran.

According to the complaint, when Nevada police officers confronted Buchman about his military service, he claimed he was attending basic training at Camp Pendleton. The complaint goes on to say that when confronted again Buchman then admitted that he had never served in any military branch and that he got the quilt of valor in honor of his father, who was a Marine. Records obtained by the Nevada Police Department through the National Personnel Records Center confirmed that Buchman had never served in a military branch, court records state.

Buchman was booked into the Story County Jail on one count of Impersonating A Decorated Military Veteran on Thursday. He has since been released. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for January 13th.

(Pottawattamie County, Iowa) –  The Council Bluffs Police Department arrested one person who officers said stole thousands of dollars worth of tools early Thursday morning. Investigators said they don’t believe the suspect was working alone. KETV in Omaha reports that when Mark Savage showed up to the job site near Fifth Avenue and Eighth Street to start working on plumbing Thursday morning, he knew something was wrong. He said the front door to the house was left unlocked.

And, he said they found the back door had been pried open. The structure held several tools that were used on the site. A quick call to contractor Dan Ruby determined that those missing tools, which included drills, telescopic light, salamanders and other, HVAC tools, were stolen. But Thursday morning’s weather worked in Ruby’s favor. One of his contractors, a retired Pottawattamie County deputy, found tracks left by the suspects in the snow. The tracks led to a house a few blocks away.

The Council Bluffs Police Department found the suspect inside the home, along with a Radio Flyer wagon and a trash can, which left the tracks behind. Most of the tools were recovered just a few hours after they were stolen. The impact is that the project the contractors were working on, will be set back 2- to 3-weeks because some of the tools were not located.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and the Department of Public Safety are warning Iowans to be aware of a new wave of “grandparent scams.” Several Iowa communities throughout the state have recently reported efforts by criminal groups to swindle predominately older Iowans. This scam is not new – the Attorney General’s Office has been warning Iowans about the grandparent scam since at least 2008.

In a grandparent scam, con artists call the victim posing as a grandchild and claiming they have been in an accident, hospitalized, jailed, or even in a foreign country, then ask the grandparent to send money to help them. At times, these scammers will go as far as to send an alleged courier to the grandparent’s home to retrieve the money.

Scammers will often trick the victim by using details about their grandchild that were obtained from social media accounts. The scammer might also team up with another scammer who pretends to be someone backing up the scammer’s claims, such as an attorney, doctor, or police officer.

“Scamming someone out of money is evil enough,” said Attorney General Bird. “But manipulating someone’s love for their grandchild shows just how low scammers will go to steal from you. In today’s digital age, it is more important than ever to double-check when someone calls asking for money and to never send it over the phone. If you or a loved one is suspicious of a grandparent scam, please call law enforcement and my office at 1.888.777.4590.”

The grandparent scam highlights the dangers of sharing personal information, wiring money, providing prepaid money card numbers or bank account information, and buying or transferring crypto currency to strangers by telephone. Grandparent scam transactions generally transfer funds abroad and are often nearly impossible to trace.

The Department of Public Safety and Attorney General Bird recommend the following tips to protect against the grandparent scam:

1. Hang up. End the call and verify the information.
2. Contact a trusted family member. Call a verified phone number for your grandchild, another family member, or friend to check out the story – even if you have been told to keep it a secret.
3. Verify the person’s identity. Ask questions about your loved one that a stranger would not know.
4. Resist the urge to act quickly or secretly. If someone is asking for money immediately and using fear, excitement, or sympathy, it’s a scam.
5. Report the scam to local law enforcement. Scammers attack several residents and communities, so get assistance for yourself and help others avoid scam efforts.
6. Don’t answer the door unless you know and trust the visitor. Don’t send money. Do not give out personal information, cash, wire money, or send a check or money order by overnight delivery or courier.
7. File a complaint. In addition to notifying local law enforcement authorities, scam calls can be reported to the Federal Trade Commission, as well as the Office of the Attorney General of Iowa.
8. Learn more about family emergency scams. For more information, read the FTC’s Family Emergency Scams, or visit the Attorney General’s Office website page on grandparent scams.

Iowans suspicious of a grandparent scam should immediately contact local law enforcement for assistance and report the scam to the Iowa Attorney General’s Office at 1.888.777.4590 or iowaattorneygeneral.gov. 

They may also file a complaint with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at https://www.ic3.gov/.

(Radio Iowa) – An Ottumwa man who was found guilty of killing his wife in 2021 has died in prison. The Department of Corrections says Gregory Showalter Senior died December 28th at the University of Iowa Medical Center, he was 64. No cause of death was given. Showalter was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his wife Helen.

Prosecutors said Showalter strangled his wife and dumped her body in the Des Moines River near Ottumwa. Showalter set off a manhunt when he failed to show up on the day the jury reached the guilty verdict. He had been out on bail and was missing for some 20 hours before being captured.

Showalter began his life prison sentence in October of 2023.