VIRUS OUTBREAK-MEATPACKING

Report: At least 59,000 meat workers caught COVID, 269 died

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A U.S. House report says at least 59,000 meatpacking workers became ill with COVID-19 and 269 workers died when the virus tore through the industry last year. The report released Wednesday shows the coronavirus hit the industry much harder than previously thought. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union earlier this week estimated 22,400 workers were sickened by the virus. With workers standing shoulder-to-shoulder along production lines, the meatpacking industry was one of the early epicenters of the coronavirus pandemic. The House report says companies could have done more to protect their employees. 

IOWA TROOPER DIES-FUNERAL

Funeral held for Iowa trooper killed in NE Iowa crash

WAUKON, Iowa (AP) — Hundreds of people and law enforcement officers filled the Waukon High School gymnasium on Wednesday for the funeral of an Iowa State Patrol trooper who died from injuries he received in a car crash in the line of duty. Trooper Ted Benda was hurt Oct. 14 in a single-vehicle crash while en route to help the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office with a wanted suspect. He died in a La Crosse, Wisconsin, hospital from those injuries on Oct. 20. The 37-year-old Benda joined the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation in 2005 and transferred to the state patrol in 2016. He is survived by his wife, Holly, and their four children. A private burial will be held following the funeral.

FUEL TRUCK CRASH-HOUSE

Man who crashed fuel truck into Waterloo house gets prison

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A man who crashed a stolen fuel tanker into other vehicles before smashing into a Waterloo home last year has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. KWWL reports that 26-year-old Dakota Luck was sentenced Monday after he pleaded guilty in July to theft, reckless use of explosives, reckless driving and marijuana possession. Prosecutors say Luck had been acting erratically when he stole the tanker on Aug. 20, 2020, from a fuel-blending facility. Police say Luck was was traveling about 70 mph when he ran a red light and hit a minivan and other vehicles before crashing into the home, spilling thousands of gallons of diesel fuel and forcing neighbors to evacuate their homes.

AP-US-DEERE-STRIKE-PICKETER-KILLED

UAW member hit, killed by car near John Deere picket line

MILAN, Ill. (AP) — Police say a vehicle struck and killed a United Auto Workers member as he was walking to a picket line outside a John Deere plant in Illinois. Milan, Illinois, Police Chief Shawn Johnson said the man was struck Wednesday morning near a road that leads to the John Deere Parts Distribution Center in the northwest Illinois city. He says authorities to not believe the fatality was intentional but that the investigation is ongoing. The UAW leadership in Detroit said in a statement that the man had worked at the plant for 15 years. Workers are on strike at 14 Deere factories in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado and Georgia. 

AP-IA-UNIVERSITY OF IOWA-ASSAULT LAWSUIT

Woman sues University of Iowa, fraternity over sex assault

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A woman is suing a University of Iowa fraternity and two men after an alleged sexual assault that spawned protests on campus earlier this fall. The woman alleges in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that two members of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, also known as Fiji, sexually assaulted her at a party at the house in September 2020. She says the alleged assault was filmed and widely circulated. The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages against the two males and the fraternity. The two men were expelled from the fraternity but no charges were filed. The lack of charges prompted protests on campus in he fall. 

BODY BENEATH BRIDGE-ARREST

Iowa inmate arrested in 2012 killing of homeless man

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police in Des Moines say an Iowa prison inmate will be charged with murder for the 2012 killing of a homeless man. Station KCCI reports that 35-year-old William Rulli will face a first-degree murder charge after confessing to a corrections officer that he killed 56-year-old Stanley Golinsky nine years ago. Golinsky’s beaten and burned body was found in October 2012 by a passerby under a railroad bridge in downtown Des Moines, between a bike path and the Des Moines River. Rulli is currently in Anamosa State Penitentiary serving a prison sentence for first-degree burglary. Officials say he’ll be taken to Polk County to face the murder charge.

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