A tornado approaches Interstate 80 near Atlantic, Iowa, as a semi truck rolls eastward on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021. A band of strong storms swept across much of the plains states on Wednesday, producing powerful wind gusts and tornadoes. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Des Moines Register via AP)
IN THE NEWS
1 IOWAN DIES IN POWERFUL STORMS
One person died in Iowa as a powerful storm system swept across the Great Plains and Midwest amid unseasonably warm temperatures, bringing hurricane-force wind gusts and spawning reported tornadoes in Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota in a weather outbreak experts described as extremely unusual for December. In eastern Iowa, a semitrailer struck by high winds Wednesday evening rolled onto its side on southbound U.S. Highway 151, killing the driver, the Iowa State Patrol said.
GUARD VACCINES: Gov. Kim Reynolds and four other Republican governors asked the U.S. defense department to withdraw its vaccine mandate for National Guard members who are mobilized or activated by their governor for active duty under state control.
COMMUTATIONS DENIED: Gov. Kim Reynolds rejected five applications by prison inmates seeking to have their life sentences commuted to a period of years, making them potentially eligible for release. The Iowa Board of Parole had unanimously recommended the governor consider granting the requests.
RIVER FUNDING: A bipartisan group of Iowa and Illinois lawmakers — including U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., called on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to prioritize funding included in the recently passed federal infrastructure bill to rebuild river locks and dams.
