Simon, the giant rabbit who recently died during transport from London to Missouri, was destined to be shown off at the Iowa State Fair. Now, the three investors who had purchased Simon to raise money for the fair are taking United to court, accusing the airline of negligence. [More]
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Pickup Truck Crashes Through Walmart Entrance, Killing 3 And Injuring 2
By 12.2.16
A normal morning at an Iowa Walmart took a tragic turn yesterday, after a pickup truck crashed through the front door of the store, killing three people in the store and injuring two others. [More]
Please Call 9-1-1 When You See A Car Crash Before Taking Pictures With Your Phone
By 2.10.16
While there are many Internet-savvy police departments out there, one thing that the world’s cops have not yet learned how to do is receive reports of car crashes and other catastrophes through Facebook posts. That’s why the Iowa State University police are annoyed with the population they serve. When an out-of-control Infiniti landed on top of some other cars, onlookers took their phones out to take pictures, but not to call emergency services. [More]
2011 Hot Lotto Winner Sues Over Jackpot That Could Have Been Bigger
By 2.3.16
A lottery winner from five years ago is suing the very entity that runs the games, claiming that he should have won a bigger prize. You may remember the reason why that’s a valid argument: a former security official with the Multi-State Lottery Association has been convicted of rigging the random-number-generating computer that picks the winning numbers for Hot Lotto. Now a 2011 winner is suing, arguing that his own jackpot should have been larger. [More]
Could Automated Grocery Stores Be In Our Future?
By 6.18.15
Do future trips to the supermarket involve no lines, no human interaction and no endlessly searching the aisles to check items off your list? They might, and residents of Iowa could be the first to test out what is essentially an ATM-like grocery store. [More]
Iowa Supreme Court: You Have The Right To Be Drunk On Your Own Front Steps
By 6.12.15
Where do you draw the line between public and private spaces? Is being drunk on your personal front steps less of a public nuisance than if you were drunk on the stoop of an apartment building where you live with others? For the highest court in Iowa, the answer is yes. [More]
Lottery Security Director Accused Of Winning The Lottery Fraudulently
By 4.15.15
Remember last fall, when lottery officials were trying to locate the mysterious man who bought the winning ticket in the multi-state Hot Lotto game? That situation was strange enough, with the winner or winners trying to remain anonymous and waiting a very long time to come forward. Now the situation has become even weirder, with the lottery’s former security director accused of winning the game fraudulently. [More]
Can’t Pay Your Student Loans? In Some States It Might Cost You Your License To Drive Or Work
By 3.25.15
In addition to causing irreparable damage to their credit scores, student loan borrowers who default on their debts face a much more devastating and counter-intuitive danger: the lost of their driver’s or occupation licenses, including those used by nurses, doctors, teachers and emergency personnel [More]
Here’s Why You Should Always Read The Details Of Free Trials
By 12.11.14
When you sign up for a free trial of a service, but don’t have to hand over your payment information on the spot, do you assume that the free trial will simply go away? That’s what many people who signed up for a trial of Amazon Prime seemed to do, and the Iowa Attorney General has arrived at a settlement with Amazon over auto-enrollment in Prime. [More]
Walmart Says Dad Can’t Buy Beer Because He’s Shopping With Teen Daughter
By 7.28.14
Back in college, I’d to the grocery store with friends and we always had to separate the beer from the other items being purchased because anyone chipping in money (yes, this was a time when most people paid by cash or check) had to be of legal drinking age. But if anyone under 21 just happened to be standing in line near the beer, no one cared. This is apparently not the case at Walmart, where a dad was told he couldn’t purchase beer and booze because he was shopping with his teen daughter. [More]
Authorities Confirm Salad Food Poisoning Outbreak, Won’t Say Where Salads Were Sold
By 7.31.13
Hundreds of people in the Midwest got very sick from a bagged salad mix contaminated with a nasty little parasite called cyclospora. That’s how many cases authorities were able to confirm: there are probably many more who didn’t see a doctor or let the health department know they were sick. What no one will tell the public is where the fateful poo-contaminated salads were served. [More]
Tip Your Pizza Hut Driver Or He Might Pee On Your Door
By 11.5.12
An Iowa Pizza Hut delivery driver is without a job today because he decided that the best way to vent is anger about being stiffed on a tip was to urinate on the customer’s door. [More]
Police Continue Battle Against Kiddie Lemonade Stand Menace
By 8.3.11
Every year, the Des Moines Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) pedals through towns across Iowa. Some children in Coralville, one of the ride’s host towns, wanted to participate in the event by selling lemonade in front of their houses for a quarter per cup. Police celebrated their entrepreneurial spirit by promptly shutting down at least three lemonade stands for not obtaining $400 vendors’ licenses and a health inspection. [More]
Contractor Tears Siding Off Wrong House
By 7.27.11
An Iowa homeowner was surprised when he looked at his house and half the siding on it was gone, leaving an exposed underbelly of bare white plastic. No other nearby houses were affected. Had a highly localized tornado swept through and targeted just the side of his house? Nope. A local contractor got the address wrong and taken the siding off the wrong abode. The timing was pretty poor, too, as the homeowner had just put it up for sale. And because of insurance bureaucracy, it may be a while before the siding goes back up. [More]
Lady Bites Into McDonald's Burger Bursting With Maggots
By 9.15.10
An Iowa woman got more than a mouthful when she bit into a McDonald’s burger. She also got some extra protein, thanks to the maggots crawling around inside it. [More]
FDA Finally Inspects Tainted Egg Farms, Discovers They're Unsanitary
By 8.31.10
Conditions at the two salmonella egg farms in Iowa are so bad that you’d think they were Tylenol factories, according to recent FDA inspections. Wait, I mean the first and only inspections. [More]
Walmart Says Employees Chose To Remain In Store During Flood
By 8.16.10
Last week, we reported the story of more than two dozen Walmart who became trapped inside an Ames, Iowa, store by rising flood waters. At the time, it was unclear as to just why the workers were in the store — authorities had warned managers of the impending flood the night before — but now Walmart says it was the employees’ choice to stay. [More]
Walmart Employees Asked To Stay Behind While Flood Waters Rise?
By 8.11.10
Earlier today, firefighters in Ames, Iowa, rescued around 30 employees trapped inside a Walmart as flood waters rose around them. But what were they doing in the store to begin with. [More]
