Category: Watercooler

DES MOINES – Republicans in the Iowa in the House of Representatives introduced a bill Wednesday outlawing abortions. Doctors who perform abortions could be prosecuted if the law is enacted. The bill defines

LOVELAND, Colo., Feb. 6 (UPI) — A Colorado mother said her 7-year-old son should not have been suspended from school for throwing an imaginary grenade into a box of pretend evil. Mandie

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 6 (UPI) — Police in Virginia said a 10-year-old boy was charged with brandishing a weapon for allegedly bringing a toy gun onto a school bus. Alexandria police said

Des Moines, Iowa – In the first vote of the 2013 legislative session, State Representative Sharon Steckman of Mason City supported a $60 million tax cut in the Iowa House today that

CEDAR RAPIDS – A man who failed to appear for service of his federal sentence was sentenced this week to more than two additional years in federal prison. Roy Lee Turner, III,

CEDAR RAPIDS – A man who sexually exploited and extorted minors pled guilty on Tuesday in federal court in Cedar Rapids. Lucas Robinson, age 23, from Cedar Rapids, was convicted of one

PYONGYANG, North Korea, Feb. 5 (UPI) — After a long-range rocket test and threats to detonate a nuclear weapon, North Korea posted an Internet video portraying an American city under attack. The

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Adults with some form of mental illness have a smoking rate 70 percent higher than adults with no mental illness, according to a Vital Signs report. Combined data from SAMHSA’s 2009–2011

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 (UPI) — Same-sex spouses may soon get some of the U.S. military benefits now granted heterosexual wives and husbands, officials say. The Defense Department is expected to make an

Pacific Junction, IOWA — On Friday, February 1, 2013 at 10:54 AM, Mills County Communications Center received a 911 call reporting an unresponsive small child.  As a result of this call, rescue

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 (UPI) — While two-thirds of online American adults are Facebook users, most of them often take a break from the site for several weeks or more, a survey indicates.

MASON CITY – A trial date has been set for a Mason City man charged with willful injury in connection with an incident that took place in 2011 at a Mason City

by Jody Spear and Kelly Meyer – MASON CITY – An injured horse was euthanized Tuesday about forty-five hours after the first complaint to law enforcement about its condition. Ralph Stricker was

MASON CITY – Police say they caught a man who mugged another early Tuesday morning on Mason City’s North End. According to police, officers responded to a report of an assault shortly

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (UPI) — About 44 percent of U.S. households have almost no savings to cushion a job loss, health crisis or other income-depleting emergency, a non-profit group says. The 2013

DENVER, Feb. 4 (UPI) — Unfriending someone on Facebook has repercussions beyond cyberspace, U.S. researchers say, with some people avoiding in real life anyone who unfriended them. Computer science researchers at the

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 (UPI) — President Obama took his argument for stricter gun laws to Minneapolis Monday, saying all Americans have “a role to play.” “We don’t have to agree on everything

CEDAR RAPIDS – Corey Gardner, age 32, Amanda Eldridge, age 33, Stephen Collins, age 26, Chad Seger, age 35, and Slade Smith, age 39, all from Mason City, Iowa, have each been

MASON CITY – A single vehicle accident Saturday in Mason City was due to a medical emergency, Mason City police said today. According to police, the driver of a vehicle involved in

MASON CITY – A Mason City man already on probation was given more probation after a jury convicted him of assaulting a woman with the intent to sexually abuse her. He will

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (UPI) — Families of victims of mass shootings are being blocked from suing gun makers because of a 2005 federal law heavily pushed by the gun industry, attorneys say.

Pyongyang, February 1 (KCNA) — The Korean people, including servicepersons, are categorically rejecting the “resolution on sanctions”, cooked up by the UN Security Council at the initiative of the United States. “Even

AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 3 (UPI) — Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he sees no reason for the Boy Scouts of America to change its policy excluding gay scouts or scoutmasters. Asked by

From the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s office: DUE TO A LARGE FIRE IN MESERVEY POWER WAS DISRUPTED AND THE WATER TOWER IS EMPTY AND UNABLE TO BE REFILLED. MESERVEY FIRE DEPT IS

DES MOINES – A group of Iowa senators have introduced a bill that would eliminate a tired tax structure for corporations doing business in Iowa. Currently, the corporate income tax is imposed

Feb. 3 (UPI) — U.S. business activity at manufacturing firms picked up significantly in January, the Institute of Supply Management said Friday. The headline Purchasing Managers Index rose from 50.2 in December

ROCHESTER, Minn. (UPI) — Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of U.S. men and women even though almost 80 percent of it is preventable, a Mayo Clinic cardiologists says. Cardiologist Dr.

MASON CITY – Shortly after noon on Friday, Mason City police responded to a report of a fight at lot 81 in the Gracious Estates Mobile Home Park located at 777 South

WATERLOO – On January 30, 2013, at 2:55 AM, Waterloo Police arrested Scott Edward Schrage, age 28, of 1148 Lincoln Street, Waterloo at his residence without incident. He is charged with Willful

CHICAGO, Feb. 1 (UPI) — The body of a woman was found inside a bullet-riddled van on the ramp of a Chicago expressway Friday morning while a passenger was not injured, officials