IOWA BRIEFLY Faculty groups rip U. Iowa leader’s ‘should be shot’ remark

IOWA BRIEFLY Faculty groups rip U. Iowa leader’s ‘should be shot’ remark

IOWA CITY (AP) — Faculty groups are calling for University of Iowa president Bruce Harreld to face consequences for suggesting that unprepared teachers 'should be shot.'

Chapters of the American Association of University Professors at Iowa's three public universities say the insensitive remark calls into question Harreld's leadership abilities.

In a Sunday letter to the Board of Regents, they say employees have been disciplined or fired for similar remarks since a 1991 mass shooting on the Iowa City campus. They say the remark underscores Harreld's lack of experience as a university president.

Harreld apologized to a librarian who was offended by his Dec. 9 comment to UI Staff Council. He later tried to clarify, saying he actually said he'd learned as an instructor that 'I should be shot' if he wasn't prepared for class.

Man indicted for gun possession, drug use in Waterloo

WATERLOO (AP) — A federal grand jury has indicted a Waterloo man found with a handgun during a traffic stop in September.

The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that 20-year-old Taquesis Depree Young was charged with possession of a firearm by a drug user in the indictment filed Dec. 15 in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids.

Court records say Waterloo officers pulled over a vehicle around 3 a.m. Sept. 27 after noticing loud music and a burned-out license plate light.

Young was a passenger and admitted to owning a pistol police found in the vehicle.

Police determined Young was under the influence of marijuana.

141 pigs killed in southeast Iowa hog confinement fire

MEDIAPOLIS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say 131 piglets and 10 sows were killed in a fire at a southeast Iowa hog confinement.

The Hawk Eye in Burlington reports that the fire at the Nelson Brothers Farm northeast of Mediapolis was caused by a shorted- out exhaust fire. Firefighters were called to the confinement around 2:45 p.m. Thursday and extinguished the blaze within minutes.