Iowa
Iowa students now majoring in insurance coverage classes
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – The University of Iowa has seen big success in its new ‘Risk Management and Insurance” program.
Iowa has had classes for insurance for decades, but students would only be able to obtain a certificate for completing the courses. In the last year, the school said it was ranked 8th in the country.
“I have one more to take next semester, and I am taking three currently,” said Will Eastman, an Iowa senior.
Eastman is one of 200 students currently taking part in the University of Iowa Tippie College of Finance ‘Risk Management’ major. Before this year, Eastman studied finance, but when he learned adding a second major would include 5 classes, he jumped at the opportunity. He plans to get into the health insurance field when he graduates next Spring.
“Everyone was jumping on it because of how easy and how good of a sale it is,” said Eastman.
Tippie School of Finance Professor Martin Grace said being ranked 8th in the country was a novelty this year – that next year would be the real test, but the program was something he said brings a lot more to the state of Iowa than people might think.
“In most states, the insurance industry is around 2% of the state’s economy, here, it’s five times that or more,” Grace said.
The new program comes at a time when some Iowans were starting to see insurance companies pulling out of the state of Iowa. We reported that 5 companies left Iowa last year due to losses of billions of dollars from storm damage. That included the 2020 derecho, which caused $10 billion in damage in Iowa.
“The whole world is having larger and larger claims because we live in more dangerous areas, more risky areas,” said Grace.
It’s challenges like this that Eastman said he had learned about and was ready to take to his new career when he graduates.
“A lot of us students were drawn in because we weren’t just talking about definitions and how auto or home insurance, we were talking about unique real-world problems that are happening now in current events,” said Eastman.
Copyright 2024 KCRG. All rights reserved.
TAMA COUNTY, Iowa — A pair of power outages left more than 700 people without power in Tama County Friday afternoon.
Alliant Energy says the larger outage, just north of Garwin, was caused by a semi-truck striking one of their power poles. That outages impacted 690 customers as of 5 p.m. Friday.
The smaller outage impacted roughly 36 people in Tama. The outage was caused by equipment needing repairs.
Alliant says crews are on site and working to fix both outages.
SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa (KTIV) – The Iowa Great Lakes community is remembering Leo “Butch” Parks, a longtime lakes-area businessman and founder of Parks Marina.
He died Tuesday, Jan. 6, at the age of 81.
Parks established the marina on East Lake Okoboji in 1983, growing it from a small fishing boat operation into a business with marinas, sales, service, rentals, storage, and popular destinations like the Barefoot Bar.
Parks and his wife, Debbie, also owned Okoboji Boat Works for 23 years.
Funeral services are set for Friday, Jan. 16, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Spirit Lake. It will be followed by a celebration of life at Snapper’s restaurant in Okoboji that evening.
Want to get the latest news and weather from Siouxland’s News Source? Follow these links to download our KTIV News app and our First Alert Weather app.
Copyright 2026 KTIV. All rights reserved.
Iowa
Iowa woman accused of pandering for prostitution and harassment after incidents at Casey’s and a daycare
AURELIA, Iowa (KTIV) – A Northwest Iowa woman is facing charges of harassment and pandering for prostitution after two incidents took place in December 2025.
Forty-seven-year-old Kristal Miller of Odebolt was taken into custody on an arrest warrant and faces three charges: one count of pandering for prostitution and two counts of first-degree harassment, according to court documents.
The charges stem from two separate incidents that took place on Thursday, Dec. 18. 2025.
According to court documents, at 6:15 a.m., Miller reportedly went to the Casey’s General Store, located at 100 Pearl St. in Aurelia. Documents state Miller approached an employee and customers, requesting money from them.
Authorities state Miller claimed she was wanted by the FBI and told people, if anyone called the police, “she would kill them.”
During this encounter, she also allegedly asked an employee to remove the string from her hooded sweatshirt. Documents state when the employee refused this request, she threatened to strangle them.
That same day at 7 a.m., Miller reportedly approached a female employee outside an Aurelia daycare and asked them for money.
Court documents stated Miller suggested the unnamed employee leave her boyfriend. Miller reportedly told the employee, if she did, then she and Miller would both be paid.
Authorities say when she was told no by the employee, Miller became upset and started yelling at them.
Miller also allegedly threatened to “steal her car” and ”take her away to her guys to start a new life.”
She was booked into the Cherokee County Jail on a cash-only bond of $5,000. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled in Cherokee for Friday, Jan. 9, at 10 a.m.
Want to get the latest news and weather from Siouxland’s News Source? Follow these links to download our KTIV News app and our First Alert Weather app.
Copyright 2026 KTIV. All rights reserved.
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