Sarah Watson Journalist Profile

Articles

No charges will be filed in deadly Davenport building collapse

2 months ago | thegazette.com | Sarah Watson |Tom Loewy

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. DAVENPORT -- No one will be charged with a crime in the 2023 partial collapse of a six-story apartment building in downtown Davenport that killed three men and resulted in dozens of people losing their homes. Scott County Attorney Kelly Cunningham said last week she had reviewed an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation report and concluded nothing rose to the level of criminal charges.
Republicans, Democrats pick nominees for special Iowa Senate election

Jan 7, 2025 | thegazette.com | Sarah Watson

Kate Whittington Democrats and Republicans in a Quad-Cities area Iowa state senate district have selected their candidates to run for a special election on Jan. 28. Republicans nominated Katie Whittington, a party organizer in Clinton County, to run on the Republican ticket for Iowa Senate District 35. She amassed the most votes of three candidates vying for the nomination during a special convention last Saturday, Scott County Republicans Chair Jeanita McNulty said.
Southeast Iowa counties start recounting 400K ballots

Nov 20, 2024 | ourcommunitynow.com | Sarah Watson

Southeastern Iowa counties are gearing up to recount more than 414,000 ballots in Iowa's 1st Congressional District race where less than 0.2 percent of the votes cast separate the candidates. Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks leads Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan by 801 votes, according to canvassed results from the Nov. 5 election posted to the Iowa Secretary of State's website . The 20-county district includes Iowa City, Davenport and rural Southeast Iowa.
Southeast Iowa counties start recounting 400K ballots

Nov 20, 2024 | thegazette.com | Sarah Watson

Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks greets supporters Nov. 5 as she makes an entrance at her election watch party at the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort in Riverside. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette) Southeastern Iowa counties are gearing up to recount more than 414,000 ballots in Iowa's 1st Congressional District race where less than 0.2 percent of the votes cast separate the candidates. Republican U.S. Rep.
Panel accepts Miller-Meeks' ballot after residency challenge

Nov 12, 2024 | thegazette.com | Sarah Watson

An absentee and special precinct board meets Tuesday at the Scott County Administrative Center in Davenport to discuss whether about 50 provisional ballots should be counted in the county. (Katelyn Metzger/Quad City Times) An absentee and special precinct board in Scott County decided Tuesday to accept U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeksâ€™ ballot cast in the 2024 election, rejecting a challenge from a Bettendorf resident who argued she does not live in the county.
Iowa’s Chuck Grassley on Secret Service report: 'If heads don't fall, nothing changes'

Sep 25, 2024 | thegazette.com | Sarah Watson

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, speaks Aug. 6 during an Iowa GOP event at the Cedar Rapids Country Club in Cedar Rapids. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette) Iowa's U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said there needs to be further review of the U.S. Secret Service and accountability for agents who "screwed up" during the July 13 attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally.
Where does Mariannette Miller-Meeks live?

Sep 12, 2024 | thegazette.com | Sarah Watson

A LeClaire resident is asking the federal Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks' voting address. After the 2020 census, Republican Miller-Meeks' home county, Wapello, was put into southwest Iowa's 3rd Congressional District. Miller-Meeks said at the time she would not sell her house in Ottumwa but would take up residence in the newly christened 1st District, which mostly overlapped with the district she represented before the 2020 redistricting.
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks introduces IVF tax credit bill

Sep 9, 2024 | thegazette.com | Sarah Watson

U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks speaks Saturday during her annual tailgate fundraiser in Iowa City. The Ottumwa Republican said Monday she has introduced legislation that would provide a tax credit of up to $30,000 to individuals and couples pursuing in vitro fertilization. (Benjamin Roberts/Freelance) U.S. Rep.
'We can absolutely protect both' gun rights and safety, Democrat Christina Bohannan says on Iowa gun

Aug 25, 2024 | thegazette.com | Sarah Watson

Democratic candidate for Scott County sheriff Thomas Gibbs shows Democratic 1st District candidate Christina Bohannan an AR-15-style rifle at a private property near Blue Grass, Iowa, on Saturday. (Sarah Watson/Quad-City Times) BLUE GRASS — Democratic Congressional candidate Christina Bohannan tried her hand at shooting at a private gun range near Blue Grass, Iowa on Saturday with the Democratic candidate for Scott County sheriff Thomas Gibbs, a former firearms instructor.
Museum trust to launch new fundraising appeal at popular gala event this weekend

Aug 6, 2024 | shropshirestar.com | Sarah Watson

For the Steam Gala weekend, steam engine owners from all over the UK will bring their large working steam engines to Blists Hill Victorian Town for visitors to see them in operation. The streets of the open-air museum will come to life with the sight of large engines, the sounds of turning cogs and wheels and the smell of billowing smoke.