News You Might Have Missed: Romney's Rise and Paul's Fall

The biggest story this week has been the change of front runner status.

Some combination of the magnet like attention from the media — of which I am guilty — the fact that many likely caucus goers are yet undecided and the general un-electability of a few candidates that rose to the top, means that the front-runners change more often than a newborn's diaper. Sorry for the imagery.

Romney is now the front-runner, trailing behind Ron Paul and Rick Santorum, who has made lots of progress from his previous poll. All this — except the snarky commentary — from the Des Moines Register.

A cute story from Eastern Iowa Life: Members of the First Presbyterian Church in Marion doled out goody bags to people still working on Christmas day. 

According to the Associated Press via the Chicago Tribune, traffic deaths in Iowa are on the rise. A total of 23 people have died in such accidents since January, including one death where a Marion driver hit a pedestrian in Cedar Rapids.

Brent Oleson, Linn County Supervisor representing the a district including Marion, has vouched his support for Republican presidential candidate, Ron Paul. All of this and more from The State Column

Officials from St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids are warning of what they call a dangerous trend of the use and abuse of synthetic drugs. According to KCRG, synthetic drugs are leaving more kids to emergency rooms.

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich didn't make it onto the Virginia ballot. His excuse: A campaign member fraudulently signed 1,500 signatures out of the 11,000 the got. Candidates are required to file 10,000 signatures, all according to CNN.

Rick Perry faces the same problem as Gingrich. The Republican presidential candidate has not met the requirement for signatures in Virginia, but he took a different course of action. He has filed an emergency order in federal court for an injunction to get his name on the ballot, according to the Associated Press from the Des Moines Register

NPR reported out of Des Moines on Wednesday, writing that the Occupy movement in the area has a lot of work ahead of them if they want to disrupt the Jan. 3 caucus.