The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled the front porch of a private residence is not a public place. The ruling comes in the case of a Patience Paye of Waterloo who was charged in 2013 with public intoxication after coming out onto her front porch to talk with police about a fight she had with her boyfriend. Paye appealed the conviction, saying her front steps were not a public place.

The Supreme Court had ruled 12 years ago that the front steps and common hallway of an apartment house are public places because access is required by everyone. In this ruling the justices say while people can use Paye’s front stairs to approach her home for limited purposes — like selling a product or to borrow a cup of sugar — allowing them to do so is not a general invitation to the public to use the steps.

The ruling also says if the front stairs of a single-family residence are always a public place, “it would be a crime to sit there calmly on a breezy summer day and sip a mojito, celebrate a professional achievement with a mixed drink of choice, or even baste meat on the grill with a bourbon-infused barbeque sauce.” The court reversed Paye’s public intoxication conviction.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Republican leaders in Iowa have agreed to end the state’s straw poll because of waning interest from presidential hopefuls and questions about its relevancy. Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kauffman says state party officials voted during a Friday morning conference call to end the straw poll, which began in 1979 and has been held every summer before a contested presidential caucus.

For years, the poll has been considered an early but unreliable test of campaigns’ strength. Critics say it has become a costly sideshow, and many candidates fear the humiliation of a poor showing. Some 2016 GOP hopefuls recently said they would skip the event altogether.

Volunteers from Iowa and Nebraska will spend tomorrow (Saturday) morning picking up trash along the Missouri River south of Omaha. Individuals, families and groups are invited to take part and Missouri River Relief director Jeff Barrow is hoping that upwards of 250 people show up.  “You get several hundred people out on the river, everyone’s working but nobody has to work very hard, everyone’s putting in their two bits,” Barrow says. “Everyone can contribute, but at the end of the day, we’ll have seven to ten tons of trash and the feeling of satisfaction is just incredible.”

Barrow says once every two years they organize a big clean up of the river’s banks.  “With all the flood debris, I expect we’ll get about ten tons of trash,” Barrow says. “There’s lots of old docks that got ripped out in the floods, big chunks of styrofoam, plastic 55-gallon barrels that people use for docks. When we were scouting, I actually found a complete boat trailer including wheels and tires.”

While the most common items found will be plastic pop bottles — by the thousands — there may be some heavy lifting involved. “Oh, it’s incredible what we find in the river,” Barrow says. “The range and the variety is unbelievable. We find everything from toilets to full-on boats, houseboats, lots of appliances, refrigerators float really well with their insulation. We’ll probably find a hundred tires.”

Volunteers should meet at the Lake Manawa State Park boat ramps by 8:30 Saturday morning. The clean-up is from 9 until noon. Volunteers are asked to dress appropriately and bring sunscreen and bug spray. Those wanting to pre-register can log on to riverrelief.org.

(Radio Iowa)