(Waukee, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety report agents with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) were requested to assist the Waukee Police Department in a death investigation. Waukee Police and Fire/Rescue personnel responded at around 7:27-a.m. Thursday (2/16) to a call about a possible suicide in the 200 block of SE Boulder Court.

Upon arrival officers located two deceased persons inside the residence. Authorities say an investigation initially determined the deaths to be a murder-suicide, but the final determination will be made by the State of Iowa Medical Examiner’s Office.

They said also, that there is no threat to the public, and that the incident remains an ongoing investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – The speaker of the Iowa House and 21 of his G-O-P colleagues have introduced a bill that could delay or possibly even derail proposed carbon pipeline projects in Iowa. Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison, is a lead sponsor. “I am standing up for landowners that were there first,” Holt says. If the bill becomes law, pipeline developers would have to get voluntary access to 90 percent of the pipeline route through Iowa before state utility regulators could grant the companies eminent domain authority to seize the rest.

The bill also says the Iowa Utilities Board could not issue permits until new safety guidelines for carbon pipelines are issued by the federal government AND developers secure permits from the neighboring states that the pipelines would pass through. “All of these things, again, are designed to provide some protections for our property owners that are going through this situation,” Holt says. “Some of them do not want the pipeline to come through their property.”

Legislators began discussing new pipeline specific rules last year, but took no action. Pipeline backers have said it’s unfair to change regulations after project development is well underway. Holt says it’s not the concept of capturing carbon from ethanol plants that’s the issue, it’s the use of eminent domain to seize private property for these projects that’s the concern. “Let’s talk about the landowners. Let’s talk about the Century Farms that have been there for over 100 years. Let’s talk about these property owners that don’t want this pipeline under their farms,” Hotl says. “What about them? What about the rug being pulled out from under them?”

A Republican senator has introduced five different bills to address pipeline issues, but it’s unclear what the G-O-P majority in the Senate would support. The House bill has the backing of the top Republican in the House as well as the chairmen of House committees that deal with taxation and legal issues. Holt, who chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, says the bill would set up a process for landowners to file complaints with the Iowa Utilities Board about inadequate land restoration along the pipeline route.

“The bill expands damages that can be compensated for…This includes soil compaction, damage to soil or water conservation structures and damage to irrigation or drainage systems,” Holt says. “The bill further expands the claims a landowner can bring to include any identifiable loss due to pipeline activity and then finally it allows that a landowner may file a claim of relief in either small claims or district court.” Holt says the pipelines are major issue in his district, which includes Shelby County.

The Shelby County Board of Supervisors has established local zoning rules for the pipelines — and is being sued by Summit Carbon Solutions. “It’s a huge issue for landowners that believe as I do that the use of eminent domain should be for highways, it should be for essential government services and infrastructure that meets the public good,” Holt says, “and this is a very different project that does not meet those requirements.” Holt made his comments late this (Thursday) morning during an online news conference.

A spokesman for Summit Carbon Solutions says the company announced its carbon capture project two years ago and is hopeful that legislators will not change the regulatory rules in the middle of the game.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports 42-year-old Her Tou Yang, of Detroit, Michigan, was sentenced Wednesday, February 15, 2023, to 60 months and 1 day in prison following his plea of guilty to possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. After he is released from prison, Yang will serve two years of supervised release. His sentences was handed down in Council Bluffs U-S District Court.

On August 15, 2021, Yang possessed approximately five pounds of marijuana and a firearm that was reported stolen and sold them to another individual in Council Bluffs. On September 9, 2021, Yang possessed and sold an AR-style rifle in Council Bluffs.

The Council Bluffs Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Two men from Pottawattamie County were sentenced Wednesday in Council Bluffs U-S District Court. According to U-S Attorney Richard D. Westphal, 42-year-old  Alan Scott Lawton,  of Council Bluffs, was sentenced to 66 months (5.5-years) in prison, following his plea of guilty to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. After he is released from prison, Lawton will serve three years of supervised release. On June 8, 2022, a law enforcement observed Lawton putting items in a storage unit. Lawton fled in his Jeep and drove through a security fence, then took off on foot. After a short chase, he was apprehended. Along Lawton’s flight path, law enforcement located a loaded pistol that had been reported stolen.

And, 35-year-old Cornelius Lavaughn David, of Council Bluffs, was sentenced to 30 months (2.5-years) in prison, following his plea of guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. After he is released from prison, David will serve three years of supervised release. In January 2022, David possessed and sold a firearm that was reported stolen. Prior to possessing the firearm, David was convicted of a felony which prohibited him from possessing firearms.

The Council Bluffs Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case against each man as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. In May 2021, the Department of Justice launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

Atlantic, Iowa —The Cass Health Foundation is hosting their annual gala on Saturday, March 25th at the Atlantic Golf & Country Club. The gala is a fundraiser for the Cass Health Foundation’s 2023 campaign to purchase vital monitoring equipment that will be used in multiple departments. Cass Health Specialty Clinic Director Traci Brockman, RN, says “Investing in monitoring equipment accomplishes two important goals: first and foremost, it keeps tally on the patient’s oxygenation, heart rate, blood pressure, and more. Secondly, it gives our nursing team back time so that they can be at the bedside, providing care, answering questions, and being attentive to patients’ needs, rather than being tied to a computer inputting data.”

Cass Health Foundation Treasurer Dave Chase spoke to the importance of the project saying, “This monitoring equipment benefits the patients most of all, because it gives the staff the ability to keep tabs on a patient’s vital signs as they move from one spot to another within the facility. Say a patient is transported from the Inpatient Services Unit to Radiology for a CT scan. From the Inpatient Services Unit, staff are able to see and monitor the patient’s real time vital signs while they are in Radiology. This puts more than one set of eyes on the patient’s vital signs, adding a layer of protection.”

The theme of this year’s gala is “Beach Bash.” Attendees are encouraged to wear beach gear like Hawaiian shirts, shorts, etc. The evening includes dinner, dessert auction, and entertainment.

Tickets to the event are limited and available through table sponsorships. For more information, please call Beth Spieker at 712-243-7545 or visit casshealth.org/donors/gala to view the details or pay online.

DAVENPORT, IA – A federal jury convicted two Davenport men, Najawaun Marcus Quinn, 26, and Dimetri Alexander Smith, 30, following a 7-day jury trial for racketeering related charges. Quinn was convicted of Assault With a Dangerous Weapon in Aid of Racketeering, Using and Carrying a Firearm During and In Relation to a Crime of Violence, and Felon in Possession of a Firearm. Smith was convicted of two counts of Assault With a Dangerous Weapon in Aid of Racketeering and two counts of Using and Carrying a Firearm During and In Relation to a Crime of Violence.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, in 2016 and 2017, as members of Savage Life Boys (SLB), a Davenport-based street gang, Quinn and Smith were involved in multiple shootings, including at a residence on the 5400 block of North Division Street in October 2016, at the NorthPark Mall in January 2017, and at Centennial Park in April 2017. These shootings were due to a feud with a rival gang and responses to perceived disrespect to the SLB gang.

Quinn and Smith were also involved in a February 2017 homicide at the Hotel Davenport for which Darion Gardner, 27, of Davenport, another SLB member, pleaded guilty to racketeering related charges and was sentenced to 450 months in prison. The men committed the acts with the intent to maintain or increase position in the SLB gang. Quinn and Smith will be sentenced at a later date.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal stated “We will continue to pursue and aggressively prosecute those individuals and groups of individuals that choose to commit violent crimes. This investigation, trial and hard work of our partners at the Davenport Police Department exemplifies our joint commitment to using every tool available to combat gun violence and protect the communities we serve.”

Davenport Police Chief Jeffery E. Bladel said “The tremendous work of our investigators and federal partners delivered justice for those impacted by these violent crimes. This case demonstrates the outstanding partnership and collaboration between federal prosecutors and local law enforcement that is vital to keeping our community safe. The Davenport Police Department is dedicated to the safety and wellbeing of our community and bringing those who commit violent crimes to justice.”

(Radio Iowa) – A fundraising campaign is underway to renovate a rare exhibit that’s captivated visitors to the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History for more than a century. The Laysan Island Cyclorama in Macbride Hall provides an immersive 360-degree view of multiple colonies of birds that inhabit the sandy island in the Pacific Ocean. Liz Crooks, director of the U-I Pentacrest Museums, says each bird was brought back by Iowa students and faculty during a 1911 expedition. “There are 102 specimens in the exhibit. Those include birds of all manners, some small perching birds, all the way up to large seafaring birds like the albatross,” Crooks says. “There are all manner of plant life that would be found on the island.”

Cycloramas were popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This one opened in 1914 and is among only about 30 such exhibits remaining worldwide. With a little imagination, the surrounding sights and sounds can charm people away to the tiny atoll near Hawaii — some 45-hundred miles from Iowa City.”The mural itself, the background, is 128 feet long and 12 feet high and it’s filled with images of the island,” Crooks says. “It blends seamlessly into the foreground, so it really transports the visitor to that time and space.”

She refers to the cyclorama as a “national treasure” and is leading the charge to raise one-million dollars to give the exhibit a complete makeover, so it will endure for future generations. “It’s going to take that kind of funding to hire conservators to come in and clean and repair those 102 birds. They have not been touched since they were installed in 1914,” Crooks says. “The mural itself needs to be cleaned and that will be a big undertaking.” The renovation project will also include new lighting, updated windows and, perhaps most importantly, the inclusion of heating, cooling and ventilation. “We have no way to control the temperature of the space, which is probably the biggest stressor on the exhibit,” Crooks says. “We see evidence of changes in the mural. It’s cracking, the canvas is flexing. Iowa is either very dry or very humid, and those big swings in humidity are hard on both the specimens and the painted mural.”

To donate to the effort, visit the U-I Museum of Natural History’s website (https://mnh.uiowa.edu/) and look for the link to the Laysan Island Cyclorama Restoration Fund.

(Lewis, Iowa) – The 31st Annual meeting for the Wallace Foundation for Rural Research & Development will be held on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, at the Learning Center in Lewis, Iowa*. Registration begins at 9:00-a.m., followed by the program with two speakers, at 9:30-a.m.

Lunch will be served at 11:30 followed by the Annual meeting of the Foundation. This year’s speakers  include Tony Mensing a Field Agriculture Engineer for ISU Extension and Outreach. He will be speaking on Soil Compaction. And, Mark Licht, Assistant Professor and Extension Cropping System Specialist in the Dept of Agronomy at Iowa State University. He will be speaking on farming in Urkaine: Warzone or breadbasket of the World. His extension, research and teaching program is focused on how to holistically manage cropping systems to achieve productivity, profitability, and environmental goals. His research is centered around varied aspects of soybean, corn, and cover crop management.

The Program-is open to the public and there is no fee for attending. The day will conclude with the Wallace Foundation Membership Annual Business Meeting.

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*The Armstrong Research Farm is located approximately 12 miles southwest of Atlantic, IA on Highway 6, south on 525th Street, east on Hitchcock Avenue.

(Emerson, Iowa) – A traffic stop at around 2-a.m. today (Thursday), in Montgomery County, resulted in the arrest of a woman from Union County. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the traffic stop took place on Highway 34 at A Avenue, northeast of Emerson. During the stop, authorities say the driver of the vehicle that was pulled-over, 46-year-old Elizabeth Lea Reents, of Creston, began fighting Deputies. She was arrested on charges of Interference with Official Acts, Unlawful Possession of Prescription Pills, and Child Endangerment.

Reents was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

(Sidney, Iowa) – An attempted traffic stop Wednesday night on a speeding vehicle in Fremont County, resulted in a brief pursuit and an arrest. Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports his Deputies attempted to stop a 1995 Ford truck at around 10:30-p.m., west of Riverton. The vehicle failed to yield, and a short pursuit was initiated. The driver, 34-year-old Blake Tobin, of Sidney, was arrested without incident. Tobin was placed under arrest for:

• Eluding (OWI), a Class D Felony
• Operating While Intoxicated 1st Offense, a Serious Misdemeanor
• Possession of Controlled Substance, (Marijuana), a Serious Misdemeanor
  

  Blake Tobin (Fremont County S/O photo)

And, upon being booked into the Fremont County Jail, Tobin was found to be concealing a controlled substance on his person and subsequently charged with: Possession of Contraband in a correctional facility, a Class D Felony

Tobin is being held on $12,000 cash bond. Other charges are pending.