WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – The Waterloo City Council has voted to close the shortest of the local airport’s three runways — a proposal that had drawn opposition from some pilots. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported that the council voted Monday for the airport director to work with federal authorities on the decommissioning. The director had recommended closing the runway because of safety and liability concerns. Several pilots told the council at an earlier meeting that the runway is a safe alternative when high winds and other issues make it harder to access the two primary runways.

HATTIESBURG, MS (AP) – The U.S. Marshals Service says a sex offender who left Iowa without notifying authorities has been apprehended in Mississippi. A criminal complaint this month says Antonio Earl Satcher was required to register as a sex offender after his conviction in Black Hawk County, Iowa, of lascivious acts with a child – solicitation. During a months-long search for Satcher, authorities received tips that he was staying with relatives in Jasper County, Mississippi. He was eventually apprehended in Clarke County, Mississippi, last week. Court records list no lawyer for Satcher who could be reached for comment.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) – Another defendant has been convicted in the slaying of a 26-year-old man in southeast Iowa. A Des Moines County jury found Emmanuel Spann guilty Monday of first-degree murder and conspiracy. He’ll be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. Spann was one of five men charged with killing Demarcus “Peanut” Chew on Sept. 10, 2017, outside his mother’s apartment in Burlington. The last of the five is a Chicago man, Caesar Davison. Jury selection for his trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday.

(Radio Iowa) — Senate Republican have unveiled their proposed limitations if Iowa voters approve a constitutional amendment to automatically restore felon voting rights. The plan would still force those convicted of murder manslaughter or certain sex crimes to apply to the governor to get their voting rights restored and it would force paroled felons to pay ALL their restitution before they’d get the right to vote. Senator Dan Dawson is a Republican from Council Bluffs. “This is not a poll tax. It’s a murder tax. It’s a sexual assault tax. It’s a robbery tax,” he says. “…We’re not talking about people who randomly just got charged with felonies. We’re talking about persons who made an affirmative decision to go out and commit a serious crime.”

Opponents say linking voting rights to income is wrong. Currently, felons applying to the governor just have to show they’re keeping up with a payment plan to get their voting rights back. Heather Strachan with the National Alliance on Mental Illness Iowa says she’s survived abuse and disagrees with the approach Senate Republicans are proposing. Strachan says she feels safer if her abuser is participating in society and getting the treatment he needs. “As a survivor, I urge you not to exclude people from voting based on ideas of repayment and protection in my name,” she says.

Iowa is now the only state in the country that does not automatically give felons the right to vote once they’ve completed their sentences. Republican Governor Kim Reynolds has been pushing the Senate since last year to pass her proposed constitutional amendment to automatically restore felon voting rights.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Katarina Sostaric)

Creston Police report the arrest on drug charges, of 19-year old Haley Zeigler, of Creston. Zeigler was taken into custody at her home a little before 9-a.m. Monday, for Possession of a Controlled Substance/1st offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She was released from the Union County Jail, on a $1,300 bond. And, just before 4-p.m. Monday, 29-year old Trevor Kinkade, of Creston, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a Union County warrant for Failure to Appear, on an original charge of Assault causing bodily injury or mental illness. Kinkade was being held in the Union County Jail, while awaiting a Bond Hearing.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:05-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – Two people have been found shot to death in Waterloo. Police say officers and medics called to the home around 11:20 p.m. Monday found the bodies. Autopsies are pending. Police haven’t released the names of the two nor any information about what let to the shootings. No arrests have been reported.

Police in Council Bluffs were dispatched a little after 3-a.m. today (Tuesday), to 154 Bennett Ave, the White Oak Station, in reference to the front window being broken. The business was closed, so there were not any employees working at the time. Officers were able to check the business and were unable to locate any suspects. Video was reviewed and it showed an unknown male, dressed in black with white shoes, had broken the window out with rocks to gain entry.(See the video surveillance picture below)

White Oak Station burglary suspect

After he entered the business, the suspect went behind the counter and took an unknown amount of tobacco products. He then left the business in an unknown direction. If you have any information on this suspect please contact the Council Bluffs Police Department’s Crime Stoppers at 712-328-7867. Thank you for your assistance.

DENISON, Iowa (AP) – Authorities have identified a man who was killed when he was struck by a train in western Iowa. Police say an eastbound Union Pacific train struck the man on the tracks early Saturday morning at a crossing in Denison. He’s been identified as Kevin Russman, who lived in Dow City.