(Radio Iowa) – The top Republican in the Iowa Senate is pushing back against Democrats who say the Republican-led legislature intends to adopt new maps for congressional and legislative districts that favor Republicans. Jack Whitver of Ankeny is the Senate Majority Leader. “Iowa law is very specific about how districts need to be drawn. It has be within a certain compactness, a certain population deviation. You have to keep cities together as much as possible,” Whitver says, “so what they’re doing in Illinois or Oregon or a lot of liberal states that truly are gerrymandering is not something that’s allowed under Iowa law.”

Last Tuesday the 32 Republicans in the Iowa Senate rejected Plan One for redistricting. Whitver says no plan can provide districts with an equal number of residents, but the first plan had some wide swings when comparing the population count in each legislative district. “In the congressional districts, for example, it was about 60 people off per district, but there are legislative districts, including one here in Polk County, that’s almost 500 people off — eight times the variation in the much bigger congressional districts,” Whitver says, “so we think that with a new map hopefully we can improve that population difference.”

The non-partisan Legislative Services Agency will deliver Plan Two on October 21st and the governor has called the legislature to convene on October 28th to vote on it. The Democratic leader in the Iowa Senate has called on Republicans to promise not to offer amendments to a THIRD set of maps — if the set second is rejected. “I don’t think we should accept any plan that we’ve never seen and so we’re just going to take this one step at a time,” Whitver says. “I’m not going to say we’re going to accept or reject Plan 2 until we see it, which is the fair way to do it.” Whitver isn’t predicting how legislators may vote on the not-yet-revealed Plan Two for redistricting. “I would hope for the sake of the process that it’s a plan that we get to caucus, everyone likes it and we just approve it because that’s a lot easier,” Whitver says, “and then we can move on to the election cycle that’s approaching very quickly.”

The boundaries for legislative and congressional districts are redrawn every 10 years to account for population shifts. The data from the 2020 Census, however, was delivered to states five months late and Whitver says that’s delayed candidate recruitment and campaigning for the 2022 election. Due to constitutional deadlines, the Iowa Supreme Court is technically in charge of redistricting right now, but the court has given lawmakers until December 1st to approve a redistricting plan.

“They have a constitutional deadline on the court that a lot of people don’t talk about — December 31, so if for some reason we can’t agree, we can’t come up with a map and it’s turned over to the court, they have ’til December 31 constitutionally, so I think that’s probably what they’re worried about is having enough time that, if it got to that point, they’d have enough time to fix the map or change the map,” Whitver says. “I don’t expect it to get to that point. I hope that we can agree on map two and move forward.”

Whitver made his comments this weekend on “Iowa Press” on Iowa P-B-S.

Four people, including three juveniles, were arrested in Red Oak, Sunday evening. Red Oak Police report 18-year-old Odin Alexander Vincent Hathaway, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 5:18-p.m. at a location on Riverview Road, for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana. He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $1,000 bond. Three juveniles were arrested on the same charge. They were cited and released to their parents or guardians.

Odin Hathaway

(Percival, Iowa) – A collision on Interstate 29 Sunday morning in Fremont County resulted in four people being transported to the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), in Omaha. According to the Iowa State Patrol, the crash south of the Percival exit occurred at around 1:20-a.m., when a southbound 2018 Honda Civic left the road for reasons unknown, crossed the median, and traveled a short distance in the northbound lane before striking a 2010 GMC Yukon head-on.

The Civic came to rest in the median, facing westbound, while the SUV came to rest on the east shoulder, facing southwest. The driver of the Honda, 19-year-old Mateo Zaragoza, of Overland Park, Kansas, the driver of the Yukon, 40-year-old Rebecca Harris, of Lincoln, NE, were transported by Hamburg Rescue and LifeNet helicopter to the hospital.

Two others in Harris vehicle were injured in the crash: 39-year-old Melvin Harris, of Lincoln, NE., and a 14-year old juvenile. The juvenile went to the UNMC by Riverton Rescue, while Melvin Harris was transported by Tabor Rescue. All of the injured, with the exception of Melvin Harris, were wearing their seat belts.

The accident remains under investigation. In addition to the aforementioned rescue units and helicopter, the Patrol was assisted at the scene by Nebraska City Rescue, Glenwood Rescue and Pacific Junction Rescue. Fremont and Mills County Sheriff’s Deputies also assisted at the crash site.

(DeSoto, Iowa) – A single-vehicle rollover accident in Dallas County, Sunday afternoon, claimed the life of one man and resulted in injuries to another. Both were from Earlham. According to the Iowa State Patrol, a 1980 Chevy Corvette driven by 19-year-old Samuel Wayne Kasap, entered westbound Interstate 80 from the DeSoto on-ramp at around 1:17-p.m, and accelerated to a high rate of speed.

The car went out of control about a one-mile west of the exit, and rolled into the median as well as the cable barrier. The vehicle came to rest in the eastbound lanes. Neither of the occupants were wearing a seat belt, and both were ejected.

Samuel Kasap died at the scene. His passenger, 24-year-old Maximilian Vincent Kasap, was injured and transported by Dallas County Rescue to Mercy Hospital, in Des Moines. The accident remains under investigation.

Just two hours later and a few miles the east, a minivan slammed into the back of a semitruck. The semitruck was stopped because of the first crash. The driver of the minivan died. Investigators have not released that person’s name.

Fort Dodge, Iowa/KCCI — Police in Fort Dodge report a teenage girl was shot and wounded Saturday night. Authorities were called to the 1000 block of North 26th Street at about 10:53 p.m. on reports of a loud party. The caller said about 40 individuals were at the residence. As police were responding to the call, another caller reported shots were fired at the same house. Upon arrival, many individuals were seen fleeing the area. Officers went to the back yard of the residence where they found a 15-year-old girl with a gunshot wound to the upper chest.

The initial investigation revealed an unknown suspect fired multiple shots, striking the girl. The girl was taken by Life Flight to a Des Moines hospital. Her condition was unknown as of Sunday afternoon. The Fort Dodge Police Department is continuing to investigate. Anyone with information is asked to call 515-573-7788.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Two people were arrested on Theft charges Sunday afternoon, in Red Oak. According to the Red Oak Police Department, 36-year-old Beth Renee Perdue and 39-year-old Joseph Aaron Nelson, both of Red Oak, were taken into custody in a residence in the 200 block of Oakwood Avenen, at around 1-p.m. They were transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $300 bond each, for Theft in the 5th Degree.