A traffic stop today (Monday) at around 1-a.m. northwest of Stanton, resulted in the arrest of a man from Nebraska. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports Braino Parra-Munoz, of North Platte, NE., was pulled-over at Highway 34 and M Avenue. Upon further investigation, it was determined Parra-Munoz’ blood alcohol content was .118, or slightly over the legal limit of .08. He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and charged with OWI/1st offense. Bond was set at $1,000.

A Red Oak woman was arrested at around 10:20-p.m. Sunday, for Public Intoxication. According to Red Oak Police, 31-year old Nikki Mae Brown was taken into custody in the area of 3rd and Corning Streets. She was transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where bond was set at $300.

(Radio Iowa) – The Indigenous activist group Seeding Sovereignty are asking state lawmakers to remove two monuments on the state capitol grounds. The group held a rally at the statehouse on the 4th of July. Christine Nobiss spoke in front of a statue that’s described by a state website as a pioneer man and his son being guided by a, quote, “friendly Indian.”

“This is not the story of this state. We did not have friendly Indians showing the way to people. We had settler invaders and colonial militias come into this state and murder their way across this country,” she said. “This land is stolen land.” The group also wants the state to remove a Christopher Columbus memorial outside the capital. They delivered a letter to lawmakers that also mentions removal of a mural inside the capitol building that depicts westward expansion.

Kelly Buffalo-Quinn says she thinks the Iowa Capitol is one of the most beautiful statehouses in the country, but it’s marred by what she calls these symbols of white supremacy. “There are better ways to depict every person within the state of Iowa, especially seeing as how this is Native land,” she said at the 4th of July rally, “the Meskwaki, the Ioway and the Lakota.” Counter-protesters gathered near the Columbus statue, but the two competing events ended without violence.

The organizer of the counter protest said it was about standing up for the rule of law and not succumbing to mob rule.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Katarina Sostaric)

(Radio Iowa) – The mayor of Muscatine has issued a proclamation for a city-wide face covering mandate starting at 6 a.m. today (Monday) and lasting for six months. Muscatine Mayor Diana Broderson says she’s concerned by growing COVID-19 caseloads in neighboring areas.

“Our numbers aren’t terrible right this minute. If we wait ’til they are, it’s going to be too late. People will be sick, people will die and businesses will close,” she says. Broderson made her comments during an online event organized by Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. Broderson announced her decision in a Sunday afternoon news conference and was booed by a crowd outside city hall as she removed her face mask to begin speaking.

Broderson told the crowd a face mask is not required outdoors when a person is more than six feet away from others. According to the Iowa attorney general’s interpretation of state law, mayors do not have the authority to issue the requirement that face masks be worn in public. Broderson says she’s exercising the “home rule” authority local election officials are granted in the Iowa Constitution.

“Mayors have the authority by statute to take control of their city in an emergency situation and make whatever mandates or whatever orders need to be done in order to provide for the health and safety of their community,” Broderson says. There have been 633 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Muscatine County and 70 percent of those cases have been adults between the ages of 18 and 60. Fourty-four Muscatine County residents have died of COVID-19.

Participants in high school team sports in Muscatine will be allowed to play without face coverings and Broderson is granting other exceptions to her face-mask mandate if social distancing is maintained. The exceptions include exercising or engaging in outdoor or indoor sports where social distancing is maintained, eating while seated at a restaurant or bar. Broderson also says face coverings may be removed when a service, like dental work, requires temporary removal.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:35 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Four men died and a woman was injured in a fiery single-vehicle crash southwest of downtown Des Moines early Sunday. Des Moines Police said the crash happened around 2:30 a.m. Sunday on George Flagg Parkway near Water Works Park. The Volkswagen Golf caught fire after crashing into a tree with five people inside. An officer responding to the crash was able to pull a 22-year-old woman from the wreck. Police said she was in serious condition at a hospital. Police said the vehicle’s 22-year-old driver and three passengers, ages 22, 23 and 24, died in the crash. Their names weren’t immediately released.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa reported another 321 coronavirus cases Sunday to give the state 31,243 cases of COVID-19. The Iowa Department of Public Health said that as of 10 a.m. Sunday 721 people with COVID-19 had died since the outbreak began. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness. Of all the people who have tested positive in Iowa, 24,671 have recovered. A total of 332,114 people have been tested in Iowa.

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Police say an Iowa man who successfully sued one of his sons for the shooting death of his wife has been assaulted by his other son. The Des Moines Register reports that 55-year-old Billy Dean Carter was arrested Wednesday and charged with assaulting his father, 74-year-old Bill Carter. Police say the younger Carter knocked his father to the ground and kicked him twice on a road near the elder father’s home following an argument. In 2017, a jury ordered another of Bill Carter’s sons, Jason Carter, to pay $10 million to the estate of of his mother, 68-year-old Shirley, who died in 2015 from two gunshot wounds fired by a rifle. Jason Carter was later acquitted of murder in the case.