(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.

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.

(Radio Iowa) — A convicted felon who was found with more than one dozen guns in northern Iowa town will spend nearly nine years in federal prison. Court records show 63-year-old Michael Strain was found guilty of two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm in October. Evidence showed that Strain was living in Elma, Iowa, in late 2010 and early 2011 and purchased ammunition and firearms accessories after being told he couldn’t legally buy a gun.

That led to an investigation where officers found thirteen guns at his home — including a sawed-off shotgun. Strain was convicted in Minnesota in 2001 for fleeing from police, and possessing a pipe bomb in his car that was parked near a courthouse while he attended a court hearing. He was sentenced to 105 months in prison and fined 12-thousand-500 dollars.