DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa State Patrol reports Trooper issued six-times more citations for texting while driving in the past year, after a new law allows law enforcement officers to stop drivers who are texting. This past year, Troopers issued 1,131 citations for texting while driving.  That is up from 182 citations the year before. John Gaspar, a research scientist with the National Advanced Driving Simulator, found that it takes two seconds to impair a driver’s safety.  It usually takes 5 seconds to send or read a text.  At 55mph, that is the same as driving the length of a football field with your eyes closed. The Center for Disease Control says that every day an average of 9 people are killed and more than 1,000 people are injured because of a distracted driver.  Teens are affected most by texting while driving.

Troopers in the Iowa State Patrol have developed innovative methods for finding drivers who are texting.  They take these violations seriously because it puts the texting driver at risk, along with everyone else on the road who may be affected by the distracted driver. The Patrol’s Sgt. Nathan Ludwig says “Put down your phone and focus on your driving. Every day and every night, Troopers are on the lookout for drivers who are texting when they should be focused on their driving.”

A new texting-while-driving law that took effect one year ago made texting while driving a “primary” offense.  That means an officer can stop a driver and issue a citation for texting while driving.  Before last July, it was a “secondary” offense, meaning that officers could only issue a citation for texting while driving if the officer stopped the driver for some other offense.

July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017:     182 citations issued by Iowa State Patrol
July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018:  1,131 citations issued by Iowa State Patrol

Creston Police report 61-year old Martin Eugene Baker, of Creston, was arrested Thursday afternoon in the 200 block of W Montgomery Street. Baker was charged with Operating While Intoxicated, and was transported to the Union County Jail, where his bond was set at $1,000.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say an eastern Iowa man set his apartment on fire in hopes of getting arrested. The Telegraph Herald in Dubuque reports that 33-year-old Matthew R. Voseberg was arrested Wednesday evening on a first-degree arson charge. Authorities say Voseberg was sitting on his apartment’s front porch when they arrived. They say he told them he was in his apartment when he started thinking about where he could get “three hots and a cot.”

Another resident in the building told authorities that Voseberg came to her apartment, said he had started a fire in his apartment and told her to get out. Authorities say the fire caused about $7,800 in damage.
Voseberg faces up to 25 years in prison.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say one man is dead after the motorcycle he was riding collided with a jeep in eastern Iowa. The Quad-City Times reports that the crash happened shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday in Davenport. Davenport police say the motorcyclist was riding through an intersection when his bike struck the side of a Jeep Wrangler that was also traveling through the intersection.

The motorcyclist was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Authorities say they were not releasing the man’s name until his family was notified. No one in the jeep was injured. Police are still investigating the crash.

ORANGE CITY, Iowa (AP) — A man serving life in prison for killing a northwest Iowa woman when he was 14 years old is now eligible for parole after he was re-sentenced in accordance with a recent Iowa Supreme Court ruling. The Sioux City Journal reports that John Mulder was re-sentenced Thursday to life in prison, but with no mandatory minimum number of years to serve before he can ask the Iowa Board of Parole to release him. The board will still decide whether Mulder will ever be released.

The Supreme Court in April ruled that Mulder’s previous sentence failed to meet juvenile sentencing standards established by a court decision last year. Mulder was originally sentenced a mandatory life in prison without parole for the 1976 shooting death of 55-year-old Jean Homan, of Alton.