The Justices of the Iowa Supreme Court, former colleagues, and friends are remembering Iowa Supreme Court Justice Jerry L. Larson, of Harlan, as a dedicated public servant whose long career combined a profound respect for the rule of law, an unwavering support for fair and impartial courts, and a great fondness for his hometown and the Shelby County Courthouse.

Former IA Supreme Court Justice Jerry Larson

Justice Larson, who has passed away at the age of 81, served from 1978 to 2008 and was the longest-serving justice in the history of the Iowa Supreme Court. Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Cady said “The Iowa court family is saddened by the passing of former Justice Jerry Larson. I had the honor and great pleasure to serve with Justice Larson for my first 10 years as a justice on the supreme court. He was a great mentor and better friend with a keen legal mind, a quick wit, and a deep love of the law. Our sympathies go out to his entire family.”

Justice Larson was appointed a district judge in 1975. He served on the district bench until his appointment to the Iowa Supreme Court in 1978. In September 2007, Justice Larson surpassed Justice Theodore Garfield (1941 – 1969) as the longest serving justice in the history of the Iowa Supreme Court. During his 29 years as a justice, Justice Larson wrote 991 opinions. As a member of the Iowa Supreme Court, Justice Larson played a key role in developing the court’s rules for expanded media coverage of Iowa’s courts. These rules have served as a model for other states.

Justice Larson was born and raised in Harlan. He received his bachelor’s degree in 1958 and law degree in 1960, both from the University of Iowa. While at law school, he was an editor of the Iowa Law Review. Following his graduation from law school, he was a law clerk for U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge M.D. Van Oosterhout. Later, Justice Larson practiced law in Harlan with his father and served two terms as Shelby County Attorney before his appointment to the district court bench.

Justice Larson has four children: Jeffrey Larson, is the chief judge in the Fourth Judicial District.  Susan Christensen is a district judge in the Fourth District. Rebecca Larson, is an elementary teacher in Bettendorf, and his son, David, is an attorney in Avoca.

A traffic stop at around 1-a.m. today (Wednesday), in Mills County, resulted in a man being arrested on drug charges. The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports the Mills County Sheriff’s K9 Unit conducted at traffic stop on a vehicle near 221st St. and Ellington Avenue, for an equipment violation. Upon investigation, and searching the vehicle, prescription pills and drug paraphernalia were found. The driver, 32-year old Steve Jerrame Meyer, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Unlawful possession of Prescription pills, Possession of drug paraphernalia, and for Driving Under Suspension. Meyer was being held in the Mills County Jail on a $2,600 bond.

And, Tuesday night, 19-year old Andrew Scott Jarko, of Council Bluffs, was arrested in Mills County, on a warrant for Failure To Appear in court on a Possession of Controlled Substance charge. His bond was set at $10,000.

The state legislature is a week past the target date for completing its work for the year. Democratic Senator Rob Hogg says Republicans are heading toward setting the record for the longest annual legislative session when the same party has control of the executive and legislative branches of state government.  “So, if you can just keep this session grinding out another week and a half, you can set the record for futility in the management of a legislative session when you control the House, the Senate and the governorship,” Hogg says.

House Speaker Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake says Iowans aren’t concerned about how long the legislature meets. “We came here to do the people’s work, what they expect us to get done. We’re going to do that. I think they want it done correctly and, particularly, tax bills are very complicated,” Upmeyer says. “We want to make sure we get it right.”

This (Wednesday) morning it took the Iowa Senate about six minutes to pray, recite the pledge and adjourn until two o’clock tomorrow. The Iowa House intends to return later this (Wednesday) afternoon to debate bills that outline next year’s spending for some areas of the state budget later this (Wednesday) afternoon. There have been extended legislative sessions in the distant past that lasted into the summer, but that was when the Iowa General Assembly met every other year. In the past three decades, the legislature has been meeting annually.

(Radio Iowa)

Some motorcycles made in northwest Iowa are being recalled. The recall, involving 33-hundred Indian Motorcycles, follows two reports of motorcycles starting themselves. Polaris acquired Indian and moved production of the cycles to Spirit Lake in 2011. Officials blame the self-starting issue on corrosion in a switch. If the key fob is nearby, that can cause an electrical short and start the engine. (announcer out) Polaris confirmed one of the self-starts happened in a dealership. No injuries have been reported. The recall affects 11 models of the Indian Motorcycle from the 2018 model year. Owners can take their motorcycle to a dealer to have the problem fixed free of charge.

Indian Chief Classic

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Commercial traffic along the Mississippi River will be blocked in Dubuque while workers make temporary repairs to cracks in part of a lock and dam. The Telegraph Herald reports that officials discovered the damage to Dubuque’s Lock and Dam No. 11 on Tuesday morning. Aaron Dunlop is the operations manager for the Mississippi River Project with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He says a routine inspection uncovered cracks at a mitre gate connection point, which is a mechanism that controls the lock’s water level. He says the repairs will likely take a few days.

The closure comes less than two weeks after navigation on the river fully opened for the season. Corps figures say nearly 6,000 vessels passed through the lock and dam in 2016.

ORANGE CITY, Iowa (AP) — A northwest Iowa man accused of stabbing to death his 84-year-old grandfather plans to use a defense of diminished capacity. The attorney for 20-year-old Santos Rodriguez Jr. filed the notice Tuesday in Sioux County District Court. Rodriguez has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and arson. He’s accused of stabbing Luis Luevanos in his Rock Valley home on Oct. 29 and setting the man’s house on fire.

Police say Rodriguez was later arrested in Utah. Iowa investigators say Rodriguez admitted during a police interview to stabbing his grandfather and setting the fire. Rodriguez’s trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 18 in an Orange City courtroom.

Iowa State University is launching a study of physical activity of rural youth as part of a joint project with the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Dr. David Dzewaltowski, the principal investigator at U-N-M-C’s College of Public Health, says he’d like rural communities in both states to help promote physical activity. “This project is going to focus on helping communities decide what’s going on in their communities,” Dzewaltowski says, “and how they can create more options in their communities for kids.”

Since the 1970s, he says the obesity rate has quadrupled among youth and our social systems have to change to allow for more activity.”The primary thing that’s changed is, we live our lives differently,” he says. “The social context, or the people we interact with and the places we interact with throughout the day in our communities, really determine how we eat and how active we are as children and adults.” Dzewaltowiski says it’s vital that kids engage in regular physical activity at a young age and carry that to adulthood. “What we find is that kids aren’t very active throughout the day,” he says. “If we don’t get kids moving at a young age, then it’s less likely they’ll be active later and also at a young age, if they start to become obese, then they’re more likely to be obese later.”

Dzewaltowiski plans to use videos pared with pedometers to measure the phsycal activity while the program changes are made. He says moving is important not just for health but for educational outcomes. “Kids need to move to be healthy and they do better if they move in places with learning outcomes,” he says. “In addition to the importance of physical activity for health, physical activity is important for other outcomes the community may value, such as education.”  In partnering with county health departments, they’ll work to design ways physical activity opportunities can be integrated into schools, after-school programs, scouting and youth sports that are open to all children.

(Radio Iowa, w/thanks to Karla James)

A Pottawattamie County man wanted on a Page County warrant for Probation Violation, was arrested Tuesday afternoon. 37-year old Nicholas Ryan Pruett, of Council Bluffs, was arrested by Page County Deputies and transported to the Page County Jail, where he was being held on $1000 bond, pending further court proceedings.

Nicholas Pruett (Photo courtesy Page County S/O)