Malcom, Iowa (Updated 12-p.m., 10/5/23) — A Cedar Rapids man faces two felony charges, following an incident Tuesday on Interstate 80. The Iowa DCI reports that at around 8:10-a.m. October 3, 2023, the Iowa State Patrol responded to the reports of a stranded vehicle located on Interstate 80 at the 187 mile marker, heading westbound (Poweshiek County). During the response, Troopers located a male (identified as Jihad Abdul Malik Gasaway-23 years old) who was attempting to re-start a stalled vehicle. After an initial investigation, Gasaway was temporarily detained and the Troopers located a handgun in Gasaway’s pocket.

Jihad Malik Gasaway

During the search of the vehicle, the body of an unresponsive black male (later identified as 26-year-old Kemp Xavier Sherrod Harriel) was located on the floor and slumped over the passenger seat of the vehicle. Harriel’s body was concealed underneath clothing items and appeared to have suffered gunshot wounds. The Troopers requested medical services and the male was pronounced deceased at the scene. Investigators examined the vehicle and determined the shooting incident had occurred inside passenger area of the vehicle.

Gasaway was transported to the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office on a Class-C felony Abuse of Corpse, charge . He was being held at the Poweshiek County Jail on a $50,000 bond. On October 4, 2023 the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office determined Harriel died of two gunshot wounds to the chest and the manner of Harriel’s death was a homicide.  On October 5, 2023 Gasaway was also charged with Murder in the First Degree, a Class A Felony for his involvement in Harriel’s death.  Gasaway remains in custody at the Poweshiek County Jail.

The case remains under investigation by the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa State Patrol, and the Division of Criminal Investigation.

MARION, Iowa (KCRG) — Sheriff’s officials in Linn County, Wednesday, identified the man who was killed in a crash Tuesday. Authorities say 48-year-old Chad Craig, of Cedar Rapids, was driving a motorcycle when he was hit head-on by a vehicle attempting to pass in a no-passing zone. Craig died in the crash that happened at around 7 p.m. Tuesday, near the intersection of Cottage Grove Avenue SE and Highlands Court SE south of Marion. Police said the driver of the vehicle that hit the motorcycle, 60-year-old Debra Trimble, of Marion, was charged with vehicular homicide, OWI and unsafe passing.

According to the latest data from the Iowa Department of Transportation, 282 people have died so far this year on Iowa roads. That’s 26 more than at the same point in 2022. Over the last five years, an average of 338 people have been killed in statewide crashes annually. Fifty-five people have been killed this year in motorcycle crashes, compared to 49 in 2022.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Auditor of State Rob Sand today (Thursday), released an audit report on the Fremont County Sanitary Landfill Commission.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS:
The Commission had total receipts of $606,124 for the year ended June 30, 2023, a 19.2% decrease. Disbursements for the year ended June 30, 2023, totaled $598,217, an 11.0% increase. The decrease in receipts was primarily due to lower gate collections and disaster tipping fees as clean up from the 2019 floods has come to an end. The increase in disbursements is due primarily to increased disbursements for equipment repair, outside services and accounting and legal fees.

AUDIT FINDINGS:
Sand reported four findings related to the receipt and disbursement of taxpayer funds. They are found on pages 30 through 33 of this report. The findings address a lack of segregation of duties related to disbursements, the lack of documenting the independent review of bank to book reconciliations and timely submission of Quarterly Solid Waste Fee Schedule and Retained Fees Report. Sand provided the Commission with recommendations to address each of the findings.

Two of the four findings discussed above are repeated from the prior year. The Commission has a fiduciary responsibility to provide oversight of the Commission’s operations and financial transactions. Oversight is typically defined as the “watchful and responsible care” a governing body exercises in its fiduciary capacity.

A copy of the audit report is available for review on the Auditor of State’s website at Audit Reports – Auditor of State.

[Polk County, Iowa (KCCI)] — A man injured in a nearly-deadly construction accident in Polk City in 2019 was awarded just over $3-million in damages after winning his jury trial. According to his attorney, Tim Kono was working on a home and was underground for a large part of the job he was doing for home construction company D.R. Horton.

He got trapped underneath several tons of soil — largely because he says D.R. Horton wasn’t using an OSHA-mandated trench box during the job. A fact sheet issued by OSHA, says that can equal the weight of a car.

In addition to the $3-million award, Kono will receive one-fourth of $16.18 million in punitive damages against his former company for what happened. By Iowa code, the remaining 75% of the punitive damage amount will go toward a civil reparations trust fund.

Kono’s lawyer said it’s the second-greatest dollar amount of punitive damage she’s ever seen in an Iowa case.

(Creston, Iowa) –  Police in Creston have arrested a man for Failure To Appear (FTA) in court, on two drug-related charges. 42-year-old David Junior Richman, of Creston, was arrested at around 5:20-p.m., Wednesday, on charges of Failure to Appear: Possession of Controlled Substance – Methamphetamine/1st Offense, and Possession of Controlled Substance – Marijuana/1st Offense.

Richman was taken to Union County Jail. His bail on the respective charges was set at $2,000 cash or approved surety, and $600 cash only.

(National News) – Lottery officials report for the 11th week in a row, no tickets matched all six numbers drawn for Wednesday night’s Powerball jackpot. That means the top prize climbs to an estimated $1.4 billion for Saturday’s drawing. The winning numbers announced were: 9, 35, 54, 63, 64 and the Powerball 1.

Winning tickets worth $2 million each were sold in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Texas, while $1 million winning tickets were sold in California (two), Colorado, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas (two).

The odds of winning the large jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. The new prize would be the fifth-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history, edging out a $1.08 billion Powerball jackpot won by a ticket sold in California in July — which has yet to be claimed. It could also become the largest Powerball jackpot won in nearly any state. In all but three — California, Florida, and Tennessee — the largest jackpot ever won is below $1 billion.

Powerball drawings are held three times a week at 9:59 p.m. CDT on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, with the numbers selected at the Florida Lottery in Tallahassee.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – A new WARN notification (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) from Iowa Workforce Development shows Collins Aerospace in Cedar Rapids is laying off 68 workers. Last month, the company confirmed with TV9 that it was laying off less than 800 of its total 80,000 employees nationwide. It did not say how many workers in Cedar Rapids would be affected.

Collins told KCRG-TV at the time, this was part of cost-saving actions across the business for sustainable growth. The layoffs take effect on Oct. 13.

HAMBURG, IOWA – Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO) members, staff, and supporters came together for the 48th Annual Meeting on Thursday, September 28th at the newly renovated Hamburg Fire Station. The day included a tour of Hamburg, a luncheon, awards presentation, and annual report. The day started with a tour of the City of Hamburg led by Mayor Harry Reed to celebrate many of the projects that have been completed or are in progress following the 2019 flood. Stops on the tour included the newly opened Hamburg Inn & Suites, ConAgra popcorn production facility, The Hamburg Locker, and the disaster recovery housing development site North Ridge Acres. Following the tour, attendees enjoyed a luncheon catered by Horseshoe Café and Catering from Sidney. The program was then opened with a welcome by Mayor Adams and introductions by SWIPCO Board Chair Todd Valline.

Five partnership awards were then presented by SWIPCO staff to various entities that helped SWIPCO achieve end goals in fiscal year 2023. Those awards included:

• Connections Area Agency on Aging for their continued partnership with Southwest Iowa Transit Agency (SWITA) to help disabled Iowans get to where they need to go at a reduced cost.
• Denver Regional Office of the U.S. Economic Development Administration for their work managing an unprecedented amount of funding for disaster recovery from the 2019 floods and the Covid pandemic. Regional Representative Alex Smith was on hand to accept the award.
• Faith In Action for their continued partnership with SWITA to provide rides for the residents of Fremont and Page Counties.
• F&M Carpentry for their excellent work and very high client satisfaction as a contractor for many SWIPCO housing projects in the past year. Owners Roy and Tammy Fifer were on hand to accept the award.
• Terry Brown, Disaster Project Officer with Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for his exemplary help in coordinating long term recovery efforts in Hamburg and Fremont and Mills Counties after the 2019 floods.
  

  SWIPCO Board recognition John McCurdy, SWIPCO Executive Director (left); Alan Armstrong, Former Page County Supervisor (right).

  

  Partnership award presentation: Alex Smith, US Economic Development Administration (left); John McCurdy, SWIPCO Executive Director (right).

  

  Partnership award presentation: (left to right) John McCurdy, SWIPCO Executive Director; Roy Fifer, F&M Carpentry; Tammy Fifer, F&M Carpentry; Matthew Lee, SWIPCO Building Inspector.

  

  SWIPCO Board recognition Lynn Grobe, Former Pottawattamie County Supervisor (left); John McCurdy, SWIPCO Executive Director (right).

  

  Partnership award presentation: (left to right) Terry Brown, Disaster Project Officer with Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management; John McCurdy, SWIPCO Executive Director.

Four former members of the SWIPCO Policy Board were honored for their service at the meeting. John Hartkopf, Cass County Supervisor, 2 years. Alan Armstrong, Page County Supervisor, 5 years. Lynn Grobe, Pottawattamie County Supervisor, 10 years. Brad Wright, Red Oak City Administrator, 20 years.

Four SWIPCO office staff employees were honored for employment milestones. Dani Briggs, Lead Planner, 5 years. Dee Holtz, Administrative Assistant, 5 years. John McCurdy, Executive Director, 10 years. Mark Hansen, Fleet Mechanic, 15 years. SWITA driver of the year Dean Driskell was also recognized. (attached photos courtesy SWIPCO Communications Director Chris Parks)

To finish up the meeting, Executive Director John McCurdy presented annual report information and shared the many success stories for SWIPCO in fiscal year 2023. Highlights included that SWITA provided 526,300 rides in fiscal year 2023, the most any rural public transit agency ever has in the state of Iowa. SWIPCO’s planning staff are also currently managing over $120 million in grant funds. SWIPCO and the Southwest Iowa Housing Trust Fund (SWIHTF) completed 61 housing rehabilitation projects, assisted with the purchase of 19 homes, demolished 15 dilapidated houses, and conducted dozens of building inspections. SWIPCO’s administrative team managing resources and came in right on target for SWIPCO’s $7 million operating budget, the largest portion of which is payroll for SWIPCO’s 100 employees.

SWIPCO, founded in 1975, is a council of governments serving eight counties in Southwest Iowa with public transportation, community development, and housing assistance. Counties served are Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, and Shelby. SWIPCO is an equal opportunity employer, provider, and lender.

(Radio Iowa) – After nearly 50 years as a food desert, one of Waterloo’s predominantly black neighborhoods has opened its first grocery store alongside a community center. After seven years of socioeconomic hurdles, including push-back from groups within Waterloo, the black-owned All-In Grocers and attached Willie Mae Wright Community Center opened this week. Project leader Rodney Anderson says after all the work, he’s still amazed.  “I love it. It looks like Waterloo,” Anderson says, “it feels like Waterloo, and now we’re going to change the culture of Waterloo.”

Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart attended the opening and says the grocery store idea was a long time coming and he sees it as a huge victory for the neighborhood and the community. “It’s an incredible day for the City of Waterloo and an incredible day for the Walnut neighborhood,” Hart says. “I remember 12 years ago, them wanting a grocery store, and to be here today is such an inspiring vision.”

The community center will hold classes and after-school programs through Waterloo’s 1619 Freedom School Project, which is expected to start by the spring.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa [KETV]) — If your travels take you to Council Bluffs, frequently, you may have noticed the wear on the South Expressway bridge in the city. Bluffs Public Works Director Matt Cox, says there’s no safety threat, because while part of the reinforcing steel is exposed, the bridge is still performing as designed.

And whatever concrete that’s fallen off, he says, has no impact on the structural integrity. Cox said public works inspects these bridges regularly, and people do not need to be concerned with driving over the bridge.