The parents of a ten-year old Council Bluffs girl want more answers after their daughter’s scary experience with bullies on a city school bus this week. Rae-Ann Dabney says two other girls said they wanted to write on her face with a black magic marker. “I said ‘no’ and then they just grabbed me and held me down and colored on my face,” Dabney says. The girl says it was a very frightening experience.

“I was scared that they were going to draw inappropriate things on my face,” she says. The bullies did write a word on the girls face using the marker, in addition to a beard, mustache and other scribblings. “They put ‘loser’ on my head,” she says. School officials say the two girls lost their bus riding privileges for one day. Rae-Ann’s parents are outraged and say more should be done. They’ve filed a report with the police department.

RaeAnn Dabney

(Radio Iowa, with Thanks to WOWT-TV, Omaha)

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Two longtime teachers who challenged their firings from the Iowa School for the Deaf will not be returning to their jobs. Judge David May has ruled that the Iowa Board of Regents, which governs the Council Bluffs-based school, had “just cause” to terminate 25-year teacher Tina Murdoch.

May’s ruling overturned an arbitrator’s decision that ordered Murdoch be reinstated. The regents had appealed that ruling, arguing Murdoch should be fired because of poor performance. Murdoch’s former colleague, Tricia Tighe, meanwhile, recently dropped a court appeal of her firing.

Attorney Raymond Aranza, who represented both teachers, says Tighe has found a teaching job in Arkansas and decided her firing is “not worth fighting over.” He says he’s disappointed in the decision that upheld Murdoch’s firing. Aranza says both teachers were popular with parents and students and that administrators unfairly second-guessed their teaching skills.

A suspect in a Council Bluffs burglary was injured, treated and then placed under arrest after he was shot at Thursday night by the alleged victim of the crime. Council Bluffs Police say 34-year old Adam Daewood, of Council Bluffs, faces 5th Degree Theft and Criminal Trespass charges, and was being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail.

Daewood

Authorities say just before 10-p.m., Thursday, Council Bluffs police officers were dispatched to a call of burglary at 908 2nd Avenue. A resident there reported that he had observed a male subject, later identified as Daewood, on his property, stealing
items. The resident, armed with a small caliber rifle, exited his home and confronted Daewood. During the encounter, the resident, identified as 59-year old Gauino Gutierrez, of Council Bluffs, fired two shots from his rifle in an attempt to scare away Daewood.

Neither round struck Daewood, but he did suffer a leg injury due to either bullet or concrete fragments ricocheting up and hitting him. All parties involved were interviewed by detectives and evidence, including the rifle, was seized. After investigators consulted with both County and City Attorney’s Offices, it was determined that Gutierrez would be issued a citation for Discharging a Firearm within City Limits, a simple misdemeanor. His initial court appearance has been set for February 14, 2017.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa authorities say at least 25 influenza-related deaths have occurred since Oct. 2, including 11 reported to the state last week. The Iowa Department of Public Health said in a news release Friday that all but one of the people who died had underlying conditions or contributing factors. The department says the deaths included 19 people 81 and older and two people 61 through 80.

There’s still time for a flu shot. The department medical director, Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, says the flu vaccine takes a few days to reach its maximum protection level, so waiting too much longer will mean diminished protection during the peak of the season.

Flu is a viral respiratory illness with symptoms that include fever, headache, tiredness, cough, sore throat, nasal congestion and body aches.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – The last of the three defendants in a Council Bluffs slaying has pleaded guilty. The Daily Nonpareil reports 20-year-old Ben Lein pleaded guilty to reduced charges Monday: two counts of robbery and two of criminal mischief. He’d previously been charged with murder among other crimes. He was sentenced to 12 to 20 years in prison.

Lein, Markis Davis and Wesley Correa-Carmenaty were charged with the slaying of Anthony Walker during a botched robbery in March 2016. Correa-Carmenaty is set to be sentenced May 1 after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter, attempted murder and two counts of robbery. Davis pleaded guilty in November to robbery and was sentenced to 25 years.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Police officials have told the City Council that it would cost more than $97,000 to outfit Sioux City officers with body cameras. Chief Doug Young and Lt. Mark Kirkpatrick said Thursday the money would cover software and hardware costs for 87 cameras.

Councilman Pete Groetken, who retired with nearly 38 years of police experience, says the cameras would provide video evidence in liability cases but wonders whether the technology is sufficiently mature to justify the expense.

Young says he doesn’t know of any instance in the past year that would have been helped or hindered by the cameras, but he says residents and officers support the camera idea. The council didn’t vote on the proposal, which is expected to resurface during the council’s Feb. 16 meeting.