MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — A man accused of stabbing to death his grandparents in the Mason City home they shared has been ruled competent for trial. A judge said in a Cerro Gordo County District Court filing Tuesday that 25-year-old Codie Matz will be able to understand the proceedings and assist in his defense. In December his attorneys filed court documents saying it “appears the defendant is suffering from a mental disorder.”

Matz’s trial is scheduled to begin March 27. He’s pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors say he killed 61-year-old Kenneth Hackbart and 64-year-old Kathleen Hackbart. Officers found their bodies Nov. 7.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican from Red Oak, is backing an immigration bill along with Senator Chuck Grassley that would eventually allow children brought to the country illegally by their parents to become citizens. That part of the proposal for those under what’s known as DACA has generated some controversy, but Ernst says she hasn’t gotten negative feedback. “I’ve have not gotten any pushback on that and I have talked to, even folks on the far right of the spectrum, conservative leaders across Iowa,” according to Ernst.

She says the conversations went better than she expected. “I was actually really surprised at the engagement that they are having with the pathway to citizenship, because understanding that these children who are now young adults did not break the law,” Ernst says. “So they are here, they are members of our community. Why would we not want to make them productive citizens.”

Ernst says they are needed in the state. “I would love to see them go on and be in the military. I would love to seem them go on and go to college and be a doctor and a nurse, because we need them in rural areas,” Ernst explains. “They are productive members of our society — and again — they haven’t broken the law.”

Ernst says leadership has said they will look at a lot of different proposals from both sides on the immigration issue. She says she’s not sure what the final bill will look like.

(Radio Iowa)

The family of an Audubon man missing since Feb. 10th is asking the public for help in locating him. His family says 38-year old Jason Malloy has no car, and .no money. Text messages and calls to his phone are not answered. The family says Jason is known to suffer from mental issues. He’s described as being 5-feet 11-inches tall, about 180-pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.

If you know where he is, call the Audubon Police Department, Audubon County Sheriff’s Office or your local law enforcement agency. You may also contact: the Missing Person Information Clearinghouse Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation 1-800-346-5507. If you recognize him authorities say DO NOT TAKE ANY ACTION YOURSELF. Get as much information as you can (e.g. license number of a vehicle, exact location of sighting, activities individual involved in) and then call law enforcement or the number mentioned above.

Jason Malloy

CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Corrections Department says an inmate struck a correctional officer at the Iowa Medical Classification Center in Coralville. The assault occurred around 2:05 p.m. Thursday. The officer handcuffed the inmate and then moved inside a cell to help move him, because the inmate uses a wheelchair. The department says the inmate then used both fists to strike the officer once on the side of his head.

The officer suffered bruising and scratches from the strike and a headache. He was taken to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for examination. The names of those involved have not been released.

Police in Creston say 41-year old Timothy Allen Hansen, of Creston, was cited for Fraudulent use of registration, failure to provide proof of insurance and careless driving, Thursday, after his car struck a utility pole. Hansen was traveling too fast southbound on Jarvis Street in Creston at around 4:45-p.m., when his 2003 Nissan 350Z went out of control. Hansen tried to regain control, but the car continued out of control before hitting an Alliant Energy utility pole at the corner of N. Jarvis and Summit Street.

The impact caused the pole to break in-half. Alliant crews were called to the scene, due to the fact a power line was down. Neither Hansen, nor his female passenger in the car, were hurt. Damage from the collision amounted to $6,200 altogether.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Iowa say they’re not advancing a bill that would have reduced gun permit requirements in the state in part because of a deadly school shooting in Florida. The Senate judiciary committee agreed Thursday not to vote on a bill that would have repealed a requirement in Iowa to have a permit to acquire a weapon. It also would have made it voluntary to have a permit to carry a weapon.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A southeastern Iowa man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for soliciting nude photos from an 11-year-old girl, as well as possessing other child pornography. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that 45-year-old Joel Allen Corder, of Mount Pleasant, was sentenced Wednesday and ordered to register as a sex offender. Prosecutors say a tip led police to Corder in 2016, when investigators seized his cellphone and found 638 images of child pornography on it.

FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) — A southeastern Iowa woman faces up to 11 years in prison after being charged in a single-vehicle crash that killed her husband. The Hawk Eye reports that 26-year-old Noelle Diane Cosby, of Donnellson, was charged Wednesday with vehicular homicide while operating under the influence and first-offense OWI for the Dec. 10 crash that killed 35-year-old Todd “Bubba” Cosby.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A monthly survey of rural bankers in 10 Plains and Western states suggests an improved economic outlook. A report released Thursday says the Rural Mainstreet Index rose to its highest reading since May 2014, reaching 54.8 in February. Survey organizers say any score below 50 suggests a shrinking economy in the months ahead.

A bill that would have done away with the requirement that Iowans get a permit to carry a concealed weapon has been shelved in the Iowa Senate. It happened about 24 hours after the mass shooting at a Florida high school. Senator Brad Zaun says he pulled the bill from committee consideration Thursday after a colleague told him Governor Kim Reynolds was opposed to it.

“It makes me sick what happened down in Florida, but with that said, I did have the votes to move this thing forward and decided after the communication from the governor…to pull it off the agenda,” Zaun says.

The bill would NOT have removed requirements that those who buy a gun go through a background check, but it would have done away from the state law that requires those who wish to carry a concealed weapon to obtain a permit from their county sheriff’s office.

“I thought it was a very logical, first step based on our constitution. There was definitely safeguards in place that people that should not have guns would not be able to get guns,” Zaun says. “I’m very disappointed.”

Legislators set yesterday (Thursday) as a deadline for policy bills to advance out of a committee. Bills, like this one, that failed to do so are no longer eligible for debate this year. However, proposals are sometimes added to other legislation brought up for debate.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa would no longer have a time limit on when the testimony from victims of child sex abuse may be used in a criminal case under a bill eligible for debate in the Iowa Senate. Under current law, there is a 10-year time limit on initiating criminal charges after the abuse occurred. Senator Dan Dawson of Council Bluffs says most other states have gotten rid of those time limitations, partly because victims of child sex abuse often don’t start to report it until they’re in their 30s or 40s.

“Like any other criminal case, the county attorneys still have evidentiary requirements and, if they have enough of them they will move a case,” Dawson says, “and if they don’t, then they won’t move a case forward.”

Senator Janet Petersen of Des Moines has been working on this issue for years after learning of cases where adults stepped forward with credible accounts of child sex abuse, but more than 10 years after it passed, so the cases weren’t pursued.

“We know that child victims of sexual abuse oftentimes are not even to articulate the horrific experience they have been through until the statute of limitations has already run out on them,” Petersen says, “so the way Iowa law is right now, it protects the perpetrator, not the victim.”

Petersen is pressing to change another Iowa law, so CIVIL lawsuits can be pursued at any time by a child sex abuse victim. For example, some of the older victims of the Michigan doctor who’s been sent to prison for decades for abusing female gymnasts would not be able to sue for damages if the abuse had happened in Iowa.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says the school shooting in Florida is a tragedy, and especially since the F-B-I had received reports of alleged threats by the shooter and they were not shared with local officials. “Well it is concerning because the signs were there, the signs were there and they were not acted upon,” Ernst says.

The shooting has again prompted some to call for stricter gun control, but Ernst a Republican from Red Oak, says the gun laws are not the issue as she says “We do have meaningful gun control laws in place already,” “I am a supporter of the Second Amendment, and the Second Amendment ensures that law-abiding citizens have the ability to defend themselves. If you go back and look — there were signs out there that this young man was disturbed,” Ernst says. “And again, my push has always been focusing mental illness. That is the root cause of the issue.”

Ernst says when she meets with law enforcement officers she doesn’t hear them calling for more gun laws.”What they say is there (are) rampant issues surrounding mental illness, that’s where the focus should be. That’s what my law enforcement officials are telling me,” according to Ernst.

Ernst says the focus needs to be on substance abuse and mental illness and the federal government needs community partners. “This should be handled at the local, state and the federal level to be sure that communities have what they need to combat substance abuse and mental illness,” according to Ernst.

Ernst made her comments during her weekly conference call with reporters.

(Radio Iowa)