AVOCA, Iowa (AP) — Prosecutors are expected to present their case Wednesday in the second trial against Robert Reynolds. Reynolds was convicted in November 2014 of killing 64-year-old Patricia Kinkade-Dorsey after a night of drinking at his and his wife’s Oakland home. Kinkade-Dorsey was a friend of his wife. The Iowa Appeals Court later ordered a new trial, ruling that the trial judge erroneously changed the trial location to the Pottawattamie County Courthouse in Council Bluffs from the East Pottawattamie County Courthouse in Avoca.

The Daily Nonpareil reports that prosecution and defense lawyers agreed to a nonjury trial in Avoca. Prosecutors also agreed to lower the charge against Reynolds to second-degree murder.
Defense attorney Bill McGinn says the prosecution will present its case Wednesday and the defense plans to have witnesses testify on Thursday.

Officials with the Creston Police Department report man was arrested Tuesday night on burglary, drug and weapon charges. 23-year old Jody Hill, of Creston, was arrested just before 9-p.m. at 601 New York Avenue, on charges that include Burglary in the 3rd degree, Possession of a Controlled Substance 1st offense, Intimidation of a Dangerous Weapon and on two counts of Operate vehicle without owners consent. Hill was being held in the Union County Jail on $11,300 bond.

And, at around 12:37-a.m. today (Wednesday), 35-year old Shad Hanson, of Creston, was arrested in the 100 block of E. Irving, on charges of Public Intoxication and Interference with Official Acts. Hanson was being held in the Union County Jail on $600 bond.

The Atlantic City Council will meet in a regular session 5:30-p.m. today, at City Hall. During the meeting, the Council will hold the third and final reading of an Ordinance amending the current City Code, with regard to parking regulations. Police Chief Dave Erickson and Code Enforcement Officer Kris Kardell-Erickson proposed the change, due to ambiguity on where trailers can be parked, depending on the zone or use of a property.

During their last meeting, the Council requested certain changes be made to the amendment, especially with regard to the hours for loading and unloading a camper, from 24-to 48. In other business, Mayor Dave Jones is expected to make an announcement with regard to a Mediacom Fiber Community Presentation that will be held at City Hall on Tuesday, Nov. 7^th, beginning at 6-p.m.

With Veterans Day approaching, new efforts are being made to encourage those who served — and their families — to pursue their dreams for opening or expanding small businesses. Darcella Craven is director the Veterans Business Outreach Center in St. Louis, which serves veteran entrepreneurs in Iowa and four other states. Craven explains the goals of this week’s National Veterans Small Business Week. “It’s helping to ensure that veterans and military families are educated on the number of resource partners that are out there and available for them to use, many times free of charge,” Craven says, “and that they are still moving down their road map of their business plan for their small business.”

More than 98-percent of the businesses in Iowa are small businesses. Craven says veteran-owned businesses are a critical pillar of the U-S economy as they contribute more than a trillion dollars to the nation’s annual total sales and receipts. “Many of those men and women and their families do come back after having served in the military,” Craven says, “they come back with so many valuable resources and experiences that they make really great small business owners because they can put the discipline and the dedication they had in the military into a small business.”

The outreach center is working with the Iowa District Office of the U-S Small Business Administration to offer veterans across Iowa both local and virtual events. “We do in-person seminars, and that could be something as simple as how do I choose the right marketing for my small business,” Craven says. “We also do webinars. We have a webinar series we conduct with the SBA every Wednesday at 11 AM. That covers a variety of topics from financing your small business to work-life balance.”

She notes veterans continue their service by contributing to the economy and by creating economic opportunities for other Americans.

(Radio Iowa)

Republican Governor Kim Reynolds says a small number of Iowans are going overboard by targeting her family with partisan sniping. “I’m the governor of everybody, so I want to make that clear,” Reynolds said, “but I’m probably talking about a very small, minute population.” Back on October 21st, Reynolds told a crowd that she and her fellow Republicans needed to “double-down” because of what she’s seen as she travels the state. “The liberals are unhinged and they are out for us,” Reynolds said last month.

During her weekly news conference yesterday in Ames, Reynolds was asked what incidents may have occurred to lead her to reach that conclusion. Reynolds says there’s more than one, but cited as an example negative comments on social media about two of her grandsons after she posted a photo of the boys. “I signed up for this. You can come at me all you want. I’m tough. I know what this job entails and I guess, in some sense, my family did, too, but not to that extent,” Reynolds said. “This is a six-year-old little boy and his brother, playing soccer on a football field and to me, that’s unhinged. That’s over-the-top and they don’t deserve it.” Reynolds says “all of us” should take steps to improve the political climate.

“There is no civil discourse left and it is really sad,” Reynolds says. “We ought to be able to talk about ideas. We ought to be able to debate ideas because that’s how you get to consensus and that’s how we move this country forward and that’s how we move this state forward. And we do a better job of it in Iowa. We do, but it is just so…vicious right now. I hope we can get back to having a discussion.”  Tess Seger, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Democratic Party, says it’s unfortunate the governor chose to the word “unhinged” to describe a “wide swath of Iowans” 11 days ago, but Seger says Democrats respect the office and “strongly condemn any threatening comments directed” at the governor’s family.

(Radio Iowa)