Windsor Heights, Iowa — Police in the Des Moines suburb of Windsor Heights are looking for a man who robbed a person following a a transaction through a Facebook Marketplace exchange. Investigators say a man met someone at a busy Walmart on 73rd Street for the exchange, Wednesday, when the person he was meeting robbed him of his iPhone.

Police say the victim of this incident did everything right to keep the transaction safe, which includes meeting in broad daylight in a public place, full of foot traffic. Regardless, the suspect displayed a weapon during the interaction by pulling up his shirt and showing the victim a gun was tucked inside his waistband. (Photos via the Windsor Heights PD Facebook page)

The suspect then took the phone and quickly headed for the doors. His face was picked up by security cameras and shared with the public as a person of interest. Anyone who recognizes him is urged to turn him in. Police recommend such transaction be conducted inside a police department, to dissuade any criminal intent involving a weapon.

If you have any information, please contact the Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa or email police@windorheights.org. You may remain anonymous.

CENTERVILLE, Iowa — A district court judge has ruled that the Centerville Community School District must pay more than $113,000 following a lawsuit arguing the district violated Iowa’s Open Meetings and Records Law. According to KCCI-TV, the lawsuit was filed by the Iowa Freedom of Information Council. In September, Appanoose County District Court Judge Mark Kruse ruled in the IFOIC’s favor, stating the district violated the law during a school board meeting on Feb. 3, 2023.

The district has now been ordered to pay $113,258.50 for the IFOIC’s attorneys’ fees and costs. Court documents detailing the judge’s ruling state the school board met on Feb. 3, 2023, to discuss a “Consideration of Employment Resignation Agreement” regarding Ryan Hodges.

Hodges is a former guidance counselor and baseball coach with the district. He was placed on administration leave during an internal investigation in December 2022.

During the Feb. 3 board meeting, court documents revealed the board voted unanimously to go into a closed session almost “immediately after” the meeting started. Those same documents report the closed session went on for about 30 minutes before the board switched back to open session, and unanimously approved a “resignation and release agreement” for Hodges.

The judge’s ruling states that when testifying, the district superintendent testified that “the reason for the closed meeting was to discuss the professional competency of Ryan Hodges.” The judge notes in his ruling that after reading the board minutes, it was “difficult to find any consistent, or meaningful, discussion evaluating the professional competency of Mr. Hodges.” The judge went on to write, “The discussion in general terms centered around the terms of the resignation agreement, avoidance of lawsuits, the leak of the Level 2 report, and how to handle the fallout from the resignation that was expected.”

The judge has ordered the board to unseal the recording and transcripts from the closed session of the meeting.

(Radio Iowa) – Well over half a MILLION Iowans have already voted in this year’s election. Becky Bissell — president of the Iowa State Association of County Auditors — says that’s about 25 percent of registered voters.  “We have been seeing some pretty good turnout for absentee voting,” Bissell says. “…That takes a bit of the pressure off of the polling places on election day and a little bit of the pressure off our poll workers.” Nearly a million ballots were cast before election day four years ago, as many Iowa voters opted for mail-in voting during the pandemic.

Bissell, who is the Adams County Auditor, says early voting in Iowa this year is similar to 2016. “For Adams County in 2020, we had about 1200 absentee voters,” Bissell says. “In 2016, we had about 900 and right now we’re on pace for that 900 mark.” The majority of ballots that have already been cast this year are from Iowans who went to their county auditor’s office or a satellite location to vote.

For those who requested an absentee ballot, got it in the mail, but haven’t mailed it back yet — Bissell has some advice. “I just can’t stress enough that if you requested an absentee ballot by mail, make sure you get those in. We no longer go off of the postmark on the envelope. You have to have it in to the auditor’s office by 8 p.m. on Election Day, so if you still have an absentee ballot, make sure you’re getting it turned back in,” Bissell says. “I think your best bet would be to hand deliver it back to the auditor’s office.”

Election workers may begin counting the early “absentee” votes at 7 a.m. on Election Day. That’s the same time all neighborhood precincts open for in-person voting. “We cannot release any results until 8 p.m. after the polls close on Election Day,” Bissell says, “so as soon as 8 p.m. rolls around, you could start to see some absentee results come in.” By 7 a.m. YESTERDAY (Thursday), over 517-thousand early votes had been cast in Iowa.

At some point TODAY (Friday), state officials will release an updated report on the number of registered voters in Iowa.