A divided Iowa Supreme Court has reversed the conviction of an eastern Iowa man who was arrested after a routine traffic stop. An Eldridge police officer stopped a car that was registered to a woman who had a suspended driver’s license. The officer found a man, Jayel Coleman driving the car that he said he had borrowed from his sister. The officer checked Coleman’s driver’s license and determined he was driving while barred.

Coleman appealed, saying the officer had no reason to question him. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled the reason for the traffic stop was resolved when the officer found Coleman driving and it was unconstitutional to continue the stop. Three justices issued a dissent, saying the ruling gives Coleman a free pass and determines the routine request to see a driver’s license and registration in a traffic stop violates the search and seizure provision of the Iowa Constitution.

The dissent says the case goes out of its way to connect the case to racial profiling and does not consider the multiple driving violations and other arrests of Coleman.

(Radio Iowa)

Republicans in the Iowa House have passed a bill designed to cut some of the “strings” on federal block grant money for city and county road and bridge projects. Cities and counties would send their money to the Iowa Department of Transportation and the Iowa D-O-T would send the same amount back, without enforcing the federal requirements. Representative Gary Worthan, a Republican from Storm Lake, says other states have made this move and hundreds of thousands of dollars that would have been spent complying with federal rules was spent on new bridges and roads instead.

“This process will eliminate a lot of paperwork, a lot of requirements on the cities and counties when they go to do their local road projects,” Worthan says. Democrats like Representative Abby Finkenaur of Dubuque say the bill is designed to avoid federal wage rules for construction crews and “Buy American” requirements for construction materials.  “Buying U.S. steel, buying American-made products with American tax dollars is restrictive and cumbersome? I don’t think so,” she said.

And Finkenaur says getting rid of the federal “prevailing wage” rules will lower pay for crews working on city and county road projects in rural Iowa. Representative Jerry Kearns, a Democrat from Keokuk, says the bill’s a “swipe” at American workers. “We should not be trying to see how we can legislative less pay. Our our governor says we need good paying jobs,” Kearns says. “This flies in the face of what the president says about American products and, here we are, trying to do exactly the opposite.”

Worthan says he’s confident contractors will continue to pay their crews well. “I don’t think that wages are going to change a whole lot,” Worthan said. “In fact, I find it somewhat offensive that’s the premise that the argument is being based on.”

A similar bill has cleared a COMMITTEE in the Iowa SENATE.

(Radio Iowa)

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County reported a Shelby County man was arrested Thursday afternoon at the Clarke County Jail, for charges originating in Pott. County. 29-year old Justin Michael Levell, of Irwin, was arrested on a Pott. County warrant for Theft in the 4th Degree, and two warrants for Forgery, at least one of the warrants was related to the fraudulent use of a Credit card.  Levell was transported back to Pott. County and booked into the Pottawattamie County Jail.

The Sheriff’s Office said also, 33-year old Andrew Michael Hasbrouck, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Thursday evening for Being a Fugitive from Justice. Hasbrouck was taken into custody after he was seen walking in the area of Highway 92 and Valley View Drive. A records checked indicated he had an active warrant.

And, 42-year old Terry Allen Heuton, of Honey Creek, was arrested for OWI/2nd offense and cited for improper use of lanes early this (Friday) morning, after a deputy observed Heuton’s vehicle going the wrong way on E. Pierce Street at North Avenue. The deputy noted Heuton has a strong odor of alcohol and there were open containers of beer on the floor and passenger seat of his vehicle. Heuton also reportedly had blood shot and watery eyes, and slurred speech. The man initially consented to taking a Field Sobriety Test, but then refused and instead consented to a Preliminary Breath Test, which resulted in him being placed under arrest.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office says a Lorimor resident reported last weekend, that sometime over the past week, someone broke into his home in Lorimor. A door sustained about $250 damage during the incident. And, several items were taken, including a wooden box containing old silver coins, a box containing assorted ammunition, a Samsung 42” flat screen tv, and a jewelry box with assorted jewelry items.  The items were valued at $8,500 altogether.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – University of Iowa officials have told campus residents about a problem with the campus water system. The university said in an email Thursday that the water exceeded the maximum contaminant level for a byproduct of the treatment process. The byproduct forms when chlorine reacts with naturally occurring organic matter. The levels of organic matter are higher in winter.

The university says disease prevention specialists with the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics say special precautions are not necessary and that the situation doesn’t pose “an immediate risk.” But the university says prolonged exposure to elevated levels of the byproduct could have long-term consequences.

The university will flush fire hydrants to lower the time water sits in the distribution system, reducing the amount of time available for the byproduct to form.

Stargazers in Iowa will have something of a triple-play late tonight (Friday) and early tomorrow (Saturday). We’re being treated to a lunar eclipse, a “snow moon,” and a relatively close fly-by from a comet. Steve Spangler, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Iowa, says if you’ve never heard of a “snow moon” before, you’re not alone. “The ‘snow moon’ term is not one that’s in broad astronomical use, in fact, I had to look up in the Astronomical Almanac to see what the definition is,” Spangler says. “It just means a full moon in February, so except under rare circumstances, every year, you’ll get one.”

While that full moon may be big, bright and beautiful, it’ll be covered in darkness early in the evening, but only temporarily. “Eclipses of the moon are due to the moon going into the shadow of the Earth,” Spangler says. “All of the light in the solar system, most of it anyway, comes from the sun. The Earth is an opaque object and it casts a shadow back into space behind it and sometimes, at the time of a full moon, the moon will go through this shadow.”

This is what’s known as a penumbral eclipse, as the moon won’t be completely covered by the earth’s shadow. The peak of the eclipse should arrive at 6:43 P-M Central time. Early Saturday morning, there’ll be another space spectacle to behold as Comet 45-P will be coming into view around 3 A-M. It’ll be in the constellation Hercules but don’t confuse comets with “falling stars” or meteors. There will be no startling “shooting star” streak across the night sky, as a comet typically appears stationary, if you can find one.

“It’d be a good idea to get a star chart so you’ll know where you’re looking, otherwise, it’s not something you’re going to casually notice in the sky,” Spangler says. “You’ll need at least a good pair of binoculars or a small telescope and a star chart to show exactly where it is.” Comet 45-P will be about seven-point-four million miles away from Earth, which is considered very close in astronomical terms.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with the Creston Police Department are issuing a warning about an ongoing scam. Authorities say the Creston P-D has received recent reports from citizens stating they had received calls from the Police Department’s phone number (641-782-8402), telling the citizen that they have warrants, and that they would be arrested unless the citizen pays a bond over the phone.

The Creston P-D says it does NOT release warrant information over the phone and we would never ask someone to pay a bond over the phone. If you receive a similar, threatening call, it means the Creston P-D’s phone number is being spoofed, and someone is trying to scam you for money.

Other law enforcement agencies have reported the same scam, including the Pottawattamie and Page County Sheriff’s Offices in 2015, and the Atlantic P-D in 2014. Never give your personal information to someone who calls you. If you have any doubt about your status with a law enforcement agency, call that agency directly.