CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – A former Iowa State Patrol trooper was sentenced on March 7, 2023, to two years of probation for deprivation of rights under color of law.

According to court documents, on September 25, 2017, Robert James Smith, 58, was on patrol and observed an individual traveling on a motorcycle on Interstate 80 at a speed above the posted speed limit. Smith attempted to catch up to the motorcycle. The motorcyclist exited Interstate 80 in Cedar County, stopped the motorcycle and dismounted. In his marked squad car, Smith exited behind the motorcycle, engaged the overhead lights and siren on his patrol vehicle, parked near and quickly approached the victim with his pistol drawn and pointed at the victim.

As the victim was standing next to the motorcycle with hands in the air, Smith delivered an open palm strike to the victim’s chin area. The force of the strike caused the victim to fall back over the motorcycle, after which Smith knelt on and handcuffed the victim, then stood the victim up. In a report about the incident, Smith wrote that he reached with his hand intending to take hold of the victim’s shoulder but instead inadvertently came into contact with the front side of his helmet.

In his plea agreement, Smith admitted that his open hand palm strike was intentional, done with a bad purpose or improper motive to disregard the law, and was an unreasonable use of force. Smith plead guilty in September 2022. Smith was also ordered to pay a fine of $7500.00.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.

(Radio Iowa) – The January labor numbers are in and they show unemployment dropped to three percent in the month compared to three-point-one percent for December. Iowa Workforce Development spokesman Jesse Dougherty says there’s another number that’s more important. “Even more significant to us was that the state surpassed the 68 percent labor force participation rate,” he says. The labor force is the number of people working and those who are actively looking for work. “That number, in particular, that participation rate number is one that the state has a really close eye on, you know, just as significant as the overall unemployment rate, because that’s actually telling us what that labor pool is looking like and where it’s moving,” Dougherty says.

The January numbers are just being released now because the Bureau of Labor Statistics first did its annual review of the previous year’s numbers. “From the previous year, we actually have around 17,000 more Iowans in the labor force than we were a year ago,” he says. Dougherty says the job picture continued to get better as the state recovered from the pandemic. “We actually had around 38,000 — just over 38,000 jobs added within the last year. And that’s also significant because of the labor force participation rising at the same time, meaning that we’re also seeing more Iowans entering the pool,” he says. “That’s good news for employers too, because when they see that number climbing, it means that their talent pool is also getting bigger.”

Dougherty says the growth has been widespread. “And within the job numbers itself –the good news from that front was that there wasn’t one particular industry that was dominating that growth — we saw a lot of different growth within industries. Leisure and hospitality, which has continued to be a large sector has continued to grow,” Dougherty says, “But this past month, we also saw construction, we saw manufacturing, we even saw a couple of industries such as education and health services, that struggled during the pandemic that are starting to pick up more. So that’s also an encouraging sign.”

Dougherty says the labor force participation rate before the pandemic was in the 69 to 70 percent range — so to see it surpass 68 percent is significant.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports two arrests took place last week. Friday afternoon, 27-year-old Matthew Henry Paulsen, of Adair, was arrested on an Adair County Felony warrant for Violation of Probation. He was later released on a $5,000 bond.

And, at around 5-p.m. on March 8th, Greenfield Police arrested 34-year-old Shaun David Shelley, of Greenfield, following a traffic stop. Shelley was charged with OWI/2nd offense, Driving Under Suspension, and Carrying a weapon while intoxicated. Deputies recovered a loaded pistol with a round in the chamber, from between the driver’s and center seats, and a fully load .270 caliber rifle with a scope and a round in the chamber. He was also cited for speeding and Open Container as a driver over the age of 21. Shelley was cited and later released.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Board of Directors of the Atlantic Community School District will meet 6:40-p.m. Wednesday, March 15th, in the Atlantic High School Media Center, for the purpose of sharing Collective Bargaining proposals with the Atlantic Education Association. First up is a presentation an initial proposal from the Atlantic Education Association for the 2023-24 school year, followed by the initial contract proposal for the ’23-’24 school year from the Atlantic Board of Education.

The session can be viewed through the following YouTube link: https://youtube.com/live/KtsIqrJAoOo?feature=share

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds will soon sign a bill that would ban Iowa doctors from providing gender transition medication or procedures to minors. “Our legislature just passed blocking gender reassignment and puberty blockers, so that’s on its way to my desk, so thank you legislature for getting that done,” Reynolds said. Reynolds made her comments during an event in Davenport on Friday. The bill passed the Iowa House and Senate last week with Republican support.

All Democrats in the legislature and five Republicans in the House voted against it. A Des Moines Register Iowa Poll released this (Monday) morning has found 52 percent of the Iowans surveyed support the legislation.