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Georgia man sentenced for misusing Iowa workers information

News

March 9th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A 33-year-old Georgia man has been sentenced for using information from dozens of University of Iowa employees to obtain federal tax refunds. Federal prosecutors say Edoghogho Collins Oloton, of Sandy Springs, Georgia, was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering. Prosecutors say Oloton worked with other people to launder dozens of money orders bought with the fraudulent tax refunds.

The scheme netted more than $60,000 from tax refunds from University of Iowa employees. More than $1.4 million in illegal funds passed through bank accounts associated with the scheme between February and April 2015.

 

Remaining 2020-21 Big Ten Conference Championships and Tournaments to Follow Local Health Guidelines and Restrictions for Attendance

Sports

March 9th, 2021 by admin

Rosemont, Ill. – Attendance policies for all remaining 2020-21 Big Ten Conference championships and tournaments will follow local health guidelines and restrictions, the conference announced on Tuesday. The decision to follow local health guidelines and restrictions was made jointly by the Big Ten Conference Directors of Athletics and the Council of Presidents and Chancellors in consultation with university medical experts and the conference office.

This decision follows the announcement by the conference on March 4, 2021, to allow a limited number of fans to attend the 2021 Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments. The goal is to transition from a conference-wide approach to local decision-making in consultation with public health departments and university medical experts.

Procedures for all remaining 2020-21 Big Ten championships and tournaments will be designed to meet local and CDC guidelines to help limit the spread of COVID-19 as the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches, officials, fans and campus communities remain our highest priority. Details regarding those upcoming events will be announced over the coming weeks.

Garza earns additional honors from AP and Sports Illustrated

Sports

March 9th, 2021 by admin

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa men’s basketball senior Luka Garza has added two more accolades to his resume Tuesday afternoon by the Associated Press and Sports Illustrated.

The Associated Press named Garza its Big Ten Player of the Year and a unanimous first-team all-conference selection for the second straight season. Sports Illustrated honored Garza with unanimous first-team All-America distinction for the second straight year.

Early today, Garza was named the 2021 Sporting News National Player of the Year and a unanimous first-team All-American, as well as being voted the 2021 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Player of the Year and a unanimous first-team all-conference honoree.

The Washington, D.C., native is a finalist for six national awards: Naismith Trophy, Oscar Robertson Trophy, Wooden Award, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, Senior CLASS Award, and the Lute Olson Award.

Garza (6-foot-11, 265 pounds) has led the fifth-ranked Hawkeyes to 20 victories this season, including wins in seven of their last eight. He leads the nation in total points (642); player efficiency rating (36.17); 30-point games (7); field goals made (240); and 22-point games (17). Garza is eighth nationally in free throw makes (125) and 13th in double-doubles (12).

Garza averaged 21.9 points per game during the 20-game conference schedule, becoming the third player since 1990 to lead the league in scoring in consecutive seasons (Michigan State’s Steve Smith and Evan Turner of Ohio State).

Garza broke the school’s 32-year old scoring record held by Roy Marble on Feb. 21, 2021. His 2,201 points rank 13th best in Big Ten history. In addition to ranking first in career scoring, Garza is tops at Iowa in conference scoring (1,399), total field goals made (829), field goal attempts (1,522), and 40-point games (2); second in 30-point games (12); fourth in double-doubles (33); fifth in rebounding (895); fifth in blocked shots (148); eighth in free throw makes (430); and 13th in 3-pointers made (113).

He is the only men’s basketball player in Big Ten history to accumulate 2,000 points, 850 rebounds, 125 blocked shots, and 100 3-pointers. Garza is the only Hawkeye in school history to amass four 400-point seasons and two 600-point seasons.

Fifth-ranked Iowa (20-7, 14-6) will open Big Ten Tournament play on Friday in the quarterfinals. Tipoff is scheduled for approximately 8 p.m. (CT) at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Max Murin earns NCAA At-Large Berth, Hawkeyes will send entire lineup

Sports

March 9th, 2021 by admin

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa junior Max Murin has been awarded an at-large berth to the 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis on March 18-20. The NCAA announced the 330-person tournament field Tuesday.

Murin is one of six 149-pound wrestlers to earn an at-large berth. His selection means Iowa will send its entire 10-man roster to the national tournament. The Hawkeyes are the nation’s top-ranked team and recently captured their 37th Big Ten Championship at the conference tournament March 6-7.

Murin was the No. 7 seed at 141 pounds at the national tournament a year ago. He is 4-3 this season at 149 with three wins against ranked opponents. His only losses are to the top three medalists at the 2021 Big Ten Championships, which was Iowa’s national qualifier.

Brackets and seeding for the 2021 NCAA Championships will be revealed during a selection show on Wednesday, March 10, at 5 p.m. (CT) on NCAA.com.

The 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship are March 18-20 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. A complete list of qualifiers is available at NCAA.com.

Feuerbach Earns Second Big 12 Freshman of the Week Honor

Sports

March 9th, 2021 by admin

IRVING, Texas – Iowa State women’s basketball guard Kylie Feuerbach picked up her second Freshman of the Week award and the final one of the season, the league announced Tuesday.

Feuerbach was impressive in Iowa State’s regular season finale against the Jayhawks. She totaled 11 points and hauled in seven boards, helping Iowa State to grab their 12th win in Big 12 action. Feuerbach also added three steals and two assists in an 83-53 win over Kansas.

The honor was the ninth Freshman of the Week award for the Cyclones this season, as fellow freshmen Emily Ryan (2) and Lexi Donarski (5) have also claimed honors for the Cyclones. Iowa State has earned nine of the 15 weekly honors this season.

Iowa State returns to the court on Friday, March 12 at 10:30 a.m. to take on No. 5 seed Texas in the Big 12 Championship on ESPNU.

Three Council Bluffs Residents Sentenced to Federal Prison for Drug and Gun Offenses

News

March 9th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – Three people were sentenced last week in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, on drug and other charges. Authorities say 42-year-old Bruce Lee Gamble and 43-year-old Alberto Monroe Rocha, both of Council Bluffs, were sentenced to 60 and 18 months in prison, respectively.

Gamble was sentenced to prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and ordered to serve five years of supervised release to follow his prison term and pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victims’ Fund. Gamble pleaded guilty to the offense on September 21, 2020.

Rocha was sentenced to to prison for prohibited person in possession of a firearm and ordered to serve three years of supervised release to follow his prison term and pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victims’ Fund. Rocha pleaded guilty to the offense on August 21, 2020.

Co-conspirator, 49-year old Daniel Walker Gabehart, also of Council Bluffs, was sentenced on December 16, 2020 to 60 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and another 60 months, to run consecutively, for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Gabehart was ordered to serve five years of supervised release to follow his prison term and pay a $200 special assessment to the Crime Victims’ Fund. Gabehart pleaded guilty to the offense on August 4, 2020.

Detectives with the Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force conducted several controlled methamphetamine purchases with Gabehart, which led to a search warrant of his residence. Gabehart, Gamble, and Rocha were located at the Council Bluffs apartment along with methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, and several firearms.

This investigation was conducted by the Council Bluffs Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

Omaha Man Sentenced to Prison for Methamphetamine Offense

News

March 9th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports 56-year old Jeffrey Scott Leisure, of Omaha, was sentenced March 3rd in Council Bluffs District Court, to 10 1/2 years in prison, for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Leisure was also ordered to serve ten years of supervised release to follow his prison term and pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victims’ Fund. Leisure pleaded guilty to the offense on October 9, 2020.

The Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task force began investigating numerous leads regarding Leisure distributing several pounds of methamphetamine in the Council Bluffs and Omaha metro area. At the same time, detectives with the Bellevue Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted several controlled methamphetamine purchases with Leisure, leading to his arrest.

This investigation was conducted by the Council Bluffs Police Department, Bellevue Police Department, Omaha Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

Arrested journalist pleaded with officer: ‘This is my job’

News

March 9th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa journalist covering a protest for racial justice was blinded when a police officer shot pepper spray in her face and jailed for hours despite telling him repeatedly she was just doing her job. Body camera video played at her trial shows Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri in custody on May 31, 2020, her eyes burning from pepper spray. She says she is the newspaper and asks Officer Luke Wilson why he arrested her, adding that she was in pain and couldn’t see.

Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri listens to opening statements in her trial in which she is charged with failure to disperse and interference with official acts while reporting on a protest last summer, Monday, March 8, 2021, at the Drake University Legal Clinic, in Des Moines, Iowa. (Kelsey Kremer/The Des Moines Register via AP)

Sahouri’s defense played the video for jurors on the second day of a trial in which Sahouri and her former boyfriend, Spenser Robnett, are charged with failure to disperse and interference with official acts.

 

Anita and Wiota Fire called to residential fire Tuesday

News

March 9th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

Firefighters from Anita and Wiota were dispatched to the scene of a residential fire in Anita, late this (Tuesday) morning. The page about a fire on the back patio at 306 Elm Street, was sent at 11:49-a.m.  Residents of the home had safely evacuated. Additional details are currently not available.

Garza named Big Ten Player of the Year; Weiskamp and Bohannon also honored

Sports

March 9th, 2021 by admin

The Big Ten Conference announced on Tuesday their All-Big Ten Men’s Basketball selections from the coaches and the media. Iowa senior center Luka Garza was named the Big Ten Player of the Year by both the coaches and the media. He was also a unanimous First Team All-Conference Selection. Junior Joe Weiskamp was honored as a Second Team selection by both the coaches and media. Senior guard Jordan Bohannon was an Honorable Mention choice in both polls as well. Forward Keegan Murray was named to the five-member All-Freshman Team picked by Big Ten coaches. CJ Frederick was an Honorable Mention honoree by the media panel.

Joining Garza on the First Team were Illinois’ Kofi Cockburn and Ayo Dosunmu. EJ Liddell of Ohio State and Trevion Williams of Purdue were First Team picks by the coaches. Trayce Jackson-Davis of Indiana and Hunter Dickinson of Michigan were First Team choices by the media panel.

Check out the full lists of honorees below.

2020-21 All-Big Ten Team and Postseason Honors