(Radio Iowa) – A popular Iowa City eatery with a long history reopened this (Thursday) morning under new ownership. The Hamburg Inn Number Two is now being overseen by former Hawkeye football player and Iowa City native Nate Kaeding, who’s a founding partner and strategist at Gold Cap Hospitality. Kaeding says the opening was a balancing act of meeting expectations while adjusting to what they think will bring customers back. “We really view the opportunity as kind of to be stewards of this business that’s had a really special place in town,” Kaeding says.

He says Pieshakes, the Coffee Bean Caucus and the Reagan booth are all coming back, too. There’s an underlying political theme as the restaurant is a frequent stop for presidential candidates during election years, and it was even featured on T-V’s “The West Wing.” Kaeding says the renovation work was focused on trying to stay true to a place with deep roots that date back to the 1930s.  “Our first goal was to really pay respects to the space,” Kaeding says, “and make sure that the essence of what the place is remains intact.”

For nearly a year under the previous owner, the restaurant periodically was shut down with managers and staff alleging withheld pay. Kaeding says under new management, “the Burg” is going for dependable. Customers like Mike Gatens say the right details remain, as he gestures to the tile mosaic floor that spells out the restaurant’s name.  “I looked down and looked at the floor and I knew they wouldn’t tear that out,” Gatens says. “I don’t think it really has changed that much.”

Photo from the Hamburg Inn’s Facebook page

The Hamburg joins two other downtown Iowa City restaurants — St. Burch and Pullman — in the Gold Cap portfolio.

(Zachary Oren Smith, Iowa Public Radio)

Malcom, Iowa (Updated 12-p.m., 10/5/23) — A Cedar Rapids man faces two felony charges, following an incident Tuesday on Interstate 80. The Iowa DCI reports that at around 8:10-a.m. October 3, 2023, the Iowa State Patrol responded to the reports of a stranded vehicle located on Interstate 80 at the 187 mile marker, heading westbound (Poweshiek County). During the response, Troopers located a male (identified as Jihad Abdul Malik Gasaway-23 years old) who was attempting to re-start a stalled vehicle. After an initial investigation, Gasaway was temporarily detained and the Troopers located a handgun in Gasaway’s pocket.

Jihad Malik Gasaway

During the search of the vehicle, the body of an unresponsive black male (later identified as 26-year-old Kemp Xavier Sherrod Harriel) was located on the floor and slumped over the passenger seat of the vehicle. Harriel’s body was concealed underneath clothing items and appeared to have suffered gunshot wounds. The Troopers requested medical services and the male was pronounced deceased at the scene. Investigators examined the vehicle and determined the shooting incident had occurred inside passenger area of the vehicle.

Gasaway was transported to the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office on a Class-C felony Abuse of Corpse, charge . He was being held at the Poweshiek County Jail on a $50,000 bond. On October 4, 2023 the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office determined Harriel died of two gunshot wounds to the chest and the manner of Harriel’s death was a homicide.  On October 5, 2023 Gasaway was also charged with Murder in the First Degree, a Class A Felony for his involvement in Harriel’s death.  Gasaway remains in custody at the Poweshiek County Jail.

The case remains under investigation by the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa State Patrol, and the Division of Criminal Investigation.

MARION, Iowa (KCRG) — Sheriff’s officials in Linn County, Wednesday, identified the man who was killed in a crash Tuesday. Authorities say 48-year-old Chad Craig, of Cedar Rapids, was driving a motorcycle when he was hit head-on by a vehicle attempting to pass in a no-passing zone. Craig died in the crash that happened at around 7 p.m. Tuesday, near the intersection of Cottage Grove Avenue SE and Highlands Court SE south of Marion. Police said the driver of the vehicle that hit the motorcycle, 60-year-old Debra Trimble, of Marion, was charged with vehicular homicide, OWI and unsafe passing.

According to the latest data from the Iowa Department of Transportation, 282 people have died so far this year on Iowa roads. That’s 26 more than at the same point in 2022. Over the last five years, an average of 338 people have been killed in statewide crashes annually. Fifty-five people have been killed this year in motorcycle crashes, compared to 49 in 2022.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Auditor of State Rob Sand today (Thursday), released an audit report on the Fremont County Sanitary Landfill Commission.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS:
The Commission had total receipts of $606,124 for the year ended June 30, 2023, a 19.2% decrease. Disbursements for the year ended June 30, 2023, totaled $598,217, an 11.0% increase. The decrease in receipts was primarily due to lower gate collections and disaster tipping fees as clean up from the 2019 floods has come to an end. The increase in disbursements is due primarily to increased disbursements for equipment repair, outside services and accounting and legal fees.

AUDIT FINDINGS:
Sand reported four findings related to the receipt and disbursement of taxpayer funds. They are found on pages 30 through 33 of this report. The findings address a lack of segregation of duties related to disbursements, the lack of documenting the independent review of bank to book reconciliations and timely submission of Quarterly Solid Waste Fee Schedule and Retained Fees Report. Sand provided the Commission with recommendations to address each of the findings.

Two of the four findings discussed above are repeated from the prior year. The Commission has a fiduciary responsibility to provide oversight of the Commission’s operations and financial transactions. Oversight is typically defined as the “watchful and responsible care” a governing body exercises in its fiduciary capacity.

A copy of the audit report is available for review on the Auditor of State’s website at Audit Reports – Auditor of State.

[Polk County, Iowa (KCCI)] — A man injured in a nearly-deadly construction accident in Polk City in 2019 was awarded just over $3-million in damages after winning his jury trial. According to his attorney, Tim Kono was working on a home and was underground for a large part of the job he was doing for home construction company D.R. Horton.

He got trapped underneath several tons of soil — largely because he says D.R. Horton wasn’t using an OSHA-mandated trench box during the job. A fact sheet issued by OSHA, says that can equal the weight of a car.

In addition to the $3-million award, Kono will receive one-fourth of $16.18 million in punitive damages against his former company for what happened. By Iowa code, the remaining 75% of the punitive damage amount will go toward a civil reparations trust fund.

Kono’s lawyer said it’s the second-greatest dollar amount of punitive damage she’s ever seen in an Iowa case.

(Creston, Iowa) –  Police in Creston have arrested a man for Failure To Appear (FTA) in court, on two drug-related charges. 42-year-old David Junior Richman, of Creston, was arrested at around 5:20-p.m., Wednesday, on charges of Failure to Appear: Possession of Controlled Substance – Methamphetamine/1st Offense, and Possession of Controlled Substance – Marijuana/1st Offense.

Richman was taken to Union County Jail. His bail on the respective charges was set at $2,000 cash or approved surety, and $600 cash only.

(National News) – Lottery officials report for the 11th week in a row, no tickets matched all six numbers drawn for Wednesday night’s Powerball jackpot. That means the top prize climbs to an estimated $1.4 billion for Saturday’s drawing. The winning numbers announced were: 9, 35, 54, 63, 64 and the Powerball 1.

Winning tickets worth $2 million each were sold in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Texas, while $1 million winning tickets were sold in California (two), Colorado, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas (two).

The odds of winning the large jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. The new prize would be the fifth-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history, edging out a $1.08 billion Powerball jackpot won by a ticket sold in California in July — which has yet to be claimed. It could also become the largest Powerball jackpot won in nearly any state. In all but three — California, Florida, and Tennessee — the largest jackpot ever won is below $1 billion.

Powerball drawings are held three times a week at 9:59 p.m. CDT on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, with the numbers selected at the Florida Lottery in Tallahassee.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – A new WARN notification (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) from Iowa Workforce Development shows Collins Aerospace in Cedar Rapids is laying off 68 workers. Last month, the company confirmed with TV9 that it was laying off less than 800 of its total 80,000 employees nationwide. It did not say how many workers in Cedar Rapids would be affected.

Collins told KCRG-TV at the time, this was part of cost-saving actions across the business for sustainable growth. The layoffs take effect on Oct. 13.