Des Moines Black Lives Matter protesters are calling for Governor Reynolds to sign a felon voting rights executive order immediately. To help spur her on, the group posted a draft executive order on Twitter this weekend. Governor Reynolds has said that she will sign an executive order before the November election. She says she wants to take her time to make sure that it is done right and that it creates a permanent solution. Reynolds has made felon voting rights one of her top issues over the past 2 years.
A U.S. district judge on Monday ordered a new delay in federal executions, hours before the first lethal injection was scheduled to be carried out at a federal prison in Indiana. The Trump administration immediately appealed to a higher court, asking that the executions move forward. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said there are still legal issues to resolve and that “the public is not served by short-circuiting legitimate judicial process.” The executions, pushed by the administration, would be the first carried out at the federal level since 2003. One of those scheduled to be executed this week is Dustin Honken, who killed five Iowans including children.
The Iowa Department of Public Health is reporting 460 more COVID-19 cases and three more deaths in Iowa over the previous 24 hours. But that is far fewer new cases than have been confirmed in each of the past few days. The state’s data is showing a total of 35,462 COVID-19 cases and 752 COVID-19 related deaths since the pandemic began.
Kirkwood Community College said it will open its offices on the main campus to help students register for fall classes starting Wednesday. Initially, the student service departments of admissions, financial aid, enrollment services, academic advising and student assistance will open. Then all academic department offices will open on July 20 to give program-specific support. Kirkwood announced back in June it would be resuming fall classes with in-person, online and hybrid class formats.
A Waterloo man has been arrested after leading sheriff’s deputies on a chase that ended when his stolen vehicle became stuck in a muddy field. 26-year-old Cole McNamara was charged with felony eluding, second-degree theft and driving while barred. A Black Hawk County deputy attempted to stop the SUV…but the vehicle continued on, reaching speeds of up to 80 mph in a 55 mph zone and headed into a cornfield. After the vehicle got stuck, McNamara got out and started to run but was caught about half a mile away. Deputies say the vehicle had been reported stolen in Waterloo on June 16.
A Waterloo man has been arrested, accused of vandalizing a downtown bar after it closed. 38-year-old Nathan Lee Meyer was arrested Sunday and charged with felony-level second-degree criminal mischief. Meyer had been at the Behar Bar, on Fourth St. Saturday night, and court records say workers at the establishment had had a problem with him. Meyer left and is accused of returning just before 4 a.m. Sunday morning, breaking the glass on the door and every window at the business. Damage totaled more than $1,500. Witnesses identified Meyer on a security video, and when officers questioned him about the damage, he said it was possible he was involved because he was, in his words, “black out drunk”.
Those COVID-related small business loans saved more than a half million jobs in Iowa…but not all of them. Despite receiving a $14,000 Small Business Relief grant in mid-April from Iowa Economic Development in April, the Blue Iguana Mexican Cantina, located inside the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in downtown Waterloo, is now closed. The restaurant first opened in December 2018. The hotel now lists an established called The Bistro in place of the Blue Iguana on its web page, but it’s not yet operational.
