We now know additional details in the shooting death of a man involved in home break-ins in Palo early yesterday. 40-year-old Kevin Kawanzel Harris of Cedar Rapids was shot and killed by a homeowner in the 2700 block of Ridgeview Drive in Palo. The Linn County Sheriff’s Office said a man in the home shot Harris once in the chest after he broke into the home and made threats against the people inside. Deputies were already in the neighborhood responding to a number of calls about a man trying to break into homes. Harris was pronounced dead around 3:15 a.m., about 15 minutes after the shooting. Deputies say Harris had broken a window of a child’s room in the residence, and later used a flower pot to smash a window in the front door. A man inside the home got his 9 mm pistol and approached Harris. After what the man described as threatening comments by Harris and apparently in fear for his safety, the man shot Harris. An autopsy will be conducted and deputies continue to investigate the incident.
Bremer County authorities are investigating after a body was found in the Cedar River yesterday morning. Members of the Waverly Police and Fire Departments pulled the body of a man out of the Cedar River just after 8:30 a.m. near the Bremer Avenue dam. The body has been positively identified by family and has been taken to the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy.
Iowa continues to record a high number of new positive coronavirus cases, especially in counties with university or college populations. Two new deaths were reported in the past day, with the total number of fatalities now at 1,112. And many K-12 schools are altering their plans, since 12 of Iowa’s 99 counties now have a positivity rate of 15 percent or higher. That’s the state threshold for schools to request to go to all online teaching.
Iowa Democrats have filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn two district court rulings last week that invalidated thousands of absentee ballot requests. The Democratic Party, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee filed the lawsuit yesterday after judges in Linn and Woodbury counties sided with President Donald Trump’s campaign and other Republican groups, agreeing that elections officials in both counties violated state law and counsel of the Secretary of State when they sent absentee ballot request forms out with personal information filled in. The rulings mean about 57,000 ballot requests returned in Linn County and 14,000 in Woodbury County are not valid, and voters will have to resubmit requests on standard, blank forms as directed by Secretary of State Paul Pate, who called the lawsuit unfortunate and said the Democrats have already confused and potentially disenfranchised voters, wasting taxpayer dollars in the process.
Rapper Kanye West will remain on the Iowa ballot as a candidate for president after a state panel rejected two challenges to his candidacy. The Iowa Candidate Nomination Objection Panel yesterday unanimously rejected one challenge related to signatures on West’s nomination papers and another that noted West was running as a “no-party” candidate but is registered in his home state of Wyoming as a Republican. The panel is comprised of Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate and Democrat Attorney General Tom Miller and Democrat Iowa Auditor Rob Sand. Besides West, eight others will appear on the ballot…including President Trump and former Vice President Biden.
When Iowa State University’s football team opens play in Ames against Louisiana on September 12, they’ll have up to 25,000 fans there to support them. That’s the announcement yesterday. That’s about a third of the capacity for the stadium. Officials say there will be no tailgating, fans must wear masks at all times inside the stadium, and other than water and soda pop, there will be no concessions sold.
Waterloo Police have formally charged a man who stole and crashed a fuel tanker truck into a home on Ridgeway Ave. 25-year-old Dakota David Luck was arrested after he was released from the hospital where he had been since the August 20 incident that spilled thousands of gallons of diesel fuel and forced neighbors to evacuate from their homes. Luck is charged with first-degree theft, simulated explosive violation, possession of marijuana and several other driving violations. Authorities say Luck was employed at Kwik Trip’s fuel blending facility on Ridgeway Ave. Around 6:15 a.m. that morning, police received a report of a man who was acting erratically, crashed a semi cab into the ditch at the facility, and then took off his clothes. He’s then accused of climbing into a semi cab hauling a tanker with more than 7,600 gallons of biodiesel. He collided with at least two vehicles before running into the home. Environmental companies were called to clean spilled biodiesel from the storm sewers and Dry Run Creek, and contaminated soil was removed from home’s front yard and replaced with clean dirt. Wildlife rehabilitation workers are still working to treat ducks from the creek that were caught in the spill.
Due to a spike in positive COVID-19 cases in Black Hawk County, Waterloo Schools are implementing new spectator limitations for the West vs. East high school volleyball games at West High School today, as well as for the West vs. Cedar Falls football game at Waterloo Memorial Stadium on Friday. Participants will receive three wristbands to give to guests, who can then purchase a ticket to the game. Anyone entering the school must wear a face covering at all times unless eating at a seat. Seating will be limited to every other row and all fans are required to practice social distancing.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has agreed to release reports and video of crimes and other incidents it investigates when there is an open records request. The court settlement in the lawsuit filed by the Iowa Freedom of Information Council was released yesterday. The sheriff’s office had refused to release officer video and reports of the July 2018 fatal shooting by a deputy of Isaiah Hayes of Wisconsin. The sheriff’s office promises to release the Hayes case information and similar information in other cases going forward.
