An update on a story we brought you yesterday…two people were taken into custody after a man was shot early Monday morning in Waterloo. Police say Neko Newsome and Reneka Philipp face charges from the incident near Park Lane and West Ninth Street. Police say a bullet pierced the windshield of Kenyatta Alexander’s car, then grazed his neck. He was able to drive himself to the hospital and was treated and released.
The Iowa City Police Department has a new chief. The city council approved the appointment of Dustin Liston on a 7-0 vote. Liston is an Eldora, Iowa native and actually interned for ICPD while he attended the University of Iowa as an undergraduate. Former police chief Jody Matherly retired in February and the city has been recruiting his replacement ever since. Liston has 22 years of law enforcement experience working in El Paso, Texas.
We now know the identities of those involved in a three-vehicle accident in rural Linn County that killed two people Monday. The Linn County Sheriff’s Office said 17-year-old Jaymin Rathje and 27-year-old Jacqueline Voelker were killed in the collision, while 61-year-old Douglas Yates was seriously injured and is hospitalized at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. All three were from Palo. Deputies said a pickup truck driven by Rathje was traveling north on Covington Road, near the intersection with Gibney Road, while a grain-hauling semi-truck, operated by Yates, was traveling southbound. Police believe Rathje’s pickup crossed the centerline and collided with the semi nearly head-on. The collision caused the semi and its trailer to flip on its side, striking a car driven by Voelker. The semi and the car caught fire in the ditch. Yates was removed from the semi-tractor cab by passersby. Investigation into the collision continues.
The Iowa Supreme Court has swiftly granted a request to stay a Polk County judge’s ruling that blocked enforcement of an order that’s been used to invalidate tens of thousands of absentee ballot requests that were illegally sent by county auditors. The groups argued in an emergency petition filed yesterday that Iowa’s election administration could be thrown into chaos if the ruling was allowed to stand…especially since three other district judges had ruled differently. Within hours, Chief Justice Susan Christensen released an order saying the full court had granted the request to put the new ruling on hold pending further proceedings. She said the court will consider the merits of the case in the coming days.
A former Jesup school bus driver is accused of driving students while intoxicated. The Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office says 62-year-old James Stockwell of Jesup turned himself in yesterday. He is charged with operating while intoxicated or drugged as well as 16 counts of child endangerment. He also was issued a traffic citation for unsafe backing. Nearly a month ago, children on the Jesup Community School District bus he was driving reached out to their parents, concerned because Stockwell was having trouble driving. One parent was able to meet and stop the vehicle at a bus stop.
A Cedar Rapids hospital says it will demolish part of an historic building because of significant damage caused by this summer’s derecho. UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s says the Resource Center on its main campus sustained $400,000 in damage during the August storm. Hospital officials said most of the building will be demolished by the end of the year because of significant structural problems. The original wing of the Resource Center dates back to 1917, when it was built as the St. Luke’s Nursing Education Building. Two of the three wings of the Resource Center will be demolished entirely. The top four floors of the third wing will be demolished as well, but the wing’s lower level classrooms, auditorium and tunnel system to the main hospital will remain intact. Demolition is expected to begin Oct. 26.
