Waterloo Police have confirmed that the body of a 20-year-old man was found at the Grand Crossing Lofts at 21 West Jefferson St. yesterday afternoon. The cause of death is undetermined, but no foul play is suspected. Waterloo Police continue to investigate. A resident on the same floor as the deceased indicates that a foul odor may have been what prompted the police response.
Iowa Workforce Development has reported a decrease in both initial unemployment claims and continuing claims. There were 5,498 new unemployment claims for Iowa workers last week, down by 250 from the week before. The number of continuing unemployment claims from the same week dropped by 2,000, to 38,165.
University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld will retire on May 16, roughly two weeks after the Iowa Board of Regents is scheduled to name his successor. Board of Regents President Mike Richards announced yesterday that UI Dean of the Graduate College John Keller has been asked to serve as interim president once Harreld steps down until the next president starts. Keller recently announced he too will step down on July 31. Keller serves as co-chair of the UI Presidential Search Committee. When Harreld initially announced his retirement back in October, he said he would stay in charge as long as needed hoping to avoid an interim president. At that time, Harreld said he expected the search to last until his term ended in 2023.
A Starmont teacher has been placed on leave, accused of biting a student. 49-year-old Anita Anne Smith of Edgewood is accused of rolling up a 16-year-old student’s sleeve and biting the forearm of the student in front of the class on March 16. Court records say the arm became red followed by bruising that showed teeth marks. The school district investigated the incident and turned its findings over to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office last week. Smith reportedly told authorities she was role playing when she bit the student. She’s been charged with misdemeanor simple assault.
A second former officer at a northwest Iowa agriculture cooperative has been sentenced to federal prison for a grain-blending fraud scheme. Kenneth Ehrp was sentenced to three months in prison after entering a plea of guilty in November to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government. Prosecutors say Ehrp and another officer, Calvin Diehl, ordered Farmers Cooperative Society workers to layer soybeans over lower-value oats in bins and trucks while claiming the entire load was soybeans. Prosecutors say the scheme to overvalue the co-op’s grain inventory was conducted to influence a lender’s action on a loan. Diehl was also sentenced to three months in prison on the same charge in February.
The rural jail that has long been the largest detention facility for immigrants facing deportation in Iowa plans to stop housing long-term detainees without additional federal funding or other changes. The Hardin County Jail has informed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that it plans to end its current contract, citing a declining detainee population and new standards that have dramatically increased costs for medical care and suicide prevention. Negotiations between the federal agency and the jail are ongoing, and jail administrator Nick Whitmore says no changes are expected to happen imminently.
At least six congressional Democrats are opposing fellow Democrat Rita Hart’s attempt to overturn election results in Iowa’s Second Congressional District which elected Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks to Congress. Hart lost the race by six votes. This week, a House committee heard arguments from both candidates, as Hart’s contest against the results gets an investigation. Yesterday, Iowa GOP leaders blasted Hart’s attempt to contest the results during a news conference, with Governor Kim Reynolds saying if the contest is successful, it means an uncertain future for state election laws. Republicans say Hart skipped contesting the results in Iowa courts because she knew it wouldn’t pass Iowa law standards.
The Iowa House unanimously passed a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would restore voting rights to felons. This has been a priority for Governor Kim Reynolds since 2019. The House passed bills like this in the past two years, but both have failed in the Senate. Last August, Governor Reynolds signed an executive order restoring voting rights to felons who have completed their sentences. To add this amendment, it must pass both chambers this legislative session and the next before it would be placed on the ballot and voted on by Iowans.
A school bus driver in north Iowa has resigned following her arrest on a charge of second-offense drunken driving while she was transporting three young school children. 44-year-old Rebecca Spencer resigned earlier this month from the Forest City Community School District. That came days after she was arrested around 8:30 a.m. on March 12 after the school van she was driving was stopped. The arresting officer said he stopped the van for speeding, but smelled alcohol as he spoke to Spencer. The Iowa State Patrol says Spencer failed field sobriety tests, and a breath test measured her blood alcohol content at 0.244 percent…some three times the legal limit.
