NAMES OF BOTH PEOPLE INVOLVED IN AN APPARENT MURDER-SUICIDE HAVE BEEN RELEASED. TANNIAAH SPATES IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN SHOT BY TONY FLOWERS IN A WATERLOO APARTMENT LATE SATURDAY NIGHT BEFORE FLOWERS SHOT HIMSELF SEVERAL HOURS LATER. EARLIER THIS YEAR, FLOWERS HAD BEEN CHARGED WITH DOMESTIC ASSAULT AFTER A PREVIOUS INCIDENT INVOLVING SPATES. THAT CASE WAS TO BE TRIED NEXT MONTH IN BLACK HAWK COUNTY COURT AND A NO-CONTACT ORDER WAS IN PLACE AGAINST FLOWERS.
AS 175 POTENTIAL JURORS GATHERED IN DAVENPORT, THEY WERE TOLD TO EXPECT GRAPHIC EVIDENCE ABOUT THE MURDER OF MOLLIE TIBBETTS. THE 20-YEAR-OLD COLLEGE STUDENT WAS STABBED TO DEATH IN 2018. PROSECUTOR SCOTT BROWN SAID THE FIRST-DEGREE MURDER TRIAL OF CRISTHIAN RIVERA WILL INCLUDE DISTURBING DETAIL ABOUT THE ATTACK ON TIBBETTS. JURY SELECTION WILL CONTINUE TODAY AHEAD OF A TWO-WEEK TRIAL.
IN GRUNDY COUNTY MONDAY, ATTORNEYS FOR MICHAEL LANG FILED A WRITTEN ‘NOT GUILTY’ PLEA TO THE MURDER CHARGES AGAINST THEIR CLIENT. THE CASE INVOLVES THE FATAL SHOOTING OF IOWA STATE PATROL SERGEANT JIM SMITH DURING A VIOLENT STANDOFF LAST MONTH. LANG IS ALSO CHARGED WITH ASSAULT ON A PEACE OFFICER AND THE ATTEMPTED MURDER OF OTHER OFFICERS INVOLVED IN THE APRIL 9 INCIDENT. LANG WAS SHOT THREE TIMES BY TROOPERS RETURNING FIRE, AND HAS SINCE BEEN RELEASED FROM THE HOSPITAL.
FACE COVERING REQUIREMENTS IN CEDAR FALLS INDOOR PUBLIC SPACES WILL END THIS WEEK. LAST NIGHT, THE CEDAR FALLS CITY COUNCIL DECIDED UNANIMOUSLY TO END THE MONTHS-LONG POLICY. THE MANDATE WILL OFFICIALLY RUN OUT ON THURSDAY. LAST WEEK, THE CDC INDICATED THOSE VACCINATED AGAINST COVID-19 CAN BE INDOORS WITHOUT MASKS AND LOW RISK OF VIRUS TRANSMISSION.
THE COLORS STAY THE SAME, BUT THE GRIFFIN WILL BE GONE. WATERLOO COUNCIL MEMBERS APPROVED A NEW POLICE SHOULDER PATCH AND LOGO ON MONDAY NIGHT. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OVER 50 YEARS, THE INSIGNIA WILL NOT INCLUDE A RED GRIFFIN. INSTEAD, THE YELLOW-AND-RED DESIGN WILL SIMPLY SAY ‘WATERLOO POLICE’ ALONG WITH THE DEPARTMENT’S ONE-WORD MOTTO ‘VIGILANCE’ AND NOTE THE ESTABLISHMENT DATE OF 1868. THE CONTENTIOUS REBRANDING PROCESS BEGAN IN 2020 WHEN THE PRIOR LOGO DREW ATTENTION FOR ITS COMPLICATED RACIAL INTERPRETATIONS. THE CITY COUNCIL VOTED 5-2 IN FAVOR OF THE CHANGE.
ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGES HAVE BEEN FILED AFTER A MONDAY MORNING SHOOTING INCIDENT IN CEDAR RAPIDS. HOURS AFTER THE INITIAL REPORT, 23-YEAR-OLD AARON WASHINGTON WAS ARRESTED WITHOUT INCIDENT. POLICE ALLEGE THAT WASHINGTON FIRED AT TWO WOMEN IN THE WELLINGTON HEIGHTS NEIGHBORHOOD IN THE CITY’S SOUTHEAST QUADRANT. CEDAR RAPIDS POLICE SAY THEY COLLECTED A WEAPON WHILE SEARCHING WASHINGTON’S RESIDENCE. THE TWO WOMEN WHO WERE REPORTEDLY TARGETED ESCAPED WITHOUT INJURY.
INFRASTRUCTURE CONTINUES TO BE AT THE TOP OF THE CONGRESSIONAL AGENDA. ON MONDAY, FIRST DISTRICT REPUBLICAN CONGRESSWOMAN ASHLEY HINSON SHARED HER OUTLOOK WITH “FOX NEWS LIVE” HOST MIKE EMANUEL. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN HAS PROPOSED A TWO TRILLION DOLLAR PACKAGE, LEADING SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES TO DEBATE THE NATURE AND DEFINITION OF INFRASTRUCTURE.
DURING THE WEEKS AHEAD, WRENCHING DETAILS ABOUT THE DEATH AND SEARCH FOR MOLLIE TIBBETTS ARE EXPECTED AS CRISTHIAN RIVERA IS TRIED FOR HER MURDER. TIBBETTS DISAPPEARED IN BROOKLYN, IOWA, DURING THE SUMMER OF 2018. IN AN APPEARANCE ON “FOX NEWS LIVE” WITH HOST MIKE EMANUEL, IOWA FIRST DISTRICT CONGRESSWOMAN ASHLEY HINSON TALKED ABOUT THE CASE. THE CASE HAS DRAWN INCREASED NATIONAL ATTENTION, IN PART DUE TO RIVERA’S IMMIGRATION STATUS. THE TRIAL IS EXPECTED TO LAST 2 WEEKS ONCE A SCOTT COUNTY JURY IS SELECTED.
WITH FOUR TO FIVE DAYS SUITABLE FOR FIELD WORK LAST WEEK, MOST IOWA CORN AND SOYBEANS HAVE NOW BEEN PLANTED. MONDAY’S USDA CROP REPORT SHOWED JUST SIX PERCENT OF CORN REMAINED TO BE SEWN WHILE ALL-BUT 17 PERCENT OF SOYBEANS ARE IN THE GROUND. MORE THAN HALF OF CORN HAS SPROUTED WITH APPROXIMATELY A THIRD OF SOYBEANS EMERGED.
OFFICIALS FROM WATERLOO SCHOOLS AND BLACK HAWK COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH ARE TALKING ABOUT MASK REQUIREMENTS IN THE DISTRICT TODAY. A WATERLOO SCHOOLS ADVISORY INDICATES NEW GUIDANCE ON FACE COVERINGS IS EXPECTED LATER THIS WEEK. SEVERAL DISTRICTS – INCLUDING CEDAR VALLEY CATHOLIC SCHOOLS – NO LONGER REQUIRE STUDENTS OR VACCINATED STAFF TO WEAR MASKS IN SCHOOL BUILDINGS.
THE CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS ARE BACK AT VETERAN’S MEMORIAL STADIUM TONIGHT. THEY ENTER THE 6:30 MATCHUP AGAINST THE BELOIT SNAPPERS WITH A 6-6 RECORD SO FAR THIS SEASON. FIVE OF SIX KERNELS WINS HAVE COME AT HOME.
