A 30-year-old St. Ansgar woman was arrested in Bremer County Monday and charged with multiple felony drug counts. It began when Samantha Potter was stopped for traveling 87 mph in a 65 mph zone. Potter admitted to the deputy that her passenger may have marijuana in the vehicle. The passenger did…but a further search of the vehicle led to deputies finding more than 45 grams of meth plus a scale.
The Iowa Department of Public Health confirms a COVID-19 variant is the cause of an outbreak at the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown that has infected at least 7 fully vaccinated residents. It is not the new Delta variant, and officials say it does not fall under the category of variants “of interest or concern”, a term of art meaning they would be more easily spread or resistant to vaccinations.
One of the inmates charged with killing two Anamosa State Penitentiary employees has waived his right to a jury trial. Michael Dutcher instead will have a trial to a district court judge. Dutcher and Thomas Woodard are both charged with two counts of first degree murder plus other charges. Dutcher’s trial to a judge will begin August 3rd in Jones County, while Woodard’s jury trial will begin September 21st in Linn County. At the time of the murders, both inmates were serving time for armed robbery convictions.
Fort Dodge Police say a driver learned the hard way not to ignore road signs after her car became stuck in wet concrete. Officers charged a 37-year-old Webster City woman with failure to obey a traffic control device after she drove past barriers on Martin Luther King Drive in Fort Dodge. Police said construction crews blocked off the road for concrete patch repair. Crews told police they tried to stop the vehicle, but the driver continued through the construction area and hit wet concrete while attempting to switch lanes. According to a police report, the driver said she had been following GPS instructions and saw other drivers passing through the area.
From the Associated Press
A 20-year-old Sioux City man has been sentenced to 55 years in prison for the shooting death of a woman at a New Year’s Eve party. Christopher Morales was sentenced Wednesday in Woodbury County District Court for the death of 18-year-old Mia Kritis. Morales pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder and three counts of reckless use of a firearm in the case after being originally charged with first-degree murder. Police say Kritis was killed and three others injured when Morales and others fired into the house where the party was being held. Morales was one of four people charged in the case, including his 18-year-old brother, Carlos Morales, who faces a first-degree murder trial on Aug. 24.
Officials in south-central Iowa are responding to a small plane crash at the Lamoni Municipal Airport. The Decatur County Sheriff’s Office says reports of the crash came in around 8 a.m. Thursday, and first responders confirmed that a plane crashed near the south end of the airport’s runway. Authorities have not released other details, including whether anyone was killed or hurt in the crash. People working near the crash site say they heard what sounded like an explosion around the time of the crash.
A new monthly survey of business leaders suggests the economy continues growing at a strong pace in nine Midwest and Plains states. The overall index for the region crept up to 73.5 in June from May’s already strong 72.3 reading. Any score above 50 suggests growth. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss said the region is expected to keep growing and return to pre-pandemic levels early next year. Business leaders said supply delays are causing problems in manufacturing and high inflation remains a concern. The monthly survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
Iowa’s high court says the state may refuse to allow Planned Parenthood to conduct state-sponsored sex education programs funded by federal grants. The Iowa Supreme Court decision released Wednesday reverses a state court judge’s ruling last year that found the 2019 law that prohibited abortion providers from teaching the sex education courses was likely unconstitutional. Six justices rejected Planned Parenthood of the Heartland’s complaint that the law violated its constitutional right to equal protection and that the law served no rational legitimate government interest. Justice Brent Appel disagreed saying the Legislature is trying to “attack abortion rights.”
A federal judge in Iowa has admitted wrongdoing and publicly apologized for comments ridiculing former President Donald Trump for issuing pardons to well-connected Republican officials. Senior U.S. District Judge Robert Pratt made the remarks during a phone interview with The Associated Press in December, saying: “It’s not surprising a criminal like Trump pardons other criminals.” In a bit of humor, he added, “But apparently to get a pardon, one has to be either a Republican, a convicted child murderer or a turkey.” Pratt’s remarks set off a firestorm of criticism among lawyers, who said that they were inappropriate from a federal judge and smacked of partisanship. In a public apology, Pratt says his remarks were wrong and he regrets making them.
A woman has been sentenced to eight years in prison for damaging valves and setting fire to construction equipment along an oil pipeline that crosses Iowa and three other states. Thirty-nine-year-old Jessica Rae Reznicek also was ordered Wednesday to pay nearly $3.2 million in restitution and serve three years of supervised release after her prison term for conspiracy to damage an energy facility ends. The U.S. attorney’s office said in a news release that her co-defendant, Ruby Montoya, is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date. Prosecutors said the Des Moines women caused the damage at different times from 2016 into 2017.
