A proposed class-action lawsuit claims that Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ decision to end enhanced unemployment benefits for tens of thousands of residents violated state law and asks a court to reinstate their aid. The lawsuit seeks to make claimants eligible for potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in unemployment aid they have been denied since Iowa in June ended federal pandemic relief programs that provided an extra $300 per week and expanded eligibility criteria. Those programs themselves are expiring on the federal level now. Reynolds said ending benefits encouraged people to return to work. The lawsuit claims the decision violated a state law that says Iowa “shall cooperate with the United States Department of Labor to the fullest extent” in order to take advantage of federal unemployment programs.
The first-degree murder trial of a Cedar Rapids man charged in the fatal beating of his mother last year has been postponed until next year. Trial for 51-year-old George Deason had been set for November, but lawyers on both sides asked for more time to prepare. Police have said Deason attacked 71-year-old Elsie Mae Deason in her home on June 30, 2020, and believe the attack was carried out in an effort to steal $50 from her. Deason’s mother was found the next day with critical injuries; she died about three weeks later. Police say she had been severely beaten, likely with a battering weapon called a slapjack that police confiscated from Deason.
Police have identified a woman found dead inside an Ames apartment last week. Police say the body of 32-year-old Maria Hanian of Des Moines was found last Thursday evening by officers sent to the apartment to check on the welfare of a person there. Police have not said how she died, but ruled her death a homicide. Prosecutors have charged 26-year-old Oscar Chavez with first-degree murder. He was arrested late last Thursday night near Auburn, when he was stopped on suspicion of a traffic violation in Sac County.
A once-prominent anchor at a Des Moines television station has filed a lawsuit alleging she was let go last year because of her gender and age. Former WHO-TV investigative reporter and anchor Sonya Heitshusen filed the discrimination lawsuit Tuesday against the NBC affiliate’s parent company, Nexstar Media Group, Inc. The lawsuit claims Heitshusen was “thrown out to pasture” after she turned 53 because she was no longer seen as camera-worthy, after enduring years in which her older male colleagues received better pay and working conditions. Heitshusen says she hopes her lawsuit encourages a “cultural shift” in the TV news industry. Nexstar has called Heitshusen’s firing a reduction in the size of their workforce.
Waterloo Fire and Rescue responded to a car-turned-house fire yesterday that caused significant damage. Just before Noon, crews were called to the 900 block of West 9th St. for a report of a car on fire that then spread to the home and garage. Waterloo Fire and Rescue had to break into the attic of the home, where the fire had spread, using chainsaws, ladders, and axes to get access to the attic to put out the fire. Two people were inside the house and started smelling smoke when the car was on fire before it caused severe damage to the house; they were able to make it out safely. The car was owned by a friend of the homeowner.
Linn County will hold its final scheduled public engagement forum for the American Rescue Plan Act tonight from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Lynn Dunn Memorial Building on the Linn County Fairgrounds in Central City. This is Linn County’s third public engagement forum designed to explain the purpose of the act and help identify broad community priorities on the best use of the funding in Linn County.
Two people have been charged with stealing copper from electrical substations in northwest Iowa, which authorities say caused several power outages and thousands of dollars in damage. Monona County Sheriff Jeff Pratt said in a news release that 40-year-old Craig Keller of Onawa and 30-year-old Whitney Reynek of Tekamah, Nebraska, were arrested Monday. Monona County authorities received numerous calls on Saturday about fires at electrical substations in the western half of the county. Utility workers discovered someone had removed copper from grounding rods in the substations. Pratt estimated it will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair the damage.
