From the Associated Press:
SERGEANT BLUFF, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have identified a man who was shot and killed by a Woodbury County sheriff’s deputy. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation on Tuesday said 35-year-old Michael Scott Meredith, of Sergeant Bluff, died last Wednesday after being shot by the deputy. Woodbury County Sheriff Chad Sheehan said last week that officers received a report of a man trying to break into a mobile home. He says the suspect was shot when he walked toward officers and hit one of them with a tire iron. The officer was not seriously injured.
CRESTON, Iowa (AP) — A group of Girl Scouts tied to a southwestern Iowa cabin since it was built nearly 100 years ago is hoping to save the building from being demolished. Television station WHO 13 reports that Creston’s Parks and Recreation Board is threatening to raze the cabin that sits in the city’s McKinley Park if the structure isn’t restored by spring. Audrey Wright is the Union County Girl Scout service unit manager. She says the cabin was built in 1925 by the local Rotary Club from telephone poles taken down from around the town and carries decades of memories. A Facebook page titled “Save the Girl Scout Cabin at McKinley Park” is soliciting donations to repair the cabin in hopes of saving it.
CHELSEA, Iowa (AP) — A Tama County grand jury has found no criminal wrongdoing by law enforcement in the fatal shooting of a man by a sheriff’s deputy during an armed confrontation last October. The Iowa Department of Public Safety said in a news release Tuesday that the grand jury declined to return an indictment in the shooting that killed 28-year-old Dewey Dale Wilfong III. Investigators have said that Tama County sheriff’s deputies and officers with several other law enforcement agencies responded to reports of shots fired around 7:30 p.m. Oct. 28 in Chelsea. Officials said arriving officers saw Wilfong walking around holding a handgun. Investigators said a Tama County deputy shot him after Wilfong fired the gun.
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — The Davenport Public Library has become the first in Iowa to add a social worker to its staff, with an eye toward connecting patrons in need with resources and services to help them. The Quad-City Times reports that the Davenport library hired Quinn O’Brian full-time in October, noting that some patrons sought information from librarians that reached well beyond what they’re trained to handle. O’Brian works to connect residents to services such as housing, unemployment and child care assistance; substance abuse and mental health services; and more. The library hired O’Brian using federal pandemic relief grant money. The position is funded for three years.
JEFFERSON, Iowa (AP) — West-central Iowa officials say one of two teenagers badly burned in a New Year’s Day cabin fire has died of his injuries. Greene County Sheriff Jack Williams said Sunday that 15-year-old Harley McDonald had died in an Iowa City burn unit. Television station KCCI reported that McDonald and 14-year-old Lucas Oakes were in the cabin located less than a mile north of McMahon State Wildlife Management Area when it burned in the early morning hours of Jan. 1. Both were taken to the Iowa City hospital, and Oakes was released on Jan. 8. Investigators are still looking into the cause of the fire, but Williams has previously said officials believe a wood-burning stove in the cabin may have started the blaze.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz has disbanded an alumni advisory committee that was created after a 2020 investigation found evidence of racial bias against Black players in his program and bullying behavior by some of his assistants. The Gazette reports that Ferentz’ decision to end the committee came shortly after its leader, former offensive lineman David Porter, suggested it was time for Iowa to part ways with Ferentz. But Ferentz said he had decided to overhaul the committee last fall before Porter made his comment to other committee members in a text message.
