From the Associated Press (11:20 a.m.):
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Legislature has been trying for a decade to make it illegal for animal rights groups to sneak cameras into livestock barns to report animal abuse, but courts frequently rule the laws unconstitutional. On Monday, a federal judge again struck down an Iowa law in the latest case pitting the right of farmers to protect their property from trespassers against activists who want to show consumers how farm animals are treated. The March 2019 law created a trespass charge punishable by up to a year in jail for those who use deception to gain access to a farm to cause physical or economic harm. The temporary court order prevents enforcement, and is expected to soon become permanent. The state can appeal.
CLINTON, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa State Patrol says four people were killed and another injured in a two-vehicle crash in eastern Iowa. The Clinton Herald reports the crash happened Wednesday afternoon on Iowa Highway 136 a couple of miles northwest of Clinton. The patrol says an eastbound car and westbound minivan collided head-on around 5 p.m. Investigators say both drivers and two passengers in the minivan died at the scene. Another passenger in the minivan was taken to an area hospital with serious injuries, then flown to an Iowa City hospital. The names of those killed and hurt have not been released, and officials are investigating the cause of the crash.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An 18-year-old student who was shot in the head in a shooting outside a Des Moines school that killed one teen and injured another is making what her family and doctors say is a remarkable recovery. Kemery Ortega’s parents tell the Des Moines Register she was rushed into emergency surgery on March 7 after the shooting at East High School, and doctors warned that her prognosis didn’t look good. Thirteen hours after the surgery, she opened her eyes and waved at her mother. Doctors said Ortega might struggle with speech, memory loss, or personality changes due to her injuries. But her mother, Miriam Montiel Tllez, says Ortega is speaking and writing normally and walking when she has the strength to do so.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – A Coralville man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for a fatal 2020 crash police say he caused while under the influence of illegal drugs. The Gazette reports reports that 32-year-old Bryce James Wagehoft was sentenced Tuesday for the April 2020 death of 43-year-old Dawn Elaine Detweiler Stout. Wagehoft pleaded guilty last month to reckless vehicular homicide and being a habitual offender in the crash. He also pleaded to a third offense of operating while intoxicated, driving while barred and possession of drug paraphernalia. Investigators say Wagehoft was speeding when he passed another vehicle on a rural road near Palo and hit Detweiler’s vehicle, killing her. Police say a toxicology report showed Wagehoft had amphetamines, marijuana and opiates in his system.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – For years Americans have been told autonomous technology was improving and that driverless vehicles were just around the corner. Finally they’re here, but to catch a glimpse of them, you’ll need to go to a farm. Beginning this fall, tractors that can plow day or night with no one sitting in the cab will come off the John Deere factory assembly line in Waterloo, Iowa. The development follows more than a decade-long effort by the world’s largest farm equipment manufacturer, and marks a milestone for automation advocates, who for years have been explaining why driverless cars aren’t quite ready for prime time. Deere isn’t release to cost of the tractor. It plans to operate the tractors on 10 to 50 farms by this fall.
BOONE, Iowa (AP) – Authorities now say that speed and alcohol were likely factors in a November crash that killed a police officer from Boone. The Polk County Sheriff’s office said Tuesday that Officer Mario Gonzalez was alone when his vehicle crashed on a highway near the town of Grimes. It wasn’t immediately clear how fast the vehicle was going. Gonzalez worked full-time for the Boone department from 2016 to October 2019, then began working part-time. He also was a member of the Iowa National Guard. Gonzalez was 26. He is survived by his wife and two young children.
