From the Associated Press:
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa. (AP) — A 62-year-old Cedar Rapids man who police say was the leader of a drug-trafficking ring has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. George Patrick Ashby was sentenced Friday for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. Court documents say he distributed meth and heroin in the Cedar Rapids area from 2018 through March 2020. Ashby told investigators that his meth supply came from Fort Madison, Burlington and another city in Iowa. Two other men who were working with Ashby have been convicted of conspiracy.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State agriculture officials say the confirmation of bird flu at another Iowa egg-laying farm will force the killing of more than 5 million chickens. It’s the second case of avian influenza in Buena Vista County, about 160 miles northwest of Des Moines, but the outbreak confirmed Friday is at an operation with 5.3 million chickens. The earlier case was at a farm with about 50,000 turkeys. The latest case means nearly 12.6 million chicken and turkeys in at least eight states have been killed or will be destroyed soon. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the cases in birds do not present an immediate public health concern.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court has for the first time formally recognized transitional alimony, a new type of support that may be considered in divorce cases. The court said transitional alimony may address an inequity not addressed by the other recognized categories of support. The Iowa court’s decision came at in the case of a Dubuque physician who appealed an Iowa Court of Appeals decision that had awarded his ex-wife $1.2 million in alimony over 12 years. The Supreme Court ruled that factors in the marriage supported the need for an alternative to traditional alimony.
CLINTON, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa State Patrol has identified four people killed in a two-vehicle crash in eastern Iowa earlier this week. The Clinton Herald reports that all were over the age of 80, and the two drivers killed in the Wednesday head-on crash were in their 90s. The patrol says the crash happened on Iowa Highway 136 a couple of miles northwest of Clinton when an eastbound car driven by 90-year-old Donald Bartels collided with a westbound minivan driven by 94-year-old Benjamin Ehrhart. Both died, as did two passengers in the minivan identified as 91-year-old Donna Ehrhart and 81-year-old Phyllis Krogman. All were from Clinton. A third passenger in the minivan who has not been identified was seriously injured.
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.
