From the Associated Press:
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A 71-year-old Iowa City man who seriously wounded a U.S. Marine while shooting an air rifle at a squirrel has been fined $855 after pleading guilty in April to a misdemeanor. The Press-Citizen reports that Philip Olson was issued the fine Thursday for violating an Iowa City ordinance prohibiting the discharge of toy guns and slingshots. Police have said Olson was shooting at a squirrel in his yard last October when he hit then 20-year-old Gabe Heefner, of Kirkwood, Missouri, who was driving by. Police found Heefner in a wrecked car with what looked like a gunshot wound to the head. At the time, Heefner was a lance corporal in the Marines who was in Iowa City visiting his grandparents and friends.
YARMOUTH, Iowa (AP) — The Des Moines County Sheriff’s Office has identified a man killed in a grain silo collapse as a 30-year-old resident of the small southeast Iowa city of Winfield. The sheriff’s office said Friday that Rickey Ryan Kammerer was killed in the collapse of the silo Tuesday morning at the Agri-way Grain Elevators in Yarmouth. His body was recovered Wednesday afternoon. Authorities said two men had just unloaded a semitrailer full of grain into a holding shed at the elevator when they heard a loud bang and began running from the facility as the silo partially collapsed. Nearly 60 emergency responders, contractors and towing crew members responded to the scene to remove the debris in an effort to reach the man.
BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Burlington, Iowa, has agreed to pay $5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the mother of a man who was shot to death by police five years ago. The settlement announced Thursday comes nearly five years after Officer Chris Chiprez fatally shot 27-year-old Marquis Jones. Police stopped Jones on Oct. 1, 2017, for allegedly playing music too loudly, and police say he ran away with a gun in his hand. Chiprez said in reports that he thought Jones was armed when he shot him. But lawyers for Jones’ mother say evidence showed Jones had dropped the gun yards away and was nearly prone on the ground when he was shot.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sixteen states and Puerto Rico are jockeying for early slots on a new Democratic presidential primary calendar, offering presentations for party bosses on why they deserve to go first — or at least close to it. Iowa has held the leadoff position since 1972, but technical glitches undermined its Democratic caucus two years ago. That sparked clamor for change. States are pressing their case over three days of Democrats’ Rules and Bylaws Committee meetings. The full Democratic National Committee plans to vote in August. It could opt to alter the current order of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — or keep it the same.
AMES, Iowa (AP) — The men’s hockey club at Iowa State University has been suspended for the next academic year. University officials announced Thursday an investigation found the club engaged in alcohol abuse, personal humiliation and hazing against new or rookie members. An investigation also found the club coerced money from new members for admission, continued membership and status in the club. A separate investigation found Recreation Services staff and the club’s coaches did not understand or have appropriate oversight of student complaints and club finances. The club’s players, parents and alumni denied the allegations and said they would explore all options for responding to the suspension.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A heartwarming tradition launched at Iowa home football games five years ago is getting another feel-good layer. The University of Iowa announced Wednesday that patients at UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital will get to pick the songs that accompany the Hawkeye Wave, at which fans attending games at Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium wave to patients at the adjacent hospital. The plan was announced two months after the university sought to have Hawkeye fans vote for the next song to accompany the Hawkeye Wave. The fans, in turn, suggested letting the kids pick. Now at every Iowa home game this year, the hospital’s Kid Captain — a Children’s Hospital patient who is is picked to be honored at each Iowa football game — will help select a new song to accompany the Hawkeye Wave.
