CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Hy-Vee will close its stores on Logan Avenue in Waterloo, and First Avenue NE store in Cedar Rapids, opening up a large area of each city without easy access to a grocery store. Each store’s last day will be June 23. Both stores are in areas listed as “High Poverty” according to U.S. Census data. Officials say the decision to close each location was based on the stores not meeting financial and sales goals. Hy-Vee pointed out that despite the closure, it offers its Aisles Online grocery delivery service to the areas, and that the company plans to open up e-WIC payments to allow recipients of the Women, Infant and Children food assistance to buy groceries online.
POSTVILLE, Iowa (KCRG) – A Postville man has pled guilty to causing the death of his child. Crews responded to a residence on 245th Street back on September 2, 2022, for a report of an unresponsive 4-month-old. The child was taken to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead. According to investigators, Joshua Rueben Christen was taking care of the child at the time and was under the influence of narcotics. Officials determined that Christen knowingly acted in a manner that created the death of his daughter by means of asphyxiation. An autopsy of the child also revealed that she had methamphetamine in her system at the time. Christen was charged with Child Endangerment – Causing Death. On May 8, 2024, Christen entered a plea of guilty to the charge. He faces up to 50 years in prison.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – Educational organization ACT has announced that it has agreed to sell its Iowa City campus to Iceberg Development Group. In a statement, ACT said, “Iceberg Development Group will create a community that offers a variety of housing options while prioritizing partnerships with nonprofit organizations that align with ACT’s historic mission and ensure the betterment of the community.” ACT will continue to operate from the campus – but as a tenant. They say this will not impact their operations, as they had already shifted to a for-profit company in merging with Nexus Capital Management before this deal was announced. The company has more than 250 employees in Iowa City at the company’s headquarters. It had laid off about 40 workers last year. It had sought to sell off its buildings at that time. It laid off 115 full-time and 40 temporary positions from its Customer Care department in Iowa City back in 2019, as well. Data from the IRS filings for ACT show it lost $12 million in 2022 and has lost $78 million since 2020. It had previously sold one building to the Iowa City School District in 2022.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – A social worker in Iowa City is facing charges after new criminal complaints allege he groped at least one victim during scheduled appointments in 2022. James Burkhalter, 44, of Coralville, is charged with two counts of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist. In a criminal complaint filed on Friday, police said the incidents happened in the 500 block of Kirkwood Avenue in Iowa City. The complaint specifically mentions incidents in which he allegedly groped a victim during scheduled appointments in July and November 2022. The complaint does not specify whether there were multiple victims or if the same victim was groped on multiple occasions. The incidents referenced in these charges happened after Burkhalter was fired in May 2022 by UIHC over sexual misconduct accusations that emerged in 2021 and again in April 2022. Friday’s new complaints don’t name Burkhalter’s place of employment during the alleged incidents. However, Burkhalter’s license was suspended indefinitely by the Iowa Board of Social Work in Feb. 2023, just months after these latest alleged incidents.
