CHARLES CITY, Iowa (Gray Media Iowa State Capitol Bureau) – A group of 37 Iowa Republican legislators announced a lawsuit Wednesday that challenges the authority of the Iowa Utilities Commission to grant a permit to Summit Carbon Solutions, an Ames-based company building a carbon sequestration pipeline through five Midwest states. Summit wants to build a pipeline to carry carbon dioxide given off from ethanol facilities. The pipeline would carry the emissions through Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, and South Dakota before it eventually empties into an underground storage tank in North Dakota. The group opposing the project’s path calls itself the Republican Legislative Intervenors and contends that the IUC’s permit to Summit that grants the private company authority to use eminent domain to force access on unwilling landowners property is unconstitutional. Lawmakers announced their suit in front of the Floyd County Memorial Hospital in Charles City. An organizer said the hospital is in the “kill zone,” which refers to the area that could be in danger if the pipeline would leak.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Cedar Rapids emergency crews rescued a dog from a locked vault Wednesday. According to CRFD, the incident happened in the 1900 block of 1st Avenue East just after 10:30 a.m. When fire crews arrived, they found a dog locked in the vault, and the combination was not known. Crews used a jackhammer to break through a concrete wall while others made their way through the steel door. Around 12:30 p.m., crews got the door open, and the dog was able to walk out of the vault uninjured.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – Officials in Iowa City are investigating what they’re calling an “unexpected incident” that happened during a house relocation on Rochester Avenue on Wednesday morning. Iowa City Police and Fire departments responded at 9:58 a.m. to the area of Herbert Hoover Highway and Eastbury Drive for a report of an electrocution. They provided medical aid to the victim and that person was transported to the hospital. For a time, authorities recommended people avoid the area on Rochester Avenue between Scott Boulevard and Eastbury Drive.
DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – A Des Moines businessman has pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation and child porn charges. According to the Department of Justice, 61-year-old Jeffrey Gray used hidden cameras in his photography business, Wicked Imagery, to record children changing clothes. Investigators found a hard drive that had child sex abuse material of at least 15 child victims from his home. Gray pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation and possession of child porn. When he’s sentenced in January, he could face up to 50 years in prison.
