CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds on Wednesday signed a bill limiting cellphone use in schools into law. It was one of her top priorities heading into the legislative session. The law requires schools in Iowa to adopt policies to restrict students from using cellphones and other electronic devices during class time. Several districts in Iowa were already doing this, with some districts, like Iowa City, reporting success. Joining the governor for the signing on Wednesday were a group of students, including some from Des Moines Hoover. That school implemented its own policy at the start of the school year. School districts will need to adopt policies before the start of the new school year. They must also have plans for how parents and guardians can still communicate with their students.
RUTLAND, Iowa (KCRG) – A former teacher in Iowa has pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting a student. 32-year-old Samantha Meyer-Davis confessed to sexually exploiting a student from May 2022 through November 2023. During that time, Meyer-Davis was a middle school teacher. According to a release, Meyer-Davis met with school administrators multiple times. During the meetings, she denied having an inappropriate relationship with the student. Administrators reminded Meyer-Davis of her obligation to her students, and urged her to end any inappropriate relations she may have with them. In an interview with police, Meyer-Davis continued to deny having an inappropriate relationship with the student, until she was confronted with photographic evidence. The photo depicted Meyer-Davis kissing the student, who was in a state of undress. Meyer-Davis and the victim also exchanged over 130 pictures and 60 videos relating to or showing child pornography. Some of the material exchanged portrayed sadistic and masochistic conduct. Meyer-Davis faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a possible maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and at least five years of supervised release following imprisonment.
DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – State Auditor Rob Sand has released a report claiming executive branch officials withheld multiple public records from Representative Elinor Levin. According to the report, Rep. Levin asked to see communications between the Governor’s office and Departments of Education and Management last November. The request was focused on an audit of Education Savings Accounts. Sand’s report says the Department of Management (DOM) withheld several important documents from Rep. Levin that should’ve been provided. Sand found at least twelve documents were not given to Rep. Levin as part of the open records request. The emails and memos withheld indicated that the “DOM encouraged state agencies to withhold information required for audits.” Sand states the DOM also risked state finances by ignoring warnings that its actions were delaying audit work. A release from Sand claims the DOM attempted to “circumvent the elected Auditor of State from auditing the state”, and “attempted to ‘rescind consent’ to have the State Auditor audit the state, as though a bureaucrat could choose to declare state law would not be followed.” The DOM issued a response to Sand’s report Wednesday. In a statement, the DOM said they received a records request from Rep. Levin in February. Based on the request, the DOM conducted a search focusing on the ESA program. The search “yielded more than 10,000 potentially responsive documents”, which would’ve taken several months to review. The DOM’s release acknowledges a “handful of documents produced by the auditor were likely not located as they did not relate specifically to the ESA program.” According to the DOM, a meeting took place with Representative Levin regarding the records request. In the meeting, the DOM told Levin to let them know if they had misunderstood the request. The DOM also offered to “run a new search with any search terms that she wanted.” However, Rep. Levin did not follow up on this offer.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – An Iowa City man was arrested after police say he tried to pay for something at a store with money that was covered in methamphetamine. Marcus Turner, 45, of Iowa City, is charged with Possession of Controlled Substance, Controlled Substance Violation, and Failure to Affix Drug Stamp. According to a criminal complaint, Turner was in a store in the 1900 block of Keokuk Street just before 3 a.m. on Wednesday when he tried paying for an item with money that appeared to have a crystallized substance on it that appeared to be methamphetamine. Police say the substance was later field tested and confirmed to be methamphetamine. The criminal complaint says Turner admitted to having tried to pay with the money, but claimed he did not know it was methamphetamine. However, another criminal complaint for Turner says he was found to have two grams of methamphetamine on him. Then, when he arrived at the jail, police said they found more concealed in his sock. In total, he was found to have been in possession of 48.5 grams of methamphetamine. Turner has two previous convictions for possession of a controlled substance.
