From the KCRG-TV9 Newsroom:
A Fairfield teen is home safe after she disappeared from home and police later finding her in North Carolina with a 25-year-old man. Police say location sharing technology led the family to the victim’s cell phone, which police found damaged on the outskirts of town. A local business was able to fix the phone enough to get some information on who the victim was with. Using social media and phone history, police were able to locate the girl with John Michael Johnson. Johnson now faces charges of sexual exploitation of a minor and solicitation by computer.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is issuing a warning to parents and school workers about the dangers of deepfake artificial intelligence images. A release from her office says there has been a rise in the use of AI-Deepfake tools. They can be used to create non-consensual nude or explicit images of students. In Iowa, creating and sharing sexually explicit deepfakes of another person is a crime, and if committed by an adult, it can land them on the sex offender registry. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children offers a “take it down” website for victims younger than 18 to help remove the images.
Cedar Rapids firefighters rescued four people from a house fire Tuesday morning. Smoke was pouring out of the three story building in the 200 block of 15th Street Southeast. Firefighters used a ladder to get the people stranded on a balcony to safety. No one was hurt. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Another groundbreaking was held for the Liteline Loop project, a multi-million dollar project tying together Czech Village and “New Bo” in Cedar Rapids. Construction actually started in April on the project that features a 165-foot tower with a bridge that links the two neighborhoods for pedestrians and bicyclists. This almost $14 million project will also bring street improvements and some new gathering spaces. City leaders say the LightLine Loop will provide a new place for the community to connect with each other. The full Lightline loop project is expected to be done by next summer.
