From the KCRG-TV9 Newsroom:
Two officers have been cleared after shooting and killing a man in Cedar Rapids earlier this year. The Iowa Attorney General’s Office says the fatal shooting of Travis McDermott on September 22, near Daniels Park, was justified. In a new report, the attorney general’s office says police responded to a call of a man waving a gun at people. Police found McDermott next to a business across from the park, holding a gun over his head while arguing with a woman on a second story balcony. He refused to put the gun down, threatened to shoot officers, and then pointed the gun at them. Officers Ethan Lightner and Wes Wery shot him. He died at the scene. Authorities found an air pistol. Witnesses and police at the scene believed it was a lethal firearm.
Johnson County’s former Auditor is calling on the current Auditor to retire after more than 2,000 ballots went uncounted Election Night. Auditor Julie Persons says workers moved the boxes of early votes to the room where they were supposed to be counted, but they were put on a shelf instead of staying on a cart. An election official discovered them Thursday during routine cleanup before the canvass. To correct the count, Persons says her office contacted the county attorney and secretary of state, then recounted more than 26,000 absentee ballots. The additional votes did not change election outcomes. Supervisors unanimously approved the canvass yesterday afternoon. Former Auditor Travis Weipert questions why the number of ballots counted wasn’t matched against the number received. Weipert is calling on Persons to resign. Persons said “no comment” when asked about it.
Iowa City’s Shelter House is opening its winter shelter building two weeks early. It will open November 16 partly because within a few days last year, it was already at full capacity. Predictions are for a higher demand this year.
It is not time for the University of Iowa’s annual Dance Marathon just yet. But today, students involved finished a 24-hour challenge. Day to Dance Marathon is the organization’s biggest push to raise funds for the dance. Students spent the past day working to get as many donations as possible to support the Stead Family Children’s Hospital.
