From the KCRG-TV9 Newsroom:
The family of an Anamosa corrections officer who inmates killed three years ago, is suing the state for damages. Two inmates killed Robert McFarland and nurse Lorena Schulte before trying to escape in March 2021. An inmate who tried to intervene was also seriously hurt in the attack. Investigators say Thomas Woodard and Michael Dutcher used hammers from the prison’s maintenance shop to strike McFarland and Schulte in the back of their heads. Both inmates had access to tools through their jobs at the prison. McFarland’s estate filed the lawsuit. It alleges the Anamosa prison was over-capacity and under-staffed at the time of the attack. It also accuses the prison of failing to control access to its tools, and having unreliable emergency communications inside the infirmary.
Cedar Rapids will hold an information meeting tonight to preview the nearly completed designs for the LightLine Loop project. That project re-imagines a large area of nearly vacant parcels damaged in the 2008 Flood and is an extension of plans for the Czech Village/New Bohemia area. The LightLine Loop project is in its final design phase, with construction to start in the Spring of next year. The meeting starts at 5 and will outline a timeline for construction, including anticipated lane and road closures, detours, trail closures, and impacts on bike/pedestrian routes. It’s being held at Time Check Hall.
Fans can get ready to welcome home the Hawkeyes after another national title appearance. The celebration at Carver-Hawkeye Arena is scheduled to start at 6. Iowa’s seniors and coaches are expected to speak.
Crews are making more progress toward reopening the bridge over the Mississippi River in Lansing. The Iowa DOT says crews have installed the first of four spans on the bridge’s new piers. The DOT says those new piers go more than 100 feet into the ground. The bridge has been closed since February after inspectors found two piers had moved. The DOT says the bridge should reopen by the end of the month.
