WATERLOO, Iowa (KCRG) – Veridian Credit Union on Tuesday announced plans to build a new branch after the closure of the Hy-Vee store on Logan Avenue in Waterloo. Veridian’s North Waterloo branch was located inside the now shuttered Hy-Vee, and was forced to close on June 23. The new Veridian location will be on the northeast corner of the intersection of Logan Avenue and Heath Street, less than a mile from its former branch. Leaders with the credit union said the new location will offer all the same services that were offered at the former location, but it will have more space and drive-up access. The credit union did not release a timeframe for construction. An opening date has not been determined.
CLERMONT, Iowa (KCRG) – There were only minor injuries in a crash involving a pickup truck and a combine near Clermont on Tuesday, the Fayette County Sheriff’s office said. Deputies were called to the 3000 block of Diamond Road, about three miles south of Clermont, at around 8:55 a.m. Investigators said a man was operating a John Deere 9560STS Combine with a Grain Head westbound when he collided with a 1997 Chevrolet K3500 truck, that was going eastbound. The combine and grain head sustained an estimated $50,000 in damage. The truck is considered a total loss. The crash remains under investigation.
NORTH LIBERTY, Iowa (KCRG/KTTC) – A North Liberty woman facing charges after police found a body inside her car after a crash in Minnesota has been found competent to stand trial. Margot Lewis is accused of murdering Liara Tsai in Minneapolis, before Tsai was found in the back seat of a crashed car on I-90 near Eyota in June. Tsai had blood coming from a neck wound and had been wrapped in a blanket. KTTC reports Tsai loved music and had moved to Minneapolis from Iowa City at the beginning of the year because of its strong transgender community. Lewis faces two counts of second-degree murder and is being held on $1.5 million bond. During Tuesday’s hearing, the judge ordered Lewis’s bond remain the same. The next court date for this case is set for October 21.
DES MOINES, Iowa (Iowa Capital Dispatch/KCRG) – An insurance company is asking a federal judge to weigh in on its refusal to cover the liability claim of a man accused of sexual assault at a University of Iowa fraternity house. Allied Property and Casualty has filed court papers in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, seeking a declaratory judgment that will determine what coverage, if any, should be afforded Carson Steffen of North Liberty under the terms of his family’s insurance policy. The filing stems from a 2021 lawsuit filed by Makena Solberg, who identified herself in the petition. She sued Steffen and Jacob Meloan, alleging the two sexually assaulted her and made a video recording of the act after she became intoxicated at their Iowa City fraternity house in 2020. The lawsuit also named as defendants the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity chapter at UI that’s commonly known as Fiji, and a fraternity brother who allegedly assisted in distributing the video recording to others. Mediation and out-of-court settlements have resulted in all of the defendants except Steffen being dismissed from the case. Steffen has filed a counterclaim against Solberg, alleging she has defamed him by falsely accusing him of sexual abuse and has “injured his good name (and) exposed him to public hatred and contempt.” The matter is scheduled to go to trial on Nov. 5. In addition to the civil case, Steffen is expected to go to trial in early December on a criminal charge of first-degree harassment, an aggravated misdemeanor. According to court records, that charge is based on the allegation that Steffen shared with others, via Snapchat, a photo of Solberg engaging in sex on the night of the alleged sexual assault. According to the new court filings by Allied Property and Casualty, the company issued a personal-liability insurance policy to Carson Steffen’s parents, Douglas and Gretchen Steffen, in 2019, and Carson Steffen was covered under that policy. The company alleges that on Aug. 26, 2024, almost four years after the alleged sexual assault, Steffen filed a claim for personal-liability coverage related to Solberg’s claims. Allied says it investigated and then rejected the claim. The lawsuit alleges the policy doesn’t cover damages that result from injuries “caused by or resulting from an act or omission that is criminal in nature and committed by an insured … regardless of whether the insured is actually charged with or convicted of a crime.” The policy also states that it does not cover injuries or damages that arise from “sexual molestation, corporal punishment, physical or mental abuse, or harassment, including sexual harassment, whether actual, alleged or threatened.” The company states that it has a reasonable basis to deny the family’s insurance claim “because Steffen failed to satisfy all of the conditions precedent for coverage.” A hearing on the matter has yet to be scheduled. Attorneys for Steffen have yet to file a response and were not available for comment Monday.
