DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – The Iowa Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling that surveyors with Summit Carbon Solutions can access the private property of a Hardin County man temporarily for the purpose of surveying. The Hardin County man, Ken Kasischke, refused to allow the survey teams on his land to complete a survey for Summit’s proposed carbon pipeline. Kasischke argued the company should have to pay for the right to access his land, noting the Iowa and Federal Constitution bar the taking of private property for public use without just compensation. He also argued that Summit’s pipeline could not transport hazardous material, which is one exemption allowed under Iowa Code for access to private land. The Iowa Supreme Court dismissed that argument, saying the use of private land for public surveys is an exemption long upheld since it was not taking any land or depriving the owner of that land. In its ruling, the court wrote, “In fact, statutes authorizing entry to conduct surveys are as old as the republic itself.” The Court also ruled the carbon pipeline would transport material that is considered hazardous.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – A teenager led police on a high speed chase around 10 p.m. Saturday night. Cedar Rapids officials say a 15-year old led police on a high speed chase in a stolen vehicle. The teen lost control while turning and crashed into a home in the 2100 block of Bever Avenue SE. No one was injured, but the house did sustain damage. The teen was taken into custody and is facing several traffic violation charges.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – Election Day is now more than two weeks in the rearview mirror, but there is still no official winner in Iowa’s First Congressional District. 800 votes separate the two candidates: Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Democrat Christina Bohannan. Incumbent Miller-Meeks has already declared victory, but the recount is still underway. “We want accuracy. We don’t want changes, so we hope to end up in the exact same numbers that we had before,” said Julie Persons, Johnson County Auditor. So far, these election officials are on the right track. On Day 2 of the Johnson County recount, these officials had double-checked about 86% of the county’s results for the First Congressional District. And out of all the precincts that have been recounted, “So far we’ve had 100% confirmation all the numbers match up, all the totals match up,” said John Balmer, a member of the bipartisan recount board. Johnson County officials have 11 more precincts to go through. They will reconvene the recount on Wednesday.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – The Cedar Rapids Community School District says staffing problems led to the decision to move 57 fourth and fifth graders at Cedar River Academy at Taylor to other schools in the district. But the Iowa State Education Association said teacher staffing isn’t just a problem at Cedar Rapids’ schools. The Iowa Department of Education says there are 28 teacher shortage areas, and the second highest ranking shortage is in elementary school teachers. On Thursday, many parents learned for the first time that after Thanksgiving break, their students at Cedar River Academy at Taylor would be forced to attend other schools. The school district says it’s because of staffing shortages. The University of Northern Iowa’s College of Education says it saw a drop in graduates during COVID. Those numbers are rising, but they aren’t back to what they were pre-pandemic despite higher demand. The Cedar Rapids School district said it’s working on filling staffing shortages at CRA at Taylor, but it won’t happen soon enough for this school year.
