Cedar Rapids Police responded to a weapons incident where one person was suffering from a gunshot wound. It happened yesterday just before 3:30 p.m. in the 2100 block of Westdale Drive SW. The victim was transported to the hospital for treatment. No other information was released.
A man’s death is being treated as a homicide after his body was found in rural Dallas County early yesterday morning. Deputies responded to a report of a victim being shot at the intersection of K Avenue and 258th Street in rural Adel around 1:30 early Tuesday morning. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. Officials say there is no threat to the public.
Building department permit fees are now waived through the end of June next year for unincorporated areas and several cities within Linn County. County officials say this is to allow repairs and reconstruction of structures damaged during the derecho on August 10. Fees are also waived for Alburnett, Bertram, Center Point, Lisbon, and Mount Vernon. The county reminds those who do plan to build still need a permit.
A minimum wage increase is being granted to those who qualify at Mercy Medical Center and MercyCare Community Physicians. The Mercy Board of Trustees approved the change to make minimum wage $15.25 an hour starting in January. Hospital officials say they are pleased to be able to offer the additional pay, during what has been a very challenging year.
Another Iowa prison inmate has died “likely due to complications related to COVID-19 and other preexisting medical conditions.” The Iowa Department of Corrections says 58-year-old Dale Dean Viers died early Sunday morning at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Viers had been taken to the hospital several days earlier for more advanced care as his medical condition began to worsen. Viers had been serving a life sentence for Kidnapping in the 1st Degree from Black Hawk County. His sentence began on March 30, 1995.
Democrat Rita Hart has officially asked the U.S. House to investigate and overturn the race that State of Iowa certification shows she lost by six votes, arguing that 22 ballots were wrongly excluded and others weren’t examined during the recount. In the document released yesterday, Hart argues that she would have netted 15 votes and defeated Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks had the 22 ballots been counted in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District. Hart is asking the Democrat-controlled House to count those votes and conduct a uniform recount throughout the district’s 24 counties. The House may seat Miller-Meeks provisionally while the committee reviews the matter…or may opt to not seat anyone, meaning the district will be unrepresented for an indeterminate period of time.
Waterloo’s one-way roads in and out of downtown may be switched to two-way streets. City Council members Monday approved an $89,000 study to allow AECOM Technology to look at the possible impact of reworking traffic on Fourth, Fifth and Sixth streets. The study, which will likely take about six months, will examine changing the road signs and street lights, as well as any needed physical changes in the roadways, as well as a traffic analysis and economic considerations.
Careful driving was necessary along U.S. Highway 63 early yesterday morning after an officer discovered hundreds of nails on the road. The nails were scattered on U.S. Highway 63 northbound from East Donald Street to Dunkerton Road and found just before 4 o’clock yesterday morning. Police said there is no evidence of foul play involved.
Waterloo officials remind citizens that if their garbage collection day is normally Thursday, it will be the day before—today—this week. If your normal garbage day is Friday, it will be the following Monday, December 28. If your recycling day is Friday…it will instead be serviced the next day, Saturday, December 26.
A bicyclist died in Davenport when he collided with a car. Police say it happened about 10 p.m. Monday when a motorized bicycle traveling against traffic on a one-way street ran into the car. A 46-year-old man from Davenport was riding the bike. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.
A jury trial is scheduled for February for a man accused of killing his step-sister nearly 22 years ago. An attorney for Matt Kennedy entered a not guilty plea on his behalf to a charge of first-degree murder. Court records show the trial will begin Feb. 2. Kennedy remains jailed on $1 million bond. Kimberly Ratliff’s body was found inside her car on Jan. 12, 1999, in Council Bluffs. Police say Ratliff’s throat had been slashed. Kennedy, now 52, was arrested in October. An arrest affidavit says advancements in DNA technology enabled police to link him to the killing.
