One person is dead after a shooting Wednesday night in Iowa City…and police are calling it a “suspicious death.” Officers responded to the 2400 block of Lakeside Drive for a report of shots fired and found a male with gunshot wounds. That person was transported to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and was later pronounced dead. The victim has been identified, but his name was being withheld. An autopsy was conducted by the Johnson County Medical Examiner’s Office.
An 8-year-old has died after a farming accident Wednesday in Woodbury County. Just before 5 p.m., deputies and emergency medical personnel responded to a farming accident about four miles east of Climbing Hill. The sheriff’s office says an 8-year-old child died as a result of injuries sustained in the accident, but no further details are being released at this time.
The Iowa State Patrol is investigating a fatal collision that occurred in Butler County Wednesday night. It happened on Highway 3, where a vehicle driving eastbound crossed the center line and hit a vehicle driving westbound. It was not immediately known how many people were injured or killed. Officers are still trying to figure out the cause of the accident.
An Iowa man charged with leaving a threatening voicemail telling Gov. Kim Reynolds she should be “hung for treason” is defending his comments as free speech. 48-year-old Harvey Hunter Jr. is charged with first-degree harassment for the profane Jan. 5 message he left on a governor’s office phone line set up to gather input over whether Reynolds should continue the statewide mask mandate. Hunter called the governor a dictator and said “every single one of you need to be hung for treason for pushing this COVID scam.” Hunter says he was using his speech rights to criticize the government and has therefore entered a plea of not guilty to the charge.
University of Iowa Health Care is in the process of reapplying to build a new facility in North Liberty. A spokesperson says they have submitted a letter of intent and are still working though the details of the application. This comes a little more than two months after an Iowa Department of Public Health five-member Health Facilities Council denied an original request to build a new $230 million, 36-bed hospital in North Liberty. The council cited cost, lack of collaboration with other area health care providers, and space. UI Health Care argued the main campus in Iowa City is running out of space, while also offering key services not offered in the Corridor. The proposed site is located at the intersection of Coral Ridge Avenue and West Forevergreen Road near Interstate 380.
A 28-year-old man was killed shortly before 5 o’clock Thursday morning in a two-vehicle accident on Highway 65 north of Mason City. The Iowa State Patrol says Scott Caron of Plymouth died, while 59-year-old Michael McCoid of Manly was hospitalized. Authorities said Caron was northbound when his vehicle went into the southbound lane and struck a McCoid’s vehicle. Highway 65 was closed for around four hours after the collision.
The City of Cedar Rapids announced Wednesday that the City will receive more than $7 million to improve water quality in the Cedar River watershed. It’s part of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Regional Conservation Partnership Project. The Cedar River Source Water Partnership is a collaboration among communities and agricultural partners to improve degraded water quality conditions threatening public and private source water supplies. The project will support on-the-ground conservation practices on farmland and provide direct technical assistance to producers and other agricultural stakeholders. The partnership is a continuation of the City’s efforts working upstream in agricultural areas to improve water quality in the Cedar River to improve drinking water quality and reduce flood flows.
A 68-year-old Mason City man was arrested after being clocked going 136 miles per hour before he attempted to assault a state trooper. Thomas Markwalter was driving on I-35, eventually slowing down when a trooper pulled in front of him. The vehicles came to a slow roll before Markwalter drove into the back of the trooper on two different occasions. After getting out of the vehicle, authorities said Markwalter punched the trooper in the abdomen before he was forcibly taken into custody. A bottle of run was located in Markwalter’s vehicle. He’s facing multiple traffic violations and charges of assault on persons in certain occupations.
