Today, it’s called the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center…but it might be called something else soon. If approved by Waterloo City Council at its meeting tonight, the downtown facility could be renamed the “Waterloo Convention Center at the Sullivan Brothers Plaza”. The facility’s management company, Spectra, made the suggestion for easier recognition of the location. Officials said Mayor Quentin Hart talked with the Sullivan family about the change. A new outdoor plaza space at the convention center will be named in honor of the Sullivan family. The City Council could also give naming rights to Spectra at Monday’s meeting, which would allow the company to forgo future City Council approval and get go-ahead orders solely from the mayor. Our monthly conversation with Mayor Quentin Hart can be heard tomorrow in the 10 o’clock hour of KXEL Live & Local.
Fire at a Waterloo apartment building was quickly contained Saturday evening to the second-story apartment where it started. No injuries were reported. Residents at University Avenue Studios East at 3350 University called 911 shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday after hearing alarms and spotting smoke. Firefighters were able to put out the fire with portable water tanks, and only one apartment was affected.
A rollover accident off Stewart Road and Thompson Street SE in Cedar Rapids left a car upside down. Police says it happened just after 8 o’clock Saturday morning. A 45-year-old woman was not seriously hurt and got out of the vehicle by the time first responders arrived. She did go to the hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. Authorities say she fell asleep at the wheel before veering off the road. The woman reportedly had also fallen asleep earlier for a short period of time at a relative’s house, after getting off work early that morning.
We now know the identities of those killed and injured in an early morning shooting Saturday in Waterloo. 23-year-old Dayton Matlock of Waterloo was pronounced dead in an alley along Grant Avenue just after 3:30 early Saturday morning. Two women—39-year-old Bobbi Lee of Waterloo and 30-year-old Shanayia Hamer of Des Moines, were also shot but sustained non-life threatening injuries. Neighbors reported hearing what sounded like eight to 10 gunshots followed by yelling. Around 90 minutes earlier, officers responded to a report of gunfire in the area of Randolph and Wellington streets, about two blocks away. No injuries were reported, and it was not clear if the incidents were connected.
Waterloo City Council members tonight could adopt a new police department logo. The new insignia correlated to a recommendation from the Waterloo Police Protective Association, an organization of current and retired officers. Its suggestion of a solid yellow patch with red lettering reading “Waterloo Police” has been submitted to the City Council. It differs from the rebranding committee’s recommendations last month, which included bird-like creatures meant to evoke a griffin, the symbol being replaced on the logo. The new design has no creatures. Adopting a new logo means spending money to replace uniforms, graphics on squad cars, weapon insignias and generating additional new patches, at a cost of more than $152,000. Officials previously said the city will use interest earned on bond funds to pay that cost.
Casey’s General Stores has “paused” its use of armed security at a southeast Iowa City store while security needs are reviewed. This comes after some in Iowa City raised concerns about the message an armed guard sends to a community with a relative large black population. The store, at 1904 Broadway, is in a census tract that is about 25 percent black. A Casey’s spokesperson previously said “elevated levels of disruptive activity” in 2018 led to the placement of armed security at that location.
A third candidate has qualified to run for an open seat on the Johnson County Board of Supervisors. Brian Campbell of Iowa City will run as a no party candidate. Democrats nominated Jon Green of Lone Tree to run for the seat while Republicans nominated Phil Hemingway, who lives in rural western Johnson County. They are seeking the seat left vacant by supervisor Janelle Rettig, who resigned last month. Candidates have until noon today to withdraw their nomination. After that, the ballots will be final. Early voting starts Wednesday. The special election will be held on June 8 with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
A passenger in a car that drove off a bridge in Ankeny has been critically injured. The driver lost control of the car, went through the bridge railing and into a ditch Friday evening. Officials say the railing broke through the windshield and impaled the passenger in the torso. The incident is under investigation.
The Iowa Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a man who said the state should refund a $465 fine he paid for a speeding ticket following another high court ruling that certain officers could not issue such tickets. Friday’s ruling likely means Iowa is off the hook for refunding millions of dollars in fines from tickets wrongly issued by Motor Vehicle Enforcement officers employed by the Iowa Department of Transportation. A carrier enforcement officer stopped Rickie Rilea for speeding in 2016. Rilea pleaded guilty and paid the fine, but later challenged the authority of the officer to issue speeding tickets. The court agreed in 2018, but said Friday that the fine stands because his underlying conviction has not been overturned.
